Tag: baseball

End of 2010s: My Decade Recap
Do we know yet how we actually address the 2010s? It’s more than teens and tens seems a bit weird to me to be honest.

It’s New Year’s Eve 2019 and I guess a time to reflect. 20 (!) years ago we were all awaiting Doomsday with the Millennium bug and I ended up at a house party in a garage in Oldcastle, Co. Meath on New Year’s Eve.

10 years ago, in 2009, I was in Dublin, learning how to walk properly again, having been on crutches for 27 weeks.(Nightmare).

New Year’s is always a strange one, I mean, time as we know it is a human construct to give a bit of order to the world. Realistically a ‘new year’ could start on August 27th, couldn’t it?

Anyway, as we sit, analyse and beat ourselves up over what we have and haven’t achieved since 2010 here’s a quick run down of some of the good, the bad and the downright ugly.

Worse thing to happen in the 2010s – My sis got cancer
Best thing to happen: My sis kicked cancer’s ass
Second best thing to happen: Ireland voted for Marriage Equality and then Repealed the Eighth!
- I spent a second decade with the best partner anyone could dream of, yes Tahlula, that’s you 🙂
- I got my Bachelor of Science.
- I turned 40
- I got my own radio show on a national broadcaster, thanks RTÉ!
- I had the opportunity to interview some amazing guests, thanks to my radio shows, my blog and Goldenplec, who I also reviewed some amazing gigs for.
- I moved country for the third time.
- I got new nieces and nephews.
Music in 2010s

My musical hero, George Michael died in 2016 and my heart was broken.
I got to meet Andrew Ridgeley in 2019.

Nessy meets Andrew Ridgeley 2019

My vinyl collection grew. I might add, I never stopped buying vinyl. Everyone else just started.

Some of the music that has stuck with my from this decade include:
- Shura: Nothing’s Real,
- The Weeknd: Starboy
- Jamie XX: In Colour,
- Everything Everything: Man Alive,
- Robyn: Body Talk
- The War on Drugs: Lost in a Dream, A Deeper Understanding,
- David Bowie: Blackstar
- M83: Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
- Christine and The Queens: Chris
- Frank Ocean: Channel Orange
- James Blake: debut
- The 1975: debut
- Calvin Harris’ 18 Months
- Erland Cooper: Sule Skerry
That’s not even going near Irish acts. There have been so many good Irish acts over the past decade. There have always been great Irish music acts but I think during this decade, Irish acts have elevated themselves to a level where, for example, I’m thrilled I can play Irish acts alongside major international acts on my radio show and you can’t tell the difference in production values.

A number of things have contributed to this, I think. Spotify and streaming services have opened up many more genres and styles to listeners. Inspiration and different production techniques are everywhere. Better, faster computers and software have allowed ‘bedroom’ producers to achieve standards that previously would have cost a fortune. If you have the talent, all that is stopping you now is time and determination.

Meet Your Heroes

I love Baz Luhrmann, I think the man is a genius. I bumped into him in St. Pancras Station in London, took a photo to prove it.

I wouldn’t have said this before but since George died, I’m a firm believer in meeting your heroes, if you have the opportunity.

I’m lucky to have met Baz and have a quick chat. In 2009, I met David LaChappelle. Then, in 2019, teenage me swooned over meeting Andrew Ridgeley. I always wanted to interview or meet George Michael. But, I wouldn’t want to intrude on anyone so never made the effort. Now, that George isn’t here, I say ‘Meet Your Heroes!’

Nessy meets Baz Luhrmann

Go Sports!
- The San Francisco Giants went from being crap to winning the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Amazing.
- My sis made me a Madison Bumgarner Jersey cake for my 40th birthday.
- Got to see the New York Yankees and The Boston Red Sox in 34 degree heat in London. 2 games – 50 runs.
- Liverpool won the Champions League and became World Club Champions.
Nessy at #LondonSeries19

There are tonnes of really negative things that have happened too. Everyone has ups and downs. This time of year it can be easy to put ourselves in competition with others. Please remember, you’re not competing with anyone else. Enjoy your life, live it to the fullest, and live it YOUR way. Hope you all have a wonderful New Year, I wish the best for you all.
December 31, 2019
Baseball and Me: In Anticipation of #LondonSeries 2019

I’ve been watching baseball since 2004. An illness and horrible bouts of insomnia led me to look for something to keep me busy at night when the rest of my world was sleeping.

