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| Oh, good. Another Accent. |
Raleigh, NC
Outside the Game:
Because of launches and other work, I had to push back my vacation this year until it coincided with the time off for my primary client's development team in Europe, who pretty much took August off. It was a long spring and summer of many 60-hour weeks, and, outside of a mini-trip for July 4th, not much baseball at all. I was saving it all up for this two weeks sprint towards the end of the season to make up for it all.
Most of this day was a blur of coverage meetings and other meetings, and meetings, but I eventually headed out exactly at 6 PM to catch the train to the train to Newark Liberty Eagle God Bless America Airport. I've had a complicated history of getting from the New York area to North Carolina, and none of my flights down have ever left on time.
Tonight would be no exception. As soon as I sat down to get dinner at the airport, my flight was delayed. And so I had a more leisurely dinner. It would turn out that my plane was delayed because they sent what was supposed to be our flight to Las Vegas, in a logic that still escapes me.
A short, little one-and-a-half-hour delay awaited us as we had to get a new plane, and after previous experiences, I called ahead to make sure that the rental car place would still be open when I arrived. The only good news about this is that I had put in for a free upgrade to first class that was approved, so I when we eventually boarded the plane, I didn't have far to walk, nor did I need to worry about having to check my one carry-on bag I had with me.
All stowed away, we eventually took off, and I spent most of my first-class flight watching Arrested Development reruns on the app they make you download instead of having seatback screens. It is an interesting tax on the poor, as a tablet is now essentially required to get any in-flight entertainment, so sitting with nothing to do for a flight will teach you to be poor. Or something.
As usual, we landed in the terminal at the furthest end of the airport, requiring a ten-minute or so walk to get to the exit and over to the rental car place. I had to get a car from Alamo, and I got to my white Honda Accent far too late in the evening. I checked everything out, loaded up, and took the short drive from the airport to the Microtel literally across the street from the airport, and managed to get a parking space right by the entrance.
I shakily checked in, dropped everything in the room, and was asleep by about 2 AM, which, given everything so far this evening, was a godsend.
The Accommodations:
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| Microtel Raleigh-Durham |
As with previous trips, I stayed in the Microtel Raleigh-Durham Airport. It was relatively cheap, clean, close, and quiet, which is all I wanted for a stay this short. My room had a king-sized bed in front of mirrored wall with build-in nightstands on either side. A small couch was worked into the dresser over the air conditioning unit, and on the opposing wall was a small desk extending out from the wall.
The bathroom was almost as large as the tiny main room, with a tub, toilet, and sink all on top of each other.
But it was quiet, and had a bed and air conditioning, and I got some sleep, and that's all that really matters.
On Battling Salems
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| BB&T Ballpark, 2017 |
Salem Red Sox (Boston Red Sox) vs.
Winston-Salem Dash (Chicago White Sox)
BB&T Ballpark
Carolina League (A+)
Winston-Salem, NC
7:00 PM
Outside the Game:
I slept in quite late Tuesday, eventually coming to after breakfast had ended. I went back to bed for another nap before checkout, packed up, and had an easy drive to the park. I bought my ticket and took my pictures of the outside of the park, and then headed to the local tourist trap, "Old Salem."
"Old Salem," of “Winston-Salem” fame, was a Moravian settlement. The Moravians were one of the oldest and earliest Protestant sects from Bavaria, and the settlement here dates from before the revolution. They have peculiar practices, where all the single men and women live in gender-segregated communes until marriage. Speaking of segregation, they were a little progressive in that they let their slaves be part of their own "separate-but-equal" church, but, you know, they were still enslaved. After the Civil War, they let the African members join the real Church, and black members today don't seem to hold a grudge, so who am I to say?
The entire Salem community was entirely owned by the Moravians, and they still own most of the land in "Old Salem" today. Part of the land they sold to outsiders because Winston, and they joined up to form the hyphenated city just after the turn of last century.
