Cook & Son Bats' Blog

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1 Page 1 of 17 Cook & Son Bats' Blog Todd, Tim and Kellan Cook love Baseball, the Seattle Mariners and trekking around the country to visit stadiums and watch games. These are their stories. In Philadelphia With The Folks (6/10/2011) In mid-june, my folks came to Pennsylvania for a quick visit. My mom had never been to Citizens Bank Park. So on June 10, 2011, we headed down to Philadelphia to see the Cubs vs. the Phillies. My folks love Philadelphia, so before going to the game, we took a quick walk around the Rittenhouse Square area: AUTHORS Cook & Son Bats Search RECENT POSTS Tim s Baseball Log Cook & Son Baseball Stadiums and Roadtrips Puerto Rico League Baseball Mariners Season Finale (9/28/2011) More Fun At Safeco Field (9/27/2011) RECENT COMMENTS Cook & Son Bats on Tim s Baseball Log Cook & Son Bats on Fenway Park Panoramas Cook & Son Bats on Comerica Park: A Diamond In Th Then it was down to the stadium for us. On the way into the ballpark, Tim wanted to get his picture with this statute of Joe Brown Gragz on Comerica Park: A Diamond In Th William Murchison on Fenway Park Panoramas which he has been photographed multiple times in the past. My dad s picture of me taking Tim s picture actually came out looking much better than the picture I took. ARCHIVES February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010

2 Page 2 of 17 A little further down the sidewalk, I gathered my folks together with Tim for this photo outside of the LF gate: September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 When we entered the ballpark, the Phillies were taking BP and LF was still the only part of the stadium that was open to the public. My dad hung out a few rows back in section 141 (the first section in homerun territory in left field), while Tim, my mom and I headed to the first row in section 140 (which is in foul territory and was in the shade). A few minutes later, a ball was hit right down the line and it came to rest in foul territory. Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick was in LF and he slowly walked over to grab the ball. When he walked below us, he looked up at me and Kendrick: Hey, is that a Mariners hat!? Todd: Yeah! Kendrick: And that s a Mariners shirt!? Todd: Yep. (FYI, it was a t-shirt with an intentionally sorta faded original Mariners logo. Also, at some point during this exchange, Kendrick tossed us the baseball he had just grabbed off of the warning track. Thanks, Kyle!) Kendrick: Are you from Washington? Todd: I live there for about 22 years, but live here now. Mom: I live in Seattle! Kendrick: I m from Mount Vernon! Todd: Cool. I used to play a lot of baseball in there when I played American Legion ball. Todd: So, are you a Mariners fan!? Kendrick: (makes a wishy-washing, non-confirming/non-denying gesture) Todd: Well, were you a Mariners fan growing up? Kendrick: Oh, definitely! My, Oh, My! Great to learn there is a Washingtonian and Mariners fan (I know he s still a Mariners fan!) on the Phillies. I now have a newfound appreciation for Mr. Kendrick. Here is a combination of the Kendrick hanging out in LF and the baseball that he tossed up to us: CATEGORIES Camden Yards Citizens Bank Park Comerica Park Dailies GFS Great American Ball Park Kellan Kids Run The Bases MLB Anniversary Nationals Park PNC Park roadtrip Safeco Field Sun Life Stadium Tim Tropicana Field Turner Field Uncategorized Yankee Stadium ('09) TAGS Adam Moore Baltimore Orioles braves Camden Yards Citi Field Citizens Bank Park Cleveland Indians Cook & Son Baseball Bats Cook & Son Bats David Aardsma Felix Hernandez griffey ice cream helmet Ice Cream Helmets Ichiro Ichiro Suzuki indians Jamie Moyer Jason Phillips Jason Vargas Ken Griffey Jr. Kids Run The Bases mariners mets MyGameBalls.com nationals Nationals Park New York Mets Oakland Athletics orioles panorama panoramas Philadelphia Phillies phillies pirates PNC Park Progressive Field Raul Ibanez Roadtrip

