On Flying to Detroit
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| The absolute end of Terminal C |
September 1, 2015
Detroit, MI
Outside the Game:
So it goes.
So it goes.
Work was deciding to be complicated again, but because of
the good fortune of being between two projects at the moment, I had nearly full
coverage already built-in for my vacation, as well as a string of untimely good
luck that was riding me through the week.
Things had turned around from two weeks prior when a 60+
hour work week while my boss was on vacation had nearly driven me from my job
again. I was quite skeptical about a new project that I was being thrust into
like some human band aid to assuage some client where things were turning south.
Well, it wasn't all good news. I found out on Monday night that I was being
sent to LA to meet said client the week I was coming back. Los Angeles is
literally the worst place on the planet, as anyone who has ever talked to me
knows. It is the worst place in the world, filled with the worst people in the
world, and it should be burned to the ground and let turn fallow into the
godless desert that begat it. Laid barren, but not forgotten, no: It should be
remembered for all times as the price of human folly and wickedness and a
warning of a repeat of the same.
Where was I? Right, baseball. Anyway, outside of the trip,
things were going uncharacteristically better at work, and the Tuesday of my
departure doubly so. Projects were just flying off my to-do list to ease the
burden of those covering for me. Things were getting a little hairy towards the
end of the day, but thanks to a late flight, I was able to guilt my way out the
door at a reasonable time and make my way out to the airport.
Even the subway cooperated, as an early evening ride up the
1 was only mildly interrupted by waiting for an express to pass, and after a
minimal amount of endless wandering I was able to find the NJ Transit trains at
Penn Station. A went at a time of a virtual cornucopia of airport connection
trains, boarded, and napped contentedly to my destination.
Even security on a Tuesday evening was nothing of a concern,
and my only problem was arriving at the airport too early for my flight. I
availed myself of a restaurant, had no problems with the credit card machines
this time, and had a peasantry overpriced meal, eventually walking around until
it was time for my flight.
Surprisingly, demand to go to Detroit on a Tuesday was not
high, which might contribute to why the ticket for this flight was so
relatively cheap. All things considered, it worked out, as the flight was at
most half sold. Boarding was almost simultaneous, as the gate staff rifled
through boarding groups, and even though I was a lowly Group 4, I was called
within the first three minutes of boarding.
Everyone got on the plane in a relaxed mood, and the only
real downside was that I was one of the few single people who had someone next
to me, so I was unable to spread out into two seats.
It was also a new plane that I had never been on before. It
has full-sized overhead bins, so I didn't have to gate check my bag, and
everything was relatively modern and comfortable. All the lights were digital
LEDs, the air sprayer was actually effective and cold. It was like moving into
early 90s technology, which was a welcome upgrade over most planes I had been
flying on.
The flight went without incident, but not without a little
nap. We got to the airport a little early and had to wait for our gate, but we
were quickly out the doors, I was off to
the rental car to pick up my red Nissan something-or-other, and I was off to
semi-coherently check in to my hotel by the airport and crash.
The Accommodations:
I stayed at the Comfort Inn at the Detroit Airport. I had a tidy room, with a king-sized bed, nightstand, desk and easy chair on one wall, and a long, low dresser under a flat-screen TV and yet another desk on the other wall. The bathroom was just off the entrance, and had a room-length vanity and sink, toilet, and shower.
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| Comfort Inn |
I stayed at the Comfort Inn at the Detroit Airport. I had a tidy room, with a king-sized bed, nightstand, desk and easy chair on one wall, and a long, low dresser under a flat-screen TV and yet another desk on the other wall. The bathroom was just off the entrance, and had a room-length vanity and sink, toilet, and shower.
It was clean, quiet, and away from the flight paths, so it
was everything I needed that night.
Fifth Third Field
International League (AAA)
Toledo, OH
6:30 PM
Outside the Game:
I got up late and had a lazy morning. I wasn't swapping hotels this night, so I didn't have to do a pack and run. I had a really short drive to Toledo to and from the game, so I took it easy most of the morning, had a leisurely breakfast, and then I went back to the room for a shower and pack up for the day.
I got up late and had a lazy morning. I wasn't swapping hotels this night, so I didn't have to do a pack and run. I had a really short drive to Toledo to and from the game, so I took it easy most of the morning, had a leisurely breakfast, and then I went back to the room for a shower and pack up for the day.
The only attraction that really beckoned outside of the
ballpark was the Toledo Zoo, which was really a mid-sized zoo and aquarium. I
had a pleasant afternoon wandering around and looking at the animals,
especially the orangutans--as always--my favorite. They had a really nice ape
exhibit as well, so I spent most of my time among my fellow primates,
although there were also penguins, but sadly, no puffins. The most indelible
memory of the day was some diver in one of the large fish tanks who was
cleaning all the coral, and I have to wonder if he was thinking about why he
bothered to get a graduate degree in zoology if this would be his job.
