On Gaining My Revenge on Weather
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| Mainmonides Park, 2021 |
Saturday, July 24, 2021
Wilmington Blue Rocks (Washington Nationals) vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (New York Metropolitans)
Mainmonides Park
High-A League
Coney Island, NY
6:00 PM
Outside the Game:
The Cylcones were at home and had a Jacob deGrom bobblehead giveaway, so it seemed the perfect Saturday to cash in my rain check from Memorial Day. I called up to change my ticket, did some cooking and laundry, and then took a medicinal nap before heading out in the early afternoon.
To absolute chaos. They were doing some construction work at the Congress Street light rail station, replacing damaged windows on the walkway to the elevator. Which meant there was no way down to the station, which was closed anyway. They had shuttle busses running between there and the Second Street light rail station. But the shuttle bus had no air conditioning and was facing the wrong direction, which made them drive up and turn around the block instead of just driving straight down the hill. Why they just couldn't be pointed the right way, I'll never know. The ultimate irony of this shuttle of stupidity is because of the all the turn-arounds we took, we actually had to wait at the train crossing as the light rail train they had just made us miss went by.
I had a lot time seething to do some math, and it would have been slightly faster if I had just walked down to Second Street and taken the stairs down to the station from the Heights than waiting for and riding this death bus. With the next weekend light rail train not coming for a quarter hour or so, I walked the rest of the way to the PATH, happy to have freedom of movement again.
My luck turned, as I arrived just in time for a 33rd Street PATH. I switched to the subway, and had to change at 4th Street due to some weekend construction, but I eventually made my way out to Coney Island. After a quick lap to the stadium, I went to the Coney Island Museum, which was opened while I was there for the first time in forever. The exhibits hadn't changed much, but I had a good talk with one of the volunteers there, who broke off from me to explain a lot of the history to some alt couple who were having their heads blown after finding about the incubator babies pavilion.
I grabbed a soda at the bar next door and headed out to get in line for the game. It was an hour before gates, and the line was already halfway down the stadium. I waited a half-hour in the sun as the bobblehead line eventually extended all the way down the block. The line shortened up temporarily as they split it for the two entrances, and then waited until the gates opened, and everyone went in clutching their precious bobbleheads.
It was relatively early after the game, so I took a walk over the Luna Park for a while, playing at the shooting gallery and enjoying a summer evening before heading back to the subway. I switched again a West 4th and arrived right in time for PATH home. A quick Lyft had me right in time to collapse in bed.
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home to center, Mainmonides Park |
Another name-change victim "Mainmonides Park" had undergone a lot of renovations since my last visit, as well as a change of venue from the late, lamented NY-PENN League to the unimaginatively named "High-A League." One entrance now served the entire park (more security protocols than Covid, though it worked for both), and the right-field bleachers had been removed for an expanded party area. Another birthday party area was snuck in behind the concessions on the first-base side, but as they had absolutely no view of the game, I wonder what the point of it was.
With the giveaway, there was a healthy crowd at the game, even in the age of Covid. In true minor-league fashion, it was both Disco Night and Italian-American Night, with leisure-suited little people and dugout disco dancing interspersed with Italian singing groups. And PeeWee was around as well. The Nathan's Hot Dog Race was in force, as well as the regular minor-league cornucopia, which was actually a pleasant callback to the simpler times of two years ago.
At the Game with Oogie:
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| Scoring, scoring, scoring |
I did my regular walking around, took my pictures, grabbed food, and hit the team store. While I was in the store, I had the first fleeting sighting of the Assistant GM, who I had interacted with online.
It took my a couple of tries to find my seat, as I ended up one section over, proudly thinking I was in the right area, before sheepishly retreating to a section over and my correct seat right behind the home dugout on the first-base side. It was a great seat either way. A young Caribbean family was in front of me, with an enthusiastic youngster who kept imitating the batting stances of all the players at the place. Behind me was a decidedly less delightful family, who were bitching about the play on the field constantly. I almost invited them to get out there and show them how it was done, but I held my tongue.
