Take me out to the ball game!

I feel like this happened eons ago, but like always, I've fallen behind with the updates!

On a whim and surprise Dan, I got us really good seats to a Tigers game a few weeks ago. Maglio Ordonez retired from the Tigers and I thought, Hm. That could be an interesting thing to see in person. So I decided to poke around at tickets. And when I realized that Justin Verlander was the Tigers starting pitcher for the game following Mags' retirement ceremony, it was a no brainer. Row 7 of the on deck circle, please!

It turned out to be WAY hotter than we thought it'd be and both ended up with wicked farmer's tans. Oh well...we had fun :) But unfortunately we did NOT get to see any Verlander magic. But still - getting to see a pitcher who won MVP and the Cy Young Award...in the same year!...can't pass up an opportunity like that, even if he was having an off day.

Ah, Comerica Park on a nearly cloudless Sunday afternoon. Baseball at it's finest, folks.

Ehhhh...not the greatest picture of either of us. But I refuse to be one of those tweens in a crowd who insists on taking ten million pictures of myself to get the perfect one. I'll settle.

There they are! The Tigs!

Maglio's retirement ceremony. They presented him with this horrible oil painting of himself, hitting the game winning home run to win the 2006 ALCS. Dan was like, "Poor guy. When most players retire they get a car or something." We think it's because he didn't retire directly from the Tigers, but shopped around to see if any other teams would pick him up before he decided to lay down the 'ol bat & ball. Anyway, we were "lucky" enough to receive a free 8x10 replica of the painting as we exited the ballpark. I'll see if I can remember to scan my copy and add it to the end of the post.

Papa Grande. In the flesh. I don't know why I'm impressed...not like his closing magic is doing anything for him this season. COME ON, Valverde! Pull it together, man!

Haha! Mike Ilitch. He's a very, very old and very, very rich man. (He owns the Tigers...and a BUNCH of other franchises.)

Awwwww....Skipper and Mags sharing a moment...

Joaquin Benoit. My Tiger. (And I'd like to point out that he's looking directly at me as I'm taking this picture. Yeah, that totally happened. Thanks for the nod, Benoit. I love you.)

Remember the aforementioned lack of Verlander magic? This is a picture of the first pitch of the game...which Jeter homered on. DAMMIT.

Go home, A-Rod! Nobody likes you! You're old and juiced up!

Big Boy, Prince

Gotta love watching baseball in person.

Who dat? I don't know...the only white guy I'd probably take a picture of while batting is probably Don Kelly. So that's my bet.

Kid Rock? Is it really you? Balding and all?

So the game didn't end great, but we DID get to see J.V. pitch, a Jeter home run, an A-Rod home run AND a Fielder home run. All in all? Not a bad day!

And for any of you Fox Sports Detroit fans out there, I snapped a picture of Rod Allen because I mean...who doesn't love Rod Allen?!

I see you, Rod Allen. Lookin' country strong!

So anyway, as promised, feast your eyes on this gaudy, ginormous painting. If I were him, I'd have wished they just gave me a car...