Pomona

On Using Up a Holiday

Clover Stadium, 2024

Friday, August 30, 2024
New England Knockouts vs. New York Boulders
Clover Stadium
Frontier League (Independent)
Pomona, NY
6:35 PM


Outside the Game:
Another holiday weekend, another scorecard to try out at a revisit to a close-by park.

I had a languid morning of chores and laundry, before having lunch with my mom, a long nap, and my historic cooking before heading over the border to New York.

It was a quick and uneventful drive up, and outside of missing the stadium entrance twice, nothing worth mentioning. I parked up, took my pictures, and entered.

Despite the inclement weather and the delay to the game, I was still back home and dry by 10:30 PM.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Clover Stadium

I had been to Clover Stadium before, under its original name, and not a lot had changed about the park beside the name of the park and the name of the team (expanded to "New York" instead of "Rockland"). The park was clearly too much park for an indie-league park, and they were hoping to cash out in the Manfred re-alignment/murder of the minor leagues, but somehow got left holding the bag. It's not that the park isn't nice; it is like wearing a tuxedo to Nathan's.

There was a decent-enough crowd that night for a drizzly holiday weekend and the promise of fireworks. There wasn't a ton between innings, though the unimaginatively named "Boulder Bird" did his rounds. There was also an elderly dance group named the "PaceMakers," whose youngest member was 55. Imagine someone that old...

A costly two-base error by the home third-baseman in the top of the third was met with one of those minor-league park moments of eerie silence right as he screamed "Fuck!" at the top of his lungs.


At the Game with Oogie:

A gyro, before the incident

It was food truck night at the park, and I decided to chance it on a lamb gyro, which was, in fact, delicious, but I also managed to spill all over my pants, requiring some emergency pants laundering with what I had available at the park.

I had a seat right behind the home dugout, with sun not being an issue for the game. I sat down with a Gatorade and a pretzel and didn't move house until the rain got serious towards the late innings, retreating up to the covered concourse.

Around me was a family that showed up in the middle of the first. The son  was quite into the game, but the tweener daughter was not as enthused, with her nose in her phone for most of the game. A little further on my left there was an old vet who was dutifully keeping score as well. We did the nod.


The Game:

First pitch, Knockouts vs. Boulders

This indie-league matchup pitted the newest expansion team, the New England Knockouts, against the flagship team of the league, the New York Boulders. The contest did not follow the script.

The game began with the Knockouts getting a leadoff triple, which the somehow managed to strand. The Boulders got off hotter, with a one-out walk, two singles, and a double leading to two runs, giving them the early 2-0 lead. New England stranded another runner (this one on a walk) in the second. While New York got a deadly leadoff walk in their half, he made it no further than second as the side struck out after him. The Knockouts out it in gear in the third. A single, fielder's choice, two-base error and a homer quickly got three runs across, surging them ahead 3-2. New York had back-to-back lead off singles in the third, but went in order afterwards yet again.

New England striking out in order in the fourth was only broken up by a two-out single. The Boulders for their part were unable to convert a two-out hit batsman followed by a walk. The Knockouts were knocked out in order in the fifth (get it?), while New York stranded a leadoff single. New England again went quietly in order in the sixth, while the Boulders stranded a leadoff double with a bizarre double-play.

The Knockouts only managed a walk in the top of the seventh, while New York got back in the scoring mood, turning back-to-back walks and a double into a run, tying the game at three. New England quickly regained the lead with a single and an inside-the-park homer to march back to a 5-3 lead. Pehaps out of gas, the Boulders only had a single in them in the eighth. The Knockouts, well, went for the knockout in the ninth, tossing four runs across with a single, two doubles, and two homers, stretching the lead to 9-3. Unable to muster the heroic comeback, New York struck out in order in the ninth, securing the Knockout win.


The Scorecard:

Knockouts vs. Boulders, 08/30/24. Knockouts win, 9-3.

This was another outing to test out scorecards, and I went for a full-sized on this time after spending the summer with the tiny cards. This was the spiral-bound #22 Scorebook from the Numbers Game. After using the small cards the last couple of months, the full-sized format struck me as luxurious, perhaps even decadent.

