On History and Awful Mascots
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| G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium, 2015 |
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Carolina Mudcats (Milwaukee Brewers) vs.
Potomac Nationals (Washington Nationals)
My seat was right against a ramp entrance to the field, above the home dugout right where the ballboy sat, so I could stare down at him for the entirety of the game. Later in the day, the shade from the ramp cast a shadow over me, which was quite welcome. There was a family of what I supposed to be season ticket holders next to me who pretty much kept to themselves for the entirety of the game.
The Game:
I kept up the Best Western love at the franchise in Harrisonburg along my route down to Salem. A short stay in a decent hotel that was all it needed to be. A queen bed with nightstands and a desk was on one wall across from a dresser and TV on the other wall. A nice-sized bathroom was where I found out they put me in an accessibility room, because of all the extra hardware in the shower. I always feel guilty when getting put in these rooms, but the chance of a disabled person showing up after me and needing a room was so low, I didn't bother to ask for a different room.
G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium
Carolina League (A+)
Woodbridge, VA
6:05 PM
Outside the Game:
Woodbridge, VA
6:05 PM
Outside the Game:
I got up a little early thanks to getting the unexpected early night the evening before, so I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for an early weekend breakfast buffet, and back up the room to shower and pack up. I checked out and headed on my way north.
It was a little under two hours up to Woodbridge, which brought me as close to Washington DC in a car as I ever wanted to get again. My last trip through the area had me swearing off driving anywhere in the Baltimore/DC corridor ever again. This was within spitting distance, but it was also one of the reasons I decided to come up from the south, because coming down from the north was *not* an option.
When one thinks of "sylvania"s, "Penn" and "Trans" probably quickly jump to mind, or perhaps even "Spots." "Leesylvania" is certainly nothing I had heard of before this trip, though it did make sense. The Lee family was prominent in Virginia since before the Revolutionary War and continued to be until the unfortunate troubles in the mid-19th century. Regardless, Lee's Wooden Land remains a Virginia state park skirting the border with Maryland. In fact, a pier bridge on the park is bisected the state line, creating a place for tourists to stand with one foot on either side and take pictures. Not that I would.
It was a little under two hours up to Woodbridge, which brought me as close to Washington DC in a car as I ever wanted to get again. My last trip through the area had me swearing off driving anywhere in the Baltimore/DC corridor ever again. This was within spitting distance, but it was also one of the reasons I decided to come up from the south, because coming down from the north was *not* an option.
When one thinks of "sylvania"s, "Penn" and "Trans" probably quickly jump to mind, or perhaps even "Spots." "Leesylvania" is certainly nothing I had heard of before this trip, though it did make sense. The Lee family was prominent in Virginia since before the Revolutionary War and continued to be until the unfortunate troubles in the mid-19th century. Regardless, Lee's Wooden Land remains a Virginia state park skirting the border with Maryland. In fact, a pier bridge on the park is bisected the state line, creating a place for tourists to stand with one foot on either side and take pictures. Not that I would.
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| Because that would be silly. |
Leesylvania is mostly a nature park on the water, with beaches, fishing, and athletic fields. There are also a number of hiking trails, and I took the "historic" one that passed the remains of the original Lee homestead, as well as the family gravesite. After an afternoon of walking around, it was time to head out to the park.
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| The Lee Homestead |
I got the park a little early, as I had nothing else to do and my hotel for the evening was a bit of a drive off. I did my outside photos, bought my ticket, and then I may or may not have taken a nap in my car until the gates opened. But at that point, I did go in.
After the game, I headed out to my car and settled in for an hour and a half drive out to Harrisonburg, about half-way to my next-day's stop of Salem. It being a summer Sunday evening, there were few other people on the road, and the drive was uneventful. I pulled into the hotel a little before 11, checked in, dumped my stuff, showered, and jumped into a welcoming bed, as the travel was starting to get to me, and I was realizing perhaps I wasn't a spring chicken anymore.
The Stadium & Fans:
After the game, I headed out to my car and settled in for an hour and a half drive out to Harrisonburg, about half-way to my next-day's stop of Salem. It being a summer Sunday evening, there were few other people on the road, and the drive was uneventful. I pulled into the hotel a little before 11, checked in, dumped my stuff, showered, and jumped into a welcoming bed, as the travel was starting to get to me, and I was realizing perhaps I wasn't a spring chicken anymore.
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home plate to center field at G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium |
You know people really liked G. Richard Pfitzner, because if you're going to name a stadium after him, that's a lot of extra characters to pay for on the sign. Pfitzner Stadium is a typical Carolina-league park. One long, single-story building next to the main entrance houses the ticket booths and the offices. A quick walk around established a couple of odd things, including an ice machine outside the park fence for no apparent reason and a skate park behind the right-field wall.