After my fill of the zoo, I drove over to the stadium, took
my pictures, and picked up my ticket. I went in as soon as the gates opened.
Leaving was easy from where I was in the lot, having parked early, and I had a
nice, short drive back to my hotel, where I spent the rest of the evening in
the tub.
The Stadium & Fans:
Bank Fifth Third has gone on a corporate naming spree to put Coca-Cola to shame, as I’ve been to as many parks named for the bank as I have the beverage giant. Perhaps their crowning jewel is Toledo’s Fifth Third Field, an AAA International League park. The park is built right in the middle of downtown streets, and it is the cornerstone of an urban renewal campaign for the area, including a new “Hensville” area of shops and apartments that was still under construction across the street when I was visiting.
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| Home plate to center field, Fifth Third Field |
Bank Fifth Third has gone on a corporate naming spree to put Coca-Cola to shame, as I’ve been to as many parks named for the bank as I have the beverage giant. Perhaps their crowning jewel is Toledo’s Fifth Third Field, an AAA International League park. The park is built right in the middle of downtown streets, and it is the cornerstone of an urban renewal campaign for the area, including a new “Hensville” area of shops and apartments that was still under construction across the street when I was visiting.
The park has got a ton going on even before you enter the
gates. All the streets around the park are named for local baseball luminaries
(Gene Cook Way, Ned Skelton Way, etc), and the square in the front of the main
entrance is named first black players in the major leagues (before the
“Gentleman’s Agreement” forced him out), Moses Walker. Toledo’s favorite son and
the reason that the Mud Hens are perhaps the second most famous minor-league
baseball team, Jamie Farr as Max Klinger in M*A*S*H is prominently featured
on a mural. There are a dedication and a memorial plaque on the square, which
also had the fan brick walk. The ticket booth is lodged in the brickwork on the
side of the main entrance, and the park has a lot of decorative touches around
the way, including baseball themed fences and railings and even branded sewer
grates. Along the outside outfield wall, which has a barred wall you can look
through, there is a statue of “knothole kids” called “Who’s Up?” Gates to get
in are at regular intervals around the park and at nearly every cardinal point
of the field, including an inexplicable “2nd Base Gate” in center field. The
1st Base Gate has “The Swamp” team store in its small plaza.
All those entrances empty out onto a main promenade that
circles the top of the lower deck seating around the entire park. Nearly all
the concessions are on the promenade face the field so fans can grab food while
watching the game. The lower-deck seating is all accessed by stairways down
from the promenade and runs from outfield corner to outfield corner, with a
large picnic-table party area running from the right field corner to center
field. The upper deck runs from short outfield to short outfield around home
plate, with the seats extending down from the upper walkway and a large row of
party deck, luxury boxes, and the press box sitting on the top of it. “The
Roost” party deck with a wedge row of seating is in the right field corner, and
the Muddy’s Marsh play area is behind the batter’s eye in center field.
The outfield wall is a single large tier covered in large
ads, except for the blue and black batter’s eye in dead center. The main
digital scoreboard with a video board above it rises above left-center field,
while a digital video board looms above right-center field. All of this is in
front of the Toledo downtown buildings that form the urban backdrop for the
park. There are several plaques and dedications around the park, including a
statue of kids scrambling after a home run ball in center field (“I Got it!”),
the dedication plaque for the stadium, and three retired numbers for players
and broadcasters on the facing of the upper deck in left.
Now, hang on to your hats, but the local mascot is Muddy the
mud hen. (I actually had to look it up, and it is a real bird. Go figure.) He
looks like the Poochy version of Big Bird from Sesame Street to be honest,
with his cap carefully askew. In the annoying trend of mascots needing better
halves these days, he has a distaff companion Muddonna (get it?). They run
the on-field shenanigans along with a human crew. For all the AAA pretenses, it
was mostly the minor league standards, with races, contests, and giveaways.
They even had a post-game ball toss.
The crowd was a little sparse for this late-season game, but
those that were there were into the game itself as much as the between-inning
entertainment.
At the Game with Oogie:
I got in with the opening of the gates, and I did my photography and shopping to get that out of the way. There was a lot to take in at this park, so there was a lot of good walking going on. I eventually settled on a gigantic Polish sausage for dinner before settling into my seat a couple rows back from the home dugout on the first base side. There was no one around me, so I was left to my scoring devices for the game.
