One of the greatest things about taking baseball road trips – other than the baseball, of course – is the opportunity to check out various sights on my travels. I wasn’t able to do much sightseeing on my road trip in May; seven games in seven cities in four days pretty much eats up the spare time. But when I way away for a little more than a week in August, I had enough time to check out a few interesting things.

As you might have read a while back, I stopped at a number of NCAA baseball facilities during this trip, but those stops weren’t the only times I pulled my car off the road and grabbed my camera.

I ended up with a good chunk of spare time on August 21 and 22 while in Boston for a Red Sox/Angels game and a tour of Fenway Park. During the day, I took a few hours to check out some of the city’s neatest tourist attractions, although I realize I’m only touching the tip of the iceberg of the great things to see and do in Boston.

My first stop was the Charlestown Navy Yard:

It’s less than four miles from Fenway Park and has a ton of interesting things to see, especially if you’re into ships and history. I wandered around for a bit and looked at the sights, including TD Garden, home of the NHL’s Boston Bruins:

One of the piers in the area is named after Sen. Edward Kennedy:

Some of the buildings were neat, too. I don’t know the story on this one, but it’s an interesting shape and looks to have been around for a long time:

After touring the area, I went to check out one of the main reasons for my visit – the USS Cassin Young, a World War II-era destroyer. I won’t try to summarize the ship’s history, but if you check out the Wikipedia link, it’s a cool read. It’s lucky I was able to check the ship out, too; it was closed just a couple weeks later for repairs. Anyway, here’s a look at the front of the ship as it sits in the dry dock:

Upon taking the shot from the front, I walked down the pier along the side of the destroyer and took this shot looking back toward the bow:

Then, it was onto the ship — all for free, I might add, which is neat. (As I said, I love touring around new places, but I don’t always want to spend big bucks, so this sightseeing adventure was ideal.) I wandered around the deck of the Cassin Young, taking pictures like this:

And this plaque, which tells the incredible story of captain Cassin Young:

Once I’d thoroughly explored the ship, I went back to the pier, where I stopped to take this picture honoring the USS Boston:

And then it was over to the Charlestown Navy Yard’s prime attraction, the USS Constitution:

I expect you’ll have read about this impressive ship in history class, but if not, here’s a recap. Boarding the Constitution is surprisingly free, too, but you have to go through an airport-style security screening station. Yep, the whole deal — pockets emptied, belt off, backpack open, etc. It’s no joke, but I was glad to get waved through into the pier directly adjacent to the ship, which is where I took this picture:

There was a guided tour about to begin, so I hustled to get on board before the group did, which gave me a few minutes with relatively few people around. Here’s a shot looking down at the row of “Old Ironsides’” cannons:

Meticulously coiled ropes:

A dizzying shot looking up the mast:

(I’m so glad I wasn’t a sailor in the 1790s.)

The ship’s wheel (or wheels? Any naval experts out there?):

Here’s an interesting thing about these cannons. When they fire, they recoil so fiercely that they need to be tied to the ship. Check out how strongly they’re reinforced:

As I wandered around, I could hear the tour guide yelling below the deck. He was pretending to be an old sailor, complete with 1800s-era lingo; lots of “ye,” “olde” and perhaps the odd “matey.” (I may have made that last one up.) Anyway, the yelling was loud enough that I was glad I wasn’t on the tour, and as I started to make my way toward the ramp that led off the ship, a woman actually climbed up a ladder from below the deck to get away from the tour. I looked at her quizzically, given the prevalence of “No Climbing” signs, and she said to no one in particular, “That was a bit much.”

After getting back to the pier, I took a few more shots of the ship, including this one:

It was an absolutely glorious sight. I’m interested in military history and this is arguably the most famous ship in American history. If you’re in Boston to visit Fenway Park or for any other reason, give yourself a treat and visit the Charlestown Navy Yard.

On the morning of August 23, I packed up and headed out of Boston for the 200-mile drive to Wappingers Falls, N.Y., which is home to the New York-Penn League’s Hudson Valley Renegades. (Despite all the sightseeing, let’s not forget that this was a baseball trip.)

Any football fans here? If so, you’ll enjoy this next series of photos. My next stop was Foxborough, MA, home of the New England Patriots. The Pats play at Gillette Stadium, which is part of an enormous complex called Patriot Place. In addition to the stadium, there are a bunch of nice shops, restaurants and other things to see. The Pats were hosting the Philadelphia Eagles that evening in preseason action, so there were a few fans milling about. Otherwise, given that it was a weekday morning, it was quiet, as you can see in this shot that shows some of the shops/restaurants in the foreground and Gillette Stadium looming in the background:

The first thing I wanted to see what the stadium itself, which you’ll see here, complete with the trademark tower:

Next, I went to the gate at one end of the field. I couldn’t get closer than this, but it was neat to see inside:

At this point, two fans in Eagles jerseys yelled “PATS SUCK!!!!” at me. (That’s one exclamation point for each degree of my annoyance.) I should note I’m not a Patriots fan nor was I wearing any Patriots gear.