The top of the card had team and cumulative statistics. The visitors side had the team name, manager, uniforms, a little place to doodle the logo, and the umpires, as well as how you were watching the game (home, TV, etc.) and first pitch. The home side had all the same team areas, as well as the ballpark, attendance, date, weather, and final out.

The main scoring area had space for nine players and replacements and eleven innings. Each inning had a compilation area, and each batter had at bats, hits, runs, and RBIs. Each scoring frame was crammed with info. There was a pre-printed diamond, with two boxes above to record hits (boxed) or other ways of getting on base (unboxed), with the second box to record any RBIs. Three columns in the right of the scoring square were to record balls and strikes. (It was the first time I had run balls and strikes in a while, and it took a bit to get back in the groove.)

Below was a defensive alignment chart for the opposing team, as well as the pitching line for the opposing team, with nine lines for pitchers, and stats on handedness, innings pitches, pitches, batters faced, hits, runs, earned runs, walks, and strikeouts. The visiting team side had cumulative box scores, while the home side had copious space for game notes. It was on good cardstock paper and held up to the elements well.

There were a number of plays of note. In the top of the third, a routine grounder to short was ruled a hit even though the shortstop should have made the play. In the bottom of the fourth, the third baseman made a spectacular play leaping backward and still getting the out at first that deserved a longer description than "5!-3". In the bottom of the sixth, there was a "DP L5-5" where a liner straight to the third baseman lead to the runner at third getting doubled up that needed an explanatory note.

In the top of the seventh, a liner bounced straight off the pitchers foot into his glove, which should have been a line out, but the umpire thought it hit the ground, and the pitcher safely threw him out at first. After the play, they both had a laugh about it. And in the top of the eighth, there was the first inside-of-the-park homerun I ever saw in person, bouncing off the back wall away from both players into the outfield that got legged out around the bases.

Also worth mentioning was a pitcher with the Boulders with the unfortunate name of "Garret Coe," which is close, but not actually, "Gerrit Cole." And considering that in two-thirds of an inning, he gave up five hits, and four earned runs after facing only seven batters, there are other, subtle differences.


The Accommodations:
Home, sweet Clifton

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

Stand-Alone Trip

Somerset

On Turning Two

TD Bank Park, 2024

Saturday, August 10, 2024
Binghamton Rumble Pones (Metropolitans) vs. Somerset Patriots (Yankees)
TD Bank Park
Eastern League (AA)
Somerset, NJ
4:00 PM Single-Admission Double-Header


Outside the Game:
It was just another random summer Saturday, but thanks to some bad weather during the week, there was a neat opportunity at a relatively close-by park for me to test out two more small form-factor scorecards in a double-header.

After a productive morning of random chores and naps, I visited my mom for lunch and left straight from there to head down to Somerset. The gates had opened super-early because of the double-header, so I parked up, took my pictures, and went straight in after purchasing my single-admission ticket.

The games were particularly speedy even for seven innings, and even with a 7 PM start time for the second game, I was back home before 11 PM. So good play, there.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, TD Bank Park

I hadn't been back to TD Bank Park since it had another name and the Patriots were in the unaffiliated indie leagues. A ballpark sponsorship and Manfred decimating the minors later, and the Patriots end up with the Yankees AA affiliate.

The park itself didn't change all that much, but there were subtle changes, such as the Yankees name being plastered everywhere, and new posters and ubiquitous displays highlighting the Yankees Eastern League history (that didn't happen here).

There was a very amusing moment as the PA announcers had to sheepishly come on the speakers to ask if anyone had "found" the key fob for the promotional truck that was parked in the outfield walkway. With perfect timing, as soon as the announcement was over, the person who "found" the keyfob set off the alarms on the truck, which I had to imagine resulted in the PA announcer facepalming quite forcefully. There was no further noise from the truck for the afternoon, so presumably they sorted it out.

