Hagerstown

On Why I'm Never Staying At a Red Roof Inn Again

May 2, 2014
Harrisburg, PA


Outside the Game:
Work was again threatening to evaporate what was left of my fragile brain away. The way things were played out, there was no extra work that I could do that weekend to get my projects more on track, and it appeared that it would be the last time I would be able to say that for another month. So I decided to run away again to watch some baseball.

This week, however, I would almost offhandedly mention my plans, such as they were, to my friend in West Virginia. I was set to go see him over Memorial Day Weekend, but with work being what it was, I had all but cancelled those plans and resigned myself to working through the holiday. For the current weekend, my plan was staying over as far as I could make it into Pennsylvania, amusing myself with something in the Harrisburg area in the morning, and then driving down to the game that afternoon.

Graduate school was treating my friend as badly as the private sector was treating me, however, and he expressed an interest in meeting up. Especially given those recently cancelled plans, this was as good a turn of events as could be expected. If I had been planning at all the week before, he likely would have come out to Frederick as well, which is a scant half-hour from Hagerstown.

With something more of a plan than the week previous, I did a necessary load of laundry, packed up a bag, and hit the road at a little before 10 PM. With a definite destination for the next day, I wanted to see how far I could get so that we could meet up in Hagerstown at around 11 AM.

Once again, the ride out at that time of night was uneventful. I put on the Mets game, found them losing big in Colorado early, and then switched over to the Yankees game, where they were only behind by two runs. Since WFAN's signal would last longer, I stayed with the game that had a little more chance of interest, and indeed, the Yankees did tie it up. I had no idea at that point for what I had signed up.

Outside of a closure to one lane somewhere in the Pennsylvania midlands, the trip across 78 was uneventful. But the Yankees game I was listening to did not end. This was an extra-inning affair for the ages, and the Bombers squandered many scoring opportunities in many bizarre ways to extend it. The farther west I got, the signal would often blur out at inopportune times, and I'd have to wait for the recap after to play when the signal returned to find out exactly how the Yankees didn't score this time.

All the other games, even on the West Coast, managed to close up shop, but the Yankees contest was dragging on. Eventually, well into the midnight hour, I was getting bleary enough to become a danger, and I was approaching Harrisburg, where the hotel rates would get much higher. I pulled off at a Red Roof Inn on the outskirts of Harrisburg just as the Yankees blew another scoring opportunity in the top on a double-digit inning. By the time I got into my room for the evening, they had given up five runs and lost. So it goes.


The Accommodations:

Red Roof Inn

I realize there is a bit of a spoiler in the title this time. I dumped off of whatever road I was on (78 or 81 -- it was late), and there was a something-something suites and a Red Roof Inn, and as I just needed a bed for the night, I chose the later. And that, my friends, was an error.

I again semi-coherently greeted a night manager for a hotel and tried to secure a room. She went into her well-rehearsed patter about it being pet friendly, and on and on, and she mentioned she only had a double available, and it was on the ground floor, as they were nearly full up because of a lacross tournament and a horse show that weekend. A smarter or more awake person would have noted this and gone to the other hotel, but neither of those described me at this point. Her computers were "acting up," so she couldn't give me the AAA rate. I didn't care. I was dead tired.

I eventually drove to find my room in a building in the back, and I had to park a good distance away thanks to the near-capacity crowd. As I dragged my stuff to my room, a dog in the next room began barking wildly for several minutes until an owner was awoken and shut him up. I fell into my rather okay room and got everything set for the next day, did my nightlies, and got into bed. I was immediately asleep just shy of one.

I would be awake at 5 AM, as people outside noisily loaded up into cars and left. This woke me up on and off for the next few hours. Around 7:30 or so, I was able to get back to sleep, to be awoken just shy of nine by housekeeping. Maid service before 9 AM? Really? I angrily sent them away, but at this point, it was just enough time to get up and get going slightly early.

