Day 47: McCoy Stadium

Visiting McCoy Stadium was not originally on our plan, but yesterday someone tipped us off to it being where the longest baseball game in history was played. Thus it seemed liked a fitting place to stop and get a photo of the banner commemorating that game. Plus it was very on the way from Boston to New Jersey, as McCoy Stadium is located just a little off of the Interstate in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

McCoy Stadium is the home of the Pawtucket Red Sox, who are the Boston Red Sox's Triple-A Minor League Team. The longest game in baseball history started here on April 18, 1981 with the Rochester Red Wings as the visitors. Play went until the President of the International League postponed the game at 4:07am on April 19 when the game was in the 32nd inning. The game was picked up and finished on June 23, 1981 (interesting that both stops today had a connection to one of our birthdays, as this one is related to Mik's birthday). The game ended with the Pawtucket Red Sox winning 3-2 in the bottom of the 33rd inning. Future Hall-of-Famers that played in that game were Cal Ripken, Jr. for the Red Wings and Wade Boggs for the Red Sox.

Day 47: Huntington Avenue Grounds

Before heading south towards New Jersey and the Yogi Berra Museum, we headed back north to Boston. Originally I had meant for us to see the site of the old Red Sox park, Huntington Avenue Grounds, but I totally forgot the day we went to the game. Yesterday would have been convenient to do it, too, since we drove through Boston to get to New Hampshire, but I did not remember about seeing the former MLB ballpark site until last night. The site is now occupied by Northeastern University, but they have some plaques and a statue to commemorate the site.

The main thing to see is the Cy Young statue. I really thought this would get Mik interested in the stop, as he really likes Cy Young, but I had to force him in front of it and then quickly take a photo of him before he rolled away from it. The statue is located where the pitching mound used to be. Cy Young is one of the significant players that played at Huntington Avenue Grounds not just for helping the Red Sox (called the Pilgrims at the time) win the first World Series in 1903, but also for pitching the first perfect game of the modern era there.

Another thing to find at the former Huntington Avenue Grounds site is a home plate shaped plaque. It is not obviously there, but if you just walk in the direction Cy Young is looking getting ready to pitch you will stumbled upon it somewhat hidden in the grass. Engraved in the stone home plate is a little about the First World Series. The info includes stating that the first game was played on October 1, 1903 on this site (exactly 84 years before I was born) and that general admission cost 50 cents.

The one other thing commemorating the old park that we found was a plaque on the side of the Cabot Building on the Huntington Avenue side. The plaque marks approximately where the left field flag pole stood.

Day 46: 4 States on the 4th of July

This morning we left the campground in the Boston area around 9am. Originally I had wanted to drive to Vermont and stay there yesterday and tonight, but back in March I found out that was impossible because for the 4th of July weekend you have to book three nights at a KOA. Thus we are still in Boston tonight and just drove through Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont today and back to Boston. It was about a seven-hour driving adventure in which Mik did not even get out of the car until we stopped for ice cream near the campground. It was fun, though, and now the only state the three of us have not been to is Alaska.

Along the way we stopped at the Welcome Centers in New Hampshire and Maine to get photos. Vermont did not have one the few miles we were in that state, so I just got a photo of the welcome sign. Now we are back at camp doing some laundry and using the Internet. We are planning to do a campfire tonight and roast marshmallows. Mik is happy that we are not seeing any fireworks on the 4th.

Day 46: Maine

Day 46: New Hampshire

Game 21: Seattle Mariners 7 @ Boston Red Sox 6

This is one of the big games Mik has been looking forward to, as he liked the idea of going to the oldest ballpark still being used in the Majors. Also, the only currently active player that has never played on the Dbacks that he likes plays for the Red Sox (Jonathan Papelbon). I still think Wrigley is the best, but Fenway is definitely one of the best baseball park experiences.

We got to Fenway around 2pm after driving in circles for over half an hour because of the stupid GPS giving totally messed up directions that was not limited to the issues with it not knowing about any of the abundant road work in the area. Anyways we finally did get there by just doing the old fashioned follow the streets on the map route and found parking right across the street from Fenway.

Before the game we spent time walking around the park and got the Team Shop visit out of the way. We also had a late lunch/early dinner at the Game On restaurant that is in one corner of Fenway Park. Right before we ended up going into the park I got a Fenway Park t-shirt and Mik got a Papelbon t-shirt, which he ended up putting on right away. Finally around 5pm the park opened and we went inside. There really is not much to walk around to inside, so we just went to our seats.

Mik enjoyed this game from the start. Of course, no matter what I think he would have enjoyed it just because it was Fenway. However, he got to see Papelbon pitch a great 10th inning, although he wished he came back out in the 11th. What Mik loved the most, though, was that Jeffery Donovan, who plays Michael Westen on Burn Notice (one of Mik’s favorite shows) threw out one of the ceremonial first pitches.

This game was the fifth time we have seen the Mariners play this summer. The first four games we saw them in they lost. We were all hoping the trend would continue. Even though we do like to see Ken Griffey Jr. do good, we preferred to see a Red Sox win. Not only did the Red Sox end up losing in 11 innings, but Griffey also had a bad outing as the designated hitter going 0 for 5.

The Red Sox took an early lead in the bottom of the first with the first run scoring on a ground rule double and the second run scoring with a wild pitch. In the top of the 3rd the Mariners got a run off of a single. In the top of the 4th the Mariners tied the game with a RBI double and then went ahead with a two run homer by Cedeno. The Red Sox decreased the lead to one with a homer by Drew in the bottom of the 7th. The Mariners got the two run lead back in the top of the 8th with a homer by Lopez. The Red Sox then tied the game up in the bottom of the eighth with a 2 RBI double. The game then went scoreless until the top of the 11th when the Mariners got a 2 RBI double. The Red Sox tried to come back with a homer in the bottom of the 11th, but it was too little too late as by then they already had two outs.

Overall a great baseball experience even though the Red Sox lost. It certainly would have been fun to see them win, but at least it was an exciting game. Mik might hate the extra innings games, but this one he at least liked until the 11th inning began and Papelbon did not return to pitch. He only liked the 10th because that is when Papelbon came in, which would not have happened if the Red Sox had won in the bottom of the 9th.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Yankee Stadium Inaugural Stadium

They had a few different Yankee Stadium Inaugural Season balls to choose from. I choose one that is dark blue and silver. The dark blue strip says Inaugural Season New York Yankees. The silver strip has the 2009 Yankee Stadium Inaugural Stadium logo and the Yankee baseball and bat logo that has the patriotic top hat on the bat.