The Great American Ball Park – another great stop on the tour.
The 30th Anniversary Ballpark Tours (BPT) trek is complete – and this will be my last tour-related post. (Back to more traditional commentary, reviews, etc. – Coming soon a review of John Grisham’s “Calico Joe;” a recipe for “Tokyo Dogs;” and a look at mid-season standings, achievements and disappointments.)
Note: To get the chronological “feel” of the Ballpark tours trek, scroll down and being the with initial post in this series.
The final days of the 2012 BPT trek took our band of about 40 baseball fanatics to:
– Cincinnati … Where we saw our Twins slip by the Reds 5-4, despite a pair of Reds’ 2-run homers.
– Chicago … Where we witnessed a see-saw battle as the White Sox topped the visiting Brewers 8-6.
– Monroe, Wisconsin … Where we toured (and sampled the wares of) the Minhas Craft Brewery,
A few highlights of the final days/hours:
At our Friday game, Cincinnati was honoring the “Big Red Machine” of the ‘70s and we got to see post game interviews with George Foster, Dave Concepcion, Gary Nolan, Dan Driessen and Cesar Geronimo. Foster was particularly entertaining, as he reflected on his 1977 MVP season when he led the NL with 52 home runs, 149 RBI, 124 runs scored and posted a .320 batting average. According to Foster, he could have plated a few more RBI if Dave Concepcion hadn’t “help up at third” so often.
The post-game interviews were followed by a fantastic fireworks show (the best most of us had seen at a ball park, or any other venue). Other notables: The Smokey Red Dogs made for great baseball fare; even the vendors in the stands featured steamed hot dog buns; the Twins’ young Ben Revere went 4 for 4 with a pair of stolen bases; and the Reds’ veteran Scott Rolen went 3 for 4 with a home run and a pair of RBI. A moment to “rant” about. In the fifth inning of a 4-3 game, Reds’ fans in centerfield tried to start “the wave,” a fortunately fruitless endeavor that they repeated in the sixth inning of a then 5-4 game. BBRT remains steadfastly anti-wave, especially in a tight contest.
In Chicago, during Saturday’s final tour contest, we saw a combined 25 hits, 6 walks, 2 hit batsmen, 1 fielding error, 1 passed ball, 10 pitchers and 7 stolen bases in a less then cleanly played White Sox win. On the plus side, we did witness two very well executed sacrifice bunts.
We also enjoyed another fireworks display – not up to Cincy’s standards, but still very good, well-timed to great music. Among the food highlights were corn “off the cob” (I had mine with butter, salt and shredded mozzarella); loaded baked potatoes; and a variety of sausages (all available with grilled pepper and onions.) On the beverage side, mango margaritas received some high praise. It was a beautiful night (some respite from the 90-degree heat) and, as usual, we had good seats (upper deck box behind home plate). One of our group caught a T-Shirt in the between innings give-away and (as is BPT custom) quickly “gave it to a kid.”
Sunday’s dash for home included a side trip off the main highway – to the small town of Monroe, Wisconsin, where we toured the Minhas Craft Brewery. Great tour and great tasting – including the popular “Lazy Mutt” Brew and the tasty Huber Bock and Boxer Lager. The stop in Monroe also included a visit to the Haydock Museum of Beer Memorabilia and time for lunch at one of the restaurants on the town square. I enjoyed a great burger with spicy garlic olives, Swiss cheese and horseradish mayo. Of note, Minhas lays claim to being the oldest brewery in the Midwest (operating since 1845), now owned by the world’s youngest brewery owners (Ravinder and Manjit Minhas.) We all received a Minhas “Damn Good Beer” glass for the tasting – with numerous refills available, as well as a five-pack (four beers and one root beer) of samples to take with us. By the time we rolled out of Monroe, we had met and mingled with a host of locals – and several in our group were talking about coming back for Monroe’s Cheese Fest.
So, there you have it – in 9 days, a total of 205 ½ hours, my personal tally (which is representative of the group) included:
– 8 ball games … 5 major league, 3 minor league – in 5 cities in 4 states.
– 5 museums … History, Science, Art, Bat Manufacturing, Beer Memorabilia
– 1 pregame tailgate party
– 3 fireworks displays
– A host of freebies … A tour T-shirt; a Ball Park Tours 30th Anniversary windbreaker; a Roberto Clemente jersey; a Louisville Slugger mini-bat; a magnetic, baseball-oriented photo frame; a MLB.net mini backpack; a Minhas beer glass; a sampler five-pack (four beers and a root beer).
To wrap up BPT’s 30th Anniversary Tour, I had a great time with a lot of great people (old friends and new) who share a passion for the national past time. How much fun are these tours? At our Chicago hotel, a good share of the group was gathered in the bar laughing at tales of events from this trip (and a host of trips past), when the manager came over to our group. Our first thought was that he was going to ask us to “keep it down” a bit. Instead, he just wanted to comment on how great is was to see a group having such a good time in the lounge/bar. That’s why Ballpark Tours is my choice for the premier baseball tour operation.
The Lazy Mutt Lounge – a highlight of the Minhas Brewery tour.
