I left for MN on Thursday night after work, and Robbie joined me on Friday evening. I was pretty wiped out when I got to Minneapolis so it was almost straight to bed for me. On the flight, I got some pretty great pictures. The first one, among others, being Wayne Newton's estate. I always knew where it was on the ground, but I never had my camera ready on our ascent/descent. We took off right over his place, and I was able to capture it all! The second cool picture is the moon. My flight was parallel to the moon the whole way, and I was able to zoom in and capture it from the plane! The gal sitting next to me probably thought I was crazy. I was trying to get the best shot for about 10 minutes! Ha!
Friday morning I was able to sleep in, but the second I woke up, I went straight to see my nephew, JG!! It had been since Christmas that I saw him last, and he was only a month old then! He has grown into such a mature 7 month old by now, and he is just a bundle of joy!! He was down for his morning nap when I saw him, but his momma woke him up, and I got a HUGE smile from him! Yep, I'm still wrapped around his little finger!
Saturday was the day of my grandpa's Celebration of Life, so we rented a car for the day and headed to Wisconsin. It was so great to see my whole family, some of them I haven't seen in 5+ years!! My grandpa served our country in the Korean War, so they had a 21 Gun Salute in honor of him, and they presented my grandma with the American flag as well! On our way back to the cities we saw a wonderful MN sunset!
It was our plan to go to my Alma Mater, UW-River Falls, on our way back to Minneapolis from Wisconsin, but by the time we left, we were more tired than what we expected, so we went straight back to the cities. We did end up stopping at Matt's Bar for a late dinner, however. Matt's Bar's claim to fame is the conception of the Jucy Lucy, a cheese-stuffed hamburger. There is some controversy over who was the first to serve the Jucy Lucy, as another bar practically just down the street, the 5-8 Club, also claims to have served it first! Anyway, we have been to both Matt's Bar and the 5-8 Club, and to be honest, neither restaurant's Jucy Lucy was that great. I know a lot Minnesotan's swear by the Jucy Lucy, but we didn't get what the big deal was about putting a slice of cheese inside a burger. It was no different than putting the cheese on top of the burger. At the 5-8 Club, the cheese burned Robbie's mouth, and the Jucy Lucy at Matt's Bar was underwhelming. Sorry, Minneapolis!
On Sunday morning, my Great Aunt JoAnn was able to meet JG for the first time. Before her flight back to NC, she came to my brother's house to spend time with him. She was able to get a good share of kisses and snuggles with him!! The rest of the day, my mom hung out with us. It was a beautiful day to be outside, so we laid down a blanket and brought JG out to play! I couldn't keep my eyes off him! Sunday night, my brother went to Target Field for the Celebrity Softball game and Future's Game, but we stayed back and hung out with JG and Maura!
Later that afternoon, Robbie and I headed out to Target Field via Lightrail in time for the gates to open for the Homerun Derby. Johnny and Maura were going to be attending the Homerun Derby as well, but unfortunately we weren't sitting together. They got their All-Star ticket package along with their season tickets, but coincidentally, the tickets we purchased on StubHub were only 2 sections away!!
The 2014 All-Stars were taking batting practice before the Homerun Derby, so we watched the AL and NL All-Star's swing away! It was during batting practice where I realized that all the current baseball greats were right here in front of us!! And, we were sitting on the 3rd base side, the same side as the NL dugout. So, I got to see all the Brewers who were selected for the ASG, including starting catcher Jonathan Lucroy, outfielder Carlos Gomez, third baseman Aramis Ramirez, and closer Francisco Rodriguez!! The Brewers were the only team in baseball with 3 starters in the All-Star Game! Being K-Rod was a closer, he wasn't in the starting line-up. Way to go Brewers!! I also love how laid back the Homerun Derby is; players bring their kids and have their cell phones out. Never again in the regular season will you ever see that!
Another thing I noticed was that there were several sports news desks scattered around the field and concourse. Every outlet wanted a piece of the action!
After the delay, starting line-ups were announced, as well as each teams mascot. It was fun to see each mascot come onto each dugout and dance around. Mascots are fun!
After an hour-long delay, the Derby was underway! The two captains for the Derby were Toronto's Jose Bautista for the AL, and Colorado's Troy Tulowitzski for the NL. Bautista chose Baltimore's Adam Jones, Minnesota's Brian Dozier, and Oakland's Josh Donaldson and Yoenis Cespedes to round out the AL. Tulowitzski chose LA Dodgers's Yasiel Puig, Miami's Giancarlo Stanton, Cincinnati's Todd Frazier, and Colorado's Justin Morneau (a former Twin). They had a new format this year for the Homerun Derby, using brackets, and getting just 7 outs instead of the 10 that they previously had before this year. The 2 players from each league who had the least number of homeruns were eliminated after Round 1, and then it was single elimination after that. We actually saw a "swing-off" from both leagues after the first round as there were two batters tied for second. Ultimately, Brian Dozier and Josh Donaldson from the AL, and Justin Morneau and Yasiel Puig from the NL were eliminated after Round 1. To note, however, Puig hit ZERO homeruns (overrated!), and when Justin Morneau took to the plate, he got a standing ovation from all the fans who loved him in a Twins jersey, including me!
Another cool thing they did between rounds and during commercial breaks was that both the Twins Mascot and the Brewers Mascot had a Homerun Derby of their own. T.C. Bear won, but I think it was rigged. Also, all the mascots who have races in their respective ballparks had a relay race at the Derby, and it started with the Racing Sausages of Milwaukee!! They also had a few dogs come out to the field and do some tricks, and the Minnesota Brass even played for us a few times!! We were thoroughly entertained from start to finish!
NL captain Troy Tulowitzski and the AL's Adam Jones got eliminated in the 2nd round, leaving the NL's Stanton and Frazier in the final round, along with the AL's captian Bautista and Cespedes. Being Bautista and Stanton hit the most homeruns in the first round, they had a Bye to the 3rd round. Mind you, they had over an hour in between plate appearances, so they had to find ways to stay loose, and warm in the "frigid" July temps that were on the decline! Due to the Bye, Bautista and Stanton were eliminated from Round 3, leaving Todd Frazier (who sneaked into the final with just ONE homerun in round 3) and Cespedes in the championship round!
Cespedes blew Frazier out of the water, beating him 9 homeruns to 1!! Cespedes won the Homerun Derby Championship for the second year in a row, becoming just the second player ever to do it. The other player: Ken Griffy Jr.! That's some great company! The whole night was so much fun, and I am so glad we had the opportunity to go! Besides the Metrodome, Target Field is the stadium that I have been to the most, and not many people can say they were at the VERY first game ever played in that venue, a college baseball game! So, it was only fitting that we went back to our "home" field for some of the All Star festivities!
On Tuesday we flew back to Vegas, but not before plenty of face time with JG! He is the sweetest kid I know, and we showered him with as much love as we could before we left!!
This trip to Minnesota was a blast, and the many memories of the weekend will hold with me forever!
"Actually, the moment of victory is wonderful, but also sad. It means that your trip has ended." -Bill Toomey
