On Difficulties Getting Out of Dodge
Thursday, May 2, 2019Cooperstown, NY
Outside the Game:
So, there was a simple plan. I was going to get out of work at a decent hour, head out no later than 6:30 PM, and be in my hotel in Cooperstown at 11 PM.
No plan, of course, survives contact with the enemy.
First up was that the PATH trains back to Hoboken from work were all messed up. After getting as much information as I could about the delay, I called an audible, and decided to go home via Newport, which is always possible, but definitely the lesser of the two options. I get on a super overcrowded Journal Square train, disengaged myself at Newport, and trudged unhappily out to the light rail station to wait for the appropriate train.
It is here where I completely spazzed out. My age being what it is and my eyes not being what they were, I've been attempting to transition over to progressive lenses, as close-up material is getting blurry these days with my regular distance lenses. I even went so far as to purchase the glasses, but they give me intense headaches trying to get used to them, and I just end up carrying them in my messenger bag out of guilt and failure and continue to take my glasses off when I'm reading on the subway.
This interesting diversion into my everyday glasses policy pays off here. While I was waiting for the light rail, I reached back into my shirt pocket to retrieve my glasses for outdoors reading, and I was unable to find them there. This immediately set off a twinge of panic, as I've always harbored a horrible fear of accidentally missing my pocket and dropping my glasses on the subway when I wouldn't be able to hear them. I search my pocket, the interior of my jacket, my jacket pockets, my messenger bag, etc., as I realized I was likely going to have to use my progressives on the road for the first time in the worst possible circumstances. Overcome by emotion, I gave myself a face palm, whereupon my hands solidly connected with the tops of eyeglasses frames, which sat--as they had been for the entire trip--rather solidly on my head.
This is not what they call a "good omen."
I eventually made it back to my apartment and grabbed all my pre-packed stuff for this trip and Lyfted down to my car's garage. All things considered, it wasn't as bad as it might have been, and I was off on the road just before 8 PM. There was light traffic for the most part on the drive up, even the accursed 495 exchange, and I started to relax, just as the GPS decided to have some fun in the final approach to Cooperstown to divert me through unpaved country roads between farms that would likely save me .1 miles on the trip. And so I was driving in pitch darkness on tiny farm roads, trying not to die on my relaxing final drive into Cooperstown.
I got to my hotel just before midnight, which was great time, all things taken into account. The sky opened up just as I got all my stuff into the room, and I had a decent night's sleep as nature raged outside my window.
The Accommodations:
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| RailRoad Inn, Cooperstown |
I was at the Railroad Inn again, after my satisfactory stopover in December. I was in a different, but similar room, and the only real changes seem to be the addition of actual sitting chairs to the rooms, which was a weird omission during my last visit. A king-sized bed sat on one side of the room, facing the aforementioned chair, next to a dresser under a big-screen TV. The bathroom was off the main room, with a fancy shower and small sink next to a regulation toilet.
There was nothing much to note. It did what it needed to.
On People Not Understanding What a "Day Off" Means
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| NBT Bank Stadium, 2019 |
Scranton RailRiders (NY Yankees) vs. Syracuse Mets (NY Metropolitans)
NBT Bank Stadium
International League (AAA)
Syracuse, NY
6:30 PM
Outside the Game:
I woke up early to shower and pack up. I loaded everything into my car for the drive later and then returned to check out of the hotel to find myself faced with the same employee from my visit in December. I don't think he remembered me, but he confirmed I could leave my car until I departed town, and I headed out into the damp morning to the Hall of Fame.
A short walk later got me to the Hall, where I got in free thanks to my shiny membership card, and I headed directly to the Library to finally get in after all these years.
I found it, of course, closed. The bookstore outside was, however, opened and manned, and I talked with the attendant about what was going on. He said there was only one librarian today and that she was in a staff meeting, with the library opening a little late after the meeting was over. We talked a little about the state of baseball and the mutual-agreed disgrace that was Tim Tebow being in AAA.
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| Finally |
The library eventually opened, and I was second in line, as their was an older couple waiting. They were asking the young librarian for help with a service that I hadn't heard of before. Apparently, the Hall of Fame Library can pull nearly any baseball contract, majors or minors, for someone. The man was asking for his own and his wife was seeking her father's contract. As she was off helping them, I wandered around the small room and started to do some research on the library computer.
When they were delivered the copies of their respective contracts, I bombarded the haggard solitary librarian with dozens of questions, which she answered dutifully. I decided to pull a book or two and gave her the slips. She said because she was alone, I would have to wait an hour or so for her to get the books, which was fine. I went out into the museum and puttered around the exhibits again.
