On Rescuing Some of the Summer
Thursday, June 30, 2022Latham, NY
Outside the Game:
With a four-day weekend on the offer, I decided to do a little more to limp my way towards 200 stadiums--a mark I had intended to hit three years ago at this point--by taking in a little of the Empire League of Professional Baseball, a last-chance, no-frills league that has been scraping by for nearly a decade in the farthest regions of New York's Adirondacks. It is a pretty far drive, but all the stadiums are bunched together once you get up there, so I decided to go halfway the night before and then head the rest of the way up to grab two of the parks, with the hope of doing the other two the next weekend, where a freak vacation had been inserted by my employer, which wasn't necessarily unwelcome, but certainly unexpected.
I slogged my way through another day of work, getting ready in the background as the day progressed. I finished up on time and grabbed a rideshare out to my parents' house at around 7 PM, not hitting much traffic and handling some weekly responsibilities over here before heading out on the road before 8 PM-ish. I immediately failed to get gas at the first station I went to as a woman was having a heated argument with the attendant about the cash she handed to him, and it only seemed to be escalating. A short drive got me to another, quieter gas station and received a full tank of gas before heading irrevocably northward.
It was a mostly easy and uneventful drive, though a car with its hazards on and two trucks doing that inevitable blockage of all traffic during a slow-motion pass in both lanes created some situational delays. There was no combined no-hitter this time up, but I pulled into the hotel just a bit after 10 PM and checked in. Finding all the vending machines had been removed from the hotel for some reason, I turned on the air conditioning in my room full-blast and then went next door to the gas station to get some snacks, passing a half-dressed man sitting on the curb openly drinking a six-pack of beer that made me feel more concerned about the safety of my car. Prophetic in the wrong way, it would turn out.
I ate my snacks, hit the sack, and that was the end of Thursday.
The Accommodations:
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| Mictrotel Inn, Latham, NY |
The Microtel Inn was remarkably like every other Microtel Inn I've ever stayed at: conveniently located, cheap, slightly grubby and worn out, but clean nevertheless.
Upon entering the room, a small bathroom was off to the right with a full tub, and the bedroom was a compact room with a half-desk sticking out from the wall opposite the bed, with the TV and closet next to it, with the curious little day bed next to the window that is the hallmark of Mictrotels, for some unexplained reason.
It did its job.
On a Delightful Evening of Awful Baseball
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| Municipal Park, 2022 |
Japan Islanders vs. Tupper Lake River Pigs
Municipal Stadium
Empire League
Tupper Lake, NY
7:05 PM PM
Outside the Game:
I woke up early in the Microtel, blearily stumbling down to the hotel's breakfast bar, a disappointing spread of mostly cold items that nonetheless fed me enough for the day ahead, before I retreated to my room for more sleep.
I eventually relented, showered and packed up, heading out onto the road sometime before 11 AM. The remaining drive was certainly scenic, if a little terrifying in places. I would later be informed that these were mostly old stagecoach roads winding through the mountains that were dubiously upgraded to two lane car roads with no shoulders. Some road work necessitated the temporary installation of traffic lights, as the roads were reduced even more to single lanes, the practically of which was of great concern to me, but ultimately did not fail in their duties.
I arrived at my hotel--right off the main road, as most things in this area were--at about 12:30 PM. I paged the front desk manager, who was out in the pool with presumably his friends and family. He has able to check me in early, saying my room was right down the walkway from the Elvis statue, which should just about tell you what kind of place Gauthier's Saranac Lake Inn was--and that was just fine with me.
I dropped off my bags, made sure the AC was maxed, and took the suggestion of my host to walk down the road for lunch at a local burger joint that would serve me a complementary beer with my room key. Outside of being a Red Sox backer bar (based on the decor), the burger and beer exactly hit the spot, and I walked happily full back to the hotel. Said hotel was right on the lake, with most rooms looking over the marina, and featured free bikes and boats for use. Most of the boats were in ill repair, and I managed to screw up getting into a kayak and had to use a partially broken paddle boat to retrieve it. That soured me on the whole project, and I decided to head into town to see what I could see instead.
There was a small museum (my kryptonite, if anything is) in the old Saranac Laboratory, which told the story of the tuberculosis colony that originally was the town's claim to fame (run by a relation of Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau). The town-spanning resort has been reduced down to the restored laboratory building as a museum to tell the story. It was honestly fascinating, especially the little porches that the patients used to sit in. After finding out there was a carousel in town, I went directly there after the museum, immediately falling into a long chat with the mechanic who kept the thing running before taking my own ride on an otter. I had the merry-go-round to myself, and so an extra-long ride by the mechanic's wife, who was manning the controls.
