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