Overall, this was an interesting roadtrip on which I got to see three brand new stadiums (Citi Field, Yankee Stadium, Target Field) and two stadiums that I'd never seen a game at before (PETCO Park, Turner Field) although I had visited Turner Field for a ballpark tour a couple of years ago on a cold January weekend when I was in Atlanta on business, and Coors Field that I'd visited last year and really liked.
Target Field was a beautiful facility - easily the nicest ballpark that I visited this year. I wasn't all that taken by the new Yankee Stadium, although that might have been coloured by the intense heat in New York on the days I visited. Citi Field is nicer, I think. I like the way that they have lots of different club areas, and these are available for people n different pricing levels and not just those paying top dollar. I liked PETCO Park too, in a great location down on the coast. Coors Field was just how I remembered it, and I enjoyed it yet again.
I've had so much weather this year, too! From the intense heat of New York at the end of August to the chilly midnight in Minneapolis as the Twins and Tigers went 13 innings to the pleasantly warm San Diego (although the locals thought it chilly!) and heat of Atlanta, to the tornadoes on my return to New York. However, no rain outs, which is good news.
This is the first time I've flown BusinessFirst internationally and I think I shall do it again, as it was so much nicer than Economy. From the quiet lounge at Heathrow, to the six-course meal on the flight, to the priority baggage label that resulted in such a short time from wheels-down at Newark to being in my hotel room. Sadly, I didn't get the upgrade on the way back, but at least that means I get the 20,000 miles and $250 back, though. And I did get a complimentary upgrade on ones of the legs between San Diego and Atlanta.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Final day
For the final day, I didn't really have time to do anything much, so I requested a late checkout at the hotel, intending to leave on the 2pm hotel shuttle, go to Manhattan, have a nice dinner, then go to the airport in plenty of time for my 8pm flight home. Most of this worked very well. I dropped in at Rochester's to pick up my new pair of trousers that I had bought to replace a worn-out pair and continued on the subway to Penn Station. I decided to eat something simple at the TGI Friday's there, before taking the New Jersey Transit to the airport. It was whilst I was perusing the bill at around 4.40pm, that I thought I'd check the status of my flight, so I got out my itinerary to check the flight number. That's when I noticed that my flight was actually at 6.40pm, and not 8pm!
Fortunately, a NJT train was just about to leave and I made this train and got on the airtrain to Continental's main terminal: terminal C. Unfortunately, the check-in process that I had completed the night before hadn't actually checked me in, and having taken ages, well at least 5 minutes, to answer all the questions and options at the check-in, I completed the procedure at 5.41pm exactly - which is exactly 1 minute too late, so they refused to let me on the flight! I was placed on standby for the following flight, 40 minutes later, with the warning that all the evening's flights to London were over-booked.
So I had to proceed to the gate for the later flight and wait. I was the only passenger on the standby list, though, so I only needed them to be one person short. Finally, 15 minutes before departure, the man at the desk beckoned me forward and said that one lady was not travelling after all, so I had a seat! This turned out to be a good seat (12A) much further forward than the one I had on the original flight (39F), and it was only 40 minutes after the one I was supposed to be catching. In the end, all the US to UK flights were arriving 45 minutes to an hour earlier than scheduled, so I landed at pretty much the original flight's scheduled time, and the baggage for that flight was still coming around when our baggage was coming out too, so I didn't miss out by very much at all.
My Dad picked me up outside and I went home for dinner, before travelling home to Cambridge on the train in the afternoon, as the engineering works had finished by then. I didn't sleep on the plane at all, so I was quite tired by the time I got home, and I fell asleep in the armchair, only waking up at after 3am!
Fortunately, a NJT train was just about to leave and I made this train and got on the airtrain to Continental's main terminal: terminal C. Unfortunately, the check-in process that I had completed the night before hadn't actually checked me in, and having taken ages, well at least 5 minutes, to answer all the questions and options at the check-in, I completed the procedure at 5.41pm exactly - which is exactly 1 minute too late, so they refused to let me on the flight! I was placed on standby for the following flight, 40 minutes later, with the warning that all the evening's flights to London were over-booked.