On the top floor, they were installing a new exhibit on baseball cards. There were workmen installing display cabinets and the like, and I got to talking with the staff member guarding the entrance. It was set to open on Memorial Day, of course, but he let me poke my head in and see what they were doing. After a satisfactory conversation, I headed back to down to the library.
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| The Ball, She Honks |
The librarian was helping other visitors, but she slid over my books, and I went back to the table to enjoy. The most important one was a 1980s Dutch instructional book on baseball that I spent some time using my Duolingo Dutch and general baseball knowledge to plow through. The other was a scoring book that unfortunately wasn't what I thought it was, but I didn't really have time to make another attempt. I was already laden with several pages of cribbed references to books in the HoF system that I hadn't known existed, to become Amazon purchases later on. I turned my books back in, thanked her, hoped she got some help soon, and headed to the museum store. I bought the full version of Stratomatic, along with a bunch of other crap I'm sure I didn't need before heading back out into the dreary afternoon.
I stopped at various stores on the way back to the hotel, buying some scoring socks at the new Beseballism store, as well as other small and sundry purchases. They were doing heavy construction on the third-base seats at Doubleday Field, but there was still a high school tournament playing on the field. The batting cages next to the field were finally open, and I popped in there for a bucket of balls before buying some lunch sandwiches and heading back to my car in the mild drizzle.
I booked my hotel for the night in the parking lot of my last hotel and then headed for the two-hour drive over to Syracuse for the game that evening. The drive was fine, except for one... tiny... little... thing. I got a call from work in the last half-hour of the drive, as the client had decided to do something so incredibly stupid that it hadn't even entered my mind to prep anyone for while I was gone, because they couldn't possibly be stupid enough to try the thing that they then went and did.
So, you know, obviously. So while I'm trying to complete an unfamiliar drive, I'm trying to talk through a client submission process over the phone with people who hadn't done it before while straining to hear the turn-by-turn directions from my GPS and trying to do so without running anyone off the road. After talking for nearly twenty minutes, I realized the client couldn't do this process even if they wanted to, because they didn't have necessary prerequisites in place, and I told work to tell the client that, and that I was going to take a nap.
I did complete the ride without killing anyone or myself, and I parked in the lot across the street from my hotel to check in with a very nice lady with no teeth. It was quite a first impression for a supposedly upscale hotel in the middle of some big lakeside redevelopment. But my room was ready early, and true to my word, I went up to my room, unpacked, and the took a stress nap that you would not believe.
I called work when I woke up, and nothing else having gone wrong since my last call, I headed out to the stadium. My GPS had the yips, but I eventually found the place and got in and parked. I was stalled going in because I left my multitool in my pocket and had to walk back to my car to dispose of it, but the gate staff didn't ask for a second screening and just waved me through. So there's that.
I didn't wait for the post-game festivities and fireworks and went straight back to the hotel, picking up some snacks downstairs before going back to my room for a hot, hot shower. I set up all my rain gear to dry and then went directly to bed early, not prepared to deal with absolutely any more of this day.
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home to center, NBT Ballpark |
I had been at NBT Ballpark years ago, when the team was the SkyChiefs and the field was turf. Thankfully, they had corrected both of those errors in judgment by this, my second visit to the park.
The fortress-looking facade houses a slightly underwhelming AAA park. It isn't bad, but it is just out of date enough to not have historic interest. The main gate is the only one that opens, and the large flanking entrance ramps on each side of the field haven't been used recently. The entrances dump out onto a promenade that runs outfield-to-outfield behind home plate, above the one lower section of seats. An upper deck houses additional general admission seating, as well as the press box and a row of luxury boxes.
The promenade ends in right at the Hank Sauer Room of Excellence, which wasn't excellent enough to be open this day. The serviceable team store is also on the promenade, as well as the Syracuse Baseball Wall of Fame, and--in a nice nod to the people in the seats--the Frederick J. Karle Fan Walk of Fame, and all the concessions. The only fan-accessible part of the outfield is the Jim Beam Party Deck in right field. A giant digital board sits in left field, to the left of a looming batter's eye in center, framing the trees that line the outfield wall.
Generic orange monster Scootch runs the on-field activities with the human fun staff. In spite of the rain, the questionable tests of skill went on as scheduled between innings, with the regular minor-league fair of events. The crowd wasn't huge for a weekend game, but those that showed up mostly stayed for the entire game, even with the inclement weather, so good on them.
At the Game with Oogie:
Even before I got inside, I was greeted by a free spiede sample from Lupos, so I knew I was in for a good food night. Once I got in, I did my photos and some shopping and then made a bee-line for the spiede stand to grab another of the lovely spiced goodness which is the only thing that Binghamton can be proud of these days.