On Battlefields and Cakewalks

Municipal Stadium, 2014

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Hagerstown Suns (Washington Nationals) vs.
Lexington Legends (Kansas City Royals)
Municipal Stadium
South Atlantic League (A)
Hagerstown, MD
5:00 PM


Outside the Game:
After my (not so) restful night of sleep, I headed out to meet my friend at one of the malls in Hagerstown. He being the one with the LEGO problem, we were, for some reason, meeting in the LEGO aisle of the Toys R' Us in that mall.

The remaining hour or so of driving to Hagerstown went without incident, and I quickly parked and met the aforementioned friend in the LEGO aisle. Leaving with our inevitable purchases, we drove over to the main mall to grab some lunch and plot out our day.

A trip to see the Hagerstown Suns was not new to either of us, as, in fact, it was the second "official" stop on my whole stadium journey back in 2006, when we went to PNC Park and then both drove out to Hagerstown for a game, before he went back home and I continued on the rest of my proof-of-concept trip.

Over lunch, we decided to burn the early afternoon at the Antietam National Battlefield Park, a short drive south of town. As my car was over twenty years old and his was under three months, we left my car at the mall and headed out in his. We made a brief stop at the ballpark to see if the ticket office was open (it was not), so we drove the just under half-hour to the battlefield.

The Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War proves that sometimes a tie can mean something. A tactically sloppy bloodbath that ended in a strategic tie was frankly the best that the Union forces could hope for. Incompetently led and greatly outnumbering the Confederate forces, they just about managed to not lose and not win, which was a great accomplishment against the (to that point) invincible and invading Robert E. Lee, which prevented European recognition of the Confederacy as a nation and gave Lincoln the opportunity needed to introduce emancipation into the war in its first, limited way.

A small museum in the visitor center gives the overview, while a film downstairs and even-better volunteer talks in the observation room (with a panoramic view of the battlefield) serve to inform you of what you need to know about the site.

A sprawling battlefield that is the best-preserved of the Civil War, Antietam is only completely experienced over several days in a car. We only had a few hours, so we saw the sites closest to the visitor's center, and then drove down to the Sunken Road and Burnside's Bridge, two sites of the most intense fighting and questionable leadership during the battle.

Down the barrel

A rather sad commentary on my mental state occurred in the Army Observation Tower near the Sunken Road. Upon emerging at the top of tower, I immediately saw some cows in a nearby field (some land is let out to farmers to preserve the historic use of most of the battlefield) and called out, "Moo cows!." A short time later, a family ascended to the observation level, and the five year-old son saw the same cows and screamed, "Moo cows!" No further context is necessary, I trust.

When it was time to go, we headed back to the mall so I could get my game bag from my car, and we went over to the stadium. The park was opened at an hour and half before gametime, and I left my friend to get tickets as I did my regular walk around the ballpark before going in.

After the game, we headed back to the mall. Before we both set out, we got some fast food and both drove off a little after 8 PM. I went back onto 81 North, went an exit or two until I found a convenient off-and-on gas station, and then pointed the car towards home. It was just a matter of not crashing for just under four hours. When I was able to start getting NY stations again, I was greeted by the Mets blowing a six-run lead against Colorado, and I was treated to this game of the ping-ponging lead for the rest of my trip before the Mets inevitable defeat.

My only real travel wrinkle was getting around the Pulaski Skyway, which was closed northbound towards New York. The soothing TomTom voice eventually took me home via the Turnpike extension, and after paying exactly $1 on tolls the way out, the $3 or so to get home before midnight was not much an issue (especially after the toll thrashing I took on 95 the week before).

I parked and lumbered the rest of the way home, to find my downstairs neighbors had left a broken cooler and dozens of smashed beer bottles at the base of the stairs to my apartment. Oh, it was good to be home.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Municipal Stadium

Municipal Stadium was old when we went eight years ago, and it is old now -- the third oldest stadium in the minor leagues. One of the only concessions to modernity between then and now was the addition of a digital scoreboard in left field behind the outfield wall, in addition to the manual scoreboard still located beneath it.