The first game was a weather make-up, so there was less crowd and no festivities, except for the Patriots playing under the name the "Oat Milks," as part of the misbegotten MiLB promotion that all the teams would play under that name once per season. It is no wonder this brain trust was shunted off to be a rain-delay makeup game. Several oversized boxes that were part of the on-field promotion were located in my section, asking the ticketed customers to sit somewhere else until everyone bowed to the oat milk overlords. The between-inning entertainment for the lightly attended first game was mostly a guy named "Tyler Balances," who, as you might imagine, is really good at balancing things.

The second game was the regularly scheduled affair, so their were more fans in the seats, and the mascot actually showed up. There was also a big demonstration by one of the local martial arts dojos that seem to be endemic at minor-league parks during the dog days of summer.


At the Game with Oogie:

Lots of scoring

I grabbed a seat in the shade on the first-base side of home as I would be there all day. Having just had lunch, I didn't grab anything before the first game, just did my walk-around and took my seat. I did a double-take as there was a young couple, and the woman was indeed wearing a Tokyo Swallows jersey. I talked with them a little before the first game before settling into my seat for the first seven-inning affair. There was an older couple next to me for the first game who kept to themselves.

I walked around between the games, grabbing a Taylor ham burger (excellent) and pretzel nuggets in a helmet (less so, but in a helmet). I settled back in my seat for the second game, and less fortuitously, there was an openly drunk father with his family to my left for most of the game, and all I could think about was who was driving them home.


The Game:

First pitch, Game 1, Patriots vs. Rumble Ponies

These games were a little "Subway Series," as the Metropolitans and Yankees' farm teams squared off for two seven-inning games of low-energy baseball. I'm sure that last part wasn't intentional.

The Rumble Ponies went in order in the first and a leadoff walk is all that stopped Somerset from doing the same. Bats came alive in the second, and  Binghamton  had a two-out rally and turned two singles and a doubles into an early 2-0 lead. The Patriots (sorry, "Oat Milks" for this game) didn't get the memo and went in order. The Rumble Ponies had a single and walk in the third, while Somerset had more involved failures. A leadoff single moved to third and was gunner out at home 1-5-2, while that trailing runner moved to second and was thrown out 7-2 in his turn on another single.

Binghamton  went in order in the fourth, with a two-out walk erased on a called stealing. The Oat Milks only had a walk of their own in the bottom of the inning. The fifth was another scoring frame for the Rumble Ponies, with back-to-back singles, a walk, an epic boot by the second baseman, and a sacrifice fly leading to two more runs to make it 4-0. Somerset went in order in their half, with a one-out single getting erased on a called stealing.  Binghamton  only had a walk to show for the sixth, while the Oat Milks finally put it in gear with a two-run homer to cut the lead in half, 4-2.

The Rumble Ponies went quietly in the top of the seventh, while Somerset made one last try. The inning started with back-to-back singles, but a foul-out trying to bunt them over let you know the way the rest of this inning was going, and two more strikeouts ended the game at 4-2, Ponies.

First pitch, second game, Patriots vs. Rumble Ponies

The second game was somehow more anemic than the first. The Rumble Ponies only managed a two-out walk that went nowhere to start. Somerset began the game with a single, but then went in order.  Binghamton  only had a two-out double in the second, while the Patriots had a one-out double that they stranded. The Rumble Ponies got another two-out walk in the third, this time who managed to erased themselves nicely on a steal attempt. Somerset went in order.

There was almost something in the fourth, as  Binghamton  had a two-out walk and double, but nothing came of it. The Patriots went in order again. Finally, in the fifth, the Rumble Ponies had a one-out homer to put them on the board, 1-0. Somerset only had a leadoff single for their half.  Binghamton  had something going again in the sixth, with a leadoff single thrown out trying to make a double, followed by an actual double that would have scored an insurance run. But a walk was all that was left in the tank for that inning. The Patriots had a leadoff single erased on a double-play.

The Rumble Ponies went in order in the seventh, as did Somerset, and some clearly tired teams ended the night with a 1-0 Rumble Ponies sweep.


The Scorecard:

Patriots vs. Rumble Ponies, Game 1. Rumble Ponies win, 4-2.

