Snake Eyes may be a master of multiple martial arts disciplines, but never send him on a hot dog run.
I can’t even begin to describe how much I love this ESPN/GI JOE: Retaliation spot. It features three of my most favorite things in life: Snake Eyes, Hot Dogs, and John Kruk aka The Krukker aka The Greatest Philadelphia Phillie Evar. Can I see GI JOE: Retaliation yet?
Taking a break from our usual oeuvre, The League is talking baseball!
Contrary to popular belief I do have hobbies beyond Legos, Star Trek, or The Walking Dead. Baseball has been a big part of my life, being born in Pittsburgh I many of my early memories were spent cheering on the “Outfield of Dreams” consisting of Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, and Andy Van Slyke (who remains my favorite Pirate of all time).
I vividly remember the 1992 NLCS where 40 year old Sid Bream scored from second, simultaneously sending the Braves to the World Series and ushering in a new era of shitty Pirates baseball. I remember my father screaming a cavalcade of expletives at the television and kicking the coffee table as my mother ushered me out of the house. She figured it would be best if we left the house for a while after that.
Through my pre-teen years and into early adulthood, I continued to root for the Pirates despite living in Philadelphia. My father and I would pick up cheap tickets for Pirates/Phillies games at Veterans Stadium full well knowing that we would be berated mercilessly for 3+ hours straight.
When I started at Temple University, I became more of a Phillies guy, despite my father’s protests. In 2002 when I started dating my wife, I found out she was a huge Phillies fan. A good bit of the first summer was listening, watching or attending Phillies games. On one of our first Phillies game together, she asked for a scorecard. I figured she would wanted a souvenir from our date, and when we made it to our seats (they were somewhere in the 500 level) she sat down and kept score. I was not expecting that in the least, and Phillies games became a big part of our relationship.
Over the years we traveled across the country, visiting stadiums and collecting baseballs. At our wedding reception in 2008 we split our 26 tables into National and American Leagues, each with their respective pennant and coordinating floral arrangement. Our wedding favors were peanuts and cracker jacks.
I endured some truly mediocre Phillies teams in that time, back during the doldrums of 2004-05 when Citizens Bank Park wouldn’t be sold out every game like they have been the last two seasons. During the 2008 World Series run, I was sitting 11 rows behind home plate when Shane Victorino hit a grand slam off of CC Sabathia in Game 2 of the NLDS.
I was one of the half million fans that called out sick to line Broad Street for the Phillies World Series Parade. It was such an electric experience that I’ll never forget, and I was there to share it with my wife. In 2010 we bought a partial season ticket plan for the Phillies, and have kept it ever since. And yes, on the occasion that I make it to a Phils/Pirates game … I do wear my Pirates jersey.
Check out other members of the League, and their take on this weeks topic:
The Lair of The Dork Horde talks about baseball ice cream helmets!
Cavalcade of Awesome assembled a pop culture fantasy baseball team. I appreciate the inclusion of Jimmy Dugan.
Team Hellions broke out some Avengers Annuals from 1987 featuring America’s pastime.
Tomorrow I’m heading down to Florida with my wife for a much needed vacation. After two years of nearly continuous scholarly work, I completed my Masters of Science in Criminal Justice.
Before I have to start looking at engaging in a more professional line of post-graduate work, I figured that I should reward myself. So as a graduation/birthday present, my wife and I are doing pretty much everything there is to do in central Florida: Disney World, a trip to Phillies spring training in Clearwater, and a visit to the coolest place on Earth … the Kennedy Space Center.
From the very nature of this here blog given some of the items which I cover, it goes without saying that I am a gigantic NASA geek. So understandably, finally getting to check out Launch Pad 39A and the Vehicle Assembly Building is huge. But if you have any Florida related insights, feel free to leave them in the comments below.
Even though I’ll be gone for the next week, I’ll do my best to document my travels via Twitter.
What a season. After all the ups and downs and ridiculousness in the NL East… the Philadelphia Phillies are the 2008 World Series Champions. Along the way they pulled away from the Mets, pummeled CC Sabathia, shut down Man Ram … and eviscerate the Tampa Bay Rays. What a great season.
And for the record, my wife and I ran out to Dick’s Sporting Goods immediately after Cole got his MVP trophy to grab up our official Phillies championship gear. The Metroplex looked like it was Black Friday and the atmosphere was amazing. Hundreds of fans young and old (even a dog or two) reveling in what had just happened.
We’re heading down for the parade … maybe we’ll see you there.