The park is rightly proud of its history, and has no less than ten historical or commemorative plaques around the park. As with most historic parks, the area around the field is what got built up, and the main plaza is behind home plate, housing concessions and some children's games and arcade. Also relatively new was a "beer garden" out along left field, with a picnic area and the beer garden proper. Also out in left is the grounds crew shed and what appears to be an old, unused bullpen. In right field are both the visiting and home clubhouses, with some special seating right by the entrance for those who want the chance to interact more with the players.

The rest of the park is strictly old-school. Covered wooden grandstand seating is behind home plate, with the press box perched precariously on top of the roof. A "VIP" seating area behind home plate offers slightly more posh seating. A few rows of field-level (and, no kidding, it is on the field) seats run out from the grandstands to first and third, and bleachers rise up above them on either side (sponsored as the Ellsworth Family Section on the third base side, and the Ollie's Discount Warehouse Cheap Seats on the first base side). The bullpens are in the right field corner (below retired numbers), and the visiting bullpen in located in left-center, behind an in-play chain-link fence, perhaps a first for me. Heck, they even have a "hit it here" sign in left (and a heavily re-used one at that -- several layers of promotions have been glued on through the years).

Because of the old-school dimensions of the park, they have an interesting ground rule. Yellow lines on the outfield wall denote the "official" center field, and to be a home run, any ball hit into that area must clear the wall, or it is still in-play. The manual scoreboard in left is dutifully run by an attendant, but not the colorful, dancing character who did so in years past, but instead a seemingly disinterested older gentleman.

Manual

The park is a very old-timey experience, and it even forgoes most of the regular minor-league shenanigans. Which is to say that they don't have a goofy contest every half-inning, just every inning. And there are more low-key events, such as brushing off home plate before the game, taking out water to the umpires in the late innings, and Little League team lineups with the players during the national anthem. Heck, while the team mascots usually dominate the between-inning events at most minor parks, the Suns' mascot only made one, brief, early-inning appearance, and then disappeared for the remainder of the game.

Many of the mascots duties were taken up by one of the concessionaires. I actually ran into him before the game as I was taking my pictures of the park, and then he alternately demanded that I take his picture, and then refused to let me. Everyone at the park clearly knew him, and each section was excited by his coming. If people wanted some item he didn't have at the time, he marched back to the concession stands to retrieve it for the kids. He got into contests with the press box on whipping the crowd into "Charge" cheers, and he so consistently won that eventually a white hanky was flown out the box window in defeat.

The only thing to be said against the experience was that there were so few to enjoy it. In a park with a capacity of 4,000, there was an announced crowd of under 800. I'm not sure that they can keep this up with that kind of return, and it would be a shame if this historic place were to go by the wayside because of it.


At the Game with Oogie:

Scoring

As mentioned, I was with my friend with whom I started these trips so many years ago, recreating the second stop on the inaugural 2006 run, when I had been to under five total baseball stadiums, ever.

I left him to buy the tickets, and he got us front-row seats next to the dugout and right before first base. The seats themselves were technically on the field, as the chain-link fence that separated us from the infield left about an inch of fair territory in the seating area. The seats were also protected from the field by a relatively high fence with a padded top, and it seemed a necessary thing as any righty who was late on the ball could likely decapitate us. We joked early in the game about flying bats, and then, in the later innings, one of the Legends players actually lost his grip on a bat, which sailed (harmlessly, as luck would have it) into the seats past first base, and then bounced back into play. Needless to say, we were really close to the field, and for a while we amused ourselves by trying to determine if we were closer to the pitcher than the batter (though some rough geometry would put our distance at about 100 or so feet).

Sun Dog

At the recommendation of the program salesman, we got our food at the grill station behind home plate. I asked what made the "Sun Dog" special, and was told that it was stuffed with cheese and bacon. And for $5, the Sun Dog meal (which came with chips and a drink) was one of the better deals I had run into at a ballgame. My associate got a sweet Italian sausage, with which he was similarly pleased.


