I think for anyone to read the contents of this site they should know a little about who is writing it. As a kid living in Aurora, Ontario I was already a fan of the game but in 1964, at the age of 10 my Dad took my brother Brian and I to Yankee Stadium for the Annual Old Timers game versus the Baltimore Orioles. This experience took my love for the game to a new level. I remember walking into the Stadium being in awe of it's sheer size and found it odd to see subway trains run by, high over the outfield wall. I remember thinking the stadium was bigger than our whole neighbourhood. Being a huge Yankee fan at that time, I cherished my Mickey Mantle Topps baseball card and carried it everywhere I went. We saw my hero Mickey and teammates, Tony Kubek, Roger Maris, Bobby Richardson and the “Chairman of the Board” Whitey Ford. Playing in the Old Timers game were past greats Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and “Scooter” Phil Rizzuto.  Just starting my own baseball career, I often dreamt of one day playing in a stadium like this. That dream never came true but every kid needs to have dreams and aspirations.

This trip to New York created a strong baseball bond between Dad and I that spanned almost 5 decades. As a result of that trip, Dad now had 2 boys with whom he could talk baseball. I remember one evening when I was 11 or 12 Dad was helping with my math homework, and before I knew it, we were calculating ERA, GBL and BA. He made math fun, but too bad it didn’t translate into better marks. Most of those who know me can attest that I have always been a stats geek. I believe it's the residual affect from Dad's math homework help. From that time on, I had an understanding of the game that very few of my friends did. As a kid I enjoyed telling my friends what the magic number was for each of the contending teams nearing the end of the season.  

In September of 1999 I repaid dad somewhat with a trip to Detroit to see the Blue Jays take on the Tigers. We sat in the first row of the right field bleachers over-hanging the field. Sitting there with dad, a couple of my brothers and brother-in-law was overwhelming. All my life I wanted to sit in these seats and to be sharing it with my Dad at Tiger Stadium in its last season was a dream come true. Meeting and chatting with John Cerutti was pretty cool to.

With the 1964 trip in mind, in June of 2014 I had the great pleasure of going on a baseball trip to Cooperstown with Jen & Mike, my wife CeCe and my brother David. The Jays were up by 6 games over the Yankees with a 38 - 24 record at the time, so when we wore our Blue Jay's gear around town we were well received (by most). Tom Cheek and Bob Elliott were recent inductees into the HOF which gave us a great sense of pride reading their plaques. I made sure I was alone when reading the tributes to Tom and Bob because I knew I was going to tear up. Our favourite time was sitting around the fire back at the Meadowlark Inn talking baseball with dads and grandads of kids playing in the massive annual Cooperstown Ball Tournament. They were very serious about their baseball, but I think they went home with a new appreciation for Canadian ball fans. Jen and Mike both stood their ground while making solid arguments regarding free agents, baseball salaries, good and bad trades, and they backed their stance with numbers and facts our new American friends from Iowa and Colorado could not argue with. The fathers were smart enough to ask Mike about the art of pitching and how he could help their sons who were playing in the tournament. It was one of my best weekends ever.