Sunday, March 12, 2017

West Palm Beach (Nationals)

On Seeing the New Place

The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches
The Ballpark at the Palm Beaches, 2017
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Houston Astros vs. Washington Nationals
The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches
Grapefruit League (Spring Training)
West Palm Beach, FL
1:05 PM


Outside the Game:
I was going it alone for the rest of the trip, and even with my own room in the condo, my dad managed to wake me up on the way to golf by making a racket on the way to the bathroom. I had some breakfast, showered up, and then took the ever-so-short ride out to the ballpark, getting there in plenty of time before the gates were even thinking about opening. I did my picture thing, and then went in.

After the game, it was a similarly short drive back to Retirement Land. I showered and napped in my room, and basically goofed off until my mother made dinner. After dinner, it was a short constitutional walk afterwards, and then back to my room in the condo to do some work and goof off on the Internet before hitting the hay.


The Stadium & Fans:
Home to center, The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches
Home plate to center field, The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches

The new park that opened up this year, serving both the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals, was given the somewhat grandiose name of The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. In reality, I knew, they might as well have been named "[Your Logo Here]," because by next season, they would no doubt have a corporate sponsorship to score some more money, no matter how country-clubby the current name was.

As the park was rushing to get complete before the start of the season, a lot of incomplete things jump out at you. There were a lot of unfinished elements (such as dug up landscaping and a bar in left field that was on the maps but not open), and a lot of signage was clearly temporary, as well as some concessions, which were just some poorly thought-out metal carts in the outfield walkway. Hmm. Why is it a bad idea to put metal carts out in the sun in Florida? Because they become Easy-Bake ovens for people. I actually saw one worker in one of the carts taken outside to the shade and doused with water because she was on the verge of heat stroke. So, points off, there.

The facility itself was new and nice, if not even the class of the Grapefruit League, let alone the new palaces out in Arizona. There is one main entrance in the center of the facade up a flight of stairs that leads out onto the promenade behind home plate. Baseball-themed bridges on the outside lead to either side of the park (Astros on the third-base side and the Nationals on the first), where each team has their respective team offices and then training areas, with many practice fields radiated out from a central scout tower where team officials and coaches can watch all of the action.  Several of the big league training fields even have special areas set up so fans can grab autographs from players as they leave the fields to head to the clubhouses.

Once inside, the main promenade extends around the entire park, ranging above the seating areas that slope down from the walkway. Seats run from left field to right field from behind home plate, while a large Banana Boat lawn covers the area behind the outfield with general admission seating on the grass. The main digital scoreboard rises up in right-center with stats and video, and Fortunoff couches sit underneath it for lucky fans.

A second level of party and club decks, the press box, and luxury boxes sits above the promenade running from first-to third base behind home plate. The team store sits in left field by a picnic area. Concessions are in buildings on the promenade by home plate, and in those regrettable metal carts around the unprotected outfield.

Mascot
Screetch--no, not the pervy one

Mascot Screetch the Eagle did make the trip down south for the snowbird fans, and the "Retired" President's Race (featuring often-forgotten presidents Taft, Coolidge, and Hoover) not only did their run-around, but were schmoozing with fans before and during the game. Standard between-inning contests also dotted the festivities.

Mascots
The Retired Presidents

But being that both home teams were playing each other, the stadium was maybe three-quarters filled, which is a bad, bad sign. If you can't sell out a brand-new stadium, with the two home teams playing, on a weekend, it does not bode well for the future performance of the locale. The fans that were there were mostly into the game, but still, it was a poor showing.


At the Game with Oogie:
Grub
Brat and Gatorade

As I wandered around this half-finished stadium, I did all my normal pictures and whatnot. I grabbed a brat and Gatorade as they didn't even have their souvenir cups in order just yet.