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| Late-season scoring |
I got in with the opening of the gates, and I did my photography and shopping to get that out of the way. There was a lot to take in at this park, so there was a lot of good walking going on. I eventually settled on a gigantic Polish sausage for dinner before settling into my seat a couple rows back from the home dugout on the first base side. There was no one around me, so I was left to my scoring devices for the game.
… with the exception of the fire. I had seen the faux pub
they had on the promenade called "The Hen and the Hound," and was
considering eating there. Except the place did burst into flame sometime in the
middle innings. There was an alarm that people were trying to identify the
source of, then firemen were streaking around the promenade, and then
eventually some smoke wafted from the walkway as the fire was put out. No one
really panicked in the stadium, and they made a calm PA announcement about it.
It was evidently a kitchen fire that was easily
contained, and everyone mostly calmed down once the fire alarm stopped ringing.
On the way out, they just closed up the slide wall on the stand, and beside the
smell of smoke, you couldn't even tell there had been a fire.
But that was the fire that happened in a stadium while I was
in it, so a check mark for Wednesday, I guess.
The Game:
These two AAA teams were way below .500 and playing out the string, and at least the home-team Mud Hens had something to cheer about over the visiting Bats at the end of it.
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| First pitch, Bats vs. Mud Hens |
These two AAA teams were way below .500 and playing out the string, and at least the home-team Mud Hens had something to cheer about over the visiting Bats at the end of it.
Both sides went in order in the first, for a scintillating
start. Louisville went in order in the second even with a leadoff single, thanks
to a double-play. The Mud Hens had a leadoff single that made it to third on an
error and then scored on a one-out double, giving them a 1-0 lead. Both sides
went in order in the third, with the Bats striking out in order.
Louisville started the fourth with a single, but stranded
the runner, while the Mud Hens had a one-out homer to dead center to extend
their lead to 2-0. The Bats got one back in the top of the fifth with a leadoff
homer to center, but Toledo got the run
back with a one-out single, stolen base, wild pitch, and double to leave it
3-1. Louisville went in order again in the sixth, while the Mud Hens stranded a
leadoff single.
The Bats managed to strand a walk and a double in the top of
the seventh, while Toledo went in order. Louisville got another man to second
in the top of the eighth only to strand them there again, while the Mud Hens
worked hard to only score one run. A leadoff double was followed by a single to
make it first and third with no outs. A grounder to first led to a double-play that
caught the runner at third in a rundown, but a two-out double finally scored a
run, giving them a more comfortable 4-1 lead going into the ninth. The Bats
only got a one-out walk in the top of ninth, so the Mud Hens walked away with a
4-1 victory.
The Scorecard:
The scorecard was a free printout separate from the surprisingly free program. The double-sided sheet came pre-printed with the lineups for both teams, though there was no space for replacements. Each scoring box was empty, with a lot of space, but there were no cumulative stat lines for each player, though there were 12 innings printed. The pitchers were in the upper right hand corner, next to the pre-printed defensive alignments. One side had a box score and pitching stats, with time and attendance under the pitching lines, while the visiting side had the umpires in the same space.
Bats vs. Mud Hens, 09/02/15. Mud Hens win, 4-1.
The scorecard was a free printout separate from the surprisingly free program. The double-sided sheet came pre-printed with the lineups for both teams, though there was no space for replacements. Each scoring box was empty, with a lot of space, but there were no cumulative stat lines for each player, though there were 12 innings printed. The pitchers were in the upper right hand corner, next to the pre-printed defensive alignments. One side had a box score and pitching stats, with time and attendance under the pitching lines, while the visiting side had the umpires in the same space.
There were a couple of plays of scoring note. In the bottom
of the second, there was a pickoff attempt on a batter at first. The first
baseman tried to throw over to second to get the advancing runner, but the
throw hit the runner and bounced, letting the runner get to third. The
strikeout player of the game fanned on his first at bat, winning someone some
prize or other. A double in the top of the seventh was really a fly ball that
got lost in the lights, and the fiftieth batter of the game struck out, which
won some other prize or other. And finally, in the bottom of the eighth, with a
man on first and third and no outs, there was your run-of-the-mill DP 3U-2-5t,
as the first baseman took the force at first by himself, and then caught the
guy at third in a rundown, 2-5t.
The Accommodations:
I was at the Comfort Inn for another night. I could have gotten a place in Toledo, but it was such a short drive that it was worth it to be able to lay my head down in the same place for two nights. Nothing much to report again.
I was at the Comfort Inn for another night. I could have gotten a place in Toledo, but it was such a short drive that it was worth it to be able to lay my head down in the same place for two nights. Nothing much to report again.
2015 Ohio
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