What a cool story SC. Stories like that, with a personal touch, are treasures.



TIS

Excellent story, SC. Your dad must've been the proudest kid in Coney Island. Times were certainly tough then, and they helped to create tough people.

Your story got me thinking. Coney Island. 1912. Maybe...just maybe Bonehead Merkle was there to witness the feat.

GREAT story, SC. I have a similar story, but in reverse. My Uncle Sal was a big guy, not so tall, but broad. His hands were like catcher's mitts. He was a Golden Gloves contender, made it pretty far. He was about to go into the ring when he saw his gigantic opponent. He turned and ran out of the gym, and never boxed again.

For my odest's nineteenth birthday today I took him out to a barbecue place for lunch because he's working tonight. It's located near a casino and the race track in a sprawling rural area about 15 minutes from my home. The place used to be located on the corner of a busy road near an interstate. It's run by two bikers, who make outstanding assortments of barbecued beef, chicken, pork and ribs.

This was our first visit to the new location although we've bought from them in the past. I asked the girls at the counter about some construction work that I saw going on in the back, and she advised that they're building a stage for bands on some Saturday nights. Also, the bikers are planning to put on stage productions of Shakespeare. Smoked barbecue, bikers and Shakespeare is quite a combination.

Having lunch with my son was extremely enjoyable as we stuffed ourselves with oversized sandwiches and fries while Album II of the White Album was playing throughout the place.

Sounds like an excellent day, klyd.

Happy Birthday to son #1.

The food sounds great Kly. You're making me hungry.
Oh, and eaten to the back drop of "The White Album"?? Can't beat that. Glad you enjoyed



TIS

Happy Birthday, young Klyd! Sounds like a fun lunch. I LOVE barbecue.

Thanks. My son works as a concessions supervisor for our local AA baseball team, which is the affiliate of the Washington Nationals. He just finished his first year of college, and made the Dean's List, majoring in Business and Finance. It's great having him home for the Summer.

The food at my local AA ballparks is far better than any I've had at any major league park.

That's a good point, SC. It's priced more reasonably. Minor league parks do a good job of highlighting some of the town's unique food items too. I find it more family friendly too. There are lots of on and off-field attractions between innings. For example, on Friday games a random fan wins a 40-inch flatscreen, HD TV every inning of the game. And on Thursday beer is only a dollar on the boardwalk that runs from one outfield pole to the other.

The games that I'm going to make a point going to this year have special attractions. "Monkey rodeo night," where chimps, dressed as cowboys, ride racing German shepherds all over the field; and "the Burning Man," whoignites himself completely in fire as he runs around all the bases.

Where else am I going to find entertainment like that?

My all-time favorite promotion was about 10 years ago on July 3 where cub scouts were allowed to camp in the outfield after the game that night with their families. My sons and I pitched our tent right behind second base, and with hundreds of others we watched "The Sandlot" on the big screen.

It was a pure moment of surreal beauty to wake up just after dawn on a baseball field on the Fourth of July.

That's what baseball is all about. That's what James Earl Jones talked about in his great speech, "They will come" in "Field of Dreams".

[quote=SC

That's what baseball is all about. That's what James Earl Jones talked about in his great speech, "They will come" in "Field of Dreams". [/quote]

I came, I stayed, and I didn't want to leave.

As one of the early risers I walked to a concourse where they were handing out danish, bananas and juice. Another earlybird dad, who looked still half asleep came up behind me. I looked over the sea of tents covering the outfield and said to him, "Isn't that a beautiful sight?"

Without even looking, he grumbled, "It's like a goddamned refugee camp."

I'm guessing he didn't enjoy his prepackaged danish as much as I did.

It's what baseball USED to be. Not sure how it is in other towns, but here in NY, we've resigned ourselves to watching major league ball on the TV. Between the gas, tolls, parking, food and drinks, not to mention the price of tickets for four, it's really far too expensive.

