On the Unexpected Start of Things
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| Comfort Inn & Suites |
Meriden, CT
Outside of the Game:
With my current employer circling the drain in a rather obvious fashion, I decided to ignore the problem for another week and set out for another four-day weekend of baseball.
I walked out of work a little before six and went home to do some quick laundry. Since I've been so divorced from caring about work, I had a great deal of the prep work already done for the trip, and it was just a matter of putting the last few items in my bag and setting out when the traffic had died down for the most part.
Oh, and the horrific rain. I got to my apartment just before the deluge started. With the first tropical storm of the year gearing up down South, it was putting a pall over the whole proceedings. Surprisingly and pleasantly, however, the rain seemed to have slowed down by my departure time of 9 PM, so I dragged all my stuff to the car with only minor dampness and set on my way.
As it was still New York and still raining and still almost the holidays, I decided to go the Tappan Zee Bridge route again, and I was happily without much incident before I traipsed into Connecticut. At some point, they had decided it would be a great idea to do road work on 95 to close everything down to one lane. And, of course, some idiot had wrecked their car right by the close-down to one lane, so there was a solid, unmoving block of traffic for at least five miles before the lane closure. I was able to bail off and roughly follow state roads (with liberal application of the "roadblock" function on my TomTom, whose calming voice was a vital component in my continuing sanity) and after a half hour delay, I was relatively back on track, if not schedule.
The relative smooth sailing I had prior to the construction was completely undone by the delay. I had picked a hotel arbitrarily two hours drive into my journey, but at this point, it was just shy of three hours on the road when I pulled in short of midnight to the Comfort Inn in Meriden, Connecticut.
After dealing with the rather nervous Indian night manager, I dropped all my stuff in my room and then headed to the Wendy's across the street for a snack--as it had been five hours since dinner at this point--which I brought back to my room to enjoy in relative peace.
The Accommodations:
As mentioned, I was at a Comfort Inn & Suites. Outside of the eyebrow-raising locked front entrance, the room itself is about what you would expect from such things.
I had a king-sized bed room, with a nice enough bathroom off the entrance. An easy chair sat opposite a desk at the entrance to the room, and the bed was opposite a dresser with a plasma TV. A refrigerator and microwave lay between the dresser and desk on the far wall.
I didn't do much but sleep, but it got the job done.
On Damp But Not Defeated
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| Edward A. LeLacheur Park, 2014 |
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Connecticut Tigers (Detroit Tigers) vs.Lowell Spinners (Boston Red Sox)
Edward A. LeLacheur Park
NY-PENN League (Short-Season A)
Lowell, MA
7:05 PM
Outside the Game:
I awoke at a reasonable time, got some breakfast, packed up, and was on the road by ten. After an uneventful, sweaty, sweaty ride, I was on the outskirts of Lowell, where the National Park service had their own AM radio channel talking about the local attractions. Listening to the broadcast, I pulled into my hotel at around 12:30 PM. They were good enough to let me check in early, so I dumped all my stuff in my room, and basked in the air conditioning for a while.
I grabbed a vended Gatorade on the way to the lobby, and asked for some local directions at the front desk. Armed with a map, I head off to find the National Park Visitor Center, a short walk away. Along the way, I passed some honest-to-god socialist party advocates on the street (because they clearly don't have jobs -- HA, I make joke). Once at the visitor's center, I oriented myself on the big map there, grabbed some pamphlets, and set out on my way.
I walked along the canal out to the Boott Cotton Mills Museum, which was a semi-operating cotton mill, and one of the last of the area buildings that weren't converted into hip condos for Yuppies. (Are they even still Yuppies anymore? What do you call hipsters with good jobs?) I was a little confused as to why there were ear plugs at the entrance of the museum, but that question was quickly answered as I walked into the mill itself. It was wall-to-wall weaving looms, and, as they were quick to point out, the current arrangement was not nearly as crowded or loud as the actual factory floor would have been back when it was a for-profit mill.
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| The oldest time sheet software |
The upper floor of the museum talks about the development of the town, its rise to power, and how it then lost that supremacy. One of the more interesting bits was the displays kept using the euphemism "negro cloth" for the low-quality fabric that Lowell was famous for, made from cotton shipped from slave states, spun into low-quality cloth for cheap slave clothing, and then sent back south. Hmm. I wonder what "negro cloth" was a euphemism for, don't you?
In the upstairs level, there was a young female ranger on duty, and she was so painfully enthusiastic, it was nearly tragic. She was talking to each of the few visitors that were coming through that day and making sure she could answer any questions or offer help. She was so vulnerable in her desire to assist that I couldn't help but go to the video presentation she was in charge of, which turned out to be a summation of the competing views of Jeffersonian yeoman farming versus Hamiltonian industrial development for the emerging American nation.
