Updated July 30, 2017
Here’s the listing of the 2017 games and fan gatherings (FGs). The accompanying photos can be
be found under the league in which a game was played or under “fan gatherings” in the
buttons shown on the right. An asterisk indicates that it is the first time since I began my
ballparks travels in 2002 that a fan has appeared in an account. Bold letters indicate that
it is the first time that a “veteran” fan was encountered in 2016. The number next to each
name indicates order of appearance this season.
| Story/Details | Details | Fans With | More Details |
| 1. Two for the Price of One. Sure, it’s always Tim’s turn to pay when there’s a two-for-one special; and we got to see two games. |
British Columbia Bombers 7 Toronto Rush 4 1/31/17 (10:00) Palm Springs Stadium |
Tim Chambers-1 Steve Fraire-2 |
Palm Springs, California California Winter League (CWL) of the Frontier League (Independent) |
| 2. Ballpark #136. It use to be called the auxiliary field, but then artificial turf was installed. Hence a name change. |
Hit King Baseball Academy 3 New York Colonials 3 1/31/17 (11:00) |
Tim Chambers-1 Steve Fraire-2 |
Palm Springs Stadium Turf Field* Palm Springs, California/CWL Ballpark #136 |
| 3. Anti-Home State. The guy in line ahead of us at the ticket window said “Minnesota” and he paid $5. I admitted to being a California resident and paid $7. |
British Columbia Bombers 22 Washington Blue Sox 4 2/9/17 (10:00) Palm Springs Stadium |
Tim Chambers-1 Steve Fraire-2 Fans Met Blain Chapman*-3 Barry Haner*-4 Terry Haner*-5 |
Fans Met Dennis Hugo*-6 Faye Hugo*-7 Palm Springs, California CWL Playoffs Round 1 |
| 4. Canadian Warmth. After having great conversations with five Canadians, I was reminded of what nice neighbors they are. |
Oregon Lumberjacks 9 Alberta Grizzly 6 2/9/17 (12:30) Palm Springs Stadium |
Tim Chambers-1 Blain Chapman-3 Steve Fraire-2 Barry Haner-4 Terry Haner-5 Dennis Hugo-6 |
Fans With Fay Hugo-7 Palm Springs, California CWL Playoffs Round 1 |
| 5. Streak Over. The Dominican Republic streak of 11 wins in a row is over. |
Puerto Rico 3 Dominican Republic 1 3/14/17 (6:00) |
Tim Chambers-1 | Petco Park San Diego, California World Baseball Classic Second Round |
| 6. Now 11-10. Team USA looks stronger this year after having a 10-10 WBC all-time record. |
United States 4 Venezuela 2 3/15/17 (6:00) Petco Park |
Tim Chambers-1 Bruce Erricson-8 |
San Diego, California World Baseball Classic (WBC) Second Round |
| 7. A Win for Abner Doubleday. Baseball’s birthplace won tonight. |
United States 8 Puerto Rico 0 3/22/17 (6:00) |
Chuck Holt-9 Tony Marquina* -10 |
Dodger Stadium Los Angeles, California WBC Championship |
| 8. Remembering Fort McHenry. Since 2009 I have had the honor of serving on the Orioles Opening Day Flag Team. This season as for every year since 2010, my friend Mary Klepper did an outstanding job as our team leader. She is a true patriot. |
Orioles 3 Blue Jays 2 (11 Innings) 4/3/17 (3:05) Oriole Park at Camden Yards Baltimore, Maryland American League |
Daughter Angela Arnold-11 Son-in-Law Jason Arnold-12 Nathan W. Clendenen -13 Beverly Coursey-14 Darice Dixon-15 Kevin George-16 Kristy George-17 Mark Greene-18 |
Fans With Mary Klepper-19 Regina Klepper-20 Andrea Matthews-21 Andrew Nickol-22 Gene Nickol-23 Sharon Nickol-24 Bill Pullin-25 Jennie Sjursen-26 Greg Warren-27 |