So I had to proceed to the gate for the later flight and wait. I was the only passenger on the standby list, though, so I only needed them to be one person short. Finally, 15 minutes before departure, the man at the desk beckoned me forward and said that one lady was not travelling after all, so I had a seat! This turned out to be a good seat (12A) much further forward than the one I had on the original flight (39F), and it was only 40 minutes after the one I was supposed to be catching. In the end, all the US to UK flights were arriving 45 minutes to an hour earlier than scheduled, so I landed at pretty much the original flight's scheduled time, and the baggage for that flight was still coming around when our baggage was coming out too, so I didn't miss out by very much at all.
My Dad picked me up outside and I went home for dinner, before travelling home to Cambridge on the train in the afternoon, as the engineering works had finished by then. I didn't sleep on the plane at all, so I was quite tired by the time I got home, and I fell asleep in the armchair, only waking up at after 3am!
Braves @ Mets
The final game of my roadtrip was the first game of the final season series between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets. The journey to the stadium was without incident tonight, after the previous night's trek through Queens. I didn't have such a great seat for this game, as the same seat costs several times more for a game against the Braves than against the Pirates. The Mets classify opponents into one of five pricing levels, where the Braves are in level 2 whereas the Pirates are in the bottom level 5. However, the view from my $100 seat in section 414 was OK, and I had access to the Promenade Club on that level, plus the Acela club and Caesars Club in the level below. The clubs are worth having access to - very nice, although I thought that the food was on the expensive side for what it was.
Whilst being able to see the whole field well, I also had an excellent view of many of the planes that pass over Citi Field. The game itself was pretty close except for the inning in which the Braves scored all 6 of their (unearned) runs which carried them to an eventual 6-4 victory. An error and a walk to the opposing pitcher were the keys to the big inning, as Jason Heyward eventually hit a 3-run homer to cap the inning. Sadly, the Mets seem to have packed in the season already although they have a player with a great name: Duda. He hit his first MLB homer tonight to give the Mets fans in attendance something to look forward to next year, at least.
The funniest inter-inning event of my roadtrip occurred tonight. Often fans at the ballpark will have the opportunity to win something in a lottery or by answering questions about the team. Tonight, the promotional item involved the following sequence of messages on the giant scoreboard, with a live video feed of one particular section of the stands. The messages went something like this:
"An important announcement"
"for the Mets fan in section xxx, row yyy, seat zzz"
(at this point, the fan in question stands up and starts to look excited)
"You have ..."
(fan gets even more excited, wondering what he's won ...)
"B.O.!!!"
(fan looks slightly deflated and tries to sit down, but is being kept standing by his "friends" in the adjoining seats, and eventually manages to leave the stadium)
This was followed by an advert for the deodorant for which this was all a promotion. General concensus is that this was all being filmed for a TV advert, on the basis that the same thing happened a couple of days later too.
See also the MetsPolice blog (a fan blog, not actually the police force)
Whilst being able to see the whole field well, I also had an excellent view of many of the planes that pass over Citi Field. The game itself was pretty close except for the inning in which the Braves scored all 6 of their (unearned) runs which carried them to an eventual 6-4 victory. An error and a walk to the opposing pitcher were the keys to the big inning, as Jason Heyward eventually hit a 3-run homer to cap the inning. Sadly, the Mets seem to have packed in the season already although they have a player with a great name: Duda. He hit his first MLB homer tonight to give the Mets fans in attendance something to look forward to next year, at least.
The funniest inter-inning event of my roadtrip occurred tonight. Often fans at the ballpark will have the opportunity to win something in a lottery or by answering questions about the team. Tonight, the promotional item involved the following sequence of messages on the giant scoreboard, with a live video feed of one particular section of the stands. The messages went something like this:
"An important announcement"
"for the Mets fan in section xxx, row yyy, seat zzz"
(at this point, the fan in question stands up and starts to look excited)
"You have ..."
(fan gets even more excited, wondering what he's won ...)
"B.O.!!!"
(fan looks slightly deflated and tries to sit down, but is being kept standing by his "friends" in the adjoining seats, and eventually manages to leave the stadium)
This was followed by an advert for the deodorant for which this was all a promotion. General concensus is that this was all being filmed for a TV advert, on the basis that the same thing happened a couple of days later too.
