On Finishing Up Strong, if Damp
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| The Diamond, 2015 |
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Akron RubberDucks (Cleveland Indians) vs.
Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants)
The Diamond
Eastern League (AA)
Richmond, VA
6:05 PM
Outside the Game:
The Diamond
Eastern League (AA)
Richmond, VA
6:05 PM
Outside the Game:
Having done the drive the night before, all I had was local driving around Richmond to do for the short remainder of the trip. I had a lazy morning at the hotel, sleeping in before rolling out to catch the end of the extended weekend breakfast buffet, before sullenly retreating to my room for a nap to make sure the sleep all got properly set in my head.
I eventually got the energy to shower up and head out to the stadium to buy my ticket and take my photos of the outside of the park. As early afternoon rolled around, I finally got the gumption to get out and start exploring Richmond. I parked in a lot in the historic center of down town, and my first stop was the "Confederate White House," converted into the Museum of the Confederacy. I was pinching my nose and hoping for the best on the way in, but it was a frankly even-handed review of the events of the way and kept mostly to the straight history of the location. There didn't seem to be a trace of any lost-causim or trash of that ilk. I exited through the gift shop and spent the remainder of the afternoon walking around the historic downtown, visiting the George Washington and Civil Rights monuments, as well as the Old Virginia Executive Mansion.
I eventually got the energy to shower up and head out to the stadium to buy my ticket and take my photos of the outside of the park. As early afternoon rolled around, I finally got the gumption to get out and start exploring Richmond. I parked in a lot in the historic center of down town, and my first stop was the "Confederate White House," converted into the Museum of the Confederacy. I was pinching my nose and hoping for the best on the way in, but it was a frankly even-handed review of the events of the way and kept mostly to the straight history of the location. There didn't seem to be a trace of any lost-causim or trash of that ilk. I exited through the gift shop and spent the remainder of the afternoon walking around the historic downtown, visiting the George Washington and Civil Rights monuments, as well as the Old Virginia Executive Mansion.
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| Confederate White House |
It was eventually time to get over to the game, so I drove to the stadium and parked up and got in line. On the way out, I damply got into my car and went back to the hotel to shower up, do some final packing, check in for my flight, and collapse at the end of another long trip.
The Stadium & Fans:
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home plate to center field, The Diamond |
Despite a generic name, The Diamond is one of the few minor-league parks that either isn’t in one of the modern, cookie-cutter designs or a historic park built up around its quirks. From the outside, the giant concrete structure looks more like a college football stadium than ballpark. Free-standing pillbox ticket booths are by the main entrance at home plate, which is split between regular and season ticket entrances. The outside of the park is extensively decorated, with floral arrangements, pennants, a giant inflatable mascot, posters of all the other mascots, a miniature golf course behind right field (surely a first for me), and small signs for “Squirrels Fun Facts” that circle the park.
All the entrances go up a stairway onto the main concrete promenade that goes around the park from left field to right field behind the plate. The single row of seats extends down in blocks from the main walkway the length of the grandstand, roughly from just beyond first base to just beyond third base. At the top of the lower seating bowl are the luxury boxes and the press box. An entire upper deck is on top, accessed by large, sloping ramps from the lower level. It has a narrow walkway around the outside of the grandstand with ramps leading in, and a small walkway at the base of the stands, with the seats rising up from there. A large cantilevered roof runs out over the upper deck, above a row of banner advertisements. Left field ends in a patio deck with picnic tables, and the right field walkway just ends right before the bullpens, looking out over the mini golf course outside.
A large, pole-fixed netting system keeps the fans protected from foul balls. Looking out, a two-tier outfield wall is covered in local ads except for the batters’ eye in center. A large digital scoreboard sits in left-center in front of the backdrop of treetops and sky that frames the field. The park has a lot of little spaces and tributes crammed in every corner. There is an outfield wall banner for Jackie Robinson’s retired number, signed posters from the starting lineups of every team of every year along the walls, a POW-MIA seat, player posters on the ramps, the inevitable “Road to the Show” plaques, VCU Baseball Championship banners, mascot banners, a small fast pitch tucked in a corner in addition to the larger kids area on the lower level, and a Wall of Fame.