As mentioned, this was a science expedition to test out two more small-form cards.

For the first game, I used the slightly larger, horizontal-aligned, spiral-bound Baseball Travel Scorebook by THIRTY81 Press. This was a half-sized book that just fits in a cargo pants pocket comfortably, which is hunky dory as far as I'm concerned.

The top of card is the team and first and last pitch. There are nine players lines with space for one replacement. Each of the eleven inning column has cumulative totals for runs, hits, errors, and left on base. The batter's lines all end with at bats, runs, hits, RBIs, walks, and strikeouts. There are six pitching lines in two columns, with space for innings pitched, hits, runs, earned runs, walks, strike outs, batters faced, and pitches. The visitor's side right hand column has game stats and space for notes, while the home right-hand column had cumulative box score stats.

This didn't feel cramped at all to use, although demanding each batter's average and each pitcher's ERA seemed overkill, as well as full pitch counts for pitchers.

These brisk games didn't rate many notes. The first game had the K-Man (who didn't strike out) and a hit in the top of the fifth that should have been an error on the first baseman. There was my first pitch count walk in the top of the third, which was notated "BB" subscript C.

Patriots vs. Rumble Ponies, Game 2. Rumble Ponies win, 1-0.

For the second game, I used the even more Pocket-Sized Scorebook from Numbers Game, which are basically spiral-bound version of their single-game cards.

The top of the card on the visiting side lists which game in the scorebook the game is. The top of the away-team scoring block has the team name, manager, and date/time of the game, while the home side replaces the last with the ballpark.

The player lines have nine spaces, which room for one replacement. Each of the ten innings have an unlabeled totals column, while the player lines end with cumulative stats for at bats, runs, hits, and RBIs. Eight pitching lines lie on the right side of each card, with the visiting side also having space for game notes, and the home side having a scoreboard box score.

Each scoring square has a pre-printed diamond, but it was comfortable enough to use, I didn't really have any complaints.

Again, not many points of controversy in the seven-inning game. There was the K-Man (who again didn't strike out), and a note about a 9-6 putout in the top of the sixth that was played off the wall to gun out the runner trying to stretch his single into a double.


The Accommodations:
Home, sweet Clifton

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

Stand-Alone Trip

Lakewood

On More Trips for Science

Shoretown Ballpark, 2024

Friday, July 5, 2024
Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) vs. Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)
Shoretown Ballpark
South Atlantic League (A+)
Lakewood, NJ
7:00 PM

Outside the Game:
Another holiday weekend with no specific plans, but a need to test out some new scorecards led me to do another repeat trip to Lakewood this fine summer evening.

I couldn't quite get out of bed that morning, which was fine. I booked a doctor's appointment and did some chores in the morning, with a generous nap worked in. Around 3:30 PM I headed out, stopped for gas, and then went south. Surprisingly, there was no traffic at all for the hour or so drive. When I arrived at the stadium, I found out that gates weren't until 6 PM, so I bought my ticket, take my outsides pictures, and went into the empty nothingness of Lakewood to kill some time, eventually browsing at a giant Quick Check because there was literally nothing else to do. I was back at the stadium before gates opened, and I was quickly inside.

I ditched the game as soon as it was over, ignoring the patriotic post-game fireworks bonanza. Less surprisingly this time, there was no traffic on the way home, rarely seeing any cars for part of it. I arrived home at a reasonable 11:30 PM, finished up my scorecard, and headed to bed.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Shoretown Ballpark

I had been here a while ago, and in the Manfred decimation, they had taken the opportunity to rebrand themselves as the "Jersey Shore" BlueClaws in "Shoretown Ballpark." There were a ridiculous number of American flags festooning the outside of the stadium, but they really leaned into the shore theme, with vaguely nautical accoutrements on the outside, and things like beach and lifeguard chairs in the outfield. There was even a mini-golf course in right, and the stadium rules posters were made up to look like "pool rules."

The Philly Phanatic joined the local yellow thing for this game, which was well-attended for a holiday evening.


