Cal Softball

So much to blog about. I haven't been blogging because I have been so busy being out and about. I have had so many adventures that I can't keep up-lol. I need to slow down.

Levine-Frickle Field-Home of Cal Softball

On Saturday, The kiddos and I went to Levine-Frickle Field to watch the No.1 ranked Cal softball battle UCLA as you can see by the scoreboard Cal pretty much took care of the Bruins. Levine-Frickle Field is a great place to watch a college softball game from. It is in a picturesque setting with all seats being good. I always have a great time. After the game the players are very accessible and so nice. They actually thank the fans for coming out to the game when you meet them. This coming from the No.1 team in the land. It is just a great time out for the whole family. Here are some photos from day:

The view of the field from behind home plate

Cal's Valerie Arioto after a pitch

From the right field bleachers

From the left-center bleachers

From the left field bleachers

The No.1 player in the nation: Cal's star Valerie Arioto after the game

Cal's great Head Coach Diane Ninemire

Hoping to add another banner this season.

Street Music

Taking BART (it is the Bay Area's subway) almost everyday, I see and hear a lot of street musicians. Also, walking in Downtown areas of a lot of places you tend to see street musicians trying to earn a couple of dollars. Some just play for smiles and tips, while others try to sell CD's. Some are good and are bad. Some have a whole set up and some just have a guitar or just a drum. They all add to the soundtrack to our lives. Here is some pics that I have taken of people playing their music on the street. If you are going to take a picture of them you should leave a small donation:

An electric guitar inside a BART station

A sitar player who just wanted smiles

Rockin on inside a BART station

Getting some jazz on

Like the bluegrass, notice their fuel in the foreground

A flute player on the steps

The Niners First Home

Kezar Stadium packed back in the day

The main entrance to Kezar today

The other day I was up in the Haight District of San Francisco and walked by old Kezar Stadium in the southeastern part of Golden Gate Park and with the Niners breaking ground on a new stadium I wanted to right about their first home The stadium was built in 1925 and hosted track, cricket and the golden age of Bay Area college football (St.Mary's, Santa Clara, USF all had great teams) as well as college football's East-West Shrine game. Along with all of cities high school teams (the Turkey Bowl is still played there). The Niners started playing there in 1946.

The famous tunnel that both teams would emerge from.

The stadium held just under 60,000 in its heyday. It was famous for its quirks-like the tunnel (left) that most teams would come from. Former Baltimore Colt and NFL Hall of Famer Art Donovan said that players could not breathe in the tunnel. Also, Kezar was known from its seagulls showing up in the fourth quarter and dive bombing the visiting team.





The Niners moved to Candlestick in 1971 after losing the 1970 NFC Championship game to Dallas. It was demolished in 1989 and rebuilt with a seating capacity of 10,000. High school teams still play there and Stanford has hosted its spring football game there the last three years.

Kezar Stadium today

Another view of Kezar today

A guy checking his I-Touch at Kezar

One of the things I like that the city of San Francisco has done is that they have opened up the stadium to people. On any given day there are joggers, walkers, sunbathers out and about at Kezar. The city keeps it open all year around and people use the track and field for workouts. Another great thing is that they named the field for one of San Francisco's greatest football players: NFL Hall of Famer Bob St.Clair (below). St.Clair played his high school ball (Poly High), college ball (USF) and pro ball (San Francisco 49ers) all on the field. I think that is pretty cool.

The plaque honoring Bob St. Clair

Cal Spring Game

The sign outside of Edwards Stadium

What a day. I went out to Cal football's "Blue and Gold" spring football game today. I had a blast. The game was held at Edwards Stadium (which is America's biggest stadium that was built for track, the Cal soccer program plays there now, along with the track team), instead of Memorial Stadium as they are finishing the major renovations that made Cal play at AT&T last year. I had never been to a spring game and enjoy it. Cal did a great job, they had an area for booths and such, former Cal and current NFL players were there, gave away free Pepsi Next and had autographs afterward. I got the two I wanted Heisman Trophy Candidate Keenan Allen and UberFreshman (He enrolled in January) QB Zack Kline. All and all a very nice day. I will let the pics tell the rest of the story:

