Road Trip....Family Style!

Road trip! Before you get too excited, it was our first road trip with our 1 year old aka SB09 in tow. Strollers, walking, walking and more walking. The little guy was a trooper as was my lovely bride. I think she saw 4 innings over 2 games. There are a few things to consider if you are bringing super youngins to a game. First, if it's an extra inning game you won't be in the ballpark until the end. We attended Saturday and Sunday's games, when Qualls comes in, that's your cue. Seats in the sun are tough, especially in plus 90 degree weather. Mom Bryson was also in attendance, like all Moms, she came prepared, water bottles, cold rally towels for the neck, sunscreen etc. Mom Mom also stepped up big time by watching the lil' guy while the wife and I had a night out. You know you married the right woman when she suggests we make this a yearly event even though she did most of the diaper duty.

It was a sea of red. It is absolutely amazing how well Phillies fans travel. The Inner Harbor was one Phillies t-shirt wearing fan after another. That is quite astonishing considering the Fightin's are a struggling .500ish team. I actually saw more red at Saturday's game then your typical home game. It was at least 75% Phillies fans. And we were loud. LET'S GO PHILLIES! chants all weekend long. For the most part our fans seemed pretty well behaved. The only ugliness I saw was when an Orioles fan flipped our section the bird. She was one of maybe 1 of 5 O's fans in our section. She got a slight beer shower, she deserved it.

Orioles Park at Camden Yards is still amazing. It is the original, old style, modern feel park. The only thing that bugs me is the tiny tunnels to get to the lower level seats. It's not like Citizens Bank Park were you can see the game from the concourse. One other pet peeve, ushers don't stop people from going to their seats while play is on, if you're on the aisle it can be quite annoying. Things to love? The way the Orioles fans scream OOOO'S during the National Anthem is flippin' awesome! I thought I liked Natty Bo or National Bohemian, but another Phils fan told me I was the atmosphere and it was as bad a beer as there was. By my 3rd one, I realized he was right.

I also met the only Phillies fan that hates Chooch. That is rarer than finding a Chris Wheeler fan. His argument was that Chooch hits .220 during the season but hits .300 during the playoffs. Ok, I don't ever remember Ruiz hitting .220 for a season, moving on. We also had the tools wearing Orioles shirts with Phillies hats. The moron in front of me said the Phillies were his National League team. That's like saying I like Democracy but I also like Communism.

And one last thing...F THE DH!

Keep It Classy Philly!

DB29