Last year, we got a local team. They're part of the CanAm League. The stadium is beautiful, brand new and state-of-the-art. The players are wonderfully friendly to the kids who attend, and they do lots of events for local charities. The parking is only $5 and the tickets are extremely reasonable. The food, however, not so good. That's OK, we'll just bring sandwiches next game.

As they say: A hot dog at the ballpark is better than a steak at the Ritz.

If you see the new "Men In Black", that's our new CanAm ballpark in the baseball scene that is set in the 1960s.

We here on Long Island are lucky to have the Ducks. They have a nice little park and EXCELLENT food including these awesome sausages. Some years ago I went to a game with my friend, Lori, and we were sat in the Owner's Box. (right behind the dugout). I was happy to have my duck whistle (when you blow it, it quacks) and a beer and enjoying the batting practice. The game started and we started eating the food (mmmmm) and someone sits down in the booth with us. We were talking about the food and he suggested this and that and he seemed really interested in what we thought. Turns out an inning or two later I was thumbing through the program and I saw an interview with the team owner. It was the guy sitting next to us. We really were sitting in the owner's box!

I think they were trying new food items at the game and they gave us two fatsos a seat in the owner's box figuring they'd get free feedback on the food.

I'm hoping that reply was a result of not having coffee yet. It's the stuff from which beautiful memories are made.

That's great! Better than impersonating a doctor to get a good table at the track.

I've always had more fun at the Lakewood BlueClaws (Single-A Phillies team) 15 minutes away than I ever had at a MLB game (slight exaggeration, but kinda true), for all the reasons mentioned. It's family-centric, not money-centric. $7 thru the gate (for General Admission, which I always get; more for a real seat) and also simply because it's around the corner. And now and then you get to see stars in the making: Ryan Howard, Cole Hammels, and others came thru here.

The food is okay, not great (they also have local eateries with booths, but that's hit or miss per season like anything else). Kids have a ball there, and $1 beers on "Thirsty Thursdays" is a lot of cheap fun (yes, I get a season pass for Thursdays lol) and we've made some good friends with the regulars. I usually go 10-12 times/season.

Granted, I don't always actually pay attention to the game itself

Apparently NJ has 6 pro baseball stadiums (2 MLB: Lakewood and Trenton's Yankees AA team), and I'm hoping to visit them all in the next year or two. (I've been to Trenton Thunder a couple times, but they were BoSox then, not yet Yankees). Along with Staten Island -- I consider that New Jersey East anyway...

You might want to consider the ballpark in Coney Island, also. I've been there only once but it was quite memorable. (with plawrence, Don Cardi and Signor Vitelli). It's right off the boardwalk and even on the hottest days in the summer it is quite comfortable when the afternoon sea breeze kicks in. Only a few blocks from Nathan's (mmmmmm) and not much driving on the Belt Pkwy.

Will see... I also have 34 NJ Wineries on another list

"Four JG's Orchards & Vineyards" sounds intriguing...

[Do those links work okay if you're not on Foursquare?]

I see a lot of your linked stuff on Facebook, so I guess you don't need to have Foursquare.

But you can see the lists from those links? 34 Wineries, 6 ballparks? Cool.... thanks

Yeah. The maps and lists show up from the link.

All right, fellas... who can top this??

Is this the world's most epic marriage proposal?

How does he follow up on the honeymoon after a proposal like that?

Pfft... after all that, she'd probably be happy enough with a $15 room in Camden...

Edit: As an aside from the article... "The state’s Brick Township [next door to me] was rated the second-safest city for the third straight year, behind only Newton, Mass., while the Garden State’s Dover Township [where I live] was ranked tenth."

I lived in Newton, MA for a few years. And yes, I'd say it was very safe.

I'm checking out some of the apartment listings in and around Brick.

Geoff! Your Waldo!! Don't think that's gone by unnoticed, you schemer!

(Or has this already been discussed, and I missed it? )