All the entrances go up a stairway onto the main concrete promenade that goes around the park from left field to right field behind the plate. The single row of seats extends down in blocks from the main walkway the length of the grandstand, roughly from just beyond first base to just beyond third base. At the top of the lower seating bowl are the luxury boxes and the press box. An entire upper deck is on top, accessed by large, sloping ramps from the lower level. It has a narrow walkway around the outside of the grandstand with ramps leading in, and a small walkway at the base of the stands, with the seats rising up from there. A large cantilevered roof runs out over the upper deck, above a row of banner advertisements. Left field ends in a patio deck with picnic tables, and the right field walkway just ends right before the bullpens, looking out over the mini golf course outside.
A large, pole-fixed netting system keeps the fans protected from foul balls. Looking out, a two-tier outfield wall is covered in local ads except for the batters’ eye in center. A large digital scoreboard sits in left-center in front of the backdrop of treetops and sky that frames the field. The park has a lot of little spaces and tributes crammed in every corner. There is an outfield wall banner for Jackie Robinson’s retired number, signed posters from the starting lineups of every team of every year along the walls, a POW-MIA seat, player posters on the ramps, the inevitable “Road to the Show” plaques, VCU Baseball Championship banners, mascot banners, a small fast pitch tucked in a corner in addition to the larger kids area on the lower level, and a Wall of Fame.
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| Nutzy |
On paper, the Flying Squirrels have no less than five mascots: Parker the Rally Pig, Zinger the nut, Nutzy the Flying Squirrel, Captain ARRR VA the pirate, and Victor the Viking. Only Nutzy and the Captain made big appearances for this game (with Zinger showing up for one race event), with Nutzy sporting garish July 4th clothes, but the Captain maintained his traditional pirate clothes. The park gets immediate points for having an organ player, a much-missed dying tradition in baseball. And they even had a lot of unusual contests and giveaways, including a hula-hoop race, a tug of war, giant glove boxing, and a guy riding a giant flamingo to give away hot dogs (a’la the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor in Reading).
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| The sacrifice is pleasing. |
The crowd on the day after July 4th was quite extensive, even if dampened by the intermittent rain. They were into the game beyond the other entertainments, even if a lot of them were just concerned whether the rain was going to cancel the post-game fireworks (which it did).
At the Game with Oogie:
At the Game with Oogie:
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| Damp scoring |
While waiting in the crowded line to get in, I was just in front of an older couple who were season ticket holders, and the husband even came equipped with a flag-themed Nutsy giveaway from a previous July 4th. And here was the danger of capital "t" capital "s," The South. The couple were giving me the rundown about the fight between the city council and the team owners, as the city fathers promised the team a new stadium and then didn't deliver, and the last team left, and now they are playing the same game of chicken with the Flying Squirrels, and the sad baseball fans were bemoaning what they expected to be the similar outcome. And we're fine until there. However, the husband kept going and saying that all the city council wanted to do was to give money to "the blacks" and buy their votes; they would never do anything for "white folks," like getting the new stadium built.
And while that was pretty breath-taking, I guess I was sort of happy that the word didn't start with an "n," which was progress of a type. After that, I politely nodded and smiled, and then lost them as soon as the gates opened. You think we've progressed, and then you find out that maybe we haven't.
And while that was pretty breath-taking, I guess I was sort of happy that the word didn't start with an "n," which was progress of a type. After that, I politely nodded and smiled, and then lost them as soon as the gates opened. You think we've progressed, and then you find out that maybe we haven't.
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| Regular hot dog and souvenir soda |
I went around and did my photography, and whatever you say about The Diamond, it definitely isn’t a cookie-cutter stadium. With all my walking around, I started off with a hot dog and a souvenir soda, but eventually threw a pulled pork hot dog on top of that, because pulled pork hot dog.
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| Pulled pork hot dog: Recommended by 5 of 5 cardiologists |
My seat was in the third row just at the end of the home plate dugout. The stadium at least started pretty packed, and there were families all around me who were probably season ticket holders. They were all mostly watching their kids or keeping out of the rain, depending on when it was.
The one moment of glory I had in the game was that I won the program autograph contest. This was less hard than usual because they mistakenly left the sticky tab they put in the program to show the player where to sign, so I had grabbed that free program to find out why it was like that. And I found the answer pretty easily. So that was perhaps my easiest contest win ever.
The Game:
The one moment of glory I had in the game was that I won the program autograph contest. This was less hard than usual because they mistakenly left the sticky tab they put in the program to show the player where to sign, so I had grabbed that free program to find out why it was like that. And I found the answer pretty easily. So that was perhaps my easiest contest win ever.
