To Camden Yards, Yankee Stadium, the Hall of Fame and Wrigley Field

EAST COAST — Eight days ago this morning, my four sons and I arrived safely back in Heron Lake after spending the previous 110 hours “on the road” traveling to the east coast and back.

During those four-and-a-half days of adventure, we put 3,159 miles on our white van, increasing its mileage from 127,190 to 130,349.

We saw four major league baseball games, six major league stadiums, spent an afternoon at Cooperstown, N.Y. — and got lost more than once in New York City.

The idea for the trip originated back in July when oldest son Lance envisioned getting tickets for a game at Yankee Stadium, before the famed venue closed its doors for the last time. We were there exactly one week before the Yankees played there for the last time, Sunday.

I told him to see what he could do, but if we were going — let’s try to see a Cubs’ game at Wrigley Field on the way out or on the way back.

Lance, Chad, Lucas and I had made a trip to Chicago to see the Cubs way back in the summer of 1992 when they were just 12, 10 and five years old, respectively.

The four of us, plus Rick Haberman, Eric Freking and Brady Olson returned to Wrigley Field a few years later in the summer of 1997.

That was an adventure and finding our way out of Chicago took about as long as the trip getting there did!

Six years ago, in the summer of 2002, Lance, Chad, Lucas and I took another trip to Wrigley and also visited the Joliet Jackhammers’ stadium where Lucas participated in a baseball clinic.

So, my three oldest sons all had been to Wrigley Field three previous times. I had been there four times, as Rick Haberman, Tim Owen and I went to a “cold” spring game there in early May of 1996, while also attending a basketball coaching clinic in the Chicago area.

Now my youngest son, Logan is a big Cubs’ fan, but had never been to Wrigley yet.

We had promised him several times that such a trip was coming, but we just never got things worked out to go. Two years ago, Logan saw his first Twins game at the Metrodome and was impressed, but said: “I want to go to a game at Wrigley and I want a front row seat.”

The tickets that Lance was able to get for both games — Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium and Tuesday night at Wrigley Field were both outfield bleacher seats.

But that was OK, we were going —- in the middle of September, and over Turkey Day weekend.

So we (wife and mother Cheryl stayed home and daughter Chelsey remained at college in Mankato) left Heron Lake on Friday evening, Sept. 12, at 6:15 p.m.

Taking turns driving, we ventured eastward throughout that rainy night, stopping for breakfast in Toledo, Ohio at about 8:30 a.m.

Realizing that we were making good time and that the Twins vs. Orioles game had been rained out the night before, the decision was made to go to Baltimore first and see the Twins in a doubleheader.

Lance drove us into Baltimore and we arrived at Camden Yards by 6:00 p.m. We got tickets and ended up with great seats in a great ball park and saw the Twins wax the Orioles twice, 12-2 and 12-6.

Then it was on to New York City.

It was night and Chad was driving. Everyone else was sleeping, but I woke up in time to see us approaching the bridges and tunnels of the “Big Apple.”

We crossed one bridge, putting us on Staten Island. Later, we crossed a bigger bridge — across New York Harbor — and we were in Brooklyn. Later, we went through a long, long tunnel, and we ended up driving through the heart of Manhattan at 3:00 a.m.

We crossed a bridge and worked our way around Queens and up to the Bronx. There sure is a lot of water and bridges in New York City.

After getting a few hours of sleep at a motel, we arrived at the Yankee Stadium parking lot by 10:00 a.m. We were plenty early for the 1:05 p.m. game.

Sitting in the right-center field bleachers, we were right in front of the “big screen” and I watched a video about Lou Gehrig, while the boys took in batting practice.

It was hot that afternoon (92 degrees) and Logan was hoping for night to come soon. We saw four home runs enter the bleachers just to our left, including a grand slam by Alex Rodriguez and an upper deck blast by Jason Giambi. But when Derek Jeter¹s solo homer just made the stands, Yankee fans cheered loudest of all.

Hearing the fabled announcing of Bob Sheppard was a unique experience and we were all glad that we got a see a game at Yankee Stadium.

Oh yeah, the Yankees beat the Rays, 8-4 and Mariano Rivera came in to get the last out. Yankee fans sure love Jeter and Rivera.

After leaving Yankee Stadium, we ventured back down to Queens and found Shea Stadium. The Mets were done playing for the day, but we walked around the big stadium and saw close up the replacement stadium — CitiField — which looks like “old” Ebbets Field (where the Brooklyn Dodgers played) on the outside.

After getting lost in Queens (we had crossed a bridge and thought we were back in Manhattan), we finally worked our way out of New York City and headed north towards Cooperstown.

We stayed Sunday night at New Paltz, N.Y. and then traveled to Cooperstown Monday morning to visit the Hall-of-Fame.

The country drive near Cooperstown was scenic and serene. Tiny villages, just a few miles apart, were along the rural roadways —surrounded by hills and trees. As we drove, we listened to radio guru Jim Rome “bash” Ohio State for getting beaten so badly by USC in the “big” college football game the previous Saturday.