See also the MetsPolice blog (a fan blog, not actually the police force)
Friday, September 17, 2010
Pirates @ Mets
I took the AirTrain to the subway station and took the E express headed towards Manhattan. To get to Mets games, you have to use the 7 line, as it's the only one that goes close, which meant changing trains at 71st-Roosevelt Avenue. At 71st, there were people saying that the 7 train wasn't running. There was an awful lot of confusion and nobody seemed to know where to go or what to do and there were hundreds of people. There were very few MTA staff anywhere to be seen. The one guarding the entrance to the 7 train said we had to leave the subway station and take a bus. He didn't elaborate on which bus or the location of the bus stop. Eventually, after about 20 minutes or so or milling around outside, a traffic policeman appeared and indicated that we should walk 4 blocks and catch a Q66 to take us to the ballgame. I met two Mets fans on their way to the game, both called Bob, who were friendly and we walked together, as they knew roughly where they were going - although there were lots of people streaming along all the pavements. We passed a tree that had been split in 3. After 15 minutes of walking, we reached Northern Boulevard and found the bus stop. There were about 50 people queueing. No buses came and the road was almost gridlocked. Then some buses did go past but were out of service. After 20 minutes of waiting, it was clear we weren't going to get anywhere and after phoning home to check the address of the stadium to see how far away it was, Bob and Bob decided to walk and I went with them. It was 50 blocks away, and it took over an hour, by which time I was exhausted. It was still raining slightly too.
I was sent up the private escalator to the Delta 360 club on the Sterling level, where my seat was. If that sounds posh, then that conveys what it's like perfectly. Although it was the middle of the 5th inning (half way through the game), I decided to have something to drink and eat inside first, as my seat was out in the rain. There was a bar, with seats, and lots of large easy chairs everywhere and lots of TVs on which to watch the game. Outside, most people were huddled at the back under what little shelter there was. I finally went back out to my seat during the bottom of the 7th inning. I showed the usher my ticket and he said I didn't have to sit in my assigned seat - it didn't matter where I sat. There were about 6 people in their seats in my section, section 17, just off to the third base side of the plate, with an excellent view. There are over 200 seats in the section. By now, the rain was leaving off and it was just a light drizzle. The usher had supplied several expensive-looking high-quality paper towels for drying the seat off which worked well. I was able to sit several rows closer to the front than I should have in a normal game. It would have been nice to see a whole game from there.
Just as Bob, Bob and I arrived at Citi Field, a 7 train went past on the subway, which at least meant that we'd be able to get back into town on the train after the game. However, the status updates were giving in the stadium towards the end of the game, indicating that the 7 was running again, but the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) was suspended between Manhattan and Jamaica (the end of the 'E' line, where I have to return to my hotel from). I did not hurry to leave the stadium after the game, chatting to my usher for a while, taking photos, waiting for the inevitable queues to clear. The upside of so many people not being able to get to the game in the first place was that there was a lot fewer people trying to leave again! In the end, I got back to my hotel about 12.30am. Since the LIRR wasn't working west of Jamaica, the E train was packed with commuters still trying to get home as well.
Later on, I discovered that a tornado had been spotted in Queens (the borough of New York that I'm in and the stadium is in) - something that the weather services here are still trying to clarify - and that lots of trees were down all over the city and the subway and the rail lines. In fact, this morning, LIRR is still disrupted.
I appear to have developed a cold as well, unfortunately - no doubt caught from the girl sitting next to me who was sniffing all the way from San Diego to Houston a couple of days ago.
I was sent up the private escalator to the Delta 360 club on the Sterling level, where my seat was. If that sounds posh, then that conveys what it's like perfectly. Although it was the middle of the 5th inning (half way through the game), I decided to have something to drink and eat inside first, as my seat was out in the rain. There was a bar, with seats, and lots of large easy chairs everywhere and lots of TVs on which to watch the game. Outside, most people were huddled at the back under what little shelter there was. I finally went back out to my seat during the bottom of the 7th inning. I showed the usher my ticket and he said I didn't have to sit in my assigned seat - it didn't matter where I sat. There were about 6 people in their seats in my section, section 17, just off to the third base side of the plate, with an excellent view. There are over 200 seats in the section. By now, the rain was leaving off and it was just a light drizzle. The usher had supplied several expensive-looking high-quality paper towels for drying the seat off which worked well. I was able to sit several rows closer to the front than I should have in a normal game. It would have been nice to see a whole game from there.
