Road Trip #1…..

I love being able to follow my Cubbies when they go on the road.  Being a part of the Florida State League makes it rather easy to catch away games on the weekends.  Over the years, I have enjoyed getting to know the other stadiums, fans and town that are homes to our opponents.  We try to get away on travel weekends whenever possible.  We love the travel and the team seems to appreciate familiar faces (and sounds…) when they are the away team.

Our first road trip of this season took us to Steinbrenner Field, home of the Tampa Yankees and Spring Home of the Evil Empire.  Of all the stadiums we visit, I would have to say this is my least favorite.  The facility itself is quite nice, much like a mini version of the old Yankee Stadium.  My issue is with the “policies” they have in place.   They don’t allow you to bring bats into the stadium, nor do they allow “noise makers”.  That means we can bring our cowbells in.  They are sticklers about so many things such as “don’t put your feet, bag, drinks, etc. on the dugout, No noise makers, no yada.. yada.. yada….. ad nauseam.   It is the only ballpark in the FSL where I feel unwelcomed.  It is almost as if curmudgeonly old George himself is there barking out orders!  It’s no wonder they have such a small attendance for the minor league games!  There have been many instances where the Cubs fans, family and staff in attendance far outweigh the number of the hometown crowd.

 

On the other hand, I do love Tampa.  We typically stay pretty close to the ball park.  So the travel is easy.  Additionally, they have some great restaurants in the area, particularly Cuban cuisine.  Those who know me know I love to try new restaurants almost as much as I love baseball!  Another positive note is that for some reason, we seem to have a lot of players from the west coast of Florida, so we get to see lots of their families.  This weekend was no exception.  Both Rock Shoulders and Dan Vogelbach are from the west coast of FL and both had family in the crowd.  Albert Almora’s family was also there (although they are from the Miami area and travel a lot following the team!

 

Well back to our guys.  They ended up losing the series 2-1, but Saturday night’s victory was much like the win in Brevard earlier in the month.  The team seemed to be firing on all cylinders.  Offense and defense were outstanding.  And the larger than usual home town crowd had little to cheer about. (maybe that’s why there were only a couple of hundred people at the game on Sunday?).

 

 

We had a rally going (thanks in no small part to our rally caps!), but unfortunately, the spark just wasn't enough. 

The weather was quite cooperative but we did get a small taste of what the summer has in store for us during the 1:00 pm start on Sunday.  The temps were in the mid 80’s and the sun was brilliant.  I think it’s going to be a long, hot summer.  Hopefully, the team will be cooling off the competition and it won’t seem too bad!

The ride home always seems a bit longer when we are taking home a win, but the trip was well worth it and I look forward to the next one....