Summer of Sports

Where have we been all summer? Most likely at a sporting event.

Lots to share from this summer - most good, some sad. I'm starting with a round up of sporting events.

May 23rd: Somerset Patriots vs. York Revolution Single A Baseball York, PA This game kicked off the summer of baseball and really collecting baseballs. After a small snafu of buying tickets for the wrong game, we enjoyed a fun, cool night of minor league ball.
May 30th: NYCFC vs. Houston Dynamo MLS Yankee Stadium, NYC
June 10: Washington Nationals vs. NY Yankees MLS Yankee Stadium, NYC Boys Wednesday afternoon outing. Finally made it to the game in time to visit monument park. Fun Fact: Thurman Munson was Justin's favorite Yankee growing up and why Justin always chooses #15.
June 13: NYCFC vs. Montreal Impact MLS Yankee Stadium, NYC Big win for NYCFC! Also the first time that football hooligans joined the crowd. Our seats are near the visiting teams fan section. The 20 or so fans that made the trip from Montreal received lots of attention from security.
June 18: Miami Marlins vs NY Yankees MLB Yankee Stadium, NYC Thurman Munson bobble head doll night - a must attend night!
June 21: Brooklyn Cyclones vs. Staten Island Yankees Single A Baseball Staten Island, NYC Beginning of the season for the SI Yanks and our first game sitting right behind the home team dugout.
June 28th: NYCFC vs. NJ Red Bulls MLS Yankee Stadium, NYC First time this rivalry came to Yankee Stadium and the crowd was ready. We cheered hard for the boys in blue, unfortunately the Jers team got the W.
July 4: Hickory Crawdads vs. Greensboro Hoppers Single A Baseball Greensboro, NC Our Fourth of July celebration. Fun, but a long, long game with lots of runs from the visiting team. The Hoppers had a bit of a rally in the bottom of the ninth and the home crowd actually groaned, because we were all anxious for fireworks to start before it started raining.
July 19: Lowell Spinners vs Staten Island Yankees Single A Baseball Staten Island, NYC SI Yanks game #2. All four kids "caught" balls.
July 26: NYCFC vs. Orlando City MLS Yankee Stadium Exciting win for NYCFC - lots of goals!
July 29: NYCFC Open Practice MLS Purchase, NY Cool perk for season ticket holders. Justin took Jack to this event. They got to see the team up-close and picked up several autographs and photos.
July 29: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs Triple A Baseball Allentown, PA July 29th was a big sports fro Justin and Jack. Soccer followed by baseball. Two of the players on the RailRiders, pitcher Luis Severino and first baseman Greg Bird were called up to the Yankees a few days after this game.
August 2: Staten Island Yankees vs. Brooklyn Cyclones Single A Baseball Coney Island, NYC We finally made the trek to Coney Island for the Cyclones. Fun game but man was it hot. We had a big scare at the end of the game when Spencer and me were separated. Took a few minutes, but we found him with a very nice family. Scared the crap out of me.
August 11: Colorado Rockies vs. NY Mets MLB Citifield, NYC No batting practice, but Jack did get an autograph. More importantly, he tried Big League Bubble gum for the first time.
August 13th: NYCFC vs. DC United MLS Yankee Stadium, NYC Cristine, Julia and Connor were in town for this one. NYCFC pulled out a shocker, beating top ranked DC United 3-1. What a great game!!
August 14th: Pittsburgh Pirates vs NY Mets MLB Yankee Stadium, NYC While the girls went to see Wicked, the boys heaed out to Citifield for the Mets.
August 16th: Vermont LakeMonsters vs. Staten Island Yankees Single A Baseball Staten Island, NYC Picked up a few autographs from the SI Yanks.
August 23rd: LA Galaxy vs. NYCFC MLS Los Angeles, CA Took our light blue on the road. I'd like to say that NYCFC played well, but they didn't really. Still fun to go to an away game especially at an established team.
August 29th: Chicago Cubs vs. LA Dodgers MLB Dodgers Stadium, LA, CA
August 31st: TX Rangers vs. San Diego Padres MLB Petco Park, San Diego, CA Our next baseball game on the SoCal vacation. Justin and Jack went early and met Leigh, a longtime season ticket holder. They all became fast friends and shared the fun of getting baseballs at games and autographs (like the one from Wil Myers) Also, the stadium had a decent wine list and served wine in cups with lids and straws.
September 2nd: TX Rangers vs. San Diego Padres MLB Petco Park, San Diego, CA The first game was so fun, the boys decided to go again. They went super early to see batting practice and hone their ball-hawker skills. They weren't disappointed. See the video at the bottom of this post for one special moment before the game - be sure to watch to the end. Leigh, the new friend from the first game, threw out the first pitch.
September 7th: Staten Island Yankees vs. Brooklyn Cyclones Single A Baseball Coney Island, NY Jack got autograph's from almost everyone on the SI Yanks including Kyle Holder, one of the top Yankees picks in the 2015 MLB Draft.

Billy's first MLB ball!



Last note. Our family apparently only wears blue.