The entrance dumps out in a main plaza with concessions and covered picnic tables. An outer promenade runs from outfield to outfield behind home plate, but does not circle the park, while a narrow walkway runs along the base of the seating bowl by the field. The small grandstand and all the seats are raised above the field by about ten feet, and the dugouts are built into the base of the seats and not into the ground. The main grandstand with actual seats runs from about dugout to dugout behind home plate, with the press box squatting on the top of the seating bowl. Two separated runs of bleachers line the baselines into the outfield corners. A triple-decker outfield wall, covered in local ads, sits in front of the mass of trees forming the backdrop to the park. A small digital video board and scoreboard rises in left-center, and the franchises pennants and championships decorate the edge of the batters' eye in right-center.
Right field ends with a picnic pavilion and kids' play area, and left field just ends. The park has a ton of memorabilia of the franchise over the years. In addition to the regular dedication plaques, there is a retired number for Jackie Robinson on the outfield wall, a championship mural, a Wall of Fame (not be confused with the plaques of the Hall of Fame a little further down the way), a banner of the previous incarnations of the franchise, and a Circle K strikeout board.
The entrance dumps out in a main plaza with concessions and covered picnic tables. An outer promenade runs from outfield to outfield behind home plate, but does not circle the park, while a narrow walkway runs along the base of the seating bowl by the field. The small grandstand and all the seats are raised above the field by about ten feet, and the dugouts are built into the base of the seats and not into the ground. The main grandstand with actual seats runs from about dugout to dugout behind home plate, with the press box squatting on the top of the seating bowl. Two separated runs of bleachers line the baselines into the outfield corners. A triple-decker outfield wall, covered in local ads, sits in front of the mass of trees forming the backdrop to the park. A small digital video board and scoreboard rises in left-center, and the franchises pennants and championships decorate the edge of the batters' eye in right-center.
Right field ends with a picnic pavilion and kids' play area, and left field just ends. The park has a ton of memorabilia of the franchise over the years. In addition to the regular dedication plaques, there is a retired number for Jackie Robinson on the outfield wall, a championship mural, a Wall of Fame (not be confused with the plaques of the Hall of Fame a little further down the way), a banner of the previous incarnations of the franchise, and a Circle K strikeout board.
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| "Uncle Slam," god help us all |
The home mascot is the unfortunately named "Uncle Slam," a generic blue monster type mascot dressed like the guy from Rex Quan Do from Napoleon Dynamite. For better or for worse, he runs the events on the field between innings, your standard array of minor-league contests, races, and giveaways. After the game, the minor-league classic hoop toss came out on the field as soon as the last out was recorded.
There was a decent crowd for this summer Sunday afternoon game. The main grandstand was pretty packed, but the bleachers only held a sporadic crowd. They seemed more into the entertainment than the baseball, but they were duly appreciative of the home team's victory for the evening.
At the Game with Oogie:
There was a decent crowd for this summer Sunday afternoon game. The main grandstand was pretty packed, but the bleachers only held a sporadic crowd. They seemed more into the entertainment than the baseball, but they were duly appreciative of the home team's victory for the evening.
At the Game with Oogie:
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| Section A, Row A, Seat 1, baby. |
Perhaps the story of this game is that this is the very first time I have ever gotten seat "A 1" at a park, and perhaps the last time I ever will. It was luck of the draw this time, and Row A, Seat 1 was not, as you might expect, behind home plate, but it did put me in the first row above the home dugout.
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| Boneless chicken wings |
I got in and did my pictures and shopping before grabbing some food. I started with some boneless wings and fries to start and topped it off a hot dog and soda. There was an option to have a side of bacon, so the answer was clearly "yes," and the bacon inexplicably came in a soda cup, but, hey--bacon.
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| Side of bacon |
My seat was right against a ramp entrance to the field, above the home dugout right where the ballboy sat, so I could stare down at him for the entirety of the game. Later in the day, the shade from the ramp cast a shadow over me, which was quite welcome. There was a family of what I supposed to be season ticket holders next to me who pretty much kept to themselves for the entirety of the game.
The Game:
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| First pitch, Mudcats vs. Nationals |
The visiting Carolina Mudcats were facing off against the home-town Potomac Nationals, and while the home team fans did get to go home happy, they also got to go home quickly, with an extremely brisk game under 2.5 hours long that was played like the players had opera tickets later that evening.
Carolina went in order in the first, while the Nationals pulled the neat trick of also going down in order with a one-out double in the inning, as the runner got tossed out trying to turn his double into a triple. The Mudcats upped their game to a stranded single in the top of the second, while the Potomacs went in order despite a leadoff single thanks to a double-play. Playing the progression, Carolina had only a two-out double in the top of the third, while the Nationals went in order.
