Photos from the All-Star Game & meeting Ryan Franklin

Here are a few pictures that I took before the All-Star Game. Enjoy.

On a side note - I met Ryan Franklin tonight. I went out with a few friends tonight to go play some putt-putt golf and hit some balls in the batting cage down in Fenton. While we were going to start on the front 9...we thought we saw a guy who looked just like Ryan Franklin...I thought his goatee was a bit shorter looking than Franklin's...Then an employee saw us looking and told us, "yep, that's him." He was with his wife and 3 kids playing on some go karts and in the batting cages. It was funny, cause it's not like he ever really needs to take an at-bat....but he was bunting about 75% of the balls in the cage. Then as we walked over to the cages, we walked about 2 feet away from him. We didn't say anything to him, cause honestly, we were sure he probably got bothered enough and he just wanted to spend time with his family. Well, a little while later we saw him and his family leave. Shortly there after, we left...I had noticed an Escalade in the parking lot just sitting there with it's lights on...I mentioned to my buddy that I thought it was him and his family.

So we left and after a tough decision between Sonic and BWW's, Jeremy made the decision and we went to BWW's to grab some wings. After getting our order placed, the waiter came back to our table and told us that we were eating with a celebrity. We saw that Franklin and his family came in and sat down about 4 tables away from us. That's when about a dozen people or so came over from the bar area to shake his hand, congratulate him and get autographs. We were kind of getting ticked at them for bothering the guy...I mean, crap, he just wanted to enjoy some time w/ his family. So eventually people left him alone. On our way out though, we decided, we'd at least tell him congrats and not really bother him, but still let him know we knew who he was...So we told him congrats on the All-Star Game and he just nodded his head and said thanks as he had a mouth full of food. I wanted to slip a picture of him w/ my phone, but figured it wasn't the right time to do something like that. It was pretty awesome to see him out with his family and interacting with his wife and kids...you just don't get to see that side of Athletes. My respect has grown for him even more as a family man off the field.

Kiener Plaza setup for the Mike & Mike show on ESPN radio.


All of those are Cardinal hats...setup inside the stadium.


This is the site of the stadium before the gates are even opened to the public.








Can you spot the snipers?


It was as if the President was gonna be there or something...




There were at least 8 of these guys on the rooftop, I got a picture of 4 of them.








It's so stealthy...


This was so amazing!


Obama meeting with Cardinal Hall-of-Famers

Day 38 - All-Star Future's Game

**Editor's Note** (This is part 1 of a 3 part blag covering the 3 events this beer man will be working)

After a very easy drive downtown without hardly any traffic like I thought there would be, I pull into my usual parking garage on 7th & Pine. It was a much older lady collecting money today. She looked at me...did a double take...and then asked me if I had a brother. I don't. I was confused by her asking me this...I told her no. She looked at me and said, "are you sure?" I laughed to myself and told her I had a sister and that was it. She went on to tell me that there was a guy who just went up into the garage who looked like he was my twin. I just responded with a "ah" and gave her my money. She handed me my parking pass and told me to watch out for myself up there. Never a dull moment parking in that garage.

I started to walk towards the stadium. There was a vibe in the air throughout downtown. It was like something I had never experienced before. Seeing everything decked out with All-Star decor and the crowded streets was amazing!

If you haven't had a chance to walk through Kiener Plaza and the area where the old Busch Stadium used to be, it's a must see area! Amazing stuff! I can't even begin to describe it all...


After getting changed into my uniform, I made my way up near commissary 240 and had glanced over to see this amazingness. The design in the grass. I've never seen a stadium's grass look so amazing!

I made it into the commissary where guys were discussing how bad they thought it was gonna rain. I checked the radar on my iPhone and saw that it was inevitable, we would face a rain delay.

I didn't think it would turn out to be a 4 hour rain delay!

I don't even think they got all of the way through the first inning...

Selling beer isn't even something i care to discuss. It was so awful. I didn't even make enough commission to cover my parking...and I park in a $5 garage....Only one guy in our commissary started to sell into his second case. I think they anticipated more people to show up to the game. The cost of beer was also raised during the All-Star activities....$8.75 for a 16oz bottle of an all-star brewski.

With the rain delay, most beer vendors were waiting around to see when we were able to check out. We were originally told we were able to start selling at noon and had to be done at 5:30. Just as the grounds crew was removing the tarp, ...around 5 we were all told we had to check out. I kept flirting with the idea of staying and watching the game and for the Celebrity Softball game...but carrying a full beer tub around for nearly 5 hours was exhausting and I honest would have rather of saved my energy for a much more busier two days ahead of me.

I'm kicking myself for not sticking around. I watched most of the All-Star Future's Game at home on ESPN 2 and what an exciting game! I also learned that the Celebrity Softball Game will be televised after the Home Run Derby on Monday night...so I feel good about getting to watch that!

Totals thus far:
65 Bags of Cracker Jacks
80 Bottles of Water
151 Bags of Peanuts
2053 Bottles of Beer
(no typo in those beer totals. I only sold 2 beers today...one guy didn't sell a beer...most of the guys sold about 12 beers...rough day)

Check back for pt. 2 late tomorrow night after the Home Run Derby for a full report of experiencing something amazing!