If you’ve seen the Patriots play on TV, you’ll recognize these pedestrian bridges from which the team’s three Super Bowl banners hang:

I did a lot of walking around; it was an absolutely beautiful day and given how I eat on baseball road trips, I bit of exercise is never a bad thing. There were lots of stairs to climb, which was also some welcome exercise. Here’s a giant set of stairs next to the CBS Scene sports bar:

Next, I stopped in the gift shop, which was full, as you might expect, of Patriots stuff – much to the chagrin of the Eagles fans. How do I know? Because I saw them in the shop, too, yelling “PATS SUCK!!!!” at everyone. Stay classy.

And then it was back outside for a few more shots, including this one of me partway up that giant staircase, with the stadium in the background:

And a panorama of the front of Gillette Stadium:

I quickly ducked back to my car to have a few snacks, as all the walking I’d done had me famished. After gorging myself on something that probably wasn’t healthy, I went back to the stadium to check out The Hall at Patriot Place, an outstanding Patriots museum. Again, I’m not a fan of the Pats, but this was incredible. I’ll just include a few highlight shots here, with the tip that if you’re in the area, check out The Hall at Patriot Place.

Bill Belichick’s hoodie:

Tom Brady’s parking space sign:

AFC Championship trophies:

A replica of the check Robert Kraft signed to buy the Patriots for $15 million. Probably a good investment, don’t you think?

Speaking of replicas, how about a replica huddle? Here are dummies of Randy Moss, Tom Brady and Danny Woodhead, plus the New England O-line. I walked into the gap between the players and could hear recordings of Brady yelling plays. It was awesome:

Toward the end of the tour, I saw the team’s three Lombardi Trophies:

And got to try on a replica of D-lineman Richard Seymour’s Super Bowl ring. It was significantly too big for my thumb, and if you’re wondering, that’s a replica hand holding it. I’m not actually that close with Mr. Seymour:

One of the highlights of The Hall was seeing the player equipment, and just how huge it was. The cleats worn by linemen will make you do a double-take, but given that they’re all behind glass, it’s hard to take a photo that shows context. On the way out, however, there were shoe prints in the floor to show different players’ shoe sizes. I don’t recall whose shoe print this is, but I’m a size 11:

As I left the building, staff members were already setting up gates for the evening’s game, as you’ll see here:

I hopped back in the car, resisted the urge to stop at the nearby Olive Garden for some soup, salad and breadsticks, and hit the road. But don’t worry – the sightseeing wasn’t over just yet!

After being in NFL mode for a couple hours, my next stop put me back into military history mode. I made the short drive to Fall River, MA, to visit Battleship Cove. I love the name of this place — while most historical sites have an official-sounding name, this one’s name says exactly what it is. I can just see the organizing committee: “Let’s take a cove, put a battleship in it and call it … hmmm … Hamburger Cove? No, that’ll never work. How about Battleship Cove?”

Anyway, I’ve been on a bunch of warships over the years, but I’ve never actually been on a battleship, so this was exciting. The highlight of Battleship cove is the USS Massachusetts, another WWII-era ship. It played a key role in several pivotal Pacific campaigns, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf. But the Massachusetts isn’t the only vessel in Battleship Cove. It’s also home to the USS Lionfish, a submarine, the USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., a destroyer, the Hiddensee, German corvette, two PT boats, a landing craft and a bunch of other neat stuff.

After I parked, I caught my first glimpse of some of the vessels:

That’s the Kennedy to the left, the Lionfish in the middle and the enormous Massachusetts in the back.

Here’s the WWII-era landing craft, which would be utterly terrifying to ride on:

And a giant propeller, which you’ll notice has been made idiot-proof with an inflatable noodle:

When you’re traveling alone, self-portraits are the norm; here’s a shot I took of myself in front of the Kennedy:

After checking out the two PT boats, which were housed in a large building, I went out to the pier and toward the Kennedy, stopping to take a picture of this airplane, which had two rather disconcerting signs, as you’ll see:

I’m not a huge fan of live ammunition, so I continued along toward the destroyer, which was directly ahead. On the way, I stopped to browse a big historical timeline, which contained this awesome speech bubble:

Bad spelling aside, I boarded the Kennedy and took this shot as I walked around the decks:

And this one after going inside the ship:

Back out on the deck, I captured the Lionfish and the Massachusetts. The latter of which is so big that it’s hard to fit in a single frame:

Speaking of the Lionfish, I went to it next:

And then on to the Hiddensee:

From the Hiddensee, I took this shot of the Massachusetts, which shows just how freaking huge it is:

I boarded the Massachusetts next, and before I start sharing pictures of it, here’s a shot looking back at the Hiddensee and Lionfish:

Now, as for the Massachusetts, here’s the first shot I took of one of its main gun turrets. To put the size into perspective, note the size of the life preserver:

Here’s me in front of the guns:

(My head would easily fit inside the barrels of these guns, and I’ve got a big head.)