The North American Sports Network had just launched in Ireland, showing baseball games, with lots of live games starting just after midnight. Perfect.

It was relaxing, nothing too strenuous and something to keep me occupied. Little did I know that I would fall for the game.

After a few weeks, I decided that if I was going to watch this, I should root for a team. Since I had been to San Francisco not too long before, and loved the place, the San Francisco Giants became an obvious choice.

I was still learning the rules and history of the club. I hadn’t even known they had reached the World Series two years before. But by the end of the season, I was subscribed to MLB tv, trying to watch the Giants and the Dodgers, with my team losing the division by two games.

Baseball became a companion to me. I worked from home and always had a game from the night before on as I did my work. Let’s face it for the next couple of years the Giants were, putting it nicely, shite.

Tim Lincecum joined, Barry Bonds retired and then a fresh breed of Giants gave some hope. I will never forget 2010, I had returned to study and the post season was challenging to say the least. Going to bed early so I could get up and watch games and hopefully get some sleep before lectures. It was all worth it for the first of three World Series titles.

Life changes, jobs mean baseball viewing habits change, I had a Madison Bumgarner Jersey shaped 40th birthday cake but I still had never been to an actual MLB game. I just couldn’t afford it.

So when the news filtered that baseball was coming to London where I now live, I hadtwo emotions. Sheer delight and simultaneously, dread. What happens if I couldn’t get a ticket? You can read about that here.

Now the #LondonSeries is this weekend. Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, obviously I wish it was the Giants but I guess the two East Coast teams are the flagship for the game.

The information and teasers that the MLB people have put out through social media imply that no one in the UK has ever watched a game. I got an email during the week reminding me that a baseball game doesn’t have a set time as it goes by innings and outs etc. Pretty low brow stuff. A social media post with ‘Phrases you might hear at the ballpark’ didn’t really help very much.

Now I’m wondering. This game that I’ve loved and watched for the past fifteen years, is it not going to be what I expected?

Will I think it’s shite if I don’t have Kruk, Kuip, John and Dave chatting to me through the game? Have I built this all up so much that I will only be disappointed?

I’m hoping for a few home runs, some proper battle it out stuff, an extra inning? Why not? And a good old Red Sox vs Yankees physical tussle where the umpire gets involved and has to eject a few? That would be awesome. And no, I’m not endorsing violence.

When the Giants won the three World Series, I felt a passion for a sport like nothing else. (Maybe when Meath won the All Ireland). If America’s summer pastime is in the UK, I want the ripple of electricity to spread around the ballpark.

I’m ready. Game on!

Follow me on Instagram for updates from both June 29 and June 30th

Baseball image by Lenora Cagle from Pixabay

AT & T Image by David Mark from Pixabay

June 28, 2019
MLB London Series // Ticket Panic Over

MLB London Series // Ticket Panic Over

I’m a huge baseball fan. But, it’s only now that I will have the opportunity to go to an MLB game. The last time I was in America was years ago, before I was even a baseball fan, and it costs a lot with flights and tickets. It costs a bit more if your team are on the West Coast.

I’m a San Francisco Giants fan, there could never be another team for me. When I went to SF, I fell in love with the city. A couple of years later, I got ill. Cue sleepless nights with only baseball for company. The Giants became my team.

Since then, they’ve gone from downright terrible to World Champs 3 times and back to heartbreakingly awful. But, I’m still a Giants fan. I sleep with San Francisco radio station on every night, I sleep in my 50th San Francisco anniversary t-shirt. And now, in London, I get to wear my Giants shirt to an MLB ballgame.

Over the past few years, London has seen NFL coming to Wembley become a regular fixture on the sports calendar. Indeed MLB has seen regular season games start in Japan and Australia, even this year, the Dodgers and the Padres played some games in Mexico. It seemed that it was only a matter of time before MLB came to the UK for a London Series.