I got a ticket behind the home dugout and not quite past the screening, which had been extended out to the outfield. I was in a sea of families by the dugout, but they all seemed to be okay. However, there was a light rain since before the start of the game. The rain got serious, prompting me to don my rain gear, but even these precautions were not enough, especially when dealing with a newsprint scorecard, and I retreated up to the covered seats for the remainder of the game, which was never paused by the constant downpours.
The first row under cover was filled with college kids, so I went a row back from them where it was just me and a couple of older men. One of them witnessed me taking careful score of the game and taking pictures and asked if this was my job. I'd be lying if I said this was the first time I had ever been asked this. Since I was writing this up for the stadium Website, the technical answer was "yes," but I just told them I was a big baseball fan, which was also true.
The Game:
The damp fiasco was billed as the first "Route 81 Series," which is the road that connected up Scranton (the Yankees' AAA team) and Syracuse (now the Metropolitans' AAA team), and it wasn't much of a contest. Even with most of the Scranton team already playing in the majors thanks to the plethora of early season injuries on the parent Yankees, it was a walk-over of epic proportions.
The RailRiders jumped out to an early lead in the first that was mostly the Mets' fault. A one-out walk and wild pitch was followed by a single to bring in the run and stake them to a 1-0 lead. Syracuse went in order. Scranton kept going in the second with a one-out walk followed by a triple to left to give them another run, extending the lead to 2-0. The Mets started their half with a bunt single and a stolen base, but the runner was left to rot with three quick outs following. The RailRiders finally stopped scoring in the third, with a leadoff single erased on a double-play. Syracuse had their own leadoff single that they again stranded.
Scranton had a leadoff walk in the fourth fall another victim to a double-play, and the Mets had exactly the same fate. The RailRiders went back to their scoring ways in the top of the fifth with a solo home run to right, while Syracuse had another leadoff walk erased on another double-play. Scranton scored some more in the sixth with a one-out double and two-out single to extend their lead to 4-0, while Syracuse again went meekly in order.
After all their regular scoring, it was almost impossible for the RailRiders to not score in the top of the seventh, as a leadoff single was followed by a double, making it second and third with no outs, but two strikeouts and weak pop-out got Syracuse out of the inning. Perhaps feeling cocky, Syracuse finally got a run of their own in thanks to their own leadoff single and double. A wild pitch brought in the run and moved the runner to third, but three straight strikeouts ended the threat. Scranton got more on the board in the eighth, as a one-out rally featured two singles, a walk, and another single to plate two runs and extend their lead out to 6-1. The Mets went in order in their half. Not content to go quietly, the RailRiders tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth, with a single and back-to-back home runs, running their lead to 9-1. Syracuse went in order again, bringing the soggy night to close with a 9-1 victory for the visitors.
The Scorecard:
The scorecard was free, which was extremely rare for AAA baseball, but it was newsprint, which explains most of it right there. The scorecard was in the centerfold, and to its credit, it took up the entirety of the page, with no weird blank spaces or ads eating up the real estate. Player lines with plenty of space for replacements ran down the left side, with space for 12 innings of ball and summaries at the end of each line, and run and hits at the bottom of each column. Pitching lines were located under the batting lines, with printed spaces for five pitchers, but it was oddly split into two columns without the column keys printed on the right side, which had to be manually added.
As the scorecard took up the entire page, the scoring squares themselves were spacious enough to score comfortably, and they had no pre-printed diamonds. However, there was background printing on the newsprint, which makes erasing extra smudgy and difficult.
Outside of the shellacking that the RailRiders gave the Mets, there wasn't all too much out of the ordinary for the scoring. There were five double-plays in the game, including a strike-em-out, throw-em-out number, as well as DP F9-5 on an attempted advance. The K-Man did not strike out; the Hit Man did not get a hit. Tebow looked completely overmatched at the plate, and went 0-3, including grounding into one of the many double-plays.
The Accommodations:
I decided to splurge a little bit and stay at the Aloft Syracuse, which, as mentioned, was one of the anchors to a redevelopment project that really hadn't gotten much into the execution phase. They were clearly trying to do something with the lakefront, but they hadn't done it yet, though several construction sites were in place to give the illusion that it might happen.
The whole place suffered from a bit of try-hardism, as it and the surrounding incomplete development aspired to more than they could achieve. The hotel staff weren't quite where they needed to be for a hip boutique hotel, the facilities weren't quite there, and it could never quite get over the fact that it was located at the periphery of Syracuse, of all places.
