Baseball Vacation 2006

Reds vs Mets: July 18, 2006

      When we woke up in Evansville, we were very tired so we just slept in and headed to Cincy thru Louisville. We were amazed at how green Kentucky was - if I had time and great light I would have stopped and taken a lot of photos. We got into Cincy well before the gates opened, and had time to browse the team store. Mitchell collected pins from every stadium and from the other major attractions that we visited. I collected T-shirts, and ended up with 13 new ones from the trip.
      Almost every single one of the games on the trip were threatened by rain, with 1-2 games delayed a bit by rain. Batting practice was delayed or cancelled due to rain for several of the games during the first week of our trip. The game in Cincy was no exception. It drizzled quite a bit before the game but that gave dad some time to wonder around the stadium and take pictures while Mitchell sought autographs. I helped him with a strategy for getting autographs. Just before each game is to start, when the throngs of fans seeking autographs during batting practice have departed, most players go out to the field to stretch and run a few wind sprints. As they go back to the dugout, most really do not have much to do until the game starts. On this day I explained that strategy to Mitchell. He was very late trying to get to one Mets star, and then a bit late for Carlos Beltran. Fortunately a nearby boy had the same idea, planted in him by his father. He stopped Beltran and both he and Mitchell got nice autographs on baseballs. Mitchell was thrilled, as Carlos was an Astros hero in 2004 and a great individual. We later met the same boy and his dad in Chicago before the White Sox game, and found the boys's first name was Ryan (after Nolan Ryan) and his middle name was Koufax (after Sandy Koufax). They were from Dayton Ohio, and the boy is surely destined to be a baseball star.
      The game was excellent. We had been watching all of the Mets grand slams on the way up and during the early part of the trip. Carlos Beltran was rewarded for his autograph performance by hitting a grand slam in the 7th inning and the Mets won 8-3.

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David Wright is arguing and the game has not yet started! Seriously, I think he had a girlfriend in the stands or something.
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Mike Pelfrey pitched pretty well for the Mets. He has pretty good form too, though I do not recommend sticking your tongue out at the batter when pitching to Adam Dunn.
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David Wright is ready for action.
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What? You are going to bunt Adam Dunn? No wonder the Reds are so bad!
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Adam Dunn swings ...
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... and misses in the first inning.
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Adam Dunn does not miss this pitch and lines it for a single. Looking at the photo, Pelfrey and the Mets were lucky Adam did not put this one in the river in right field.
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One of the greats - Ken Griffey Jr.
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Griffey did not swing the bat well this evening, and was rewarded with an 0 for 5 game.
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Carlos Delgado matched Ken Griffey Jr. with an 0 for 5 night.
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David Wright had 2 fly outs and 2 walks on this evening.
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The view from up high at The Great American Ballpark rivals that in Pittsburgh.
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Another view from up high in Cincy.
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Ken Griffey Jr. gets jammed.
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Griffey makes contact but grounds into a double play.
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Carlos Beltran signed a very nice autograph on an official major league baseball for Mitchell before the game. He was rewarded with a grand slam home run later in the game.
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Beltran also had 5 RBIs on the night. But he should have been an Astro!
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Delgado flies out to center field.
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I never thought Reyes was that good and would have taken more photos of him if I knew he was going to continue his breakout year.
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David Wright slows to judge a tricky hop.
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David Wright gets ready to gun down the runner.
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Well, if you play this close then I guess it is ok to be back a bit on your heels.
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Adam Dunn makes his bat look small.
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Jose Reyes shows off his speed.
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