2022 Friendship League trip!!!!!

 I am way late on posting these, but wanted to share some pictures of our League Field Trip 2022 (first such trip in three years!).   We had a great time, enjoy these trips so much!  We had a packed three-days of action, here are some highlights...

Day1 - Buffalo, baby, Buffalo! 

We had an early start, leaving Detroit at 7AM and arrived in Buffalo right at the 1:00 start time for the big Buffalo Bisons game vs the Gwinnet Stripers (we thought they were the Gwinnett Strippers, was disappointed to see a bunch of dudes in lime green uniforms!) 

The infamous Bar Napkin trade between Pat
and Chuck!  Chuck is enjoying Marcus Semien's
45 home run card, and I got to see Jake Marisnick in person, 
toiling away for Gwinnett.  Advantage: Chuck!

Sahlen Field was an older but nice field in downtown Buffalo, and served as the home of the Toronto Blue Jays during the COVID seasons.  No major league crowd on hand for this one, as a 1:00 start in mid-September means only retirees, unemployed people, and five crazy tourists would be in attendance.   We waltzed to a five-person row of seats in Row 1, next to the dugout.   Not bad!  Highlight of the game was when Steve Willnus got the long-haired Gwinnett slugger Taylor Motter to laugh during his first home run trot of the game!  Front row has its advantages.  

Night time was all about the Bills, as Buffalo battled LA in a prime-time NFLseason kickoff.   Even though the Bills were on the road, downtown Buffalo was electric as streets were closed down for game-watching fun, featuring food, drinks, and live music and throngs of people watched the game on giant outdoor TVs.  We went to Buffalo's two finest sports bars, the Bada Bing (No Tony Soprano or Paulie Walnuts sightings) and the Sideline Sports Bar and Grill (which was FILLED with screaming, chanting, and singing fans all wearing Josh Allen jerseys!)

Dqy 2 - Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Erie!

We went a little north to see Niagra Falls from the American side, which I don't remember ever seeing before, we had always been on the Canadian side before.   Still a majestic site, and the Maid of the Mist  was awesome as always!

We managed a late lunch at the world famous Anchor Bar, original home of Buffalo Wings ;-).  THen it was a short drive to Erie PA to watch the Seawolves take on the Altoona Curve.  We were treated to a real pitcher's duel, as top Tigers pitching prospect Ty Madden battled Altoona's Quinn Priester, Pittsburgh's top pitching prospect.   Very shaky fielding ultimately hurt Madden, who was otherwise matching Priester goose egg after goose egg.  Fun game, and seeing Madden effortlessly toss 95 mph pitches gives us some hope for the future.  Priester was promoted to AAA right after the game, I think we will be able to brag that we saw him before he got famous :-) 

Day 3:  Cleveland and Toledo!

We bugged out of Erie quickly and made our way to downtown Cleveland for a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!  Spent quite a while looking at the exhibits and really enjoyed some video clips of guitar godsTom Morello and Eddie Van Halen.  We stopped in Toledo on the way home for a late afternoon game against the St Paul Saints.  Even some mandatory Michigan construction delays couldn't put a damper on such a fun trip!  Will just put a bunch of pictures out there, encourage any of the other guys to share their pictures as well!