The room itself was fine. The room opened to a long hallway with a sink and vanity across from dressers and minor appliances, ending in smallish bathroom with a hip sliding door. The main room was a large bed under some hipster art across from a working desk and a window overlooking the undeveloped lakefront. The room wasn't as maintained as it should have been, with soap stains and dirty windows, which just added to the death a thousand papercuts to their aspirations to hip boutique-ness.
There are those who would say that my overall mood of the day has unduly influenced my view of the hotel, and as right as they may be, I am personally insulted by the very insinuation.
Jersey City, NJ
Outside the Game:
Despite all the previous day's activity, I was still up relatively early on Saturday, and puttered around the room packing up my rain gear and the rest of it and mostly lazing around until the appointed hour to kick myself out or pay for another day.
I eventually dragged all my stuff down to my car, checked out of the hotel, and then headed out. I stopped at a nearby gas station to fill up my car and stock up on questionable roadside breakfast foods, and then pointed my car south and drove.
It was actually a pretty relaxing drive, at least much more so than the day before, and there were no real traffic backups except for congestion until I got back to Hudson County. There was a moderate backup getting past the Holland Tunnel, but soon enough I was parked up and back at the apartment, desperately trying to simultaneously put all the junk from this trip away while finishing prep and packing for the Netherlands trip that would be commencing later in the week.
As always, my ability to schedule properly amazed even me.
The Accommodations:
Home, sweet, Jersey City
The fortress-looking facade houses a slightly underwhelming AAA park. It isn't bad, but it is just out of date enough to not have historic interest. The main gate is the only one that opens, and the large flanking entrance ramps on each side of the field haven't been used recently. The entrances dump out onto a promenade that runs outfield-to-outfield behind home plate, above the one lower section of seats. An upper deck houses additional general admission seating, as well as the press box and a row of luxury boxes.
The promenade ends in right at the Hank Sauer Room of Excellence, which wasn't excellent enough to be open this day. The serviceable team store is also on the promenade, as well as the Syracuse Baseball Wall of Fame, and--in a nice nod to the people in the seats--the Frederick J. Karle Fan Walk of Fame, and all the concessions. The only fan-accessible part of the outfield is the Jim Beam Party Deck in right field. A giant digital board sits in left field, to the left of a looming batter's eye in center, framing the trees that line the outfield wall.
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| What's a "Scootch"? |
Generic orange monster Scootch runs the on-field activities with the human fun staff. In spite of the rain, the questionable tests of skill went on as scheduled between innings, with the regular minor-league fair of events. The crowd wasn't huge for a weekend game, but those that showed up mostly stayed for the entire game, even with the inclement weather, so good on them.
At the Game with Oogie:
 |
| Rainy scoring |
Even before I got inside, I was greeted by a free spiede sample from Lupos, so I knew I was in for a good food night. Once I got in, I did my photos and some shopping and then made a bee-line for the spiede stand to grab another of the lovely spiced goodness which is the only thing that Binghamton can be proud of these days.
 |
| Lupo's, baby |
I got a ticket behind the home dugout and not quite past the screening, which had been extended out to the outfield. I was in a sea of families by the dugout, but they all seemed to be okay. However, there was a light rain since before the start of the game. The rain got serious, prompting me to don my rain gear, but even these precautions were not enough, especially when dealing with a newsprint scorecard, and I retreated up to the covered seats for the remainder of the game, which was never paused by the constant downpours.
The first row under cover was filled with college kids, so I went a row back from them where it was just me and a couple of older men. One of them witnessed me taking careful score of the game and taking pictures and asked if this was my job. I'd be lying if I said this was the first time I had ever been asked this. Since I was writing this up for the stadium Website, the technical answer was "yes," but I just told them I was a big baseball fan, which was also true.
The Game:
 |
| First pitch, RailRiders vs. Mets |
The damp fiasco was billed as the first "Route 81 Series," which is the road that connected up Scranton (the Yankees' AAA team) and Syracuse (now the Metropolitans' AAA team), and it wasn't much of a contest. Even with most of the Scranton team already playing in the majors thanks to the plethora of early season injuries on the parent Yankees, it was a walk-over of epic proportions.
The RailRiders jumped out to an early lead in the first that was mostly the Mets' fault. A one-out walk and wild pitch was followed by a single to bring in the run and stake them to a 1-0 lead. Syracuse went in order. Scranton kept going in the second with a one-out walk followed by a triple to left to give them another run, extending the lead to 2-0. The Mets started their half with a bunt single and a stolen base, but the runner was left to rot with three quick outs following. The RailRiders finally stopped scoring in the third, with a leadoff single erased on a double-play. Syracuse had their own leadoff single that they again stranded.