Even though both home teams were playing, I rather easily got a seat right behind first base that had a great view of the action. Sadly, I managed to get wedged in between two annoying families with kids. The kids weren't annoying per se. They were just excited and took every opportunity to rush up and try and get autographs or balls. The parents, however, were a different story. The trophy wives were vapid and did not stop talking. One of the men was a local politician that couldn't stop dropping names or talking about how he knew what was "really" going on. They were really insufferable. Then there were the two quiet, weird guys who sat directly next to me that had me wishing for more chatty blowhards, as they were just creepy.

It wasn't all bad. As I was out and about, I ran into a woman in a 7-Line Army shirt who wasn't a jackass. We had a nice chat about things while waiting in line for food.

But, seriously. Those wives talked for the entire game straight without taking a breath. It was disturbing.


The Game:
First pitch, Astros vs. Nationals
First pitch, Astros vs. Nationals

Who knew in the pre-season that of the stadium-sharing Astros and Nationals facing off this day, that it would be the Astros that went the farthest?

The "visiting" Astros got a single in the top of the first and nothing else, while the Nats went in order. Houston got a leadoff walk and a single in the second, with similar results, as did Washington, which again went in order. For a change, the Astros went down in order in the third, while the Nationals had a leadoff double that was eventually stranded at third.

Houston went in order again in the fourth, but Washington lead off the inning with a home run, and threatened again with a two-out single and back-to-back walks to load the bases, before a ground-out ended the inning at 1-0, Nats. The Astros showed some life in the fifth with three scattered baserunners, but again, nothing came across. The Nationals had back-to-back singles to start the fifth, but a double-play erased two base runners. The next batter, however, hit a homer to deep center bringing in two runs, staking that Nats to a 3-0 lead, as both teams began to swap out half their lineups. Houston got two ineffective singles in the top of the sixth, while Washington only had one of its own.

As the rest of the team swapped out in the seventh, the Astros finally came alive. A one-out single, walk, and single loaded the bases for a grand slam home run to dead center, clearing the bases and giving Houston its first lead of the day, 4-3. The Nats just went in order in the bottom of the frame, and the Astros only managed a ground-rule double in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the inning, Washington tied it up again with a bomb to left field. Houston only managed a single in the top of the ninth, while the Nats put their last licks to good use. A leadoff single started the bottom of the ninth, who promptly got to third on a stolen base and wild pitch. A walk made it first and third with one out, but a single to right, not even bothered to be fielded, brought in the winning run from third, sending Beltway fans home happy with a pointless 5-4 win.


The Scorecard:
Astros vs. Nationals, 3-12-17. Nationals "win," 5-4.Astros vs. Nationals, 3-12-17. Nationals "win," 5-4.
Astros vs. Nationals, 3/12/17. Nationals "win," 5-4.

The scorecard in the shared facility came in the two flavors of the teams that called it home. For obvious reasons, I picked up the Nationals card for this game. The scorecard was interesting and effective, even for Spring Training games.

The lineups were split up in dual-toned lines for a player and the inevitable replacement. There was plenty of space for the pitching lines, and each scoring frame was done in a quasi-Scoremaster format, with a printed diamond and slots for balls and strikes, so I got all the counts. There was even a section for all the reserves for each team, making it more like a manager’s lineup card than a scorecard, although it only works if the reserves were listed and announced, which was only the case for the Astros. The two remaining rectangles on the card were game condition data (with even space for notes), and one on the home side for game summary data.

All in all, it looked a little cramped at first, but was actually were efficient and neat, even for a Spring Training game.

There weren't a ton of plays of note from a scoring perspective. The Astros managed to lose their DH to a pinch-hitting double-switch in the top of the ninth, there were a couple of hits through overshifts designated with O's, and the walk-off in the bottom of the ninth got a note to assume that just the one necessary winning run game across, as no play was made on the single, since once it landed, everyone knew the game was over.


The Accommodations:
I was at the parents' condo again. I spent a lot of time in the late afternoon and evening here, but it was mostly spent in my guest room, working on materials or just goofing off.



2017 Spring Training

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