When it was all finally announced that MLB was coming to London, I genuinely felt a dread like I was facing the Leaving Cert again (Irish equivalent to A Levels).

There could only ever be two teams to bring the sport to the UK, World Champions, Boston Redsox and their biggest rivals New York Yankees. As a Liverpool FC fan, the team share an owner with the Red Sox, so I will obviously be cheering for them.

It will also be interesting to see what impact the Yankees have on UK clothing. I have long thought that the Yankees were more a clothing brand here than anything else. I wonder if that will change.

The Hunt For Tickets

I had registered for pre-sale tickets with MLB and with London Stadium. The MLB pre-sale tickets went on sale at 1000 on December 3. I can only describe the hour it took me to get tickets and completely stomach churning.

I had 3 screens open, one work computer, one iPad and my phone, trying to get tickets. I had already registered with Ticketmaster and had updated my password so everything was ready to go. Yeah… no!

The spinning wheel of doom, just kept on spinning. It took my 50 minutes even to get through to where I could choose tickets. When I did get through, I had picked 2 tickets in the £65 bracket for Saturday, then a notice from Ticketmaster came. My account did not exist.

I had to set up another account and the only two tickets, the site would allocate to me were 2 tickets at £340 each, £780 in total. Jeezus lads! I couldn’t afford that, I’m not sure there are that many that could.

The Ticketmaster site also had a couple of little snags along the way, you had to click through each price bracket you wanted to pay for tickets. When I tried to get two tickets at a cheaper price, I got nothing.

After trials and deliberations with myself, I decided I would be going to the games on my own. I managed to get a £65 for Saturday and a £35 ticket for Sunday. I managed to get tickets for both days.

A Word of Caution

A couple of things emerged from that day. Ticketmaster and MLB knew beforehand how many people had registered for presale. The Ticketmaster site definitely wasn’t able for the traffic. Realistically, people always complain about Ticketmaster. They are a nightmare at the best of times and their charges are ridiculous, both for punters and for gig/venue promoters. Both games are both sold out.

The other point that concerns me more is that the game, while MLB is trying to promote a new sport here, it is pricing the regular Joe baseball fan out of going to the games. Looking for tickets on StubHub right now, the cheapest tickets are £123.02 each

Two things to consider, Wembley is a bigger venue for NFL. It has a capacity of 90000. Three games a year mean 270000 punters. London Stadium capacity is 66000. That capacity is still bigger than Yankee Stadium (54251) or Fenway (37371). The London Series is a two game series, which if a regular season game, can be a bit of a throw away series, there’s not that many of them. Turn the London Series into a three game series. That means 196000 people could then go see them icons of the sport. Don’t forget, we’re not only talking about UK fans but the US fans that want to make the journey also.

Looking forward to Summer 2019

As bad as the ticket torture of December 3rd was, I’m really looking forward to Summer 2019. I might be going on my own but I’ve already arranged to meet up with a fellow San Francisco Giants fan beforehand. No doubt, there will be a Festival of Baseball. I’m looking forward to cheering on the RedSox, booing the Yankees, a bench clearing brawl and a lot of fun!

MLB London Series logo taken from Facebook.

December 6, 2018
San Francisco Giants: E-40: Win Something (Update SF Giants Style!)

Every Postseason needs a song. In 2010, the unofficial San Francisco Giants anthem was Askon with Don’t Stop Believing. For the second time in three years, the Giants are about to start Game 1 in the first round of the NLCS. Tonight, they take on the Cincinnati Reds.

The prospect of a BayBridge World Series is go! As the Oakland A’s are through to the postseason too.

To reach the next stage, all the Giants have to do is win three out of the next five games. Here’s this years anthem, E-40 with Win Something. It will be interesting to see if it takes off like DSB did as it’s not as immediately sing-along-able. Either way, we’re in for a great couple of weeks of baseball.

I’ve got my Barry Bonds Sweatshirt and my 2010 orange rally rag ready for tonight. First pitch 0237.. yip, A.M.

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EDIT: E-40 has just been challenged by an opponet.. SFGiants Style!

October 6, 2012