More Baseball

It's no secret that I enjoy baseball and that other than attending the Rays' Saturday game and last night (Thursday) against the White Sox, and the Dunedin game a week ago, I really don't have a problem. One more post for a few days and that's it...I promise.

This was my view the past two games from the "cheap seats" above home plate for a whole $7.50. I thought I'd need binoculars judging from the same section at Miller Park. But at the smaller Trop, I could read the players' names on their jerseys. Menasha's Eric Hinske (above) made some contact.

The Rays' all-star left-fielder and speed demon Carl Crawford (above) takes a pitch to the opposite field.

I very much enjoy my favorite American League team here in Tampa, but the 20 oz. screwtop Pepsi bottle race can't come close to Milwaukee's racing sausages ("Go Italian!"). Looks like Sierra Mist took this race.

And look at that. It's the Commodores waiting to rekindle their classic Motown sound after the game. Editorial comment: What happened to Motown? Where's the profanity-free music? HF1

Funny Photo(s) 2: 70s Night at the Trop

Last Saturday I took in a Tampa Bay Rays game at Tropicana Field over in St. Pete. Little did I know that after the Rays' 11-4 drubbing of the Orioles, that 70s Night would conclude with a concert with 70s legends The Commodores. The Rays' tech staff had fun as they "photo-shopped" (there's a new millennium word) the players' usual scoreboard photos. I could've posted a dozen more, but here are three good ones. HF1

Rays: Best Team in Baseball

Tampa Bay just finished the Texas Rangers 7-3 to move ahead of Arizona for the best record in baseball. Menasha's Eric Hinske is doing a great job as the DH and rightfielder and hit a three-run HR tonight. HF1

Tuesday Night at the Trop

Three of the Amigos from the Centcom History Office ventured to Tropicana Field in St. Pete for an evening contest between the Rays and the visiting Boston Red Sox. The crowd sounded 60-40% in favor of the Sox. This Florida transplanting of residents from the East Coast goes too far in sports! I enjoyed batting practice as David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Mike Lowell cranked a bunch of the balls out of the park. Alas, the Rays put up a good game and lost out. All in all, good fun! HF1

Photos Around Tampa/St. Pete

I thought I'd share a bunch of random photos from the past two and a half weeks. For geographic reference, please click on the map of Tampa here, when I describe each photo. You can click on any of the photos to get a closer look.

Here's me at MacDill Air Force Base, near CENTCOM, looking north across Hillsborough Bay at downtown Tampa.


Baseball fans, especially Jack, here are A-Rod at third and Derek Jeter at short at the Yankees-Rays game July 15th. With all the retired and relocated people here in Florida, the Yankees had more fans than the Rays!


The peanut gallery in row UU way back in right field. I'm with Ken Griffey Jr., who took a day off from his duties with the Cincinnati Reds. Kidding, that's actually Ken Lafayette, another temporary historian here from Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. Next time we go to stadium and pro shop, Ken has agreed to don a Reds hat for a picture. Uncanny.


If you find the "Dr. Meadows" pinpoint on the Tampa map, this photo is taken from the 16th floor looking SE down Bayshore Blvd. on the east shore of the Interbay Peninsula (I like geography so bear with me...). Dr. Meadows, a retired physician at the church I attend had some of us up for some fellowship and a great view. I do my morning runs in part along that sidewalk below. It's considered the world's longest at 4.5 miles. To view a short news clip on Bayshore, click here.





Here's Geek Boy 1 at Picnic Island, along the SW shore of the Interbay Peninsula, and directly W of MacDill AFB. (Again, bear with me...) I experienced skeeters and a view all the way to St. Pete while picking up some geocaching finds. [username herrforce1 for fellow cachers]


And the best... Locate Davis Islands on the map (SE of downtown Tampa) and find the tiny airport. I saw this looking directly west. I noticed the impending behemoth of a storm coming in while poking around the park near Peter Knight airport. Tampa puts on at least two to three magnificent storms per week all summer. As long as those hurricanes stay away, I can sit under the overhang and watch the natural awesomeness of these storms.