Then we entered the small town of Cooperstown and found the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Wow — what an experience that was. All of the boys are huge baseball fans and they loved all of it, especially Logan who thought it was the best place and best town he had ever been in.

After leaving the museum, we visited nearby Doubleday Field, before leaving town and heading west to Cleveland and Chicago.

We had originally talked about going to the Twins vs. Indians game at Jacobs Field (now called Progressive Field) in Cleveland on Monday night. But our time at the Hall of Fame made that impossible.

We stayed overnight near Cleveland, drove right by Progressive Field (along I-90) Tuesday morning and drove all the way to Chicago where a night game at Wrigley was waiting.

Now we had never been to a night game there before. That was an experience to remember — full moon, perfect weather, great atmosphere and what a well-played game. The Cubs beat the Brewers, 5-4, in a game that had a little of everything, including a pair of diving “web gems.”

Oh yeah, we drove right by U.S. Cellular Field (where the White Sox play) on the way to Wrigley — so we saw six stadiums and four games at three of those ball parks.

Lucas was driving when we pulled into Heron Lake at 7:42 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Sept. 17. We had been gone almost 110 hours, including a long eight-hour overnight drive back from Chicago.

But those were certainly hours and miles that we will always remember as we created many lasting memories on our family “baseball” adventure out east.

It was night and Chad was driving. Everyone else was sleeping, but I woke up in time to see us approaching the bridges and tunnels of the “Big Apple.”

We crossed one bridge, putting us on Staten Island. Later, we crossed a bigger bridge — across New York Harbor — and we were in Brooklyn. Later, we went through a long, long tunnel, and we ended up driving through the heart of Manhattan at 3:00 a.m.

We crossed a bridge and worked our way around Queens and up to the Bronx. There sure is a lot of water and bridges in New York City.

After getting a few hours of sleep at a motel, we arrived at the Yankee Stadium parking lot by 10:00 a.m. We were plenty early for the 1:05 p.m. game.

Sitting in the right-center field bleachers, we were right in front of the “big screen” and I watched a video about Lou Gehrig, while the boys took in batting practice.

It was hot that afternoon (92 degrees) and Logan was hoping for night to come soon. We saw four home runs enter the bleachers just to our left, including a grand slam by Alex Rodriguez and an upper deck blast by Jason Giambi. But when Derek Jeter¹s solo homer just made the stands, Yankee fans cheered loudest of all.

Hearing the fabled announcing of Bob Sheppard was a unique experience and we were all glad that we got a see a game at Yankee Stadium.

Oh yeah, the Yankees beat the Rays, 8-4 and Mariano Rivera came in to get the last out. Yankee fans sure love Jeter and Rivera.

After leaving Yankee Stadium, we ventured back down to Queens and found Shea Stadium. The Mets were done playing for the day, but we walked around the big stadium and saw close up the replacement stadium — CitiField — which looks like “old” Ebbets Field (where the Brooklyn Dodgers played) on the outside.

After getting lost in Queens (we had crossed a bridge and thought we were back in Manhattan), we finally worked our way out of New York City and headed north towards Cooperstown.

We stayed Sunday night at New Paltz, N.Y. and then traveled to Cooperstown Monday morning to visit the Hall of Fame.

The country drive near Cooperstown was scenic and serene. Tiny villages, just a few miles apart, were along the rural roadways —surrounded by hills and trees. As we drove, we listened to radio guru Jim Rome “bash” Ohio State for getting beaten so badly by USC in the “big” college football game the previous Saturday.

Then we entered the small town of Cooperstown and found the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Wow — what an experience that was. All of the boys are huge baseball fans and they loved all of it, especially Logan who thought it was the best place and best town he had ever been in.

After leaving the museum, we visited nearby Doubleday Field, before leaving town and heading west to Cleveland and Chicago.

We had originally talked about going to the Twins vs. Indians game at Jacobs Field (now called Progressive Field) in Cleveland on Monday night. But our time at the Hall of Fame made that impossible.

We stayed overnight near Cleveland, drove right by Progressive Field (along I-90) Tuesday morning and drove all the way to Chicago where a night game at Wrigley was waiting.

Now we had never been to a night game there before. That was an experience to remember — full moon, perfect weather, great atmosphere and what a well-played game. The Cubs beat the Brewers, 5-4, in a game that had a little of everything, including a pair of diving “web gems.”

Oh yeah, we drove right by U.S. Cellular Field (where the White Sox play) on the way to Wrigley — so we saw six stadiums and four games at three of those ball parks.

Lucas was driving when we pulled into Heron Lake at 7:42 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Sept. 17. We had been gone almost 110 hours, including a long eight-hour overnight drive back from Chicago.

But those were certainly hours and miles that we will always remember as we created many lasting memories on our family “baseball” adventure out east.

Tags: blastfromthepast