An afternoon of activity behind me, I went back to the hotel to give my mother a call and take a nap before the game that evening. Tupper Lake was just shy of a half-hour away, and not only was there no traffic at "rush hour" that evening, there were literally no cars driving in my direction out west, with the barest smatterings of cars in the other direction--the beauty of the wilds near Canada.
After driving right past it the first time (and taking a bit to find a place to turn around), I located the ballpark in a lakefront park, with a couple of middling signs being the only advertisement. I walked around the outside of the modest old-school park, taking in the gorgeous view of the lake and the various other park monuments to the mill that used to be on the site (hence the "river pigs" who corralled all the logs), before buying a ticket, grabbing some food at the small truck outside, and heading in for the game.
After the game (and much later than I was expecting), I found the nearby McDonald's closed for the evening, so I stopped at a gas station for some snacks to munch during the completely uneventful drive back to the hotel, the road even more deserted in the early night. The parking spaces at hotel, however, had filled up completely, so I ended up parking in something resembling an open space by the stairs, sprinted into my blessedly cool room, ate my snacks, and then finished off my scorecard out on the balcony overlooking the lake. Eventually, I packed it in for the night.
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home to center, Municipal Park |
Municipal Park, I would later discover, was an old softball field that had recently been converted into this professional park--not some WPA relic that received a new paint job when the River Pigs moved in--and if anything, it made me feel even more positively about the park. It is a quaint wooden structure that could be mistaken for a local little-league field in an affluent neighborhood if not for the few signs that designate it as a pro endeavor.
The main grandstand is a covered wooden area with deep seats that the locals adorn with lawn chairs that they bring from home, but I just sat on (with the assistance of my inflatable seat cushion). Chicken wire protects the patrons from foul balls, and there are ceiling fans in the rafters that for whatever reason weren't turned on during this sweltering game. A small metal bleacher runs down the first-base side, and a small wooden bleacher runs down the third-base line. Your only two choices for tickets are the covered grandstand or the open-air bleachers. A small wooden tower by first base houses the announcers and fronts the small scoreboard hung on its side, providing the barest of information. The only other structure was the park's rest room in center (that were surmounted by a group of local kids to watch the game in the later innings). The only concessions are a food cart outside the park that sells dirt-cheap ballpark staples.
The crowd started small, with mostly families and tons of pets, but as the evening went on, more and more people showed up, including players from Saranac where the other two teams in the league were playing that evening, just a half-hour away. The only entertainment other than the game was a booster club of two that beat a colorful, branded drum whenever the home team did something noteworthy.
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| I mean, seriously |
But boy, it was gorgeous. Before nightfall, the lake was a tantalizing backdrop for the game, and it somehow became more amazing in twilight, and regal in the night's blackness. As far as locations go, you will not find a better situated park in all the world, and I should know. #humblebrag
At the Game with Oogie:
I was there before there was anything of a crowd and set up shop right behind home plate, running out to grab a hot dog after I had done my minimal walking around and photo taking. As I was scoring away, a local mom asked if I was a scout, and I explained my situation to her. She was a host family for players on both teams tonight, so she was here rooting in a neutral fashion.
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| Indie scoring |
While the game on the field was a farce, I can't say enough about how amazing the vista was. Truly magical, even to this cold, black heart.
The Game:
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| First pitch, Islanders vs. River Pigs |
This game was literally--and pardon me for the technical term here--crazy pants. Mere words and language cannot properly express how little this match-up between the Japan Islanders and the Tupper Lake River Pigs did not resemble actual baseball. The Empire League is pretty thin on talented players (especially as their best players were shipped of as an all-star team for another independent league), and they are especially translucent on pitching and catching talent. The Japanese Islanders were an interesting "road warrior" team, featuring mostly Japanese players who came over to receive more practice and experience outside of the Japanese minor and industrial leagues. One of their players is a woman, one of the few female professional ballplayers in the world, this year joining just a pitcher/outfielder for the Staten Island FerryHawks as the only in US pro leagues this summer. But onto the "baseball."