Everything on this ship was amazing; look at the care that went in to the deck, for example. See all these wooden plugs? Countless man hours, I’m sure:

It was sobering, as I walked the decks, to think how this ship was built to kill people while other ships were build to kill this ship’s sailors. Reminders were never far away:

Remember the shots of the other ships from the bow, looking backward? Here’s how the Massachusetts looks in comparison:

Like I said, enormous. I like this shot, which looks forward from one of the upper decks. You’d feel invincible on this ship, wouldn’t you?

Here’s a shot looking upward from the deck:

This chart was neat, I thought. It’s a diagram of Japanese fighters and bombers so that American anti-aircraft gunners could know what they were shooting at:

Finally, one last shot of the main guns, which were mind-boggling. They’re absolutely gigantic and hard to describe in words and photos:

I spent nearly 90 minutes at Battleship Cove. It would’ve been nice to spend a little longer, but I had to get back on the road to get to New York for the evening’s game.

The morning of August 24, after watching the Hudson Valley Renegades play the Connecticut Tigers, I got ready to drive home. First, though, I wanted to stop in Newburgh, N.Y., to check out the headquarters of Orange County Choppers. I used to enjoy watching American Chopper during its first few seasons, and given that OCC is less than eight miles from Hudson Valley’s Dutchess Stadium, I couldn’t resist swinging past.

If you’ve seen the show, you’ll know that the business semi-recently built a new, giant headquarters:

I was early enough that the showroom had just opened and I virtually had it to myself, which was neat. The first thing I noticed upon entering the showroom was a New York Yankees-themed bike. I don’t know if this bike was one of the featured builds on the show or not, but here’s the bike:

And check out the gas tank, which is autographed by a ton of Yankees:

At a glance, I can see Joe Girardi, Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, Mel Stottlemyre and Mariano Rivera. Derek Jeter was also on there, but his autograph is on the other side of the tank. How many guys can you recognize?

Here’s a shot of the OCC showroom:

If there’s one custom chopper you associate with the OCC brand, what is it? For me, it’s the fireman bike, and I’m guessing you picked that bike, too. Here it is …

… along with a ton of fire department badges hats, shirts and helmets from across the country, and a special jacket made for OCC’s Paul Teutel, Sr.:

(Obviously, it’s not no sleeves.)

As for the badges behind the bike, here’s a closer look. You’ll see they’re not just from fire departments; police, paramedics and government agencies from the U.S., Canada and many other nations are represented here:

Just browsing the bikes was loads of fun. I recognized several of them from the show, but others were new to me.

The Ferrari bike:

The POW-MIA bike:

The Christopher Reeve Foundation wheelchair-accessible bike:

Although you can’t get in the actual shop where the show is filmed, you can look in through a bunch of windows, which is neat. As I said, I was early, and it was early enough that the shop was empty and all the lights weren’t even on yet:

Reader question:
Would you like to see more of this type of sightseeing post? I visit sights like these when my schedule allows it, and I can write more of these posts if you’re interested and enjoy them. Please let me know in the comments below. Thank you!

Last year, I blogged about the guys on the MLB Top 100 Prospects list that I got to see in 2011, and although I didn’t catch quite as many games in 2012, I thought it’d be fun to look at the 2013 list that was just released. If you’re curious about that list, you can see it here.

On my 2011 travels, I saw a bunch of the top guys in the minors, including Bryce Harper, Jacob Turner and Travis D’Arnaud.

After seeing four guys in the top 25 last year, it took a little longer last season to see my first guy on the 2013 list. How long? Yikes.

44. Taylor Guerrieri – Hudson Valley Renegades

I saw Guerrieri pitch for the Renegades during the outstanding Futures at Fenway doubleheader in August. The second-best prospect in Tampa Bay’s system behind only Wil Myers, Guerrieri gave up one earned run and four hits in his three innings of work. (Both teams were rotating pitchers pretty quickly, I’m guessing to give guys a chance to play at Fenway.) As for a photo? I was sitting up in the Budweiser deck for much of this game, so I snapped a shot of the right-hander when he was on the video board:

96. Jose Iglesias – Pawtucket Red Sox

I was fortunate to see Iglesias on back-to-back days in August. On Aug. 18, he had a hit and a walk during his team’s Futures at Fenway game against the Buffalo Bisons, and a day later, went 3-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt against the Bisons. As for that sac bunt? I was in the right place at the right time to capture it:

98. Aaron Hicks – New Britain Rock Cats

On Aug. 16, I watched the Rock Cats host the Richmond Flying Squirrels and Hicks led off for New Britain. He had a nice game, too, with a double, a walk and his 28th stolen base of the year. He also scored a run and was caught stealing. Hicks is so speedy that he eluded my camera.

