Busch Gardens Tampa: 50th Anniversary

Tampa, Florida: Busch Gardens Tampa celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2009. The park opened in 1959 as a complimentary park for guest as they await tours of the brewery. Throughout the years, the park has continued to grow and today is a 335 acre theme park that provides wild rides and wild life.

The last fifty years have seen the face of the park change numerous times. Rides have been added, rides have been removed. Many more animals and habitats have been added to the park, making it one of the best zoological parks in the country. The brewery and beer operations have been shut down and the park now focuses strictly on being a theme park.

A museum has been established during the anniversary celebration. Located across from the Crown Colony House, the museum takes a look back over the last fifty year. There are pictures of the old attractions, props and costumes from the shows and many more pieces of history.

Changes continue to take place in the park and who knows what the future has in store for Busch Gardens Tampa. A new children’s attraction themed on Sesame Street is already in production and the rumors of a new rollercoaster are also being circulated. But whatever the future holds one thing can be certain, Busch Gardens Tampa will continue to be home to world class rides, animals and entertainment.

For more photos, visit my Busch Gardens Tampa picture gallery.

Charlotte Stone Crabs vs Fort Myers Miracle

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs were swept by the division leading Fort Myers Miracle losing 3-2 Sunday at Charlotte Sports Park. The Miracle jumped out to an early lead in the first inning on a two run homer by Rene Leveret to put the Miracle on top 2-0.

The Stone Crabs battled back in the bottom of the first as Emeel Salem got aboard after being hit by a pitch. Salem stole second and then advance to third on a throwing error by Fort Myer’s catcher Allan de San Miguel. Pedro Powel drove Salem home to bring the Stone Crabs within a run of Fort Myers.

Both clubs exchanged runs in the sixth. First it was Fort Myers off an RBI single by Deibinson Romero to score Rene Leveret. Then Charlotte matched runs when Reid Fronk hit an RBI double to left that scored Matt Fields. Charlotte was unable to get another run and Fort Myers held on for a 3-2 win.

Darin Downs suffered the loss pitching 5 1/3 innings giving up 3 runs on 7 hits while walking and striking out 1. Paul Phillips pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up no hits a striking out 1. Chad Bradford appeared in an MLB rehab assignment giving up 1 hit in 1 inning of work. Matt Gorgen finished out the final 2 innings for the Stone Crabs allowing 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 2 and lowering hit ERA to 0.45 on the season. David Bromberg was the winning pitcher for Fort Myers.

For more photos, visit my Stone Crabs/Miracle game gallery.

Charlotte Stone Crabs vs Palm Beach Cardinals

Port Charlotte, Florida: The rain returned to Charlotte Sports Park but this time they managed to get to enough baseball in before the game was called. The Charlotte Stone Crabs held a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning when the game was called due to heavy rain.

Palm Beach scored first off a solo home run by Matthew Arburr. They added a second run in the fourth inning as Matthew Arburr was driven home by Chris Swauger to put the Cardinals ahead 2-0.

The Stone Crabs battled back in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cody Cipriano led off the innings with a line drive single. Greg Sexton followed with an RBI triple to score Cipriano. Reid Fronk delivered a sac fly to left field that scored Sexton. Matt Hall reached first on an error and then advanced to second on a single by Emeel Salem. Pedro Powell singled to left scoring Matt Hall. The Stone Crabs took the lead 3-2 and the victory as heavy rain began to fall and the game was called official by the umpire crew.

David Newmann was the winner pitching 5 innings surrendering 2 runs on 3 hits while striking out 5. Scott Gorgen was the losing pitcher for Palm Beach.

For more photos from the game, visit my Stone Crabs/Cardinals game gallery.

Charlotte Stone Crabs vs St. Lucie Mets

Port Charlotte, Florida: Sunday evenings game between the Charlotte Stone Crabs and the St. Lucie Mets was postponed due to wet field conditions. Heavy rain fell over Charlotte Sports Park prior to game time but the skies cleared and ground crews went to work prepping the field for play. After over an hour working on the field; both managers and the umpires deemed the field unsafe for play due to water in the outfield. The game will be made up tomorrow as part of a double header.

For photos from the rainout, visit my Stone Crabs/Mets game gallery.

Charlotte Stone Crabs vs Palm Beach Cardinals

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs dropped the game and the series by losing to the Palm Beach Cardinals 6-5 at Charlotte Sports Park. The Cardinals got on the scoreboard in the first inning as Jermaine Curtis and Curt Smith had back to back singles. Thomas Pham followed with a two run triple to center. Pham was brought home by the very next batter as Francisco Rivera hit an RBI single to center putting Palm Beach ahead 3-0.

