Scouts Alley Seats at Great American Ball Park.

Thanks to a friend I was recently able to set in the Scouts Alley area at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati!

I was actually super excited about making it to one more game this year, especially one to the north of me.  As I mentioned before, this has been a slow season.

These were some great seats and I liked the exclusive area.  There is the "Scouts Alley" area, where there were no lines for getting a drink and a dog.  Plus, the Scouts Alley area was inside, and this was a hot day!

I DID notice a fellow beside me wearing this ring.  Yep!  That's a Pirates 1971 World Series ring, being worn by Bob Johnson!  he also briefly appeared for the 1969 Mets!  Talk about a couple of GREAT TEAMS!

I didn't want to bother him because he was... well working, taking notes and doing the sort of thing a scout does during a game.  We still said hello to him and chatted briefly.  He was super nice!  THAT was probably the best part of the 2014 baseball season for me!

Reds vs Nationals in Cincinnati

I made it up to Cincinnati to catch my first Reds game in some time.  A buddy of mine got some GREAT seats from a friend.

I do enjoy going to see the Reds, but downtown Cincinnati can be a hassle.  Parking, and the streets can both be nightmares.

We did have a parking pass, but the line to get in to the garage was miserable.  I saw traffic cops all around, casually ignoring issues as they chatted with people on the street.

AND.....  I love catching a Frontier League game in Florence.  It is a closer drive for me, I don't have to deal with traffic in southern Ohio, and I prefer smaller stadiums.

Still, seeing a Reds game is pretty much required at least once a year for me.

Sadly, the Reds haven't been playing that great at the moment.  They looked bad on the night I came to town.  The Nationals beat 'em up pretty good.

I was a little surprised to see all of the Nationals jerseys at the game!  I didn't realize that they have a lot of fans here and there.  It wasn't quit like the Cubs and their numerous and loyal fans, but it was still impressive.

Oh, the Nationals brought their presidents!  In fact, the game was a bit slow, and the Racing Presidents may have been the most exciting point in the game!

An Evening with Leo Cardenas & Tommy Helms, hosted by Jon Warden

This looks fun and interesting for all of the Reds fans-

From Cincy Card Shows:

NEW EVENT: An Evening with Leo Cardenas & Tommy Helms, hosted by Jon Warden.

Tuesday, May 27th at Marriot Northeast, 9664 Mason Montgomery Road, Mason, Ohio 45040.

Come out and hear some great stories from the 1960's and the days of Crosley Field. Players will tell a few stories and then we will enter in to a Q&A from the attendees. Remember that Helms was a long time roommate of Rose so we should be in for a treat. Following the event players will sign autographs for a separate fee.

Tickets prices are as follows:
Seating Paid in Advance $10
Seating Day of Event (if available) $15
VIP Table Seating in Advance $20
VIP Table Seating Day of Event (if available) $25
VIP Table of 8 (in advance only) $140

For more information including ticket information or to pay for tickets with visa/mastercard or paypal contact Steve Schell at saschellstar@gmail.com or Adam Knight at adamknight79@yahoo.com

Moeller Card Show and Denny McLain in Cincinnati!

I made it out to the Moeller High School baseball card show this weekend.  I wanted to get out there because Denny McLain was appearing!

It has been some time since I was last at this show, but I had a real good day.  The dealers are nice and reasonable, and there is more here than just the usual stacks of baseball cards from the 80s.  The show had a great selection of mini helmets, buttons, and vintage cards.  In fact, I enjoyed looking at the many cases full of old tobacco cards.

The show had several signers, but I was here mostly to get my album signed by Denny McLain (in addition to being an amazing pitcher, he also played the organ and he recorded on Capitol Records)!  I met him before, sometime in the mid 00s in Detroit.  I remember him being very pleasant at that time, and he also was a bigger guy.... as we all put on some weight as we get older.

Well, he has dropped a LOT of weight and he still seemed friendly and chatty.  He seemed very happy just to be there and he was very generous with doing photos and adding inscriptions and that sort of thing.

I have always found Denny's story to be one of the most fascinating in all of baseball.  I would put him right in there with Cobb and Rose as one of the most loved and hated MLBers ever.

Again, this was a great day at the card show for me.  One thing I miss about living in northern Ohio is that there were a lot of nice card shows like this, where they might have a few retired or current players signing autographs, AND dealers sold quality items.  I tip my hat to Cincy Card Shows for this one!

Good show, good signers, and good dealers!  I will have to make more of a point to hit their events when they come up!