Scranton had a leadoff walk in the fourth fall another victim to a double-play, and the Mets had exactly the same fate. The RailRiders went back to their scoring ways in the top of the fifth with a solo home run to right, while Syracuse had another leadoff walk erased on another double-play. Scranton scored some more in the sixth with a one-out double and two-out single to extend their lead to 4-0, while Syracuse again went meekly in order.
After all their regular scoring, it was almost impossible for the RailRiders to not score in the top of the seventh, as a leadoff single was followed by a double, making it second and third with no outs, but two strikeouts and weak pop-out got Syracuse out of the inning. Perhaps feeling cocky, Syracuse finally got a run of their own in thanks to their own leadoff single and double. A wild pitch brought in the run and moved the runner to third, but three straight strikeouts ended the threat. Scranton got more on the board in the eighth, as a one-out rally featured two singles, a walk, and another single to plate two runs and extend their lead out to 6-1. The Mets went in order in their half. Not content to go quietly, the RailRiders tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth, with a single and back-to-back home runs, running their lead to 9-1. Syracuse went in order again, bringing the soggy night to close with a 9-1 victory for the visitors.
The Scorecard:
RailRiders vs. Mets, 05/03/19. RailRiders win, 9-0
The scorecard was free, which was extremely rare for AAA baseball, but it was newsprint, which explains most of it right there. The scorecard was in the centerfold, and to its credit, it took up the entirety of the page, with no weird blank spaces or ads eating up the real estate. Player lines with plenty of space for replacements ran down the left side, with space for 12 innings of ball and summaries at the end of each line, and run and hits at the bottom of each column. Pitching lines were located under the batting lines, with printed spaces for five pitchers, but it was oddly split into two columns without the column keys printed on the right side, which had to be manually added.
As the scorecard took up the entire page, the scoring squares themselves were spacious enough to score comfortably, and they had no pre-printed diamonds. However, there was background printing on the newsprint, which makes erasing extra smudgy and difficult.
Outside of the shellacking that the RailRiders gave the Mets, there wasn't all too much out of the ordinary for the scoring. There were five double-plays in the game, including a strike-em-out, throw-em-out number, as well as DP F9-5 on an attempted advance. The K-Man did not strike out; the Hit Man did not get a hit. Tebow looked completely overmatched at the plate, and went 0-3, including grounding into one of the many double-plays.
The Accommodations:
 |
| Aloft Syracuse |
I decided to splurge a little bit and stay at the Aloft Syracuse, which, as mentioned, was one of the anchors to a redevelopment project that really hadn't gotten much into the execution phase. They were clearly trying to do something with the lakefront, but they hadn't done it yet, though several construction sites were in place to give the illusion that it might happen.
The whole place suffered from a bit of try-hardism, as it and the surrounding incomplete development aspired to more than they could achieve. The hotel staff weren't quite where they needed to be for a hip boutique hotel, the facilities weren't quite there, and it could never quite get over the fact that it was located at the periphery of Syracuse, of all places.
The room itself was fine. The room opened to a long hallway with a sink and vanity across from dressers and minor appliances, ending in smallish bathroom with a hip sliding door. The main room was a large bed under some hipster art across from a working desk and a window overlooking the undeveloped lakefront. The room wasn't as maintained as it should have been, with soap stains and dirty windows, which just added to the death a thousand papercuts to their aspirations to hip boutique-ness.
There are those who would say that my overall mood of the day has unduly influenced my view of the hotel, and as right as they may be, I am personally insulted by the very insinuation.
On Heading Back
Saturday, May 4, 2019Jersey City, NJ
Outside the Game:
Despite all the previous day's activity, I was still up relatively early on Saturday, and puttered around the room packing up my rain gear and the rest of it and mostly lazing around until the appointed hour to kick myself out or pay for another day.
I eventually dragged all my stuff down to my car, checked out of the hotel, and then headed out. I stopped at a nearby gas station to fill up my car and stock up on questionable roadside breakfast foods, and then pointed my car south and drove.
It was actually a pretty relaxing drive, at least much more so than the day before, and there were no real traffic backups except for congestion until I got back to Hudson County. There was a moderate backup getting past the Holland Tunnel, but soon enough I was parked up and back at the apartment, desperately trying to simultaneously put all the junk from this trip away while finishing prep and packing for the Netherlands trip that would be commencing later in the week.
As always, my ability to schedule properly amazed even me.
The Accommodations:
Home, sweet, Jersey City
2019 Stand-Alone Trip
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