The game begins with a walk and a stolen base by the Islanders, emphasizing immediately the lack of pitching and catching talent in the Empire League. Another walk followed, then two quick outs. But the fly out and a stolen base put the runners on second and third with two outs. A passed ball allowed a run to score and the runner on second to move to third. Another walk and a stolen base made it second and third with two outs, before a strikeout ended the damage at 1-0 Islanders. If the Japanese team scored stereotypically by small ball, the American Tupper Lake team scored stereotypically with a leadoff home run to tie the game. A walk and hit-by-pitch followed, but three straight outs ended the inning with a tie score after one. The second inning began with two more back-to-back walks. After a strikeout, a grounder recorded an out at second, but left it first and third with two out. A double steal resulted in a throw into the outfield, and another unearned run scored before a fly out ended the half with Japan up 2-1. In the bottom of the second, the River Pigs went in order, one of only three times it would happen for either team all game. The third inning began with a walk and hit batsman for the Islanders. The lead runner stole third and scored on a ground out to first, but two more outs left it at 3-1 Islanders. Tupper Lake led off the third with a single, whose runner then stole second and third on the non-existent arm of the catcher. A walk made it first and third, but Japan struck out the side to strand everyone.
In the top of the fourth, Japan had another rare inning of going in order. The River Pigs had a one-out single make it to third on a shallow two-out double, but everyone was again stranded by a strikeout to end the inning. The Islanders again went in order in the fifth, but Tupper Lake finally got their offense going. A leadoff single again stole second and third on the ineffectual Japanese catcher. With one out, there was a walk who promptly stole second. A single scored both runners and went to second on a subsequent wild pitch. But on a hit-and-run attempt, a double-play ended the inning with everything tied at three. Japan started the sixth with a single, but the runner was promptly erased on a pickoff. A two-out walk was stranded by a strikeout, and nothing changed. The bottom of the sixth is when the wheels came off. We begin with an error by the third baseman letting the lead River Pig batter on. Two passed balls got him to third. A walk followed, along with an immediate stealing of second. A single brought in both runs. A hit batsman followed, making it first and second with no out and two home. A double steal made that second and third, with a throwing error on the attempt scoring the lead runner. A walk made it first and second again with no outs. A double cleared the bases. Three straight walks loaded the bases and brought in the runner that started on second. A two-attempt strikeout (see below) got the first out of the inning. A sacrifice fly to right got in another run, and a strikeout mercifully ended the inning with seven runs on two hits. Think about that a minute. I'll wait. 10-3 Tupper Lake, by the way.
In the top of the seventh, the dazed Islanders only managed a two-out single that was stranded. A new Japanese pitcher in the bottom of the seventh did not improve things. Five straight walks brought in a run, followed by a sacrifice fly for another run, then two more walks to plate the mercy-rule run and put an end to this travesty at 13-3, Tupper Lake.
The Scorecard:
As you might expect, this league didn't have programs (or even handouts), so I was using the BBWAA scorebook for this eventful game.
Islanders vs. River Pigs, 7/1/22. River Pigs won, 13-3 by mercy rule.
I don't know where to even begin, but let's start with the fact that the Islanders were leading through five innings with two unearned runs and one run facilitated by a hit-by-pitch, one in each of the first three innings. The run in the second was notated to document that it scored because of an errant throw in the steal attempt by the trailing runner.
Then, there was the walk-fest. This is the only game I've been to where the walks (21) outnumbered the strike outs (15), and by a lot.
There were a bunch of plays for the River Pigs that received notes. An infield single in the bottom of the fourth was noted that it was off of the pitcher. A double-play in the bottom of the fifth was noted because of being caused by a hit-and-run attempt. A strikeout in the bottom of the fateful sixth inning was noted because the batter bunted with two strikes, hit it foul, and was not called out, though he would subsequently strike out anyway to restore the karmic balance. And, of course, in the seventh, we had the implementation of the mercy rule after a 10-run lead. I decided to record this by the normal double-slash line to end a game, with the ends connected a crossbar in the center as well. I'm not sure if there is an official symbol for it (I should really look it up), but that is what I went with.
But this game nearly broke my baseball brain.
The Accommodations:
Gauthier's Saranac Lake Inn is about exactly what you'd expect based on the name. It is a somewhat ramshackle family-owned hostel that has been there forever, and is covered in little memorabilia, with each room named, and old-style oval key rings issued to get you in and out.
The room was decently-sized, with a tiny bathroom on the left upon entry stocked with a gaggle of environmentally conscious products. The main room detailed the summer and winter appeal of the area, with two beds and a nightstand on one wall, and a dresser and TV opposite, with a little table and chairs along the far wall with the window overlooking the lake. A small balcony was accessible by sliding doors, with chairs and a small table out there for your enjoyment.
The pool was out front, along with the bicycles for free rental, and the lakefront had chairs and boats for use as well, though as we established, in various states of repair. The owner was friendly and talkative, and it was about exactly what I expected in quite a good way.
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