Funny Photo 2: Tropicana Field

Try and do that TWICE! I went to Sunday's Dodger-Devil Ray game and finally witnessed a Tampa Bay victory (1-3 with me in da house, JAAAH!). Sitting in the right field stands, I saw Dodger Luis Gonzales' two-run homer impact about 30 yards to my right. Little did I know until I read the next day's paper that he dropped it into the Rays' Tank. 30 cownose rays grace right-center field where kids can go touch them. They claim it's the first impact in the 10 year history here. Gonzales retained Dave Winfield's attorney to address certain imminent animal abuse litigation. HF1

Beware Psycho Ball-Hog Guy (PBHG)!

I went to a Tampa Bay Devil Rays baseball game several weeks ago to relax, enjoy a book, and see how the Rays and Royals would battle each other for the loss. Since my seat is in left field, I got there early to try and retrieve one of the ubiquitous batting practice homers and send it back to Jack (World's #1 Brewer Fan!!!). So I notice this quiet semi-elderly man (no offense to those of you who know who you are) who finally gets one but drops it onto the field. The obliging Kansas City player tosses it to him again. Then a few minutes later, a caroming homer, now a roller headed toward a young lad about Jack's age. This strange fella bolted like lighting ahead of the kid (making a donkey of himself on the way) and heroically prevented the kid from getting his own ball #1. And finally another homer produced an interesting pinball rendition among several seats before rolling to the feet of a thritysomething female patron. As she chuckled and reached for the ball, old psycho-silent man boxed her out and took ball #3! So astonished was I that I looked at another fan an asked, "Did he just do that?" The usher wanted to make something of it and the old dog just grunted when I asked him if he had been proud wrestling another adult for a $10 baseball of which he already had two. Just as I turned around he vanished. The usher said the old coot comes to almost every game. Well, the tickets are cheap, the Bosox, Yanks, Dodgers, and Angels are all due here in the next eight weeks. I will keep an eye out for the Psycho Ball-Hog Guy (PBHG). I will be his paparazzo pest (singular noun..aren't you impressed?) and show him a prinout of this blogpost. For now, as a public service, I disseminate this image (below) of the PBHG. Children and easygoing thirtysomething females beware! HF1

Greater Tampa Hybrid Map

Here's a satellite photo that I dressed up with graphics to show where I am be-bopping around. I included "home" which is where my apartment is. I located church, Centcom, the bays, and sports teams. The Bucs and Lightning play (in season) in Tampa and the Devil Rays play in St. Petersburg. I will soon post photos of recreational areas at Cypress Point Park and Gandy Bridge. MacDill AFB, on which Centcom is a tenant organization, lies at the tip of the Interbay Peninsula. I will include some more area background as I get to it. And yes, I will step into these pictures soon enough. Back off!

HF1

Scenes at "The Trop"

Here are some pics of my games at Tropicana Field where the Marlins devoured the D-Rays in a weekend sweep.

Right Field:

The stadium appears to be a giant umbrella...

Tropicana Field has an area where you can call a game with crowd noise and get it on CD. Amongst their cartoonish images of classic announcers is none other than "The Ueck!"

I Think I Chose The Wrong Game

As I work here in Florida, I am able to take advantage of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' military ticket price of $9.50 with free parking across the bay in St. Pete. I enjoy the relaxed pace of a baseball game and found as much at last night's intrastate contest which saw the Florida Marlins pound the Rays 8-4. I obtained a free foam finger prop for Jack and read about 75 pages of Me, Myself, and Bob by Phil Vischer.

Unfortunately, I missed the bigger game. The Tampa Bay Yankees, the Yanks' single-A minor club, started Roger Clemens against Fort Myers. The Rocket is making a few minor league starts to gear up for his May 28th New York Yankees debut. The T-Yanks drew 10,000+ people and the Rays drew 13,003. If the T-Yanks' park had been larger, I think they would have outdrawn the "Major League" Rays.

Oh well, I saw a grand slam and a few other homers. I'm heading back to "The Trop" (Tropicana Field) to take in cowboy hat night on Emma's behalf.

And for all you wondering about the "work," I went in for 3 and a half hours Saturday to learn from my predecessor. My Monday-Thursday will be taken up with mandatory CENTCOM training, making my actual work impossible.

Take care and God bless,
HF1

P.S. As far as my TSA-approved three ounces, I drank 12 oz. of Starbucks and pitched the cup prior to boarding.