Game 19 - Philadelphia Phillies

The morning following the Baltimore game, we raced towards Philadelphia to make the 4:00 game. A friend of Jason and mine, Drew Vicary, had a connection to Ben Zobrist, the second baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays and he was able to get us passes to get on the field for batting practice. Getting on the field turned out to be one of the coolest experiences we have had on the trip. Zobrist couldn't have been a nicer guy, and he chatted with us for awhile around the cages and even confessed to tracking the blog. I immediately felt terrible for ripping apart Tropicana Field in Tampa, but I only write one way, and that's with an pen guided by honest emotions my friends. Zobrist gave us a few batting practice balls and signed one for my Nephew, Sam. Joe Maddon, the coach of the Rays, was nice enough to come over and meet my Dad and spend a few minutes with him. He really was a great guy, and both he and Ben will be people I will root for going forward.

Things got a little weird once we found the press room...

Honestly, after getting on the field for BP, we were riding a high and looking to continue our string of good luck at the cheese steak stand. This is where things went a little bit south. I was expecting a proper philly cheese steak, and they couldn't deliver. Big Jim wasn't happy about this, and it cost Philly a Big Jim:

Pros: New, open ballpark, easy parking and friendly staff.
Cons: Sub par cheese steak, ballpark food wasn't great.

-JJS