At the Game with Oogie:

Taylor Ham, egg & cheese

I prioritized being in the shade again, which landed me a seat by home plate on the third-base side. It was as hot and humid as you can imagine for the game, and I don't know how the people sitting out in the sun didn't die. There were just families in my general area, but there was a woman behind me who would not stop coughing in my general direction. My mental powers have not clicked in yet, because I was not able to murder her telekinetically.

I grabbed a chicken sandwich to eat, and then was compelled to follow it up with a Taylor Ham, Egg & Cheese sandwich from an official Taylor Ham concession out in left field. You just gotta.


The Game:

The first pitch, Blue Rocks vs. BlueClaws

The Battle of the Blues this game did not turn out remotely how the home team hoped.

Wilmington went in order in the first, but the BlueClaws struck first. A leadoff error was followed by a double. A single brought home a run, and another scored an infield grounder, but that is all they brought across, though staked to a 2-0 lead early. The Blue Rocks answered in the second to cut the lead in half with a leadoff walk, a stolen base, and a double making it 2-1. Jersey Shore threatened in the second, with another leadoff error, a walk, and a single, but a double play killed the rally. Wilmington only had a double to show for the third, but the BlueClaws started the inning with yet another error, brought home with a sacrifice bunt and a single, to make it 3-1. Little did they know their scoring ended there for the evening.

The Blue Rocks stranded a hit and walk in the fourth, while Jersey Score squandered a two-out double. It all came together for Wilmington in the fifth, with a leadoff single followed by a walk and a barrage of doubles brought in 4 runs to make it 5-3. The Blue Claws just mustered a single. The Blue Rocks had a walk erased on a stolen base attempt to show for the sixth, while Jersey Shore went in order.

In the seventh, Wilmington got it in gear again, with two singles and three walks getting two more across to extend their lead to 7-3. The BlueClaws stranded a leadoff double. The Blue Rocks kept it going in the eighth with three singles getting in two more runs to make it 9-3, while Jersey Shore wasted a leadoff single and error. Perhaps tired in the summer sun, both teams went in order in the ninth, making the final tally 9-3, Blue Rocks.


The Scorecard:

Blue Rocks vs. Blue Claws. Blue Rocks win, 9-3.

As mentioned, this trip was largely to test out another radically small form-factor scorecard: The Baseball Pocket Scorecard by Thirty81Press. This one was the smallest I've come across, a tiny bi-fold cardstock that comes in an envelope and fits in a shirt pocket.

Some concessions need to be made for space. The card envelope had the date, ballpark, and collapsed box score on it. The back of the card had the only space for game notes, along with the date, and home and visiting teams and scores. The cover was a whimsical "Get on the Ball" graphic.

The meat of the card was a compressed scoring block. The top was lined with the team names and records for both teams, above the scoring block, with nine lines for players with no substitutions, no inning or player line summations, and only ten innings of space. There was a pitching block with five lines and stats for innings pitched, hits, earned runs, walks, and strikeouts. Next to it was space to write in five substitutions. The bottom left had the date, ballpark, and weather, as well as game time stats, and the bottom rights was an inning-by-inning box score.

The scoring boxes were small, but usable. Things like run-downs really strain its abilities, and it gets crowded quickly if there is a lot of station-to-station baseball, as there was in this game. But you sure can't beat the size.

The plays of note this game were nearly all descriptions of the copious errors in the game, as well as one in the top of the eighth that wasn't called an error but should have been. There were a couple of out-of-order outs that needed numbering in the tiny space, and a caught stealing rundown in the top of the sixth nearly took out four adjoining scoring squares. Otherwise, it was fine.

The Accommodations:
Sweet home, Clifton

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

Stand-Alone Trip

Reading

On Trying to Get Back on the Horse

Saturday, May 25, 2024
Fogelsville, PA

Outside the Game:
After the stress of the last few years, I had hoped to get back on the horse with my baseball trips, but taking over the house and making sure everything was handled with my mother took a little extra effort, so I was reduced to a handful of little baseball excursions again.

