Travels

Archive for the ‘Travels’ Category

Blast from the Past: Arizona Dreamin’

Monday, November 24, 2008
by Geoff Young

I usually make one or two trips out to Phoenix each year. Spring training has become a must, and I always enjoy taking in some Arizona Fall League games. Today, we're all about the AFL... and whatever else happened to come with it on a particular journey... and whatever else that triggers in my mind, which you may recall is a scary place to be: In 2001, I was impressed by a kid from Rancho Bernardo named Hank Blalock. Incidentally, his name used to appear at Ducksnorts with some regularity. The following year, while comparing a young Adam Dunn to Brian Giles and a young Albert Pujols to Manny Ramirez, we tossed around the possibility of acquiring Blalock to play second base to accommodate ...

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Random Tuesday (21 Oct 08)

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
by Geoff Young

I thought I'd take a little random walk through the archives and highlight a few old posts. Not that I'm one for nostalgia, but sometimes it's fun to remember where you've been... From August 24, 2001: Raley Field opened May 15, 2000, and seats, well, I'm not sure, but there were over 12,000 last night. We sat in the lower deck, off the first-base side, just beneath an overhang and behind the Krispy Kreme donut stand. I took some pictures but unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, I won't be able to post those till I return home. The matchup featured an up-and-comer versus a former top prospect trying to make it back to the bigs. The River Cats of Sacramento sent LHP Mario Ramos to the mound; ...

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Posted in Minors, Travels | 3 Comments »

Padres tickets Chargers tickets Sports tickets

Road Trip to Cooperstown: Syracuse to Fort Wayne

Wednesday, December 19, 2007
by Geoff Young

The following is an excerpt from the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual, scheduled for publication in February 2008. I learned about toll roads on this day. Specifically, I learned precisely how confusing they can be. After checking out of my room in Syracuse, I cruised west on I-90, which runs past Rochester and Batavia, and into Buffalo. To drive along I-90 you need a ticket, which you get from -- actually, I'm not sure how that works because I never got one. I exited the interstate in Buffalo and came to a toll booth, trying to think of excuses. Thankfully the operator had encountered clueless tourists before and was very patient with me. "Where's your ticket?" she ...

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Posted in 2008 Annual, Travels | 28 Comments »

Cooperstown Road Trip Photos

Thursday, August 30, 2007
by Geoff Young

Okay, I've finally posted all my photos from the road. Well, not all my photos, but 158 of them. Three quick notes: The photos at the induction ceremony kinda suck; I was at least a Canadian Football League field and three Dieter Brocks away from the stage. I got a little carried away with the Cedric Hunter photos at Fort Wayne. I got very carried away with the Grand Canyon photos. Hey, I really like the Grand Canyon, and this my first time back there since hiking to the bottom in August 1989. Incidentally, don't hike the Grand Canyon in August. Click on the giant thumbnail montage below to see the entire set or view as a slideshow here. Enjoy!...

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Posted in Travels | 2 Comments »

Road Trip to Cooperstown: Raleigh to Scranton

Monday, August 13, 2007
by Geoff Young

The original plan called for Jeff to join me on my jaunt to Cooperstown, but circumstances beyond anyone's control made that impossible, so instead I stuck around a little longer on Friday and we went to the State Farmer's Market in Raleigh for an early lunch. Although this put me about 6 hours behind schedule, the extra time with friends I hadn't seen in over a year was well spent. Also -- and perhaps this is the steady diet of beef jerky and granola bars talking, but I don't think so -- the fried chicken I ate at lunch was the best I'd ever tasted. After lunch, we said our goodbyes and I found my way back to the freeway out of ...

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Posted in Travels | 34 Comments »

Road Trip to Cooperstown: Knoxville to Durham

Tuesday, August 7, 2007
by Geoff Young

I don't want to talk about David Wells, do you? Good, let's move on, then, and pretend we're still on the road. After driving 873 miles on 4 1/2 hours of sleep and missing the Smokies game on Wednesday night, I ventured from the interstate and into the Smoky Mountains (ah, they take their name from the local baseball team). I was expecting a nice, quiet drive in the country, and eventually that's what I got, but not before passing through Sevierville (named after Tennessee's first governor), Pigeon Forge (home of Dollywood), and Gatlinburg (named after the owner of a general store). ...

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Posted in Minors, Travels | 33 Comments »

Safe at Home

Saturday, August 4, 2007
by Geoff Young

I am happy to report that we made it back to San Diego in one piece. I'd also submit that 6,417 miles of driving in 12 days probably is too much for one person and that actually doing it isn't necessarily the best way to discover said fact. Reader LaMar asked the other day for a "step back away from the cliff" post so here it is... Wednesday morning, just east of Joplin, Mo., we were struck on the interstate by a big rig at 65 mph and forced into a grassy strip along the median. The right side of our vehicle was pretty well trashed:...

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Posted in Travels | 6 Comments »