100. Gary Brown – Richmond Flying Squirrels

In the same game that I saw Hicks lead off for New Britain, Brown led off for Richmond. He was better at the plate than Hicks but not quite as good on the basepaths; Brown went 3-for-4 and scored a run but was caught stealing. He gets the last laugh over Hicks, though. Brown ended up with 33 steals on the season, which is one more than Hicks. I didn’t get a close-up shot of Brown, but here he is in center field from far away; I’m posting this amateur hour picture just for fun:

So, four guys in the top 100. Not very good, right? The funny thing is that while I saw a lot of great prospects back in 2011, a bunch of the guys I saw that year also made the 2013 list. Below, you’ll see the guys I saw in 2011 along with their 2012 team and, in brackets, the team I saw them with in 2011:

6. Travis d’Arnaud – Las Vegas 51s (New Hampshire Fisher Cats)
13. Christian Yelich – Jupiter Hammerheads (Greensboro Grasshoppers)
21. Nick Castellanos – Lakeland Flying Tigers (West Michigan Whitecaps)
41. Mason Williams – Tampa Yankees (Staten Island Yankees)
55. Rymer Liriano – San Antonio Missions (Fort Wayne TinCaps)
91. A.J. Cole – Burlington Bees (Hagerstown Suns)

Lots of people who check out this blog are regular readers who visit once in a while or whenever I make a new post. Others find this blog by searching for something and coming across a page or image in their search results.

While I’m especially thankful for those who read what I write regularly, I’m always amused when I see the search terms people have used to find me. I’ve Tweeted some of them in the past, but have always wanted to put together a lengthier list of some of my favorite terms. Given that it’s the off-season, I thought now would be appropriate.

When it comes to people finding my blog, I’m forever grateful to this guy:

Without having watched Bryce Harper, met him and gotten his autograph …

… I’d have thousands of fewer hits. That’s because a ton of people have come across my blog by searching for Harper, and it’s not just him that people are after. Some common search terms?

- Bryce Harper truck

- Bryce Harper hair

- Does Bryce Harper have a girlfriend?

- Bryce Harper cleats

- Bryce Harper autograph

In fact, people have found this blog by searching for a total of 31 different terms, including those above, related to Harper. Also, four of my blog’s top eight search terms are related to him.

(For the record, while I blogged extensively about his truck and autograph, I’ve never mentioned his hair, cleats or whether or not he has a girlfriend.)

But it’s not just Harper that has drawn people here. The top five teams people have searched to come across this blog are the Lansing Lugnuts, Harrisburg Senators, Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays and New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Sometimes, people are curious about ballplayers themselves. Aside from Harper, Justin Verlander, Jose Valverde, Rick Porcello, Jim Thome and Max Scherzer are the most-searched players for this blog.

People are also interested in the ballparks themselves, which is great, given that’s what this blog is primarily about. The top five searches are Metro Bank Park, Parkview Field, Alliance Bank Stadium, Rogers Centre and Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, with an honorable mention to Progressive Field.

Once in a while, readers come here not for a ballplayer at all. In 2011, I met Orioles head groundskeeper Nicole Sherry …

… and lots of people found me by searching her name.

Plenty of visitors have stumbled across me searching for Orioles prospect Jeremy Nowak, who was at the center of my most memorable adventures in 2011 and 2012:

(Some curious people even found the blog by searching “Jeremy Nowak salary.”)

And occasionally, terms I mention in passing bring people here — terms like Detroit abandoned buildings, Fox Theatre, Ferris wheel, Welcome to Michigan and sweet ride.

Other times, I see search terms that make me shake my head, as I’ve never written about them. Like what, you ask?

- Brandon Morrow wife

- Interview thank you card note or letter

- Golf carts for sale

- Inflatable sun mouth

- Bruce Wayne game-used bat

Some people have found me by searching in Spanish: De que ano es?

While others have stumbled here without being strong at spelling: Vermont Lake Monster suvenire

Some people have asked simple questions: Can you take cameras into Fenway?

And others have used terms that defy explanation: T-shirts design awwsome and brain injury and fort and back

This one made me laugh out loud: Stolen turkey sandwich

But it’s not as hilarious as this one: Balls coming down from sky at Fisher Cats game

Or this one: Are you normal or nuts?

I’m always keeping an eye on the wacky and wild ways people stumble across this blog, and I’m curious to hear any other bloggers’ odd search terms.