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| Excellent $102 seats for the Pirates/Mets game |
Just as Bob, Bob and I arrived at Citi Field, a 7 train went past on the subway, which at least meant that we'd be able to get back into town on the train after the game. However, the status updates were giving in the stadium towards the end of the game, indicating that the 7 was running again, but the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) was suspended between Manhattan and Jamaica (the end of the 'E' line, where I have to return to my hotel from). I did not hurry to leave the stadium after the game, chatting to my usher for a while, taking photos, waiting for the inevitable queues to clear. The upside of so many people not being able to get to the game in the first place was that there was a lot fewer people trying to leave again! In the end, I got back to my hotel about 12.30am. Since the LIRR wasn't working west of Jamaica, the E train was packed with commuters still trying to get home as well.
Later on, I discovered that a tornado had been spotted in Queens (the borough of New York that I'm in and the stadium is in) - something that the weather services here are still trying to clarify - and that lots of trees were down all over the city and the subway and the rail lines. In fact, this morning, LIRR is still disrupted.
I appear to have developed a cold as well, unfortunately - no doubt caught from the girl sitting next to me who was sniffing all the way from San Diego to Houston a couple of days ago.
Return to New York
The weather forecast for Thursday was not good - it looked like a band of thunderstorms were heading into the New York area, with a promise of prolonged periods of rain and thunderstorms all evening. Fortunately, my flight arrived early afternoon, and although it was a little bumpy during the descent, landed safely. I made my way to the hotel and have a room on the 4th floor again, where the wireless networking doesn't work properly. The cabled network didn't work either, but now I've plugged the wire directly into the port on the wall, it seems to be working.
The hotel shuttle turned up after I'd only been waiting a few minutes, and I got to the hotel at around 5.20pm. The front desk staff didn't believe me that there were thunderstorms due. Just before 6pm, a terrible storm struck New York, with lots of lightning, sheets of torrential rain, mostly horizontal in the gale force winds. However, it was just heavy rain when the 6pm shuttle back to the AirTrain was ready to leave, so I went anyway. This turned out to be a mistake.
The hotel shuttle turned up after I'd only been waiting a few minutes, and I got to the hotel at around 5.20pm. The front desk staff didn't believe me that there were thunderstorms due. Just before 6pm, a terrible storm struck New York, with lots of lightning, sheets of torrential rain, mostly horizontal in the gale force winds. However, it was just heavy rain when the 6pm shuttle back to the AirTrain was ready to leave, so I went anyway. This turned out to be a mistake.
Final night in Atlanta
I didn't get to do any tourist things in Atlanta, really. I went straight to the game on the day I arrived, and all of the daytime on my one full day in Atlanta was spent at the ballpark. In the evening, I went out for dinner with a colleague from work, Jon Green. Jon is in Atlanta with one of our customers, doing professional services work.
As a result, I was able to choose a restaurant that was in the recommended list but only reachable by car. The 4th&Swift restaurant (its name, not its location) was very nice and the portions were properly sized which was nice. The bill was very reasonable too, so Jon's going to be able to expense the part of the bill he got. It was nice to be able to sit and talk to somebody through the evening, for a change.
As a result, I was able to choose a restaurant that was in the recommended list but only reachable by car. The 4th&Swift restaurant (its name, not its location) was very nice and the portions were properly sized which was nice. The bill was very reasonable too, so Jon's going to be able to expense the part of the bill he got. It was nice to be able to sit and talk to somebody through the evening, for a change.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Washington Nationals @ Atlanta Braves (2)
I ha a letter under my hotel room door last night saying that they needed to move me a different room, because they wanted to do painting and other decoration work on the 10th floor. This was accompanied by another $20 breakfast voucher, so I now have too many! In the end, they don't want me to move room, because I'm checking out tomorrow. But I still used the voucher.