Later in the game, the Assistant GM was right in front of me during some event or other. In the last inning, a drunk wandered into our area and alternated trying to start cheers and apologizing for annoying the fans around him. He just fell on the happy side of fun drunk, so it goes.
The Game:
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| First pitch, Blue Rocks vs. Cyclones |
This wasn't necessarily the clash of the titans, as the two teams were fighting for the last spot in the eastern division of the High-A East division. But the Cyclones were on a bit of a run, and it wanted to keep the good news running.
It started slow, with both teams going in order in the first, with Brooklyn even getting struck out in order. Wilmington started the second with a single joined by a hit by pitch, but both got left on the bases. The Cyclones started their half of the second the same way, with a leadoff walk, followed by a single. The runner on third scored on a ground-out, then a homer cleared the bases and staked the Cyclons to a 3-0 lead early. The Blue Rocks got some back in the third, with a single, stolen base, walk, and then a bizarre error by the pitcher (to be detailed below), cutting the lead to 3-1. Brooklyn immediately earned some of it back in the bottom of the third, with two singles and a walk to load the bases, and a double to clear them, raising the lead to 6-1.
Wilmington stranded a walk in the top of the fourth, while the Cyclones finally went in order. Both sides went in order in the fifth (with Brooklyn again getting struck out in order), and the Blue Rocks also went in order in the sixth. Brooklyn had a leadoff walk erased on a double play in their half of the frame.
The Blue Rocks went in order again in the seventh, while a walk and a single were squandered by Brooklyn in their half of the inning. Wilmington again went in order in the eighth, but the Cyclones padded their lead with a leadoff hit-by-pitch followed by a walk were picked up by a one-out triple, making it 8-1 at the end of eight. The Blue Rocks would not go quietly into the sea-air night after the first two batters struck out in the ninth. The next batter was hit, and then a homer made it 8-3. A single followed, but he was stranded by one last strikeout, leaving the final 8-3 in favor of the home team.
The Scorecard:
The Brooklyn Cyclones have thankfully changed their scorecard to a separate $1 cardstock fold-up instead of their previous newsprint programs. It makes for much less fraught scoring. The spacious card has a white background with plenty of space for notes, with each individual cell having a faint diamond outline. The are twelve player lines with spaces for replacements, twelve inning columns, and seven pitcher lines and batting an fielder totals next to the pitching line. The player lines end with at bats, runs, hits, and and RBI, while the inning columns end with tabulations for runs and hits. The pitching lines count up innings pitched, hits, runs, earned runs, walks, and strike outs.
This game had a lot of interesting bits. It being a minor league game, there was a "Villain of the Game" (who was made up like Thanos on the scoreboard--I guess "K Man" is passé these days). The top of the third had a play so complex it took a paragraph of text to explain. After a leadoff single stole second, it was a man on second with one out. The batter walked, but there was a wild pitch on ball four, advancing the lead runner to third and the trailing runner advanced to second. The runner on third decided to try for home, but was dead to rights on a 2-5-1 putout/rundown, but the pitcher dropped the ball on the end of the relay, allowing the runner to score on an E1. Got that?
The top of the fourth had another E1 on an errant pickoff throw. In the bottom of the eighth, there was an at-bat delayed by the catcher getting hit by a pitch and getting looked at by the trainer. And in the top of the ninth, there was a controversial hit-by-pitch on a ball that bounced before it reached the plate (wrong call, Blue), and the next batter homered, but the runs were ultimately meaningless.
This game featured 23 strikeouts, 12 for Wilmington pitchers and 11 for Brooklyn hurlers. For those scoring at home, that is nearly a full perfect game worth of strikeouts in an 8-3 game. Go figure.
The Accommodations:
My Delta-variant-free apartment in Jersey City
Click here to see all the photos from this trip.
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