Wow. I am just now coming to terms with the ridiculousness that ensued last night down at Citizen’s Bank Park. For the first time in history, a World Series game was suspended due to weather. I’m not going to get into the conspiracy theories surrounding Commissioner Selig’s amazing display of befuddlement and general lack of testicular fortitude.
When the game was called last night, the field was a mess and Cole Hamels gave up a double which drove in a run, tying the game up at 2 runs a piece. Why couldn’t the game have been suspended at the end of the 5th inning? The field conditions sure did suck then. We’ll never get an answer, but MLB really did fuck over the Phillies and their fans … and boy are they are pissed. Given the opportunity I’m pretty sure I’d take a swing at him.
My thoughts … MLB waited for the score to be evened up, to give the Rays an edge. The Rays from worst to first is a much sexier story than the perpetually reviled Phillies fandom finally getting a championship after twenty years. All I wanted last night was to see the Phils win the Series and set a SEPTA bus on fire. I guess I’ll have to wait for that to happen.
Game 4 of the National League Championship series was unreal. With one swing, Matt Stairs launched a ball somewhere into the Pacific Ocean with one man on to give the Phils a two run capping off a 4 run 8th inning. My screams of joy woke up my wife earlier in the inning when Shane “Don’t Fuck With Me Man-Ram” Victorino tied it up a deep 2 run blast to right field. And Stairs’ effort … well I think I woke up everyone in a three home radius.
This has been an incredible series, with the Phils deservedly living up to their nickname “The Fightins”. With the Buck & McCarver stroking Manny so vigroosly to the point where lube should be used to avoid friction burns, it is more than gratifying to see these douchey Dodgers get shelacked at home.
One game away …
Baseball season is upon us, and there couldn’t possibly be a better time of year. Tonight I’m heading down with Ash to Citizen’s Bank Park to watch the Phils try and redeem themselves for Monday afternoon’s shiatfest. They’re going up against the NL Leaders … the Washington Nationals. Cole Hamels gets the start tonight for the Phils against some random dude.
This is the second year in a row we’ve gone down for Opening Night, as last year’s got wayyyy out of hand. It was probably the worst crowd that I’ve seen yet at CBP. Here’s to hoping … oh and there’s a double bonus tonight FREE T-SHIRTS & Dollar Dog Night! Hot dogs always taste better when they cost a dollar.
Let’s hope that the Phillies get off to a better start than they did in 2007. Despite being the NL East Champs, they went down to the wire to get the title. The Division is much stronger this year with the Mets & Braves making improvements on their rosters. The bullpen remains and issue for the Phils as well as the #5 starter … Eaton sucks.
With pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training this week, hijinks is already ensuing in the Phillies locker room. Pitcher Brett Myers was seen to be sporting a rather interesting tshirt when talking to the media. It featured a shirtless Pat Burrell with the caption “Man or Machine”.
Now, I’m not the biggest Pat Burrell fan as he has been kind of underwhelming for a majority of his career here in Philadelphia … but this is a good one. One commentor over at The700Level gets line of the day for:
“The only thing better than slapping around your wife on random New England streets, is wearing a homoerotic t-shirt with you half naked teammate on it!”
Philadelphia fans, we never forget. How long do you think it will take for vendors to start shilling these outside Citizens Bank Park?
Yesterday was horrific. The 4th inning was especially painful, as a beleaguered Kyle Kendrick was relieved by Charlie Manuel in a bases loaded scenario. Kyle Lohse came out of the bullpen, and with one pitch the Colorado Rockies secured their victory with a Kaz Matsui grand slam (Yes that same Matsui that was booed out of New York). It wasn’t pretty from then on out, as a capacity crowd was taken out of the game in what became a 10-5 rout.
There weren’t many bright spots for the Fightins’ other than Jimmy Rollins who single handedly carried the team with 4 RBI’s and a solo home run. The Rockies have effectively neutered the lineup, and the Phil’s bullpen isn’t exactly helping either. Uncle Charlie made some questionable moves, specifically giving Hendrick the hook in the 4th and not starting Victorino in right (WTF?!?). It’s up to the timeless Jamie Moyer to keep the playoff hopes alive as he takes the mound for Game 3 tomorrow at Coors Field.
So the Phils dropped Game 1 yesterday afternoon by a score of 4-2; this is a five game series and I remain optimistic for the Fightins’. I’ll be heading down to CBP this afternoon with a lovely pair of ladies to take in Game 2 which gets started at 3:00pm.
Kendrick gets the start today, and let’s hope we see some run production from Rollins, Howard, & Utley. I’ll be up in Section 301, perhaps I’ll see you there.