I left the hotel rather late today, at 11.30am, but I was pleased to arrive at Turner Field just before midday. Today's game started at 12.10pm, and the Braves rested a number of their starters from the night game yesterday. I was in exactly the same seat as yesterday, but I choose to sit one to the right, so I could see better. Three people turned up on the 5th inning to sit in my row, and they left in the 7th again. Apart from that,. there was nobody else in my row. There didn't seem to be many people here at all, really. Probably a combination of it being a post-Labor-Day, mid-week, midday game against a not-very-good team: who beat them again today. The grand slam in the 2nd inning was enough to give the Nationals the game as the Braves couldn't get enough hits at the right time to push any more than 2 runs across. They had a base-running mistake, where a run did scored, but the run-down ended the inning.
Bobby Cox came to talk to the home plate umpire between innings, bringing his lineup card, so I assumed, along with the rest of the crowd, that he was going to change the pitcher's spot with a double-switch. However, after a while, the home plate umpire called over the crew chief from third base, and then the other two umpires went over, and they spent a couple of minutes looking at the lineup card and debating. In the end, Bobby returned to the Braves dugout and the game continued, with nobody the wiser. It wasn't even as if he was delaying the game so that he could get another pitcher ready - the pitcher already in the game pitched the whole inning. Since he's retiring after 20 years as manager of the Atlanta Braves, the Braves are doing several special events in their final homestand to end the season, which starts on September 27th. He's clearly liked and respected a great deal here.
Turner Field is fine for night games, more of a problem for day games if you're anywhere but the back few rows in the field level. The seats were hot to touch too, and the sun beats down on your back throughout the game. More shade came over my seat in the 8th inning, which was a relief, but those closer to towards the front and in the third base side didn't get any shade at all.
All the staff I spoke to were helpful and keen to offer assistance. Whenever I asked for directions, they insisted on showing me the way rather than just describing it. The premium seat food service is well-organised: you've got the people going up and down the aisles that you order from and pay, they put your order into their PDA and an inning or so later, somebody else delivers it. I eventually found somebody who could look at my ticket for the 28th September game, but they won't refund it as it is a single game ticket.
I left the hotel rather late today, at 11.30am, but I was pleased to arrive at Turner Field just before midday. Today's game started at 12.10pm, and the Braves rested a number of their starters from the night game yesterday. I was in exactly the same seat as yesterday, but I choose to sit one to the right, so I could see better. Three people turned up on the 5th inning to sit in my row, and they left in the 7th again. Apart from that,. there was nobody else in my row. There didn't seem to be many people here at all, really. Probably a combination of it being a post-Labor-Day, mid-week, midday game against a not-very-good team: who beat them again today. The grand slam in the 2nd inning was enough to give the Nationals the game as the Braves couldn't get enough hits at the right time to push any more than 2 runs across. They had a base-running mistake, where a run did scored, but the run-down ended the inning.
Bobby Cox came to talk to the home plate umpire between innings, bringing his lineup card, so I assumed, along with the rest of the crowd, that he was going to change the pitcher's spot with a double-switch. However, after a while, the home plate umpire called over the crew chief from third base, and then the other two umpires went over, and they spent a couple of minutes looking at the lineup card and debating. In the end, Bobby returned to the Braves dugout and the game continued, with nobody the wiser. It wasn't even as if he was delaying the game so that he could get another pitcher ready - the pitcher already in the game pitched the whole inning. Since he's retiring after 20 years as manager of the Atlanta Braves, the Braves are doing several special events in their final homestand to end the season, which starts on September 27th. He's clearly liked and respected a great deal here.
Turner Field is fine for night games, more of a problem for day games if you're anywhere but the back few rows in the field level. The seats were hot to touch too, and the sun beats down on your back throughout the game. More shade came over my seat in the 8th inning, which was a relief, but those closer to towards the front and in the third base side didn't get any shade at all.
All the staff I spoke to were helpful and keen to offer assistance. Whenever I asked for directions, they insisted on showing me the way rather than just describing it. The premium seat food service is well-organised: you've got the people going up and down the aisles that you order from and pay, they put your order into their PDA and an inning or so later, somebody else delivers it. I eventually found somebody who could look at my ticket for the 28th September game, but they won't refund it as it is a single game ticket.
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| Turner Field, view from section 101L, row 22. |
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| Bobby Cox and the umpires discuss the lineup card, the other umpires approach to join in |
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