On Hope for More Civilized Procedures
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| Newark Liberty God Bless America Airport |
Outside the Game:
I woke up as per normal for a workday, which felt a little odd. I sat through a necessary early morning meeting, covered some last little emergencies, and then headed off to the airport.
I had left myself plenty of time for a mid-day flight, so I was calm and playing with house money either way. After I parked in the long-term lot, I ran into no problems at security, either, so I found myself with plenty of time before the flight.
I headed over to the diner I liked in Terminal C for lunch only to find it isn't a diner anymore, but some off-brand Italian place. Everything was now completely self-serve, so it was fast-food with table service, essentially distilling the worst of both worlds. The guy at the table to the left of me apparently forgot some really expensive headphones at his table. I wonder if he realized it before or after he got to Egypt, or wherever it was he was going.
Even having a leisurely chicken sandwich lunch, I had a surfeit of time remaining to murder. I decided to buy an upgrade to hopefully secure some overhead space on a full flight, so I moved up to a middle seat with more legroom in an exit row. However, I found that I only moved up one boarding group from the absolute bottom, and upon asking about it, the boarding groups are now dependent on seat placement (window, center, aisle) instead of anything else except first class and top travel clubs. I went away a little more informed, yet still annoyed.
But more annoyances were to come. However, boarding did begin on time. After the first priority group, they made us start checking all bags--which was super annoying because there was a ton of overhead space left when we boarded, and there were standby people who boarded last-minute who got to use overhead space I was denied, making me awkwardly peel out all of my meds and "dangerous" electronics on the jetway. I was annoyed by all this, I even went so far as to file a complaint with United before the cabin door closed.
The flight was fine, but I was stuck between an old Chinese couple who were clearly hoping that no one would take the center seat between them. I managed to spill my soda during the flight and got her bag wet in addition to my pants, so I hope she was as annoyed as I was. (I'm saying "annoy" a lot.) I watched some Ted Lasso and Rick and Morty on the entertainment system to pass the time.
We landed on schedule, and by the time I lugged my ass over to the baggage claim, my bag was one of the first or second off, so I was able to get on my way, in some manner of karmic apology. I had to wait in a longish line at Dollar Rental, so I tried to make my hotel reservation for the night, but it turned out there were some big events that night in Appleton that were clogging all the hotels, so this would have to wait until after I acquired my rental car.
I eventually got my car and somehow got hosed on fees again before getting my "compact SUV," a VW "Taos" that I had never heard of before. It took me a half hour to figure out how it worked, and that would not be the end of my troubles with this clunker. But still, I booked an overly expensive Days Inn just outside of Appleton, hooked up my Android Auto properly after a number of tries, and started a pleasant 2.5 hour drive to the hotel.
I stopped just outside of the hotel to grab a needed dinner at the best-run Hardees I had ever seen. There was essentially one guy running the place, and he was killing it somehow. After eating, I completed the drive to the hotel to check in. To be fair, the hotel was pretty nice, but not worth what I was paying for it. I caught up on my notes and receipts, realized because of the time difference my mother was already asleep when I was trying to call her, and then just went to bed.
The Accommodations:
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| Days Inn, Neenah, WI |
My room at the Days Inn in Neenah, WI, was a little better than average. It was standard Days Inn fare, but well-maintained and kept up. The bathroom with tub and shower was just off the entrance, across from a vanity and sink. There were two queen beds along the bedroom wall, with end tables, and a desk, dresser, and TV on the other wall. Outside of the unexplained office cuck chair facing the beds very conspicuously, it was exactly fine for what I needed it for.
On Wisconsin
Saturday, May 16, 2026
South Bend Cubs (Cubs) vs. Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Brewers)
neuroscience group field at Fox Cities Stadium
Midwest League (A+)
Appleton, WI
1:10 PM
Outside the Game:
I awoke this morning feeling unrested. I did that fun thing where I kept waking up every hour on the hour. It wasn't noise or anything, just my body being crazy.
So, I dragged myself down to the breakfast buffet when I awoke again at 6:00 AM, and I partook of the sad little breakfast offering that Day's Inn should be forced to have pictured on the doorway to every one of their properties. I idly shuffled through some food with a few other families before going back to my room for some more sleep.
I woke up again, showered, and planned out the next day, booking my hotel for the evening, and seeing if there was anything I could sneak in later.
At around 10 AM, I headed out, stopping for a quick snack at the gas station next door to make up for the woeful breakfast buffet. It was a short drive to the park, and I was able to get parked, buy a ticket, and take all my photos of outside of the stadium with plenty of time to spare.
With nothing else to do, I decided to get in line, and it was just me and a woman and her young daughter, who was dressed up in the lumberjack alt uniforms that the home team was going to be wearing that day. At least it was in the shade. Eventually, we were joined by other people lining up, and the guy who got in line behind me was disconcertingly an accurate projection of me in 15 years.
The gates eventually opened up on time, and in we went.
When the game mercifully ended, I ducked back into my car for a relaxing two-hour drive mostly through northern Wisconsin farmland. The country can be beautiful when we let it.
I pulled into my hotel right about six-thirty, and I was not expecting the massive building that held an giant indoor pool, as I didn't take note of such things when I was booking that morning. There were a group from a nearby Ren Faire checking in before me. I straight up asked them Ren Faire or SCA, and they said one of the state's largest Ren Fairs was happening that weekend.
Once checked in, I set up in my room and discovered I had left my PJ bottoms at the Days Inn the night before. Curses. Regardless, I finished settling in and then headed out for some dinner.
The hotel was huge and had several hundred rooms, but there was just one guy who was manning the front desk alone. I swear, late stage capitalism is going to fall apart any minute now.
