Toronto 24-25 June

From Cooperstown, we travelled into Canada. We had the route all planned out until Emily (our GPS voice) spoke up on I-90 and told us that there was a 95 minute delay 10 miles ahead. She then asked if we would like a detour to which we answered yes. We exited I-90 somewhere in the middle of upstate New York and proceeded through Mexico, New York, Vienna, New York, Berlin, New York, and many other Mayberry RFD towns. We were directed on to roads that didn't even appear on our map. Suddenly we were at the Canadian border, crossing the 1000 island Bridge. The lessons learned is never do a trip like this without GPS. Emily has been added to our pre-underway check list. En route to Toronto we stopped in Kingston, Ontario. Kingston is a very picturesque town on the water with great walks, loads of history, and a wide variety of restaurants. A day trip through the 1000 islands by boat was recommended, but we had to say next time.

Immediately next door to the stadium is the CN Tower. For a while it was the tallest building in the world. It is a good land mark from anywhere in Toronto. It is really easy to get around Toronto. We stayed at a great B&B in Korea town. If you go to Toronto, refrain from driving as the traffic is horrendous.
The stadium is one of the jewels in downtown Toronto's crown. Now called the Rogers Center, it is easy to get to, and there is hardly a bad seat in the house. I was under the impression before going that the fans would be less passionate than in other places, but I was wrong. They are knowledgeable about the game, and, unlike Boston, the crowd came for the game not the antics in the stands.
The Rogers center is really well designed.The roof is retractable but not in the way of many other stadiums.It shuts more like an eyelid. This picture was taken several hours before game time, just after they had opened the roof. Although the weather was great for our stay, there had been a chance of some rain, so the roof was shut during the day. The Toronto Argonauts of the CFL also play here and the roof is closed for most of the winter. Thus the turf is artificial--one of the few drawbacks to this stadium.

Here you see Ken Griffey, Jr. hitting his 602nd home run--or to put it better, here is his 602nd home run without steroids. That places him number 4 on the all time list of non-* hitters behind Arron, Ruth and Mays. The two * hitters with more are Bonds ******* and Sosa ***+corked bat.

Game One was a blow out. Bronson Arroyo, the starter of the Reds, gave up eleven runs before recording an out in the second. All runs were earned, and a grand slam was included. With an ERA of 99 for that day, I suspect that Dusty Baker did not feel that he got his money's worth from Arroyo.

The second game saw the Reds win in the ninth. The Jays actually snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. On multiple occasions, even in the bottom of the ninth, the Jays failed to score when they got runners into scoring position.

As promised, we will contine to rank the parks. Thus far, it's:

• Baltimore
• Toronto
• Washington
• Boston