Check out Cincy Card Show's link:


http://cincycardshows.com/

Here is my review of Denny's book, and a photo of him from about a decade ago:

http://kentuckybaseball.blogspot.com/2011/06/i-told-you-i-wasnt-perfect-by-denny.html

And here is a link to a Detroit News Article about his weight loss:


http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140226/SPORTS0104/302260097

Akron RubberDucks

One thing I do miss about living in northern Ohio is all of the access to great baseball.  You can see just about all of the Indians farm teams with a short drive.  I have enjoyed Captains and Scrappers games (had partial season tickets for both teams).  I used to catch the Clippers a couple times each season (they weren't affiliated with the Tribe at that time though) and I used to work walking distance from Canal Park, where the Akron Aeros played.

I always thought that the name "Aeros" was kind of goofy.  I never liked it.

Well, the team is NOW the Akron RubberDucks!  And yes, I absolutely love this name!

I remember the team asked fans to vote on keeping the Aeros name or going with a new one several years ago.  The Rubber Ducks name was an option, but fans voted on keeping the Aeros name.

Still, I think this is a team in desperate need of rebranding, and I think they have done a good job....  so far!

akronrubberducks.com

clevescene.com

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2013/09/17/lake-erie-crushers-play-for-survival-in-the-frontier-league-championship

A HUGE tip of the hat goes to my pals at the Cleveland Scene again!  These guys are still giving some mention to their local Frontier League team!!!!

CLASSY!

I have mentioned here before that I lived in Cleveland for about 10 years, and clevescene.com is where I go to keep up with some of the more interesting stories in that area.

AND, when I travel, I always pick up the local free magazines when I can just to get a feel of an area.  I wish more magazines would work to be as good as the Cleveland Scene!

Cleveland Scene covers the Lake Erie Crushers

http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/600-a-month-and-a-free-bed-the-minimum-wage-life-of-a-semi-pro-baseball-player/Content?oid=3637204

Hey!  Check out the link above!

As a former resident of Cleveland for almost a decade, I still like to keep up with stories from the area.  Clevescene.com does a great job of keeping me up to date on the area....  I used to pick up the free magazine they put out each week.  It is the best free news mag out there.  I wish other cities would set the bar as high as Cleveland Scene.

The link above is to their article on the Frontier League's Lake Erie Crushers.

This article does a great job of giving you an idea of the league, the team, the players, and how they have to deal with very tight budgets.

If you have read my blog before you know about my admiration for this league.  I tip my cap to Sam Allard for putting this together!

Sandy Wihtol 1979-1982 Cleveland Indians

Sandy Wihtol spent parts of 3 seasons pitching for the Cleveland Indians.  In 1980 he made 17 appearances for the Tribe, collecting 1 win and no losses.

He sent a note recently about Kentucky!

He said that he greatly enjoyed Kentucky, and he just came back from a trip to Lexington and Louisville!

He says that these days the Giants are his team.

Sandy mentions that the fans in the Midwest and South are awesome!

Bob Feller Museum

On our recent trip through Iowa, we made a point to make a stop in Van Meter, to visit the Bob Feller Museum!

 

As former Clevelanders, we felt like this was a must stop.

 

We were actually fortunate enough to meet the legendary Bob Feller on a couple of occasions while we lived there.  He seemed tough as nails each time, even for the old timer he was.

 

I admired him for the fact that he took time out of his career as a very successful baseball player to VOLUNTEER to join the Navy and help out in WWII!  They don't make ballplayers like that anymore.  Heck, they don't make humans like that anymore.

 

Luckily, the nice little community of Van Meter Iowa has a museum going devoted to their hometown legend.  I hope this museum keeps going forever.  Bob deserves it.

 

The day we went the museum was having a bit of a "garage sale" selling some old signed photos and other items they had around.  I was very excited about this.  My wife was not as excited.

 

Still, I found some bargains, and simply enjoyed checking out the museum.

 

http://www.bobfellermuseum.org/

 

 

 

 

 

Franklin County Stadium/Cooper Stadium, Columbus, OH

I found this postcard, put out when Cooper Stadium was called Franklin County Stadium.

The back says, "Minor League Baseball's finest Stadium features artificial turf, luxurious sky boxes, Excellent lighting and comfortable grandstand seating."

I always loved this park, but it was never photogenic.

Crosley Field "Home of the Cincinnati Reds"

It is getting harder to find authentic Crosley Field items from the days when it was still around!

Home of the Reds from 1912-1970!

Cleveland Indians

While living in the Cleveland area, I spent a lot of time going to see the Indians.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the park. It was known as Jacobs Field but now it goes by Progressive Field.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite things around the park.

Check out John Adams playing the drum! The guy is one of the all time greatest super fans.

Pretzels came shaped like the scripted "I" in the team name.

You can look out over Cleveland and get a great view of certain areas. I do miss the bridge.

Reds Hall Of Fame and Museum

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/hof/index.jsp