I decided to lift my spirits by going back out to Reading to see the Fightin' Phils again over the holiday weekend. I had a lazy morning in bed before packing an overnight bag and booking my hotel.

I then went out to my regular weekend of making up for five years of no maintenance on the house, on this day finishing spray painting the fence on my neighbor's side and redoing the waterproofing on a section of the cellar door that was somehow still leaking. I then put in the wall AC units and tried and failed again to get Verizon to correct my billing.

It was time for a medicinal nap and then I headed out to take mom out to lunch at the diner. I drove back home after and took another strategic nap before doing my historic cooking for the week and messing around before heading out, stopping to mail some items and then heading due west.

Thankfully, there was no traffic and just a little light rain at the end of the drive. I did, however, miss my turn for the hotel and had to go four more miles before turning around and driving four miles back, which is always welcome at night in the rain.

I checked in and dropped my stuff off before heading next for for the inevitable Cracker Barrel dinner. I moved my car to a more reasonable parking space before setting up my room and settling for the night around 10 PM.


The Accommodations:

Hawthorne Suites, Fogelsville, PA

I was spending the night at the Hawthorne Suites in Fogelsville. It was a little run down, but in a cozy way, not a "health violation" way. My "suite" had a bathroom and kitchenette on the right by the entrance, and then a bedroom with a desk, dresser, and TV on one side and a pull-out couch and bed on the other.

It was just a place to sleep for a night, and it did its job.

On Getting Back on the Horse

FirstEnergy Stadium, 2024

Sunday, May 26, 2024
Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Metropolitans) vs. Reading Hot Dogs (Phillies)
FirstEnergy Field
Eastern League (AA)
Reading, PA
5:00 PM 


Outside the Game:
After a decent night's sleep, I woke up early, and dragged my ass down to the breakfast buffet just as it opened, being pleasantly surprised by how nice it was for a hotel breakfast, which is--of course--grading on a rather steep curve.

I went back to my room for the traditional nap before packing up and checking out at about 11 AM. I piled everything into my car and headed out into the holiday morning.

Having nothing really else to do before the evening game, I decided to visit Crystal Cave, something I had managed not to do during my entire college career, even though I was actively caving at the time and just down the road. It was a short drive out to the cave where I was able to sneak into a tour leaving at that moment. It was quite a nice and extensive commercial cave with some interesting and rare formations that probably would have been a little disappointing if I had gone there in during college.

Crystal Caverns warning

After the tour, I went to the first gift shop/museum, which was manned by a teacher doing a second job. She was a Phillies fan, but it did not come to blows. Feeling peckish, I went to the decidedly old-school canteen that looked lifted straight from the 70s, which is probably the last time it was renovated. I bought a brat and some ice cream and dined among the other guests.

Having nothing else to do--it was Reading after all--and time to kill, I decided to go up to the Reading Pagoda. I managed to take several wrong turns, which lengthened my trip up the mountain, which was only worsened my mood when I found out the pagoda was closed for the holiday weekend. I took some pictures since I was up there already, then headed out to the park, to find out that it didn't open until 4 PM.

So I took my pictures outside, hit the team store, and drove out to get gas and try to find something else to do in this godforsaken town. I managed to kill time until 3:45 PM and headed back top the park.

I parked up and got on line, which was scorching in the early summer sun. I called my mother until the line started moving, and off we went.

On the way out, there was little traffic, as everyone was running the bases, and I was quickly out on the road home I took so many times in college. There was torrential rain for a while that spoiled an otherwise pleasant drive. I maneuvered into the garage and unpacked and showered as I waited for the blessed air conditioning to make the bedroom cool enough to sleep in.

The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, FirstEnergy Field

FirstEnergy Stadium hadn't changed all that much since my last visit. Covid's grubby fingerprints were all over the little changes to the place, but most were ignorable. The biggest differences were in the outfield, where the Redener's Event Center dominates center field, and a Pool Party area now found itself in the right field corner. There were other little updates, such as the wall mural dedicated to Taylor Swift, and unrelatedly, one for baseball clown Max Patkin. (I assume unrelatedly--I prefer not to know otherwise.)