3 Page 3 of 17 Ryan Howard Ryan Rowland-Smith Safeco Field Seattle Mariners Spring Training Washington Nationals META Register Log in Entries RSS Comments RSS WordPress.com After chatting with Kendrick, I headed out to CF to look around. My mom and Tim stayed put and my dad got this shot of Grandma reading to Tim the give-away book (Phillie Phanatic: The Philadelphia Story) that he received upon entry into the stadium: On my way back to LF, I stopped in the front row just in front of my dad. Right then, someone hit a homerun directly in line with me. But it sailed over my head. I turned around sure that my dad would catch it. But he didn t even see the ball coming and another guy caught the ball about one foot to my dad s right. I left the front row and met up with Tim and my mom again to watch the Cubs pitchers warm up along the LF line

4 Page 4 of 17 and then my mom move over to section 141 and joined my dad in the front row. Not much was going on, so Tim spent some quality time touching the foul pole: When the Cubs pitchers finished throwing, a coach (who I think was Dave Keller)

5 Page 5 of 17 tossed Tim a baseball. Thanks, Dave! When the rest of the stadium opened, we headed over to the pizza slice in RCF: Kerry Wood (34) and Jeff Fighting Irish Samardzija (29) were both shagging balls in CF I was thinking it would be nice if one of them tossed us a baseball, but James Russell (40) beat them to it. Russell tossed us a baseball from about 100 feet out into the grass. I was in the pizza slice where you cannot scoot back. I grabbed the railing and reached up as high as I could and just barely got it before it sailed over me into the bullpen. Thanks, James!

6 Page 6 of 17 Meanwhile, my dad was down 2-3 sections toward CF: A Cub launched a homerun a couple rows back and he scampered up a couple rows and snagged the ball off of the stairs. My mom took this shot of my dad with is first baseball from Citizen Bank Park: After BP, three generations of Cook boys tested their canons at the speed pitch

7 Page 7 of 17 and there was no actual speed present. Actually, it should be noted that Tim heated it up to 28 miles for hour, an improvement of 2 miles since his last effort. Next, it was time for a brief play stop in the kids play area. Then, we headed up the ramp for a little tour of the upper deck. We entered the upper deck at section 312 and we thought it was a nice background for a group shot:

8 Page 8 of 17 Next, Tim wanted to climb up to the very top row. So we headed to the section right behind home plate and climbed to the top. After taking in the scenery, we decided to go down a little lower to find an usher to take our picture. But a fan overheard us and offered to take our picture. Here is her camera handiwork: And, what the heck, how about one more group shot from the bottom of the upper deck:

9 Page 9 of 17 Tim decided to do a statue pose in that last shot. It was game time. We reported to our seats in section 138 right as Roy Halladay was delivering the first pitch of the game. I didn t take this until late in the game, but here is a panorama from section 138, row 10, seat 8: The Philadelphia International Airport is southwest of Citizens Bank Park and there is always a steady diet of airplanes traveling from right field toward home plate on their descent toward the airport. But all of a sudden at the beginning of this game, the airplanes all reversed course

10 Page 10 of 17 Tim had a lot of fun watching airplanes traveling from home plate toward right field on their ascent from the airport. We also had a lot of fun watching the Phanatic and his friends and family entertain people around the ballpark. Here is the Phanatic hanging out in the crowd down the third base line:

11 Page 11 of 17 Note: it seems like the Phanatic always makes his first appearance during each game right around this same area down the 3B line. We had never sat so close to a Phillies ballgirl. Between innings, Tim headed down and got this picture with Maureen: Before getting Maureen s autograph and photo, Tim reported to me that every ballgirl whose autograph he d gotten in the past had signed her name with a little heart. He was sure that Maureen would adorn her baseball card with a heart too. But Maureen switched it up and signed her name with a little drawing of a baseball. Those friends and family of the Phanatic included Lady PhaPha who did a little dance with the second base umpire, Alan Porter. Of course, in addition to the non-baseball entertainment, there was a game being played too. The Phillies took the lead early and led the whole way. In the first inning, the Phillies scored a single run on a Ryan Howard groundout that scored Shane Victorino. In the second inning, they added two more on a two run homerun by Dominic Brown. I believe that this homerun makes Brown the first person whom Tim and I have seen hit a homerun in the minor and Major leagues. In the bottom of the sixth inning, former-mariner Raul Ibanez