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| Keruac memorial |
After the mill, I went to the nearby boarding house and mill girls exhibit in one of the few remaining boarding houses left in the city (that were also not yet condos). I then made a short trip over to the monument to Lowell's favorite son, Jack Keruac. Walking back through downtown, I grabbed some pizza on the way to take a look at the various river locks around town, before a return stop to the visitors center to grab some souvenirs, and then back to the hotel to get out of the heat and take a needed nap before the game.
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| A tiny bit of blinding rain |
But as I walked out to the car to drive over to the stadium, it started pouring. The sky opened up, and a torrential downpour was buffeted by strong winds, to the point that it wasn't safe to drive for a while due to a complete lack of visibility. Eventually, it slowed down to a hard rain, and I drove over to the stadium and parked. The cheerful lot attendant decked out in rain gear seemed enthusiastic about the chances for a game, so I got out in my own rain poncho and joined a small, damp group of people outside the stadium. After I picked up my ticket, I went around to do my photography, and as I made it back to the front of the stadium, the rain slackened to nothing, and a rainbow rose majestically in the distance. I took this as a good sign.
I went into the team store until the rain completely stopped, and I was there as an author showed up to arrange his book signing for the game. He wrote a ten year interview retrospective on "The Idiots," the Red Sox team that won their first World Series in nearly a century. Someone in the store asked him if everyone on the team participated, and he mentioned Manny Ramirez not doing the book, to which I chimed in that it might have something to do with him being in Taiwan when the book was being written. They ignored me.
The rain stopped, I went outside and got in line to get in to the park.
After the game, with most of the crowd inside waiting for the fireworks, I went to my car and took the short ride back to the hotel. I went to the room and laid everything out to dry overnight and got some much-needed sleep.
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home plate to center field, Edward A. LeLacheur Park |
Edward A. LeLacheur Park was clearly named for someone--in this case a state legislator instrumental in getting the new stadium funded. As with many NY-PENN parks, the field is nestled in a local college, the UMASS campus right by the river.
The main entrance is located in a plaza by home plate, with the ticket booth, the team store, and a large baseball mural. Further down the first base line is the "Gator Pit" entrance for tickets with the all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet. Down on the left field side is the "Exclusive Season Ticket Holder Entrance," as well as the service entrance, where all the vehicles for the on-field events are parked before the game. There is a river walkway, named for the 26th Infantry "Yankee" Division (probably the only positive mention of "Yankees" in relation to baseball in all of Massachusetts) that snakes its way all the way behind the outfield wall.
All the entrances lead up a flight of stairs, with the main entrance having the administrative offices for the team on the ground floor of the stairs, along with a mural with signs pointing to all of the Red Sox affiliates half-way up the stairway. It opens into a main entrance plaza, with fan assistance and program vendors.
The top promenade extends from left field to right field, with regular stairways leading down into the seating bowl. Concessions for food and activities line this walkway, which ends in the stairs down to the "Swamp Land" kids area in left and a bleachers area and alternate exit in right. A center box structure that sits atop the home plate seats houses the press box and what few luxury boxes there are on hand. Especially in light of pre-game rain, it is obvious that there is nowhere to grab shelter should it rain, and you have to wait for the sun to go down to get any relief from the heat. The usual memorials dot the upper walkway, and a long set of retired numbers sit in right field.
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| Canali- and Allie- Gator. Get it? |
The two mascots are "Canaligator" and "Allie-Gator" who lead the on-field games. This close to July 4th, the color guard for the day's game were people dressed as revolutionary Minute Men. There were a lot of minor-league standard games and contests between innings (inflatable horse racing and mascot races, anyone?), but there were some unique ones as well, including a giant, inflatable version of the Operation game, a pie-eating contest, and a Mario Cart race using actual carts tearing around the outfield warning track, as well as a Mystery Machine with mascots hanging on for dear life while throwing T-shirts to the crowd. One particular local tradition was both home and visiting teams trying (and sometimes succeeding) at throwing water onto the on-field performers as they went about their duties. I assume it was in good fun, but who can tell with people sometimes? Especially in Massachusetts.
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| Inflatable Operation |
Also interesting was the post-game fireworks were arrayed in the outfield instead of outside the park as per usual. Given its river-side location full of vegetation, I guess it made sense, but I have to imagine that the grounds crew didn't get a vote in the location of the explosions that no doubt messed up their nice outfield grass.
At the Game with Oogie:
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| Chicken fingers and Gatorade |
As I entered the park as the rain stopped, I did my walk around the park for the usuals, and then scoped out some places to eat. There was a BBQ place under the seats that was advertised around the park. I went down and found that they only did open concessions once the game started, but before the game, they were an all-you-can-eat buffet for special ticket holders. That determined, I went up to the regular concessions and got "chicken tenderloins," which is apparently the spelled-out version of "chicken tenders."
I had a seat behind the home dugout as per normal. I was a couple of seats in, and sitting right next to me was an older couple and their college-aged daughter. We were sitting right next to each other, and after a couple of innings, they decided to move up a row so we'd both have more room. I tried not to take it personally.