There was a Cracker Barrel next door, so I decided to get it over with. I had a "Campfire Meal" all cooked up in aluminum foil and was attended to by a nice old lady. I bought some Life Savers in the shop (really underrated candy) and went back to the hotel. On the way back to my room, I helped a kid find the ice machine, trying to balance the karmic scales that I already felt quite out of wack.
I settled in for the night, getting my paperwork together, calling my mom at the right time, and showering up before heading to bed at a reasonable hour.
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home to center, neuroscience group field at Fox Cities Stadium |
The deftly named neuroscience group field at Fox Cities Stadium had undergone a bunch of renovations recently. One of the things added was a secret, snaky way to circumnavigate the park, thanks to a bunch of hidden walkways and bridges, and that forever will be what I remember about the place. Well, that and the three-story snake slide in left field.
It was a fairly standard minor-league stadium design, with a single row of seats ending in picnic berms descending from the promenade. A second level of luxury boxes went up over first to third, and various other special seating areas dotting the outfield. In addition to the snake slide, there was a giant sandbox and more mundane play area tucked into right field.
The place apparently rates two mascots, Fang and Wiffer, and they did at least try to make the standard array of minor league between-inning activities customized to their team, with added flourished such as the bratzooka and a go-cart race around the perimeter of the stadium.
They drew pretty well for this weekend game. The crowd didn't stay in it until the end, but I can hardly blame them based on the game we had to endure.
At the Game with Oogie:
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| Three Little Pigs |
There wasn't much for the first game. I did my usual business without any fuss, and got a seat in the shade on the first base side of home (which was a bench seat and not and individual seat). There were a lot of couples and families around me, but nothing much worth noting.
The park was stuff filled with specialty food, and I bit on the "Three Little Pigs" grilled cheese from the bacon cart. It is three kinds of pork and three kinds of cheeses put together in a godless double-decker grilled cheese, and if I needed any kind of entre into Midwest eating, this was going to be it. (And yes, it was so good.)
The Game:
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| First pitch, South Bend Cubs vs. Wisconsin Timber Rattlers |
This was the worst professional baseball game I've ever had to watch. I don't say this as hyperbole because it was the first game of the trip. For just the smallest of tastes, the final score was 24-4, and it wasn't even that close. Whatever expectations one may have had for this early season Midwest League contest between the South Bend Cubs and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, no one could have expected this. At the end, I was shocked to find the game's actual duration was only three hours, because it felt like I had been in that seat for most of my natural life.
The game began sedately, with the Cubs only getting a single (that was retired on a caught stealing) and a walk. Wisconsin went in order. This is that last normal thing that happened in this game.
In the second, South Bend batted around for the first time on six hits, three walks and a hit batsman, bringing in seven runs. The Timber Rattlers only had a walk in the bottom of the inning, leaving it 7-0. In the third, South Bend only got one more run (8-0), while a solo homer to right in the bottom of the inning closed it to a tight 8-1.
The top of the fourth ended with the Cubs batting around again, with four more runs on three more hits. Wisconsin went in order thanks to a double play. The fifth found South Bend putting only one more across, for a rather sedate 13-1 lead. The Rattlers stranded some walks and got nothing in the bottom of the fifth. In the biggest surprise since the start of the game, the Cubs went in order, and capitalizing on the opportunity, Wisconsin hit another solo home run to close the gap to a more manageable 13-2.
South Bend batted around again in the seventh as we finally started to reach into position players to bat. Seven more runs came of three hits, taking it to 20-2. The Rattlers again went in order thanks to a double-play. In the eighth, the Cubs only put one across (21-2, against the opposing catcher), while Wisconsin stranded a single and walk. South Bend put up three in the ninth--because why not--and the Rattlers finally found their grove, plating two of their own to make the final tally 24-4.
The Scorecard:
Where... to... begin...
To start, I first was using the BBWAA scorebook thanks to a lack of home scorecard. I also thought it would be fun to try out a modified version of a Japanese scoring system I had been researching, but I had no idea how much practice I was going to get.
Using the system was actually pretty instinctual after a while, and I like the detail it provided, but it needs slightly larger scoring frames to be completely legible in this case.
There was a 7-1 put out. In this inexplicable game, there was a foul ball to left that was dozens of feet foul before a strong wind dropped it just in fair territory. The pitcher was covering third (the third-bagger also went into left to try and get the fly ball), and the runner from second was thrown out 7-1, force. I will never see that again.
In the first, the pitcher was pulled off the bag at first for a technical infield single. I also had a dispute with the fact that the official scorer gave the win to the second Cubs pitcher for no appreciable reason that I could discern. It upset me enough for me to make a note of it.
As for the rest of it, what to say? The Rattlers' starter walked out of the game with a 47.25 ERA. The catcher who pitched two innings at the end of the game only had an 18 ERA. (The shortstop who pitched before him had a 37.8 ERA in one inning.) The least damaged Rattler pitcher was a guy who came in for an out in the fourth, and escaped with his 4.15 ERA. 24 runs on 24 hits. Just brutal.
The Accommodations:
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| AmericInn, Janesville, WI |
I was less familiar with AmericInn, apparently because I'm not from the Midwest. They are a Midwest conglomerate of hotels, or at least they were before Wyndham gobbled them up right before the pandemic. I decided to take a flier on them for this evening.
The hotel itself was dominated by a gigantic indoor pool under a huge skylight. It was obviously filled with kids and teens, and thankfully, my room was off a side corridor nowhere near it.
They are apparently Midwest mid-scale, and the room certainly lived up to it. It was perfectly crumulent hotel room, with a full bathroom right off the entrance a king-sized bed and night tables on one side of the room and the dresser, fridge, desk and TV on the other.
It was clean, well-kept, and quiet, and that is pretty much all I ask.