12 Page 12 of 17 hit a double down the right field line. But he was stranded on base and the score remained 3-0 Phillies. Halladay was, as they say, dealing: Yep, its official, he s good. By the way, here was our view of Raul out in left field:

13 Page 13 of 17 It was official, we were having a good time and the ballpark and Tim highly approved of it: Although the lead seemed insurmountable given Halladay s dominance, the Phillies played a little tack-on in the bottom of the seventh and it is a good thing that they did. After loading up the bases, Placido Polanco unloaded them with one swing:

14 Page 14 of 17 Our new friend, James Russell, had to come in to finish off the seventh inning for starter Victor Zambrano: And that put the Phillies up 7-0. But then Uncle Charlie decided to that his relievers needed to get some work in. So Halladay s day was done with a line of 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K. The relief corps did not fare as well. Between Jose Contreras (4 runs) and J.C. Romero (1 run), the Phillies gave back 5 runs in the top of the 8th, and all of a sudden we had a ball game again. And the boooooos were raining down in Citizen Bank Park. Late in the game, the Phanatic (1B dugout) enlisted the help of his mother (3B dugout) to get the crowd going again: This has nothing to do with baseball, but I was quite happy with the zoom job my camera did on the moon:

15 Page 15 of 17 At the end of the game, the Phanatic got some help from this guy in the green shirt and plaid shorts: He was sitting just across the aisle from us and after a lot of hard work he got the wave going pretty good around the ballpark:

16 Page 16 of 17 It must have worked because Michael Stutes got a hold and Antonio Bastardo got the save, which of course resulted in a win for both the Phillies and their ace, Roy Halladay C&S Fan Stats 12/1 Games (Tim/Kellan) 13/2 Teams [Tim Mariners, Orioles, Rangers, Brewers, Nationals, Phillies, Mets, Rays, Braves, Diamondbacks, Astros, Royals and Cubs; Kellan Mariners, Orioles] 7 Ice Cream Helmet(s) (Orioles (2), Nationals, Phillies (2), Rangers (2)) 38 Baseballs (4 Mariners, 7 Rangers, 3 Orioles, 2 Umpire, 2 Nationals, 2 Brewers, 5 Phillies, 1 Mets, 1 Rays, 2 Braves, 2 Diamondbacks, 1 MLB Authenticator, 1 Easter Egg, 1 Glove Trick, 2 Royals, 2 Cubs) 5/1 Stadiums [Tim Camden Yards, Nationals Park, Citizens Bank Park, Minute Maid Park, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington; Kellan Camden Yards] 11/7 Player Photos* [Tim Felix Hernandez, Adam Moore, Garrett Olson, Chris Seddon, David Aarsdma, Michael Pineda, Miguel Olivo, Ryan Langerhans, Greg Zuan, Mark Lowe, Michael Saunders; Kellan Luke French, Milton Bradley, Franklin Gutierrez, Justin Smoak, Matt Tuiasosopo, Ryan Langerhans, Michael Saunders] 3/1 Management Photos* [Tim Howard Lincoln, Jack Zduriencik, Eric Wedge; Kellan Jack Zduriencik] 4 Autograph(s) (Michael Pineda, Michael Saunders, Mark Lowe, Felipe Paulino) 1 Bat* (Milton Bradley) 3/2 Mascot Photos* [Tim Mariner Moose, Teddy Roosevelt, The O s Bird; Kellan Mariner Moose, The O s Bird] 1/0 Divisions Closed Out** [Tim A.L. West (Safeco Field, Oakland Coliseum, Angel Stadium & Rangers Ballpark in Arlington); Kellan N/A] 1 Line-up Card (Royals vs. Rangers) *includes Spring Training**divisions where we have seen each team play a home game. Like Be the first to like this post. Posted on June 29, 2011 at 4:18 am Permalink No Comments Filed in: Tim Tags: Al Porter, Chicago Cubs, Citizen Bank Park, cubs, Dave Keller, James Russell, Kyle Kendrick, Mount Vernon WA, Phanatic, Philadelphia Phillies, phillies, phillies ballgirls, Placido Polanco, Raul Ibanez, Rittenhouse Park, Roy Halladay, speed pitch, the moon, umpire