They clearly thought of themselves as a "fun" family, as they certainly acted like it. I don't know if they were for real about it or not, because I'm honestly not familiar with what a well-adjusted family would be like. I dated someone in one of them in college, and frankly, it was like dealing with an alien species. I can only process statements hinged on sarcasm and bile. Actual love and support has no place in familial relations.
At any rate, they had a grand ole' time at the game. The scoreboard operator was having a lot of fun with visiting player "Pankake," by showing various pancake-related video clips with his head superimposed over them. (And from the annoyed look of his team mugshot, they had clearly just taken it after the cameraman had asked him if his name was really "pancake.") I told them when he was due up the next inning, and the mother and daughter had their fun with him.
The Game:
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| First pitch, Tigers vs. Spinners |
This was an odd, odd game that appeared to be over at several points, but was only really over after the last scoring rally.
The visiting Connecticut Tigers only managed a walk in the top of the first. The Spinners had a leadoff single, but after a strikeout by the next batter, he was caught stealing. And then the last batter of the inning flied out to center. In the second, Connecticut had a two-out E4 get the runner on base, but that was all. Lowell started with a another leadoff single, but he was erased on a bizarre double play. A grounder went to the Tigers short stop, who took the ball to second and threw to first. Well, he over-threw the first baseman. The runner started his turn to second, but the catcher was backing up the play, threw to the first baseman, who tagged out the retreating runner. Happens every day.
The Tigers has a leadoff single in the third erased on a double play and nothing else. The Spinners broke through in the bottom of the inning, however. Back-to-back singles started their half, before a double-play moved the lead runner over to third. The second baseman botched a grounder and let the run score, but he was redeemed on a grounder by the next batter. The Spinners were up, 1-0, however, and given the offense so far, it seemed insurmountable.
The Tigers started the fourth with a leadoff double off a new Spinners' hurler, and with one out, a batter got plunked to make it first and second with one out. But two outs stranded them and ended the top of the inning. Lowell went in order in the bottom of the inning, marking the first clean frame all game. Connecticut started the fifth with a single, and the runner went to second on a wild pitch. A one-out walk was followed by another wild pitch that made it second and third with one out, but two straight outs stranded the runners again. The Spinners also started their fifth with a single who moved to second on a stolen base. A two-out hit batsman was subsequently part of a double-steal on a blown pickoff, but a strikeout stranded them, as well.
Things came together for the Tigers in the sixth. Another leadoff double was followed by a short single to left, and the left fielder bobbled the ball, letting the runner get to second and making it second and third with no outs. A grounder to second brought the run in and moved the trailing runner from second to third. A single brought the lead runner in, and a two-out walk made it first and second. A two-out double cleared the bases, and a new pitcher mercifully got a strikeout to end the half at 4-1, Tigers. The Spinners for their part got back-to-back one-out doubles to get one run back, but despite a two-out walk, that was all they had, leaving it 4-2 at the end of six.
The Tigers went in order for the first time in the seventh, but Lowell did not. Another leadoff double was immediately brought home by another single. The next batter also singled, and a double afterwards cleared the bases and put the Spinners back in the lead. Two outs followed, but a single to right brought in one more runner before a fly-out ended the inning at 6-4, Spinners.
Connecticut went in order again in the eighth, and this time, Lowell followed suit. As a steady rain began to fall, the Spinners' closer got a 1-2-3 inning, cementing the 6-4 Spinners' win.
The Scorecard:
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| Tigers vs. Spinners, 07/03/14. Spinners win, 6-4. |
Perhaps I had the wrong idea about the NY-PENN League teams. All the teams around me gave away their programs, which made more sense to me, since we are talking about low-A short season. But here, at another NY-PENN park, we had a program for $2.
For a newsprint booklet with color covers, it was probably a little over-priced at that. The scorecard was in the center on a one-page layout. The pitching lines got a lot more space than usual, which made the position player lines a little cramped.
There were a lot of weird patterns with this game. For the first two innings, both teams put one more than the minimum to the plate. The scoring story of the game was, of course, the DP 6-6-2-3t in the top of the second. I think it is relatively safe to say that I won't come across that again.
There was also the unusually high number of wild pitches and errors (thanks to the low minors), and a blown pickoff in the bottom of the fifth led to dual stolen bases.
The Accommodations:
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| UMASS Lowell Inn Convention Center Hotel |
I made my reservation at the UMASS Lowell Inn Convention Center Hotel not realizing, for whatever reason, that this was a hotel actually run by UMASS. It was a nice enough place (if a little hard to find thanks to a surfeit of twisty, one-way roads and sharp turns), but it was right in the middle of town, unlike the other hotels, which is probably why I booked it in the first place.
I had a double twin bed room on the second floor. The beds sat on the wall opposite a desk and TV stand/dresser, with a decent bathroom off the entrance. I had a mid-day nap there, but besides that, I didn't spent any time in the room except for sleeping. And that's okay.
2014 July 4th
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