We finally got some scoring the fourth when the Mudcats had a leadoff double come home after getting to third on a double-play and then trotting home on a wild pitch, giving them a 1-0 lead. The Nats responded by going down in order again despite a leadoff single, thanks to another double-play. Carolina got a one-out single third thanks to a wild pitch and a ground-out but stranded the runner there. The Nationals got on the board to tie it up in the bottom of the frame with a single and a double, but the later was thrown out trying to make it a triple. The Mudcats went in order in the sixth, while the Nats got two more runs thanks to a double, and single, a sacrifice fly, and another double, stretching their lead to 3-1.
In the top of the seventh, Carolina stranded a single and a walk, while the Nats stranded two singles. The Mudcats went in order in the eighth, and the Nationals stranded a walk and a single. Carolina showed some life in their last licks in the ninth, getting two men on with a single and a walk, but the Nationals closer put it away with a ground ball back to the mound that put away the home-team's 3-1 victory.
The Scorecard:
Carolina went in order in the first, while the Nationals pulled the neat trick of also going down in order with a one-out double in the inning, as the runner got tossed out trying to turn his double into a triple. The Mudcats upped their game to a stranded single in the top of the second, while the Potomacs went in order despite a leadoff single thanks to a double-play. Playing the progression, Carolina had only a two-out double in the top of the third, while the Nationals went in order.
We finally got some scoring the fourth when the Mudcats had a leadoff double come home after getting to third on a double-play and then trotting home on a wild pitch, giving them a 1-0 lead. The Nats responded by going down in order again despite a leadoff single, thanks to another double-play. Carolina got a one-out single third thanks to a wild pitch and a ground-out but stranded the runner there. The Nationals got on the board to tie it up in the bottom of the frame with a single and a double, but the later was thrown out trying to make it a triple. The Mudcats went in order in the sixth, while the Nats got two more runs thanks to a double, and single, a sacrifice fly, and another double, stretching their lead to 3-1.
In the top of the seventh, Carolina stranded a single and a walk, while the Nats stranded two singles. The Mudcats went in order in the eighth, and the Nationals stranded a walk and a single. Carolina showed some life in their last licks in the ninth, getting two men on with a single and a walk, but the Nationals closer put it away with a ground ball back to the mound that put away the home-team's 3-1 victory.
The Scorecard:
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| Mudcats vs. Nationals, 06/28/15. Nationals win, 3-1. |
The scorecard was part of the free, full-color mini-tabloid program. The scorecard was in the centerfold, but it was on decent weight paper instead of glossy magazine stock, although at least a third of the page was taken up with ads.
The batting lines did not have official space of replacements, but there were batting summaries at the end of each batting line, and innings summaries at the bottom of each column. Each tiny scoring square had a pre-printed diamond, which made it hard to keep all the details legible, although the background was mostly white and the printing behind the scorecard was in the paper, not on it. Pitching lines (only three--but sufficient for this quick game) were under the batting lines, and each side had a stats box in the bottom right of the area.
There were several odd plays and stats in this game. The Nationals managed to go down in order four times, but only one of those times had no hits, relying on double-plays and outfield assists to erase runner from the basepaths. On no less than two occasions in this game did batter who hit doubles get thrown out from the outfield trying to stretch doubles into triples, to the point that you had to wonder if the Nats manager was trying to train them on taking the extra base or something.
The Accommodations:
The batting lines did not have official space of replacements, but there were batting summaries at the end of each batting line, and innings summaries at the bottom of each column. Each tiny scoring square had a pre-printed diamond, which made it hard to keep all the details legible, although the background was mostly white and the printing behind the scorecard was in the paper, not on it. Pitching lines (only three--but sufficient for this quick game) were under the batting lines, and each side had a stats box in the bottom right of the area.
There were several odd plays and stats in this game. The Nationals managed to go down in order four times, but only one of those times had no hits, relying on double-plays and outfield assists to erase runner from the basepaths. On no less than two occasions in this game did batter who hit doubles get thrown out from the outfield trying to stretch doubles into triples, to the point that you had to wonder if the Nats manager was trying to train them on taking the extra base or something.
The Accommodations:
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| Best Western |
I kept up the Best Western love at the franchise in Harrisonburg along my route down to Salem. A short stay in a decent hotel that was all it needed to be. A queen bed with nightstands and a desk was on one wall across from a dresser and TV on the other wall. A nice-sized bathroom was where I found out they put me in an accessibility room, because of all the extra hardware in the shower. I always feel guilty when getting put in these rooms, but the chance of a disabled person showing up after me and needing a room was so low, I didn't bother to ask for a different room.
2015 Virginia
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