The Blue on offense (they had the Cal starters)

The Cal band playing outside of Edwards

The Cal cheerleaders in action

Former Cal star and current New Orleans Saint-Cameron Jordan

RB C.J. Anderson

Head Coach Jeff Tedford saying peace

RB Brandon Bigelow

The view from the end zone of the game

The next great one: Freshman QB Zach Kline

Starting QB Zach Maynard talking to the media

The "big uglies" taking a break

The man-WR Keenam Allen

Go Bears

Another Great Burger Joint

The marquee of Hamburger Patties in Sacramento

I am not a big gourmet. I like simple food in places that have character and characters inside of it. I am not really into chi-chi food or places. I have a problem with spending a lot of money for something that does not fill me up, but looks nice on the plate. I am pretty simple in my tastes.

Also I am not really big into places that are all brand new and are trendy. I like the older places that have character in them. You can not manufacturer history. Every time I go to one of my favorite places, I always think about who may have been in there or sat in one of the tables.

Hamburger Patties in Sacramento in one of those places that I love going to. When I first started in was know as Hamburger Mary's. It has changed hands, but not its style and good food.

The inside of Hamburger Patties

When you walk in, it is an older place with a lot of charm. The bar is older, the tables and chairs are older and booths are older. Everything is so well kept, I feel like I am going back into time. It has the low lighting and it is a little dark inside. It feels like a place you see in "Mad Men". With the charm inside, the staff of the place adds to it. Everybody is friendly and nice. They will joke with you and treat you like family. Even the customers are friendly. In a lot of places, customers are in their own little words and will not even look up at someone in their party. At Hamburger Patties, it seems like people are enjoying everybody's company.

One of the art pieces hang from the wall

One of the things I love about the place is that it has art all over the place. There are many pieces hanging from the ceiling, they are all very interesting to look at. It has that arts vibe going on. It has this futuristic deal going, but it fits in well with the place. On a screen, they play mostly techno videos from all different era. I love hearing a little "Groove is in the Heart" by Dee-Lite when I am eating.

A plane that protects the bar area.

Hamburger Patties is not about music or the art it is about the food. It has the second best burgers that I ever had (right behind Val's Burgers of Hayward). Different burgers from your normal cheeseburger to chili burgers to the Bleu Burger (which is a burger with bleu cheese crumbs and bacon covered in a bleu cheese sauce. On this trip I got the Big Valley Burger which is: A burger with Teriyaki sauce, a pineapple and cheddar cheese and I always get the yummy spicy fries.

Dinner is served-The Big Valley Burger and spicy fries

I need to head back there-LOL.

A Disappointing Trip

The outside of the S.F. Railway Museum

I like old stuff, something about old stuff gets my juices going. On the streets of San Francisco is the F line. They are historic streetcars and have been refurbished and put back into circulation. The F line goes through the heart of Sam Francisco on to the Embarcadero. It is one of the most beautiful trips you can ever take. One of the things I have always wanted to visited was the Railway Museum on the Embarcadero. I went there planning to spend a lot of time. I had blocked off about three hours for my visit, but it turns out that I only needed 30 minutes to see everything there and I was a little disappointed.

An old ferry sign

I know the museum was free and that should have tempered my expectations, but I have gone to many things that were free and exceeded expectations. The main problem with this museum is that they did not have a lot of stuff. Sometimes being small is good. In the case they need to display more stuff. The history of the railway in San Francisco is something that is really cool. I would have liked to seen more displays.

The main attraction was a half of a old-time railcar that you could go in and take a look around. It wasn't anything to get excited about. It came out of the wall and that was about it.





So, it was a disappointing trip to see something that I really had been wanting to see for a while. That is how life goes. The good adventures always outweigh the bad adventures.

Some more pics from Lefty O'Doul's

Just some more pics from Lefty's. I will just let the pics do the talking:

The menu outside of Lefty's

A 1947 San Francisco Seals scorebook

A great picture featuring Babe Ruth, Ben Chapman, Ethan Allen, Lefty O'Doul and Mayor Walker

A statue of Marilyn Monroe in her famous pose

Another old San Francisco Seals scorecard

All about Lefty

The carvers making up another great meal

In honor of the man