| 9. A New Tradition. Tiffany Fechter and I began a new tradition today by going to the Giants Home Opening Day Game and sitting in the seats occupied since the opening of AT&T Park by Tiffany’s parents the late Nadja and the very alive Mel Fechter. |
Giants 4 Diamondbacks 1 4/10/17 (1:35) AT&T Park San Francisco, California National League Pre-Game Saw Holly Malander-28 |
Pre-Game Saw Kelsey Sayad-29 Pre-Game Met Mary Walton*-30 Fans With Tiffany Fechter-31 Adolfo Garcia-32 Brad Kahn-33 Jason Mar-34 Matt Leddy-35 |
Fans With John McKinnon-36 Gail Raabe-37 Christian Rosko-38 George Rosko-39 George Stafford-40 Michael Taylor*-41 Stephanie Taylor* -42 Jacqui West-43 Randy Yaple-44 |
| 10. By George!!! Complimentary season tickets were provided by friend George Harrison. |
Giants 4 Dodgers 3 5/1/17 (7:10) Dodger Stadium |
Tim Chambers-1 Chuck Holt-9 Pre-Game Saw Tony Marquina-10 |
Los Angeles, California National League |
| 11. Hawaii 4-6. The state is known as Hawaii 5-O because it was the 50th to enter the Union, but for me it’s the 46th Ballparks state. Hence Hawaii 4-6. |
Cal State Fullerton Titans 3 University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 1 5/5/17 (6:35) |
Solo | Les Murakami Baseball Stadium* Honolulu, Hawaii* NCAA Big West Conference Baseball State #46 Ballpark #137 (1983) |
| 12. Go Bows. OK, it’s state is known as Hawaii 5-O because it was the 50th to enter the Union, but for me it’s the 46th Ballparks state. |
University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 4 Cal State Fullerton Titans 1 |
Lyn DiRico*-45 Steve DiRico-46 Thalia DiRico*-47 Joseph Finney*-48 Ricardo Finney*-49 |
5/6/17 (6:35) Les Murakami Baseball Stadium Honolulu, Hawaii NCAA Big West Conference Baseball |
| 13. Blue State. The state of Delaware is blue politically and embraces the color with the Blue Rocks and the University of Delaware Blue Hens. |
Wilmington Blue Rocks 10 Frederick Keys 2 5/14/17 (1:05) Wilmington, Delaware* |
Angela Arnold-11 Fans Met Scott Arterbridge*-50 Dave Houtman*-51 Leroy Van Horn*-52 |
Daniel S. Frawley Stadium* Carolina League (Advanced A) State #47 Ballpark #138 (1993) |
| FG 1. Bay to Breakers. I ran the classic race for the fourth time. This time with three younger men. |
Bay to Breakers Foot Race 5/21/17 (8:00) |
Son Keith Jones-53 Nephew Kenny Jones-54 Shaun Yaple-55 |
The San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean San Francisco, California |
| 14. California Pecos. The Pecos League has surprisingly expanded into California even if it did not seem to be thriving elsewhere. |
California City Whiptales 13 Monterey Amberjacks 2 5/30/17 (7:00) |
Tim Chambers-1 Keith Jones-53 Fan Met Raymond Lee*-56 |
Balsitas Park California City, California Pecos League (Independent) Ballpark #139 (1977) |
| 15. Dad’s Home State. I couldn’t help but think of the man who took me to my first game when I saw a game in his state of birth. Yeah, Dad was born in Clinton. |
Springfield Cardinals 5 Northwest Arkansas Naturals 2 6/7/17 (5:05) |
Pre-Game Met Kaitlyn Aguilar*-57 |
Arvest Ballpark Springvale, Arkansas* Texas League (Double A) State #48 Ballpark #140 (2008) |
| 16. 14-Inning Double Dip. A bottom of the seventh comeback win marked the end of the second game tonight. |
Northwest Arkansas Naturals 4 Springfield Cardinals 3 |
Pre-Game Saw Kaitlyn Aguilar-57 |
6/7/2017 (7:35) Arvest Ballpark Springdale, Arkansas Texas League (Double A) |