Saturday, July 4, 2015

Lynchburg

On a Failure of Atmosphere

Zoo
An accurate representation of my mood this day
Friday, July 3, 2015
Lynchburg, VA


Outside the Game: 
After all my poring over my schedule the night before, and given that the Hillcats weren't going to be back in town until the next day, my only real hopes for a game was in Bluefield on the Virginia/West Virginia border that evening. But while the weather was doing okay in Norfolk, it was raining up a storm pretty much everywhere west of there. I decided not to worry too much about it until later.

I got up early and grabbed breakfast a lot more clear-headed than I had on most of the trip. I went back up to the room to shower and pack, and then I decided to go with my morning plans as expected and then see where the day took me.

And those plans took me to the Virginia Zoological Park in Norfolk. In somewhat of an irony, it was painfully sunny and hot as I walked around the zoo in the late morning and early afternoon. It was a medium-sized place, and it had a lot of good exhibits to catch pictures, as well as featuring my absolute favorites, orangutans. Other points of interest included a human cage (which talked about how dangerous we are--there were no people in the cage, it was just a photo op), paintings done by the resident elephants, and a warning sign on the tapir cage that cautioned people to stay 7-10 feet back from the fence to avoid being in the pee/poop range of the animals.

Zoo
I'll... allow it.

After grabbing lunch at the cafeteria and exiting through the gift shop, I was on my way. I was heading northwest, because if I was going on to Bluefield, I would need to go that way anyway. When I got to the outskirts of Lynchburg, I pulled into some fast food place and considered my options. The radar had a huge splotch of green covering the area I was heading to that stretched for miles and miles. I eventually just called the park, and they said that they were already calling the game in the mid-afternoon because even in the unlikely event that the rain stopped, the field would never be drained in time for the game. It was going to get made up as a double-headed the next day, which didn't really help me much.

With another missed day due to rainouts under my belt, I decided to find a fancy hotel in town to stay in for the night. "The Kirkly Hotel and Conference Center" seemed to fit the bill, and it was at a reasonable last-minute price. I booked the room and then drove there in under fifteen minutes. My reservation had just showed up on their system when I was trying to check in. The place was extremely fancy, far moreso than I was dressed for, but they were upscale enough to not say anything. They bombarded me with the services they could provide during my stay, and I had to sheepishly tell them that I was there for the evening, which again was met with quite good graces.

I managed to get all my stuff out of the car just before skies opened up with rain, as seems appropriate. I dragged all my stuff to my room and took a shower. I entertained the thought of room service, but since I had the entire evening to kill, I got dressed up in my remaining nicest clothes and went down for the restaurant for dinner, having a lovely steak and scotch, with pie and tea for desert. I then retreated back to my room and spent the rest of the evening soaking in the tub before turning in to my incredible fluffy bed.


The Accommodations: 
Kirkly Hotel and Conference Center
Kirkly Hotel and Conference Center

As mentioned, I was at the Kirkly Hotel and Conference Center for this rare evening off, thanks to the failure of all things meteorological. The room I splurged for was indeed quite nice. The bedroom had a giant king-sized bed with leather headboard, a leather easy chair with its own reading desk, a small glass desk with leather chair, and a giant wooden dresser with the flat-screen TV on top.

The reasonable bathroom had a wall-length vanity, toilet, and extra deep tub that got a lot of use. I didn't like losing a second day of the trip to bad weather, but I couldn't really argue with where I was spending the time off.



On a Death-Grip of Parking

City Stadium
City Stadium, 2015
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Salem Red Sox (Boston Red Sox) vs.
Lynchburg Hill Cats (Cleveland Indians)
City Stadium, Calvin Falwell Field
Carolina League (A+)
Lynchburg, VA
2:50 PM


Outside the Game: 
I didn't have far to go this particular day. I got up a little late and went down to get breakfast at the restaurant, which wasn't included in my room rate, but whatever. Sometimes you just need to get an omelet.

I got my stuff together, partook a shower, packed up, and checked out, and went out to find a way to kill a day in Lynchbrg. The city quite literally sits in the shadow of the Falwell empire, with "Liberty University" being in the town, and a giant floral arrangement with its name of the side of the mountain glooms over the festivities much in the way an evil wizard's tower might. I tried not to hold it against anyone, but it was hard with that staring down at me all day.

My first stop was Monument Terrace, which, as you might guess, is a terrace filled with monuments, in this case to the various war memorials, ending with the Civil War memorial right in front of the Richmond Museum, which was my second stop. The museum was actually quite interesting, even if it did include a lot about the Falwells, but it made up for it by also having a lot about the baseball history of the city. After the museum, I drove over to Point of Honor, a mansion museum that was originally designed and owned by a compatriot of Thomas Jefferson. It was a nice detour that killed most of the remaining time before the gates were due to open, as I was hitting the road right after the game to get back to Richmond.