The Game:
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| First pitch, RubberDucks vs. Flying Squirrels |
The Akron RubberDucks and Richmond Flying Squirrels were both in the Western Division of the Eastern League and clawing for a playoff spot until late in the season. This turned out to be a pitcher's duel in a damp afternoon that was ultimately decided on a stolen base.
Akron only had a walk to show for the top of the first, but the Flying Squirrels came out swinging, with a leadoff homer to right. Little did we know that would be the last scoring for this half of the game. Both sides went in order in the second, and the RubberDucks got a batter as far as third in the top of the third with a couple of walks, a steal, and an error, but no further, while Richmond went in order in their half.
In the top of the fourth, Akron scattered and stranded a pair of singles, while the Flying Squirrels did the same, plus a walk, in the bottom of the frame. The RubberDucks got two walks in the top of the fifth, but just into the second half of the game, Richmond managed to score again with a leadoff walk that stole second and was driven in by a one-out single to extend the tenuous lead to 2-0. Akron went in order in the top of the sixth, while the Flying Squirrels somehow came up with bupkis after starting their half with a walk and a double.
The RubberDucks got a walk and a lot of ground outs in the top of the seventh, while Richmond went in order. Akron finally got on the board in the eighth with a two-out homer to left and was threatening more with a back-to-back single and a walk before a reliever got a strikeout to end the inning. The Flying Squirrels just had a single in the bottom half of the eighth. But it concluded quickly, as Akron went in order in the top of the ninth to settle the 2-1 Richmond victory.
The Scorecard:
Akron only had a walk to show for the top of the first, but the Flying Squirrels came out swinging, with a leadoff homer to right. Little did we know that would be the last scoring for this half of the game. Both sides went in order in the second, and the RubberDucks got a batter as far as third in the top of the third with a couple of walks, a steal, and an error, but no further, while Richmond went in order in their half.
In the top of the fourth, Akron scattered and stranded a pair of singles, while the Flying Squirrels did the same, plus a walk, in the bottom of the frame. The RubberDucks got two walks in the top of the fifth, but just into the second half of the game, Richmond managed to score again with a leadoff walk that stole second and was driven in by a one-out single to extend the tenuous lead to 2-0. Akron went in order in the top of the sixth, while the Flying Squirrels somehow came up with bupkis after starting their half with a walk and a double.
The RubberDucks got a walk and a lot of ground outs in the top of the seventh, while Richmond went in order. Akron finally got on the board in the eighth with a two-out homer to left and was threatening more with a back-to-back single and a walk before a reliever got a strikeout to end the inning. The Flying Squirrels just had a single in the bottom half of the eighth. But it concluded quickly, as Akron went in order in the top of the ninth to settle the 2-1 Richmond victory.
The Scorecard:
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| RubberDucks vs. Flying Squirrels, 07/05/15. Flying Squirrels win, 2-1. |
The scorecard was part of the free mini-tabloid full-color magazine program. The scorecard was the centerfold of the program, taking up about 3/4th of the space, with ads taking up the remainder at the bottom. There was decent enough space for player lines and replacements on empty scoring boxes, with the pitching lines underneath, but the glossy magazine paper made it nearly impossible to write with pencil, and it was especially unsuited for the rainy weather that day, and there was a color background behind the scoring boxes, which made it more difficult to write and erase legibly.
The damp game didn't have particular scoring plays of note, and thankfully went along at a clippy pace.
The Accommodations:
The damp game didn't have particular scoring plays of note, and thankfully went along at a clippy pace.
The Accommodations:
I was at the Best Western at the airport again. Not a lot to report there.
Outside the Game:
On the Pleasantness of a Boring Day
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| Richmond Airport |
Monday, July 6, 2015
Jersey City, NJOutside the Game:
This was a pleasantly uneventful day all around. I woke up on time in the morning, grabbed breakfast, showered, and finished packing. I checked out of the hotel, drove the short distance to the airport, turned in the rental car, and went through security at the terminal. I grabbed a snack and went to my gate, where my flight boarded on time, and took off on time.
After two hours--most of which I napped through--we landed at Newark, and I took a cab back to my apartment, where I did my laundry and got my stuff in order for the rest of the afternoon.
After having nightmares the weather and delays and all the rest, it was nice to have a strictly boring morning and end up right back at my apartment.
The Accommodations:
After two hours--most of which I napped through--we landed at Newark, and I took a cab back to my apartment, where I did my laundry and got my stuff in order for the rest of the afternoon.
After having nightmares the weather and delays and all the rest, it was nice to have a strictly boring morning and end up right back at my apartment.
The Accommodations:
2015 Virginia
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