LEGO Swinging Friar Mascot at Legoland California

Yesterday at Legoland California we noticed that they have a cool Swinging Friar (San Diego Padres mascot) made out of LEGOs outside of the Upper Deck Sports Cafe. There is of course some baseball themed stuff inside the Sports Cafe, too, but the Swinging Friar statue is by far the coolest part. Especially, since I have become more of a Padre fan than a Dbacks fan (of course, Nats are still my fav) with the Padres AAA team playing at least the 2011 season in Tucson before moving to their new permanent ballpark in California.

Other Baseball Sightseeing: Jack Brickhouse Statue in Front of Tribune Tower, Chicago

This Jack Brickhouse statue is located outside of the Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Jack Brickhouse was a WGN-TV play by play announcer for the Chicago Cubs from 1948 to 1981. He also called the White Sox games before 1968 when the team stopped being on WGN until more recent times. He also called some World Series games for NBC in 1950, 1954, and 1959 (White Sox were in this one). He was the one that said Hey Hey, which is now on the foul poles at Wrigley Field.

The statue has a bust of Jack Brickhouse. The front of the pedestal it is on has some images of ballparks he broadcasted from including Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park. The other two stadiums on it are Chicago Stadium, where the Bulls used to play, and Soldier Field, where the Bears play, to symbolize he also called the basketball and football games during his career.

St. Louis Cardinals Arch Statue

Across from the parking lot with a small baseball field that is in front of Busch Stadium there is an arch statue decorated with a St. Louis Cardinals theme. I saw it when in St. Louis earlier this month. I think it was outside of the Starbucks.

Wrigley Field: San Diego Padres 1 @ Chicago Cubs 0

Last night I went to my second Cubs game at Wrigley Field this season. I now realize I never did post about going back in April when the Nats were in town and it was my first night game at Wrigley. Anyways, this was another night game.

I sat in section 226, which is on the first base side. This was different for me in that I have always sat on the third base side before except when we sat right up behind home plate on the road trip last year. I was only one row (22) from the top of the section and it kind of stunk that I could not see the scoreboard (my favorite feature of Wrigley), but I cannot complain because someone gave me the ticket and I could still see all the baseball action. There was also one of the poles in the way between the pitcher and home plate, but it was not a real issue and that is just one of the quarks of Wrigley being an old ballpark.

The game itself was not exactly exciting, as it was low scoring and there was not many hits or even fly balls to the outfield. However, I like games like that when it is close and it is more of a pitching duel. Although, there were quite a few walks and a couple errors. The end of the game was pretty exciting with the Cubs final out being with one man on and the guy at bat hitting a long ball that looked like it would make it out of the park, but was caught in the ivy. I would have liked to see the Cubs win, but it was still a lot of fun to see another game at Wrigley.

I also like that I got a photo of the Harry Caray statue at its current location, as after the game I read they are moving it so it is closer to being outside the bleacher section during the next homestand. They are putting another guy (I cannot remember who right now and am too lazy to look it up, although I am pretty sure it is Billy something) where Harry is right now. Anyways, I am kind of sad I forgot to go to the front of the stadium and take a photo of the macaroni statue (Kraft Macaroni and Cheese ad), but I did already photograph the one they have at Navy Pier.

Baseball's Gateway to the West Exhibit at the Arch

In St. Louis this week I was sad to miss there being a game in town by a day, especially since the Cubs were coming to town the next day. However, I still ended up happening upon the Baseball Gateway to the West exhibit. The exhibit is in the Museum of Westward Expansion, which is in the visitor's center under the Arch. Access to this museum is free, as they only charge if you want to see a movie or take a tram up to the top of the Arch.

The exhibit is pretty interesting, although I didn't get a chance to really explore it due to chasing little ones around being the first priority this trip. The exhibit was basically a sort of history of baseball in St. Louis and I assume it led to the conclusion that St. Louis playing a roll in baseball spreading to the Western USA. There was some cool stuff on display such as World Series memorabilia, uniforms, and baseballs. They had a fun display with baseballs and marks to show how the ball is held to throw different pitches. There was also a Knothole wall similar to the one in the Cactus League exhibit. Not as cool as the old Cardinals Hall of Fame that was housed with the International Bowling Hall of Fame across from Busch Stadium, but still a nicely put together little exhibit. Unfortunately, the exhibit is only temporary, but it does go until October 31, 2010.

Chase Field: Gonzo Becomes First Dback to Have Number Retired

Finally got the pics from Dad from Mik and him going to the Dbacks game last night (August 7, 2010). They got to see their second number retirement ceremony, as Luis Gonzalez's number 20 became the first true Dback number retired. Technically it is the 2nd number retired, as Jackie Robinson's number 42 is retired from all Major League baseball teams, but that does not really count. I am happy to see that the number 20 is displayed at Chase Field in the classic (yeah, that seems like an odd word to use with such a young team) purple and turquoise.

Above are some pics of the race they now have at Chase Field. I think they call it the Legends Race. It is similar to the Presidents Race at Nationals Park, but instead features Dbacks, such as Randy Johnson and Gonzo.

Here are some more pics of the Gonzo Bobbleheads given out including the normal version and the special Bronze version they got. Even the boxes are pretty cool.

Mik Scores Bronze Gonzo Bobblehead at Chase Field

Mik and Dad went to the Dbacks game tonight with some friends. For once, I actually am upholding my not going to Dbacks games due to them moving their spring training to Phoenix vow. However, the real reason I did not go was that I now live in Texas and that makes it quite easy to pass up the temptation to go to along with to a Dbacks game.

Not only did Mik end up with a Luis Gonzalez bobblehead to add to his collection of Bobbleheads (it includes Mark Grace as Dback and Mark Grace as broadcaster by the way), but he ended up with one of the 50 Bronze autographed ones. Totally awesome addition to his collection and of course I am jealous of just the regular Gonzo bobblehead, but I am working on maybe getting to Target Field next weekend and then who will be jealous?

By the way I would like credit for making Dad get the tickets to take Mik to this game, though, as I looked at the promotion schedule at the beginning of the season and saw that there was a Luis Gonzalez (i.e. Gonzo) Bobblehead giveaway and told him right away he had to take Mik to the game.

Note: Dad is supposed to send me more photos and info on the game tomorrow, so I will post some more about their ballpark adventure to keep this blog going with all of our continuing baseball adventures.