Monument Hill
Monument Hill

I got to the stadium, and unsurprisingly was one of the first people in the parking lot. So it didn't give me undue concern, mostly because I had completely forgotten it was the Fourth of July, even though I had literally been in museums most of the day. I went and got at the short line to get in and saw my game.

The way out was more fraught with peril. The capacity crowd for the game with the Fourth of July fireworks had resulted in me being tightly parked in, even though I was right by the exit. I had left as soon as the last out was recorded to get out ahead of the crowd so I could make my two-hour drive in peace, but I was threatened with having to wait for the fireworks to end and everyone to get out of the way before I could get out, which might easily add another hour to my trip.

I walked around and evaluated the situation, and I thought I could make it out, barely. I basically backed up as few inches, got out of the car, made adjustments, backed up a few more inches, etc. At the very end, it looked like I wouldn't make it all the way because of side view mirrors that were going to collide with the car next to me. But then I discovered that both my own and the other person's mirror folded back. Not thinking the person would mind too much, I folded back both mirrors and completed my miraculous escape. I headed off to the road, dodging crowds of people who lined the streets outside the park to watch the fireworks.

Finally free of the park and the people, I gunned it until I was on the highway heading east, and then completed the drive to the hotel in peace, only interrupted by a local fireworks display or two lighting up the skies along my way. I got to the hotel, checked in, and headed to my room to collapse, knowing that the major driving for this trip was finally at an end.


The Stadium & Fans: 
Home to center, City Stadium
Home plate to center field, City Stadium

Ignoring the televangelist overtones, Calvin Falwell Field is a nice little park. (It is named for a relation of the evangelist family, who was president of the local baseball group for many years.) The brick façade of the park has lovely and intricate brickwork patterns that belie a certain attention to detail that you can’t help but warm to. Entrances to the park are up a long ramp at the main entrance by home plate up a long row of stairs, and in right field up another row of stairs. A “Hall of Fame” lobby is the entrance for the luxury boxes, and in addition to the regular ticket booths and admin offices, there are a number of dedication plaques, as well as a small memorial garden with three tributes on small plinths, and a giant street sign celebrating the team’s four league championships. As with many parks in the area, there is a football field next door, and outside of a small VIP parking lot, the rest of the parking is on the hill of park, which proved a problem for me later.

The elevated entrances all lead out to a promenade that runs along the top of the seating bowl from outfield corner to outfield corner behind home plate. The promenade holds all the stores and concessions, with most facing out so fans can grab food without missing action on the field. A large second tier covers most of the seating area, holding the press box and luxury boxes, literally overshadowing the main seats. Actual seats run about from first to third base, with the lower area having box seats and the upper level having metal bleachers in the areas outside of home plate. From the bases to the outfield on the right field side is a large picnic hill, which starts with a party deck area. Left field just comes to a stop before the separate clubhouse and offices in the left field corner with a small kids area.

A double-tier outfield wall runs across the outfield, covered in ads (and scripture quotes) for the entire length, except for the green batter’s eye in dead center. A digital scoreboard sits above left-center, and a small video board is in right-center in front of the backdrop of a few trees and endless sky. A retired number peeks out over right-center, joining a championship banner and a road to the show display as the only plaques and memorials in the park.

Mascot
Southpaw

Southpaw the cat is the mascot de jour. He showed up at the start of the game to hang out with the fans and help run the regular gamut of minor-league games, races, and contests. There were a few novel ones, including a tire race sponsored by a local tire store, and a football toss sponsored by the local minor-league football team.

For the July Fourth game with the only local fireworks, the game was pretty packed to the gills. While they were cheering for the on-field game, it was pretty obvious that a lot of people were annoyed by the length of the game, thanks to the drubbing that the home team were giving out and just wanted to get to the boom boom already, so points deducted for form.


At the Game with Oogie:
Scoring
Patriotic scoring

I got in right when the stadium opened, as I had nothing else to do this evening except see the game and had no hotel to go back to. I grabbed by program, did my photos, and hit the store. I tried to stay out of the punishing sun as much as possible, and I started off grabbing some chicken fingers and hiding in a covered patio seat for a bit. I'd later grab a corndog, because corndog.

Grub
Because corndog

My seat was between home and first base in the first row of the seats, which gave me a nice place to lay out all my stuff on the top of the dugout. What was less nice is that the sun was right at me until it eventually set for good in the middle innings of the game.

The park was packed for July Fourth, and the seats around me were all filled with season ticket holding families. Outside of some small talk, they were mostly all there for the fireworks, which were being delayed--as far as they were concerned--with the shellacking the home team was giving to the visitors.


