The Baseball Trip 2017

Day 4 - July 30, 2017

The ballpark at Trois Rivieres was a little tricky to find. We saw a casino and a racetrack, but little did we know the ballpark was tucked inside the same complex. So I had to parlez-vous Anglais a guy and find out where the hell the entrance was.

The Trois Rivieres Aigles (Eagles) are playing the Quebec Capitals today at Stade Stereo +. And by the way, we are now deeper into Quebec province - and they do not tolerate English. These are the radicals, if you will. All French; good thing we speak baseball. The Aigles pounded out 13 hits and scored 10 runs, defeating Quebec 10-3. Funny thing is, Trois Rivieres is in last place, and Quebec is tied for first. That's baseball.

Here are a few pictures of Stade Stereo + :

 Right field stands.

 Behind home plate.

 Right field.

 Left field scoreboard.

 Front gate.

As you can tell, It's pretty much an old-school minor league ballpark. Here are some pictures we took on our way out of Trois Rivieres and along the way to Quebec City:

 Church in Trois Rivieres.

 Jesus hanging out in some farmer's field. No kidding.

 St. Lawrence River.

Another view of the St. Lawrence River.

IAD - 2

KAPO - 2 on bikes.

Favorite town name: L'Epiphanie, Quebec.
Favorite sign: Guns! Guns! Guns!

Random observation from Randy: There are a lot of shirtless Canadians around here.

Things we cannot stick around for: Fest du Blues in Donnacona, Quebec.

Tomorrow: Quebec City

The Baseball Trip 2017

Day 3 - July 29, 2017

By the way, The Angels defeated the Blue Jays, 7-2.

We are on our way to Ottawa, capital city of Canada. The Ottawa Champions are also a member of the Can-Am League, and tonight they play the Rockland (NY) Boulders.The Champions play in Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park. That's a mouthful. Apparently, RCGT is one of the most prestigious accounting firms in Canada. Who knew?

Baseball in Canada is a learning experience, you get to hear the announcer introduce batters' names and all in-between-innings minor league mayhem kids' contests t-shirt cannons in two languages.Anyway, every three innings or so they select an opposing batter, and if he strikes out...free poutine for everyone! He's the poutine batter! It seems the only hits the Boulders got that night were the Poutine Batters. Everyone was bummed! According to Wikipedia, "Poutine is a Quebecois dish popular across Canada, made with French fries and cheese curds topped with a light brown gravy." Sounds good, except for the cheese curds and light brown gravy. 

You know what else I learned? My phone does not work in Canada. Yeah, seems I can't text or call the States. I've never had that problem before. Thanks, Sprint; we are not friends anymore. The solution was to call the Sprint help line. Except I can't use the phone.

Random observation from Randy: You know what else I didn't download? Herman's Hermits. You are so lucky.

Anyway, Ottawa beat the Boulders 9-0.Here are some pictures of the stadium:

 The front gate.

 Right field videoboard.

 Front gate at nightfall.

Behind home plate from down the first base line.

And, of course, me with the mascot, Champ. Nice dude. The Lugnuts' mascot, Big Lug, big-timed me. Seems he would do  his goofy act on the field and then run through a private door behind home plate. 

Random observation from Randy: The Big Lug probably has a poker game going on back there.

IAD - 3

KAPO - 2 playing catch!

            -  2 swimming in a lake.

Favorite town name: Oshawa, ONT (It's just fun to say.)

Things we cannot stick around for: Chrissie's Pig Roast

Tomorrow: Trois Rivieres

THE BASEBALL TRIP 2017

Day 2 - July 28, 2017

Toronto must have the worst traffic in the world. I swear the traffic was backed up twenty miles out of town. We ended up getting to the Rogers Centre for the start of the second inning.

Southern Ontario is rather uneventful; Randy once said it's much like driving through Indiana or Ohio. Plenty of rolling pasture, farmland filled with corn and wheat. Occasionally you'll run into a small town that reminds you that you are in Canada, M and M Marts, Tim Horton's, Petro-Canada.

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures I took  of downtown Toronto on the way to the ballpark:

The CN Tower

A schooner docked along Queensway Quay

And these shots of Skydome at Rogers Centre:

Front gate.

 Center field. There's a hotel built into the ballpark surrounding the scoreboard.

From left field. 

The Toronto skyline beyond the third base line.

From the third base line upper deck.

The dome was open tonight.

 The CN Tower lighting up.

Down the steps from the first base line.

It was a much better experience than the last time we were here - the dome was closed then. Still, it's kind of blah. It's like a mall, really.

Favorite town name: Ailsa Craig, Ontario

Favorite signs: Victory Biker Church

                          Miss Universe Campfire

Random observation from Randy: We can visit the casino in Ottawa if we have some time to kill tomorrow. There's just one problem, though; they'll want to talk to us in French.

Things we cannot stick around for: The annual Ailsa Craig Labor Day Car Show and Street Dance.

IAD - 2

KAPO - 1 kid with a dog.

Next: Ottawa

THE BASEBALL TRIP 2017

There are only two rules on the Baseball Trip. 1. No interstate highways. 2. No chain restaurants. The rest is anybody's guess.

Day 1 - July 27, 2017

The trip is late this year, but for a good reason: we want to see baseball in Quebec. I know, for real.Last year we stopped by the Rockland Boulders in Rockland, New York. Rockland is part of the Can-Am League, an independent minor league association. There are teams in Canada and America, get it?  That gave us the idea. We have planned the dates especially to see three games in Canada, one in Ottawa, one in Trios Rivieres and on in  in Quebec. We will also be visiting Toronto to see the Blue Jays play at the Rogers Center. Get this- they have a hotel behind the outfield where sometimes people leave the curtains open. More about that later.

Anyway, by we I mean me and Randy, the navigator. Along the way we like to count things like war memorials, Walmarts, women on riding mowers, shirtless drivers, cash for gold stores, and other signs of the apocalypse. This year we are counting those flimsy wind-blown humanoid figures that sit in front of stores because the proprietor believes he can lure customers inside to buy goods by displaying creepy voodoo imagery. I believe they are known in the trades as inflatable air-dancers (IAD). We are also counting Kids Actually Playing Outside (KAPO).

I know.

Meanwhile, Randy has celebrated the 50th anniversary of the "Summer of Love" by downloading every single album produced during the calendar year 1967. We are listening to The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks, The Electric Prunes, The 13th Floor Elevators, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Smokey Robinson, Big Brother with Janis Joplin, and Peter, Paul and Mary among many others. That's right, I said Peter, Paul and Mary.

Anyway, that music got us through Indiana and Michigan as we wound our way to Lansing to see the Lugnuts play. The Lansing Lugnuts are an A-ball level minor league affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Here is a picture of the main gate at Cooley Law School Field. That's right, they gave the naming rights to a law school.

More:

 They put distance markers on the apartment building behind left and center fields. I like that.

 Scoreboard in left.

From the grassy knoll behind left field.

The game took 3 1/2 hours to complete as the Lugnuts did not suck as much as the Dayton Dragons, 9-8.

Favorite town name: Mesopolis, Michigan.

Favorite sign: World of Life Church: The church that rocks!

Random observation from Randy: I have to tell you something: there were two Elvis Presley movie soundtracks in 1967. I didn't bother to download them.

IAD - 1
KATO: - 1 on skateboard, 2 on bikes, 4 jumping into the Kalamazoo river.

Next: Toronto