2009 WBC- Toronto trip- Part I

So we are back from our trip to Toronto! Although it was extremely freezing cold with icy rain and snow, we had a blast! The wind gusts from Lake Ontario were brutal. The Rogers Centre (aka- Skydome) was great. The food was very disappointing...only pizza, hot dogs, popcorn, and nachos- typical ballpark food from about 15 years ago, but Toronto needs to get with the times. Maybe I am a bit spoiled, but I like a lot of variety, especially since we were there for all six games of the '09 WBC Pool C. (In case you are wondering, the best food that I've had at a ballpark was in Pittsburgh). Aside from the food, the ballpark is pretty nice...we were really happy that it was a dome, considering the weather. 

One thing that the Rogers Centre had that I've never seen before is baseball card vending machines! That's right, baseball card vending machines. They had all different years and makes of card packs. I bought a 1989 pack of Donruss cards, hoping to find a Junior rookie card, but no luck. It was cool getting a Don Mattingly card and a Warren Spahn puzzle piece. I 

used to have that completed puzzle framed on my bedroom wall when I was a kid...I wonder what happened to that? 

We got a team autographed ball by team Italy, a game used ball tossed to my wife from Venezuelan pitcher, Hernandez, and met Frank Catalonotto. 

We saw some really great baseball played. The first game was USA vs. Canada. The US beat their northern neighbors 6-5. Throughout our week in Toronto, we saw USA, Canada, Italy, and Venezuela battle it out. The final results, USA and Venezuela advanced to the next round. We were lucky enough to go up to the top of the CN Tower (the Space needle looking building next to the Rogers Centre). It is the second tallest building in the world, after the new tower in Dubai. We went to the Hockey Hall of Fame, ate at Wayne Gretzky's restaurant, and truly enjoyed the Canadians' hospitality. We would like to go back, but next time in the summer, when it is much warmer.