A dingo ate my baseball...

If you've read our blog before you already know that we love it here in KL. The food is incredible, our friends and colleagues are wonderful, the climate is consistently amazing and the travel opportunities are mind bogglingly diverse. That being said, there are two things in particular that I have been missing as spring approaches back home (there is no spring here): good beer and baseball! (Yes, the post is from Brian! Mary just misses the beer.)

One day on the ride home from work, Charlie and I were talking about the impending retirement of Derek Jeter. I started getting nostalgic about the summer of 1996 when Jamal Greene and I watched probably 10 Yankee games from the right field bleachers at Old Yankee Stadium. Charlie countered with tails of Jim Palmer and the Earl Weaver Orioles of the late 1970s. I joked that the only way we would get to see a game this year would be to fly to Sydney, Australia to see the Dodgers and Diamondbacks season opener, the latest international opening day promotion by MLB. I was honestly just kidding but Charlie reminded me that we both knew Stan Kasten's son-in-law, Marc, from the Osler Residency program. (Stan Kasten is the President of the Dodgers.) Charlie wondered out loud if Marc might be going to Australia and if he we would be able to get us 2 tickets to the opener.

Before I could even finish outlining our longshot fantasy weekend trip to Mary that night, she stopped me and said, "If you can get tickets, book the flights..." Wow, do I love that woman! We found out the following morning that although Marc was unable to make the trip with the Dodgers, he secured us tickets for both games in Sydney. By the time class started that morning, Charlie had booked us two business class tickets to Sydney using his travel miles!

I had not flown business class since my Aunt Marie let me use one of her travel vouchers to fly to Spain back in 1999. I won't bore you with the details, but a lot has changed since then. Probably the most notable part of the outbound trip was getting through immigration and security. Charlie is a (insert precious metal here) member of every airline and he worked his magic. KLIA has been a mess since the disappearance of MH370 and the lines were unbelievably long. The Malaysian airline rep had our passports stamped while we waited at the lounge and then she escorted us through the crew section of security. Charlie pretty much ruined my upcoming trip back to the states in May (and pretty much all my other trips ever) because I am flying coach.

We arrived in Sydney around 830pm Friday night and set out for the Rocks, one of the oldest neighborhoods right underneath the iconic Harbour Bridge. We stopped for a pint (or 2) at Lord Nelson's Brewery Hotel, the first of many establishments that claimed to be the "Oldest Pub in Sydney." It definitely looked old but more importantly it had excellent local beer. We asked several folks at the bar if they had heard about the baseball games. No one had, but the manager did give us a 10 minute lesson in Rugby Union - Go Roosters! After stopping off at a German Beer Garden to grab a pretzel, we walked around the harbour before calling it a night.

Charlie across the water from the Sydney Opera House

We learned right from the start that Sydney is an incredibly expensive city!

Saturday was an absolutely terrific day. It started out with a beautiful run around the harbour which took me past the botanical gardens, the opera house, the Rocks and Circular Quay. We then headed out to brunch at David and Karen Ryugo's house across the harbour in Cremorne Point. David and Karen came out as part of the neurosciences course last September and they invited us to spend time with them anytime we were in Sydney. It was so nice to be able to take them up on that generous offer. They live in a beautiful community about a 10-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay. It was great to relax, enjoy good food and catch up. 

After brunch, Charlie had some work to do so I headed to Darling Harbor (close to where the Dodgers were staying) to see if there was anything interesting happening before the game.

The line was too long for me to take some hacks, but this Aussie kid was a pro.

Around 4pm we headed out to the Sydney Cricket Ground to catch the first game of the season. Even though I knew that it was a sellout crowd, I was surprised by the energy level at the stadium. The place was hopping!

Yes, that is Clayton Kershaw popping his head out of a kangaroo's pouch! And for the record, the large hands are supposed to represent Hanley Ramirez's gesture to heaven every time he does something notable on the field...

We were met at will call by Stan Kasten's executive assistant, Cheryl, who kindly informed us that not only did we have 2 tickets to the game, we were sitting with Stan and his family! Charlie and I were super pumped but were a little embarrassed that we weren't wearing any Dodgers' gear. The highlight of the game might have been the National Anthem. When Charlie proudly screamed "O" (Orioles fans will know what I mean), Cheryl hit him on the shoulder and reminded him that we were at a Dodgers game in the owner's box! You can imagine what Charlie did the following day during the National Anthem...

(Note to non baseball fans - you can skip this paragraph.) Sitting near homeplate was like traveling back in time to the 1980s with Michael J. Fox and Doc Emmett Brown. We saw Don Mattingly, Mark McGwire, Rick Honeycutt, Davey Lopes, Tim Wallach and Kirk Gibson (who disappointingly did not limp onto the field pumping his fist to hand the lineup card to the umpire). I tried in vain to get Donnie Baseball's autograph but I think he at least looked in our general direction twice...

I was so excited to be back at a ballgame, my face hurt the next day from smiling!

First pitch of the 2014 MLB season

Clayton Kershaw was his usual dominant self.

Imported Dodger dog - they ran out of chili for the Diamondback dog...

With Helen Kasten

Other than Charlie's pre-game antics there are two things that really stood out at the game. The first was Aussie fans' love of foul balls. I don't know much about cricket but apparently the cricket ball is sacred. It almost never goes into the stands and if it does, it is promptly returned. It is also not discarded after 1 pitch because it got a little dirt on it. When Aussie fans found out they could actually keep a real baseball, they started going nuts. People cheered more for caught foul balls than Chris Van Slyke's homerun! The second thing that stood out was the Kasten family and Cheryl. They were so generous with their time (and their seats) and we really enjoyed getting to know them. I was struck by how much they absolutely love baseball. Stan was on the edge of his seat for almost every pitch. It was nice to know that in addition to being a kean baseball mind and accomplished businessman, at the end of the day he is also a true fan.

After the game we did what baseball fans do - we went to the local pub for a pint. We were joined by Steve Ross, an academic sports attorney from Penn State who really knows his baseball. I know that Charlie appreciates the work I've been doing at PUGSOM this year but quite honestly the only time he has said "Nicely done, Garibaldi," was after he tasted the farmhouse IPA at the local taphouse - mission accomplished!

The Local Taphouse was on the corner of the cricket grounds.  For those of you from Baltimore, think Pickles Pub with better craft beer!

Game 2 on Sunday was just as good as Game 1. Cheryl put us in the first row at the corner of the Dodgers' dugout so I would have a better shot at getting Mattingly's autograph. No dice, but the game was still incredible and rounded out a perfect baseball weekend.

Thanks to Marc and wife Allana, the Kasten family, the wonderful ladies at will call, Charlie and Mary for making this one of the best sports weekends I've ever had!

Don Mattingly and Mark McGuire at the end of the dugout.