Florida Marlins 29-30 August

The highlight of the trip to Joe Robbie Stadium was watching Duane Wade, Miami Heat Player and Olympic Gold Medal Winner, throw out the first pitch. Other than that, this was not the greatest of experiences. First, Joe Robbie Stadium is a miserable venue for baseball. A football stadium by design, the stadium is old and poorly designed for baseball. Secondly, the only way to the stadium is to drive. This is one of the very few stadiums that does not have a designated driver program. Given the amount and variety of alcohol sold at the park, this is suspect. The games that we watched were against the Mets which generated other problems. We found it interesting that when we visited the two stadiums in New York, the fans were fairly well behaved. The same cannot be said of the New Yorkers who had migrated to south Florida. These fans were loud, obnoxious and contributed nothing positive to the game. How do I know where they were from? A New Yorker can move to Florida, but the accent comes with them.

In the first game, the Marlins were only able to score one run while their starting pitcher was in the game. As we have seen many times this season, middle relievers are very poor. This was again evident during the game when one of the Marlins relievers in succession gave up an infield single, a walk, hit a batter, and then a grand slam home run. This was a Marlin loss that should have been avoided.

The Marlins won the second game that we attended in a manner that I had never seen before. With two outs, a Marlin tripled. Jerry Manuel directed the pitcher to intentionally walk the next two batters loading the bases. A third unintentional walk brought in the winning run in a most anticlimactic manner.

You may have noticed that I took very few pictures during this visit, and this was for a very good reason. There was very little about this stadium worth recording. It would be very hard to blame the Marlin's organization if they simply picked up stakes and moved to a city that was able to better facilitate the needs of a two time world championship team.

As you might suspect from my comments, this stadium did not rank well in the stadium list. The First Division remained the same. The second division is now:

• Baltimore
• Milwaukee
• Texas
• Houston
• Cincinnati
• Toronto
• Tampa
• Philadelphia
• New York Yankees
• New York Mets
• Cleveland
• Washington
• Kansas City
• Chicago White Sox
• Boston
• Florida (Miami)
• Minnesota

Tampa Bay 26-27 August

Well, this is the first time that we departed from the plan devised last winter. Originally, the plan was to drive directly from Dallas to Fernandina Beach on I-10. In the Spring, I was invited to LCDR Simmons' retirement in New London. He and I were shipmates on USS Pennsylvania, so I could not miss the event. All went according to the revised plan until the Tropical Storm Fay came onto the scene. I flew to Providence and drove to New London. Kate was rerouted to I-20 through Atlanta. This turned out to be a good thing as my flight to Jacksonville was cancelled and I was sent to Atlanta where we met and proceeded to Fernandina Beach. It was nice to spend a few days in the city we call home. Bud and Kathy were kind enough to host us for which we are grateful.

While I was in New London, I had the opportunity to visit the Nautilus Submarine Museum. As you enter into the museum, the ever present Hyman Rickover was there. The rest of the museum was well worth the visit.
Outside the museum is a very interesting display. The larger ring has the same diameter of the current Trident Submarine. The smaller ring is the same diameter as the World War II submarines.

We proceeded to Tampa for the Rays games against the Toronto Blue Jays. As we approached the stadium, we found a cafe that understands.
We had heard quite a few negative things from many people about Tropicana Field, and as a result we did not have high expectations. As it turns out, there are many issues outside of the stadium contributing to these views. Many people in the Tampa area resent that the stadium is in St. Pete instead of Tampa proper. Others want a new field while others don't like the drive to the stadium. Frankly, we were pleasantly surprised by the stadium and our surprise started with the Hitters Hall of Fame that is inside the stadium. Admission is free.
The star attraction of this Museum is Ted Williams, but many of the greatest hitters in history are prominently displayed. This is a picture of a young Williams in Spring Training being tutored by Ty Cobb.
Ted Williams may have been fooled occasionally by the off speed stuff, but he believed that no pitcher could through a fastball by him. There are numerous testimonials by pitchers of the day that stated the same thing.
Williams was more than a hitter. He was a Marine fighter pilot during both World War II and Korea. This is his flight jacket from his Marine days.

Williams was a decorated hero and this shadowbox shows some his accomplishments.

This is a picture of Williams and john Glenn in the ready room prior to a mission.
Babe Ruth crossed paths with Ted Williams many times. This is a picture of the two of them during Ruth's final appearance in the All-Star game.
Other hitters are prominently displayed. This is a picture of the trio known as Murder's Row--Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, and Babe Ruth.
A major display in the hall is dedicated to Babe Ruth.

Another player on prominent display is Willie Mays
and Hank Aaron
Inside the stadium, there are a few memorials to Rays players. The one shown here is the yellow seat. This is where Wade Boggs' 3000th hit landed. He was the first player to hit a home run as his 3000th hit.
Game one was an ugly loss for the Rays. The second game started out with Cal Ripken throwing out the first pitch.

The second game went much better for the Rays. The only down point was the poor attendance. For a team in first place, one who is leading Boston and one who has driven the prospect of the Yankees making the playoffs into the dirt, this amount of attendance is really a shame.