Welcome to home run derby 2015! Every Saturday morning a new cache will be released. After it is published you will have roughly a week to find it and select a slugger to represent you in that week's edition of the home run derby. Select one player and include his name in your log. The number of home runs he hits the following week (starting the Monday eight days after cache publication) is your score; don't worry, we will handle all the scoring. After six weeks the standings will reset and we will start another six week session. At the end of that the champion of round one will square off against the champion of round two for a Geocaching World Series!
The "catch" is every player must be unique, so FtF has choice of any player, second to find will have second pick and so on. The cache hiders will also be playing so the cache owner will select fifth each week.
This is week 5 of the series. All scoring will take place may 11th to the 17th. Participation in the derby is strictly optional so feel free to find the cache and watch all the action from the grandstand. Game on!
In addition to the first draft pick FtF also gets an unactivated FTF trackable.
I have been fascinated with this spot since I moved to Oceanside in 2000. I don't remember if this location was still in use when I was a kid or not but it has been like this for at least 15 years. I was completely shocked to see that the spot didn't already have a cache and since it fits in with the series theme I thought it was a great fit.
If you have ever listened to a baseball game on the radio you will surely have heard someone like the legendary Jerry Coleman refer to a home run as a "round tripper". Jerry is sill my favorite baseball announcer of all time, not to menion his achievements as a player with the New York Yankees (ptooie!) and his service as a Marine Corps aviator in WWII.
Of course Jerry's signature call for any amazing play by the Padres was "You can hang a star on that baby" which was always great to hear for a walk-off home run. Jerry passed away in January 2014, here's a shot of the ceremony in his honor at that year's opening day game. They have subsequently named the press box area the Jerry Coleman Broadcast Center.
Jerry Coleman statue at Petco Park