The Game:

First pitch, Legends vs. Suns

This one was over early, but it didn't end for a while. The Suns, defending champions of the northern division of the South Atlantic League, were out to their winning ways again, and they were facing a mediocre Lexington team, but what did you really expect from the low minors of the Royals franchise?

Though somewhat wild, the Suns pitcher only gave up a two-out walk in the top of the first, but the Suns didn't waste time getting on the board. A leadoff double moved to third on an errant pick-off throw by the pitcher, and then scored on a ground-out to deep short. A two-out double was followed by a single to drive him in, before a ground-out ended the first at 2-0, Suns.

The sloppy play continued in the second as a one-out double was followed by a booted grounder to third that made it first and second with one out. But a strikeout followed, and a grounder to short ended the threat. The Suns changed it up with a triple to start the bottom of the second. A ground-out to short brought in the run, but two quick outs followed to make it 3-0 Suns at the end of two. Lexington went in order in the third, and even the Suns only managed a one-out walk in their half.

Lexington stranded a one-out double in the top of the fourth, but the Suns wanted more runs. A one-out single was followed by a fielder's choice that nailed the lead runner. A walk was followed by a wild pitch, to make it second and third with two outs. A single to right yielded two ribeyes, but that runner was nailed trying to steal one pitch into the next at-bat. It was 5-0 Suns at the end of four.

Lexington got the first two on in the fifth with a single to left and a hit batsman, but three outs in a row ended the half. The Suns also got a lead-off single, but two passed balls moved him over to third, and a one-out single brought him in. Another single followed, but two fly-outs ended the inning 6-0, Suns. Lexington only managed a single in top of the sixth. The Suns, however, had a one-out triple and then a walk. A balk brought in the run and moved the runner to second, who made it to third a fielder's choice. But he was stranded when a strikeout ended the inning at 7-0, Suns.

Lexington squandered another opportunity in the seventh, with a one-out single and walk. A two-out single loaded the bases, but a great grab on a bouncing liner to third ended the half with nothing across. The Suns, presumably tired from all the scoring, only had a two-out single this half-inning. Lexington finally broke through in the eighth. A leadoff double moved to third on a ground out, and a Legend finally found his way back to the plate thanks to a one-out double. Two pop-outs followed to end the top of the eighth at 7-1, Suns. The Suns had a leadoff single erased on a double play to short, and then proceeded to get a walk and a single to leave it first and third with two outs, but a strikeout ended the opportunity and the eighth.

Lexington went in order in the ninth, and the game was finally a Suns win, 7-1.


The Scorecard:

Legends vs. Suns, 05/03/14. Suns win, 7-1.

Surprisingly for A-level ball, the scorecard was not a free giveway at the park, but part of a $3 program. The program, however, was quite a nice item, with good printing on good-quality paper, and with a rather extensive scorecard in the middle. It was clearly a Scoremaster variant, with balls and strikes boxes, a row of on-base indicators (1B, 2B, etc.), and even RBI boxes. There was extensive room for two default replacements per player, and comprehensive totals that made proving out the card easier. It was some work to get done, and the "RBI" printing could have been moved a little, but otherwise, it was an excellent scorecard. And it even held up well under the minor showers we encountered. Worth 3 bucks? Maybe not by itself, but close, which is more than you can say in most cases. The other downside was it was not copacetic with colored pencils, but that's more my issue than the card's.

There were a lot of little things in this game scoring-wise, but nothing life-changing. There were two triples, for example. We got another minor-league balk, and this one brought in a run. There was in infield fly rule in the fifth. And three players got a three strike-out Sombrero, two for the Legends, and one for the Suns (who managed to look at each third strike). So there's that.


The Accommodations:
Hoboken, again, after much driving, again

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2014 Stand-Alone Trip