Sunday, July 2, 2006

Hagerstown

GAME 2
Municipal Stadium
Municipal Stadium, 2006
Date: Sunday, July 2, 2006, 6:35 PM
Lakewood BlueClaws (Philadelphia Phillies) vs. Hagerstown Suns (NY Metropolitans)
Hagerstown Municipal Stadium
Hagerstown, MD
South Atlantic League, Class A
Promotion: Statue of Liberty Bobble-head, Fireworks Display


The Stadium & Fans:
The Stadium is an old-school historical bandstand park. I'm sure the players hate its lack of facilities, but it was a great place to watch a game. There was only a manual scoreboard out in left field, and it was nice to see a game without all the bells, whistles, and jumbotrons.

The fans were typical minor-league fare: families, scouts, and baseball nuts, though the first were most heavily represented. My usher seemed legitimately touched when I tipped him for taking us to our seats. The fans were very much into the game, so it was a good atmosphere to watch baseball.


Scorecard:
Suns scorecard, 07-02-06
BlueClaws vs. Suns, 07/02/06. Suns win, 8-1.
The scorecard was $3, as part of a program. Good paper, nice boxes.


Miscellanea:
The giveaway for the game was another bobble-head of the Statue of Liberty, of all things. I don't know if it was supposed to be a tie-in to the NY Mets parent organization or the Fourth of July.


Travel & Other Non-Game Activities:
We drove up in the afternoon for the game (after watching the first part of the Doctor Who season finale), and stayed in a hotel near the stadium for the night. Because my friend had class the next day and I was moving on to DC, we took separate cars. We communicated with walkie talkies on the drive over, and using an MP3-to-FM receiver and keeping close formation, we were able to stream the Quintessential Phase of the Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy radio show to both cars. Geeks, ho!

We got back to the hotel after the game in time to watch the Venture Brothers ("I'm not your f*cking mommy!") and see the ugly, ugly Yankees-Mets game.


The Game:
Though there was the slop you'd expect from single A ball, it was a good game, with the Suns pasting the BlueClaws, 8-1. It gives me hope for the Mets pitching that the staff down here is so good.



2006 The East

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