On a Spa Day
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| The SteelYard, 2025 |
The SteelYard
American Association
Gary, IN
11:00 AM
Outside the Game:
With this wake-up time apparently ingrained in my soul, I woke up at 6 AMish, just in time for the hotel breakfast to begin. This was easily the best spread of the trip, and I made several trips back to the buffet to fill myself with the hearty breakfast victuals, before retreating back to my room for a nap.
Waiting until the last minute again, I booked my hotel room in Geneva for the next two days. There were a lot of weddings in the area, but I managed to get a nice hotel and a room with a jacuzzi tub, because I deserved it. Bad weather was expected the next day or so as well, so I wanted someplace pleasant to hole up if that turned out to be the case.
I packed up, checked out, and took the short drive to the park. Along the way in Gary, I saw the tourist sign for the Jackson 5's childhood home, but looking down the street, it might as well have been a decrepit van with "FREE CANDY" spray-painted on the side, and I went straight out to the park.
I parked in the lot next to the park and took my outside pictures. The ticket booth did not open until right before the gates, so I procured a ticket at that point and went inside.
After the game, I went straight over to Geneva, but the threatening storm did not materialize. I checked in at the hotel and got settled after traversing the cavernous hallways of the hotel, fully unpacking for my two-day stay. On the suggestion of the proprietor, I went to the restaurant down on the corner, where my biggest choice was either the meatloaf special or the elk burger (which obviously won, along with some poutine on the side). After filling up, I went back to the hotel and sat blissfully in the jacuzzi tub for the rest of the evening. I regret nothing. My back was finally functional after days of driving, and I slept quite soundly.
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home plate to center field, The SteelYard |
The SteelYard is about as full-throated a name as you can get for a ballpark, located in old industrial park of town (insofar as they weren't all industrial). Though Gary is on a bit of a rebound, the park raised an eyebrow or two, in that there is an "Operation Safe Zone" emergency area run by the police on the outside wall of the park, though an "I (heart) Gary" sign by the main entrance and ticket booth is more inviting. Though I was still happy this was a day game.
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| Safety dance |
This was a familiar ballpark design at this point, with a main promenade running above the seating areas, but not all the way around the park. A regular seating bowl runs from first to third base, with a small picnic berm is short right field and a small bleachers area in short left field. A second level of press and luxury boxes runs top of first to third, with retired numbers, championship pennants, and a press box dedication along the facade. A hall of fame lines the alley-ways from the entrances, and there's a event picnic area in left field, right by the main scoreboard rising in left-center.
Especially for a school day event, it was surprising that there was no mascot appearance (perhaps he got mugged on the way in) and very few between-inning events. The game was packed with kids, and therefore loud either way.
At the Game with Oogie:
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| Bratfest |
I made my way inside and walked around for my pictures before hitting the merch store and grabbing my Lunchfast of a brat and soda (bratfest?).
My seat again was right in the sun, and with no railing countertop along the promenade, I grabbed a shaded table by the promenade concessions stands overlooking the field for the first few innings, which was quite comfortable. After a couple of innings, I saw the shaded bar behind home plate had an open seat, so I migrated over there. I found out the seat was empty because it was a high-back barstool that was missing the foot bar, making it a little uncomfortable to sit in. One of the old guys in the seats next to me told me that he had switched his seat with that one for that very reason. Eventually, one of the other people next to me left and I swapped chairs with him. All in all, not a bad way to watch a game.
Except for the train horn. Not from the trains using the rail lines still active beyond the outfield walls, but the one they blew for celebrations in the stadium, which was so loud that it actually drowned out the school kids in attendance. And it was used constantly.
The Game:
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| First pitch, Railroaders vs. RailCats |
This morning contest of railroad-themed teams between the Cleburne Railroaders and the Gary Southshore RailCats had some bursts of action in between stretches of nothing.
Cleburne just had a one-out walk to show for the top of the first, while the RailCats had a solo man reach on a questionable hit in their half. The Railroaders stranded a solitary single in the second, while Gary's leadoff single was erased on a double-play. Cleburne had a leadoff single picked off first and a walk erased on a double-play, but the RailCats put two runs together in the bottom of the frame with three singles and a walk to go out to a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, the Railroaders stranded one single and erased another on a double-play. Gary kept the scoring going with a double and a single bringing in a run to extend the lead to 3-0. Both teams went in order in the fifth, but the Railriders got on the board in the top of the sixth with a walk and a very questionable home run, which closed the gap to 3-2. Gary went in order in the bottom of the inning.
Cleburne had just a hit batsman that got picked off in the top of the seventh, while the RailCats took one out of the park to left with one out to extend the lead to 4-2. The Railroaders answered back with a leadoff homer to center that just made it over the wall in the eighth, closing the score to 4-3. Gary went in order. In their last attempt, Cleburne got a baserunner with a one-out hit batman who made it to second on a wild pitch, but there he stayed, giving the home team the 4-3 win.
The Scorecard:
I was again using the BBWAA scorebook with the erasable pens for this game, and there were more notable events than normal, most of a questionable nature.
In the top of the first, there was a roller to second that was ruled an infield hit even though the second baseman butchered an easy play. In the top of the third, there was an infield hit where the first baseman came off the bag.
The last two notables were related to home runs. In the top of the sixth, a line drive to left field at least twelve feet foul was called a home run. This got a red underline in the scorebook, as even from where I was sitting, it was clearly foul. This caused quite the stir in the stands. In the top of the eighth, a homer to dead center bounced on the very top of the wall on its way out, just about escaping the park.
The Accommodations:
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| Comfort Inn & Suites Geneva-West Chicago |
I splurged on the Comfort Inn & Suites Geneva-West Chicago for the two nights. It was very similar to most of the other rooms I'd been in, with one big difference.
There was a nice bathroom right by the entrance to the room, and a big, overstuffed king bed and night stands on one side of the room, and a desk, dresser, bench, and mini-kitchen on the other side.
And a jacuzzi tub a few feet from the bed on a tiled riser. I would spend nearly as much time in that tub as I would sleeping over my next two days.
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