On Trying to Get Back on the Horse
Saturday, May 25, 2024Fogelsville, 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:
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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:
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| 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:
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| 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:
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| The first pitch in the game between the Binghamton Rumble Ponies and the Reading Hot Dogs |
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:
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.
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