Charlotte answered in the bottom of the inning. Shawn O’Malley led off the game with a double to right and later advanced to third on a wild pitch by David Kopp. Cody Cipriano hit a sacrifice fly to deep center that scored O’Malley. The Stone Crabs got another run in the bottom of the second when Reid Fronk led off the inning with a solo home run bringing the Stone Crabs within 1.

Palm Beach put up three runs to distance themselves from the Stone Crabs in the fifth inning. Curt Smith had a solo home run to right. Francisco Rivera and Domnit Bolivar both picked up RBI singles to give the Cardinals a 6-2 lead.

The Stone Crabs rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning. Christian Lopez reached base on an error and Emeel Salem drew a walk to put runners at first and second for Cody Cipriano. Cipriano delivered a two run double and then scored himself on a wild pitch by Thomas Eager. The three run rally was not enough as the Stone Crabs were unable to push across any more runs and Palm Beach held on to win 6-5.

Jeremy Hall (3-2) was charged with the loss going 4 1/3 innings giving up 5 runs on 7 hits while striking out 8 and walking 2. Kevin Boggan gave up 1 run off 5 hits striking out 2 and walking 1 in 2 2/3 innings of work. Paul Phillips gave 2 innings of no-hit relief striking out and walking 1. David Kopp (2-2) was the winning pitcher for Palm Beach.

For more pictures from the game, visit my Stone Crabs/Cardinals game gallery.

Charlotte Stone Crabs vs Palm Beach Cardinals

Port Charlotte, Florida: One night after scoring the most runs in franchise history, the Charlotte Stone Crabs offense went missing. The Stone Crabs managed only two hits in a 5-0 loss last night to the Palm Beach Cardinals at Charlotte Sports Park. The loss snapped the Stone Crabs four game winning streak and dropped them to second place in the FSL South Division, one game behind Fort Myers.

The Cardinals got on the board early in the first as Jermaine Curtis doubled to left and then was later brought home by Curt Smith. Palm Beach added two more runs in the fourth inning as Shane Peterson led of the inning with a walk and Thomas Pham delivered a two run homer to put Palm Beach ahead 3-0.

Shane Peterson tripled to start the sixth inning and was driven home by a sacrifice fly by Curt Smith on the very next play. The Cardinals got their final run of the night in the seventh inning when Jermaine Curtis hit a sac fly to right that scored Nick Derba.

David Newmann was the losing pitcher for the Stone Crabs giving up 3 runs on 4 hits while striking out 8 and walking 3 in 5 innings of service. Justin Garcia pitched 2 innings giving up 2 runs on 2 hits while striking out and walking 1. Brian Flores pitched 2 shut-out innings striking out 1 and walking 1. Nicholas Additon was the winning pitcher for Palm Beach.

For more photos from the game, visit my Stone Crabs/Cardinals game gallery.

Charlotte Stone Crabs vs Fort Myers Miracle

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs took over first place by defeating the Fort Myers Miracle 5-2 at Charlotte Sports Park. Fort Myers took the lead in the first as Steve Singleton doubled to center and was drove home on an RBI single by Chris Parmelee. The Stone Crabs came back to tie the game in the third when Ryan Royster drew a walk to lead of the inning and was came home on an RBI single by Shawn O’Malley to tie the game at 1-1.

Fort Myers put another run on the board in the top of the fourth. Alex Cobb issued walks to Rene Leveret and Jair Fernandez. Chris Cates followed with an RBI single to center to score Leveret and put Fort Myers back on top at 2-1. The Stone Crabs answered in the bottom of the sixth inning as Reid Fronk hits a sacrifice fly to right to score Greg Sexton and tie the game again 2-2.

The Stone Crabs took the lead by scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Matt Fields started the rally with a two out single to right. Reid Fronk followed with a double to left to put runners at second and third. Cody Cipriano hit a 2-RBI single to score Field and Fronk. Nevin Ashley followed with a single to right to score Cipriano and put the Stone Crabs on top to stay 5-2.

Alex Cobb gave up both runs in 4 innings of work allowing 5 hits while striking out and walking 2. Justin Garcia pitched 3 scoreless innings giving up 1 hit and striking out 3. Matt Gorgen got the win going 2 innings and allowing 1 hit and recording 1 strikeout and 1 walk. Blair Erickson was charged with a bad save and the loss for Fort Myers.

For more photos from the game, visit my Stone Crabs/Miracle game gallery.