"Old Salem" the tourist attraction exists in the same stripe as Colonial Williamsburg, except that all the original buildings exist. From a main visitor's center, you can buy a pass to visit all the old buildings that are still open and doing reenactments, or like the oldest continuously open bakery in America, still doing what they were originally built for. There are even a number of archaeological digs on the property.
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| Fresh sugar bread from a stale building |
I managed to park in the wrong lot and had a long walk to visitors’ center where I bought my pass and headed out to the town. One of my first stops was the bakery, where I bought some fresh "sugar bread" (exactly what it sounds like) and a lot of other baked goods, because I had missed breakfast and was starving. I went around to the various historical houses and locations, such as the God's Acre cemetery, the art gallery, and the Home Moravian Church. The church was very beautiful, and the pastor who was greeting visitors that day was very enthusiastic about talking about the history if the church and the community. It was actually quite interesting, and I learned a great deal about the sect.
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| Home Moravian Church |
Eventually, I headed back to the gift shop to buy way too much "old timey" crafts kits, and then headed off to my new hotel, where I checked in, dropped off all my stuff, and took a much-needed nap, to the point that I was very angry when the alarm clock on my tablet woke me up after far too brief a respite.
I headed out to the park for the game, parking in a lot across the street from the park that overlooked center field. I was down and in as the gates opened.
After the game let out, I was quickly back on the street through the thin crowd at the game and back at the hotel in no time. I hit up the Jacuzzi tub after my travel-interrupted rest the night before, did a little research for what I was going to stay for the next day, and then I was asleep fairly quickly.
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home plate to center field, BB&T Ballpark |
BB&T Ballpark is a fairly standard minor-league park design, but it did have a couple of flairs that made it stand out from the crowd. The park has a nice brick facade all around it, and the main entrance plaza is by the center field entrance, not home plate, where the marquee entrance for such parks usually is. The club level entrance is at home plate, while the ticket booth, a statue of children chasing a home run ball, and the main entrance is in a recessed plaza down a flight of stairs in the back of center field. In fact, the entire outfield area is open and viewable from one of the parking lots across the street from the park. Outside, there is also a memorial to the African American West-End area of town that was presumably torn down for the park.
As per normal, all the entrances to the park empty out onto a main promenade that surrounds the park on top of the seating bowl. The promenade circles the park, allowing a full circuit of the stadium. Regular seating runs from third base to first base around home plate in one level of seating down from the promenade. A picnic berm sits the outfield corners allowing general admissions seating. A second, covered, level run above the main seats for a slightly shorter distance, housing the press box, luxury suites, and party decks at either end. A Foothills Brewery party deck sits out in near dead center field, and kids’ area anchors the left field corner.
All the concessions run along the promenade in the covered area. A Hall of Fame with plaques along the promenade wall runs the same area behind home plate, along with "Fast Feet Facts" from New Balance, middle-aged men’s favorite sneakers. There are also plaques for employees of the year on one pillar. A team store sits on the promenade in its own little building. The main digital scoreboard sits out in left-center field, and it had a bit of technical difficulties during the game, as it went out for an inning or two. The site line behind center field is mostly a hall and some trees and a couple of far-off buildings. The outfield wall is asymmetrical, with a low wall in left, a high wall in center, and a small, irregular section of wall in right-center field that tapers as it goes up. A batter was robbed of a home run during the game when they hit the very top of this wall, where a foot in any direction but down would have resulted in a home run.
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| Bolt, for some reason |
Red monster creature Bolt is the mascot de jure, who worked with human fun team to run the entertainment between innings. Most of it was pretty standard stuff, except for a rug scoot race in the middle innings that was unique if for no other reason that the complete lack of dignity it allowed the contestants as they had to scoot across the top of the dugout as fast as possible. Also notable was how into the dance contest this evening that one of the contestants got, which is either funny or sad depending on how you look at it.
It was a Tuesday night game, so the crowd was a little scarce, but those that were there did seem to actually care about the game.