The Game: 
First pitch, Red Sox vs. Hillcats
First pitch, Red Sox vs. Hillcats

This Carolina League contest between the league-leading Lynchburg Hillcats and the bottom-dwelling Salem Red Sox went exactly as you'd expect it to, with a brutal drubbing of the later by the former that was literally over with the first batter.

The Red Sox went in order in the first inning, but that wasn't the case for Lynchburg. The leadoff batter singled and stole second, and two hits later scored, as did the runner behind him, thanks to a costly error by the center fielder on the single up the middle. Another deep single scored the runner from second before a double-play killed the rally with the home team up, 3-0. Salem got back-to-back, one-out singles in the second, but they stayed on the basepaths, and then it was the Hillcats turn to go in order. In the third, a double-play helped the Red Sox go in order even with a leadoff single, while Lynchburg started with their own, more successful leadoff single. An error on the pitcher on a pickoff throw, a groundout, and a single brought the runner home, but nothing else came across, leaving them with a 4-0 lead.

Salem had a walk to show for the top of the fourth, while the Hillcats went in order. A double-play ensured the Red Sox went in order in the top of the fifth again even with a leadoff single, while Lynchurg went on a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth, plating three runs thanks to a walk, two doubles, and a single, making it a more relaxed 7-0 lead. Salem went in order in the top of the sixth, while the Hillcats chased another pitcher in the bottom of the frame in the process of batting around. Three singles and two doubles brought in four more to stretch the lead to a more embarrassing 11-0.

Even more incredibly, the Red Sox went in order in the top of the seventh with a leadoff walk and a fielder's choice, followed by a double-play. Lynchburg kept on scoring when an error by the shortstop got the leadoff batter on, and two more singles and a sacrifice fly brought in two more runs, for a ridiculous 13-0 lead. Salem went in order in the eighth, while the Hillcats got two more runs on a single, triple, and double, to range the lead out to two touchdowns and a two-point conversion of 15-0. Perhaps just wanting to go home, the Red Sox went in order in the top of the ninth, finally securing the home team victory and letting the July 4th fireworks show finally start.


The Scorecard: 
Red Sox vs. Hillcats, 07-04-15. Hillcats win, 15-0.Red Sox vs. Hillcats, 07-04-15. Hillcats win, 15-0.
Red Sox vs. Hillcats, 07/04/15. Hillcats win, 15-0.

It is so rare these days that you find a really nice scorecard that it is worth taking the time out to admire it.

The scorecard cost $1, separate from the free full-color mini-tabloid program. It was a single fold on good cardstock, with scoring instructions on the cover, and ad on the back, and the scorecard taking the entire centerfold. It was an absolute delight. A diamond for defensive alignments was on the top of each side of the card. Under it on the left was an umpires’ box, and on the right was general game information. The left side then had line score and game totals (runs, earned runs, hits, errors, LOB, and DP) next to the pitching lines, while the right side had the stadium logo.

The batting lines were underneath on both sides, with space for three replacements for each batting position and space for starting batting averages (actually provided on the lineup sheets). The inning summary on the bottom split up runs from earned runs, hits, errors, and LOB. The scoring squares were empty, but were all on a tan background. I'm usually opposed to colors in the scoring squares, but it was used artistically, and made everything easier to read, and was printed into the paper and not smudgy.

There were only two dings on it: 1) There were no batting summary columns (but space for 11 innings), and 2) There was about 2 millimeters of space in the position column for each player, making it an unnecessary tight fit. Also, the home team was put on the left side, which was a little odd.

As to the game itself, there were a couple things of note. A single in the bottom of the seventh got a note that it was a pop-up to the second baseman who lost and dropped it untouched. Also worth noting is how many times the Red Sox managed to retire in order even after getting a man on base. Such a move is usually only possible with a double play, which they hit into three times, but the last effort in the top of the seventh was even more remarkable. The inning started with a walk that was retired on a fielder's choice to second. The next batter then hit into a double play to erase all the batters in order. Also of note was the fact that the Hillcats managed to advance runners safely using every method and every type of hit except for a home run, hit batsman, interference, or balk. Singles, doubles, triples, walks, errors, stolen bases, and sacrifices were all on display.


The Accommodations: 
Best Western
Best Western

So I was back at the Best Western Inn at Richmond Airport for the last two nights. After the swapping of hotels every day, even if they were nice hotels, it was still quite welcome to have a stable place to stay for more than one day. My room this time had two twin beds with nightstand against one wall, with a dresser, TV, and desk and chair on the other wall. The bathroom was just off the entrance, with a tub and a small vanity and sink. It was enough to do the job for the next two days, and I would spend some quality time in the tub, just not this night, because it was way too late.



2015 Virginia

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