The carnival atmosphere and cast of thousands was still in effect before and during the game, and there was an additional event for Dinosaurs Alive that took up some of the pre-game and between-innings activates. But the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor still rode his ostrich to the delight of the healthy holiday-weekend crowd.

The home team was playing as the "Reading Hot Dogs," in a bid, one imagines, for more merchandise sales. They certainly succeeded with me. That Hot Dogs hat is fire.

At the Game with Oogie:

Churger

Once I got inside, I did my regular walk-around and took my photos while downing the mandatory churger (hamburger with a chicken patty on top). I got seats in the grandstand assuredly in the shade, which had me in the top rows near the broadcast booth, which was smartly locked to hold in the air conditioning on this blistering day. I picked up a supplemental hot dog and Gatorade from the grandstand-only concessions and settled into my seat.

Few people prioritized the shade as much as I did, so I was pretty much all by myself, which was nice from a spreading-out perspective, as well as not being packed next to more people that would likely increase the already stifling temperatures.

The Game:

The first pitch in the game between the Binghamton Rumble Ponies and the Reading Hot Dogs 

The MLB writ small this evening, as the Metropolitans farm team of the Rumble Ponies faced off against the Phillies farm team, the Fightin' Phils (or the "Hot Dogs," as they were named this evening, for some damn reason).

The Rumble Ponies only managed a one-out single in the top of the first. Reading got a one-out single that just missed being an amazing put-out, and a double brought the run home, staking them to a 1-0 lead.  Binghamton  answered in the top of the second with a solo homer to tie it, 1-1, while the Phils only mustered up a two-out single. The Ponies went in order in the third, and Reading only had a two-out walk save them from the same fate.

Binghamton  had a leadoff single in the fourth, but stranded him, while the Phils went in order. The fifth was more eventful, as the Rumble Points had a leadoff shot to left put them on top, 2-1. Momentarily. Reading had a one-out single gunned down by a mile trying to stretch it to a double. The next batter also singled, and a pickoff attempt turned into a two-base error. It mattered less, as the next batter homered to right, giving them the lead back, 3-2.  Binghamton  went in order in the sixth, while the Phils only scrounged up a one-out walk in their half.

The Rumble Ponies had three strike-outs in the top of the seventh, only broken up by a walk. Reading had a slightly more interesting frame, stranding two-out doubles and a walk to get nothing across.  Binghamton  left a leadoff double on in the eighth, while the Phils stranded a leadoff single and a subsequent walk. Down to their last licks, the Ponies only managed a two-out single, stranding him in turn to make the finally tally 3-2, Reading.

The Scorecard:

Rumble Ponies vs. Hot Dogs, 05/26/24. Hot Dogs win, 3-2.

This began the first of several games I went to test out various new scorecards that I'd come across. This one was the Numbers Game Palm Slapper Single Game Scorecard. It was a little cardstock bi-fold that comfortably fits in a pants pocket.

The front of the card is for overall stats about the teams, the standings, and the game and umpires. The back of the card is a tutorial on how to score and other suggestions on how to use the scorecard.

The interior of the card was a split, with the visiting team on top and the home team on the bottom. The rosters are on the left (with nine spots with spaces for one replacement) and pitching lines on the right, with a notes area on the top and a box score on the bottom. Each player line ends with space for two extra innings and at bats, hits, errors, and RBI, and each column ends with a square I used for hits and errors. Pitching lines have spaces for innings, hits, runs, walks, and strikeouts.

By the nature of being a compact card, it was a little small, especially with pre-printed diamonds in the scoring squares, but it was an eminently workable card that wasn't a chore to use at all. I thought wasting all that real estate on standings was a mistake, and I'm not sure I agree with the double box score in the bottom right of the inside fold, but overall, it was a good card in a convenient form factor.

The game itself was rather conventional. There were only three plays of note, which I mentioned above, so the card didn't really get a workout with anything too crazy.

The Accommodations:
For the first time in a very long time, Clifton, Sweet, Clifton.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

Stand-Alone Trip