At the Game with Oogie:
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| Carolina Dog: Cardiologists don't go poor here |
I got a seat right behind the first-base dugout for the game. After my walking around and shopping, I got a Carolina Dog (apparently onions and a ton of peppers) and a chicken fingers and fries to eat.
It was a thin crowd that night for a Tuesday night game. There were only two people sitting by me, and they left after an inning or two to move away from me. I wonder if it was something I said?
The Game:
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| First pitch, Red Sox vs. Dash |
It was the battle of the Salems, as the Salem (Virginia) Red Sox faced off against the Winston-Salem (North Carolina) Dash. Despite the scoring, this was in many ways a game on fast-forward, especially for the Red Sox, who only scored in between clumps of consecutive outs.
To start, both sides went in order in the first. Salem struck out in order in the second, while the Dash got something started with a leadoff walk that made it to third on a ground-out and wild pitch. A single brought him in, and a two-out homer to left brought everyone in for an early 3-0 lead. The third was a scoring frame for the Red Sox, as they got a one-out homer to right, and then combined two singles, a passed ball, and a ground out into another run to bring it to 3-2, while Winston-Salem went in order in the bottom of the inning.
Salem kept going in the fourth with a single and two doubles leading to two more runs, to stake them to a 4-3 lead. The Dash had just a walk in their half, and Salem went in order in the top of the fifth. The Dash got a homer to dead center in the basement of the fifth to tie it at 4. The Red Sox scattered a walk and single in the top of the sixth, while Winston-Salem got a walk and a double and nothing across in the bottom of the frame.
In the top of the seventh, Salem only managed a walk, but the Dash manufactured the go-ahead run with a leadoff single, a stolen base, and two grounds outs to grab a 5-4 lead. The Red Sox went in order in the eighth, and Winston-Salem only managed a single. Salem tried hard to equalize in the top of the ninth and started with a leadoff walk that was bunted over to second. With one out, there was a grounder to third leading to a put-out at first, but the runner at second fell getting back to the bag, and was put out by a throw to the second baseman who tagged him out, leaving the Dash with the 5-4 win.
The Scorecard:
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| Red Sox vs. Dash, 08/01/17. Dash win, 5-4. |
The scorecard was a free giveaway half-tabloid on semi-glossy paper. Although the paper had some gloss, it was still relatively easy to write on using pencil. Most of the two-page centerfold spread was left for the scoring, with about an inch of the right margin advertising Dash social media. The card was cramped but useable, with the copious white space at least proving area for notes.
As is often the case with the minor leagues, there were a few scoring notes worth mentioning. A single in the top of the third fell between a bunch of fielders Bad News Bears style, although it was ruled a hit. A triple at the start of the inning missed being a home run by inches, hitting the very top of the outfield inset, which apparently was worth a note.
In the bottom of the fourth, an increasingly contentious relationship between the home plate umpire and the teams boiled over after an extremely late third strike call on a punch out was more than the Dash manager could take, it and resulted in an argument that saw him tossed from the game.
In the bottom of the seventh, there was a fielder's choice that left everyone safe when the throw 4-2 to get the runner at home was too late. And the last play of the game was a DP 5-3-4t. It was probably the first game I've seen end on a double play, and definitely with that double play. There was 5-3 putout on the grounder to third, but the runner at second stumbled and fell, leading to a 3-4t putout to complete the double play, end the game, and leave that runner on a long, long walk to the dugout to be yelled at by his manager for a good, long while.
The Accommodations:
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| Best Western |
For this evening, I was staying at the Best Western at the mall in Winston Salem. I had very nice room with a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub just off the entrance. The main bedroom had a king-sized bed and a lounge chair on one wall and a dresser, desk, and TV on the wall opposite.
I put the jacuzzi tub to good use. Everything else was just some lying around in the evening before getting a solid night's sleep.
2017 The Carolinas II & Tennessee
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