On Less Driving, Interrupted by a Ballgame
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| Fifth Third Park, 2026 |
Rome Emperors (Atlanta Braves) vs. Hub City Spartanburgers (Texas Rangers)
Fifth Third Park
South Atlantic League (A+)
Spartanburg, SC
4:30 PM
Outside the Game:
I had another good night's sleep and found myself up late for the start of breakfast, which was too bad, because it was a good breakfast spread and quite crowded by the time I got down there. I was still able to make the most of the buffet and drag myself back up to my room to nap and plan the rest of the day.
I tried to book my hotel in Spartanburg, given there wasn't a ton of choices, but I had a problem with their offshore staff. I kept calm and went to another property close to the park and had no problems (which is odd, because they both Marriot), so it all worked out.
It was an afternoon game that day, so I was out on the early side and on the road for just over an hour drive, which I could do standing on my head after the long days of driving this trip, but I did not, because it would be dangerous and difficult.
It was a slow, sloppy hour of driving, and I raw dogged it without music. The Google computer voice eventually directed me to the locked fire lane entrance for the convention rooms of the hotel I was staying at. I was parked next to the visiting team's bus, so that was something. I threw on my hazards and wandered around on foot until I found the main entrance. They were able to register me early, which was appreciated, and they directed me to the underground lot I would need to use. I went back to my car, drove into the bowels of the earth, and parked right by the elevator. I dragged myself up one elevator and then walked over to the other elevator to get me to my room.
I unpacked and prepped the room before grabbing my game bag and heading out into the afternoon. With the uncommon luxury of some time to kill, I wandered over to the Hub City Railroad Museum that was just around the corner. It was a tiny little place talking about the history of Spantanburg as the "hub city" for railroads in the area. The museum was unsurprisingly staffed exclusively by guys around my age. I got to talking to one of them about baseball, and we discussed Altoona (he was wearing a railroad t-shirt from there) and about how Bananaball got its start in Gastonia. I grabbed a hat and magnet at the store before heading over to the caboose that the museum used to house its model train set-up and store. There was a younger gentleman there buying a bunch of train supplies, and I eventually headed out for the short walk to the park.
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| Choo-choo, mofo |
Or so I thought. I managed to walk right past the main entrance to the park (that was screened by a parking lot) and travelled all the way around to center field in some frankly insanely hot and humid weather before being informed by an employee there that I had missed the main entrance and had to walk all the way around again in the heat and humidity in order to purchase a ticket.
But duty called, and I did the second other lap, taking my pictures as I went and eventually buying a ticket. I asked the gentleman where the nearest water was, and he pointed me to some restaurants and stores right beyond the park. I eventually stumbled half-conscious and dehydrated in a cupcake store. After waiting behind a woman who was clearly making excuses not to buy anything, I bought and chugged a water before buying another water and a rather moist-looking cupcake. The counterperson said that it was supposed to rain today, but judging by the humidity and the lack of clouds, it seemed like they were going to get the game in, if for no other reason than because the forecast for tomorrow was nothing but thunderstorms.
Less likely to die and having some more time to kill, I walked around downtown, slipping into an air conditioned bookstore staffed exclusively by lesbians and a cat, where I bought a local-interest book on the city's old ballpark. I continued on, and Spartanburg was far more crunchy than I expected it to be. I chilled out (literally) in an Adirondack chair in a pedestrianized street before dragging myself back for gates at the game.
After the eventual end of the game and the concert, I walked back to the hotel in the refreshing light rain. As it was just early evening, I had the night to fill, so I went back to my room to shower and get changed out of my rainy, sweat-drenched clothes before walking back downtown in the post-rain haze.
As I was walking, I saw a giant Denny's sign hanging in the foggy night sky and thought I had lost my mind completely. It turns out that wasn't the case, as I was actually seeing one of the giant Denny's signs on the corporate headquarters of Denny's that I would quickly find out was located in downtown Spartanburg in "Denny's Plaza," because of course it is.
Undaunted, I continued downtown to a noodle shop and got some Pad Thai, medium spicy. I wasn't able to finish the gaping plate of noodles, but I put a dent in it to be sure. I called my mom as I walked back to the hotel and did some paperwork in the frigid air conditioning before going to bed early.
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home to center, Fifth Third Park |
I have lost track of parks I had been to named after Fifth Third Bank. (Research would tell me that number is three, but that they sponsor at least seven sports stadiums.) With the generic name, the somewhat generic layout of the park was not unexpected. There is a main promenade (that does not go around the whole park, but just left center to right) with a section of seating extending down from it. The scoreboard rises up in right-center against a backdrop of incomplete construction in right field and center and downtown over the left field wall. A long berm extends across left field to center. A second level rises from first to third, with press boxes and a couple of membership clubs, a kids area in left, and a couple of special seating areas sit in the outfield corners.
But that's about where the generic ends. To their credit, the team has done everything in their power to dress up the generic bones. It starts outside, with a children's train by the main entrance that runs around outside the park. By the main entrance is an elaborate baseball chandelier by a season ticket-holders' lounge. There is the traditional road sign to all the other team's affiliates, and a memorial to the old ballpark in town with some seats. The promenade is screaming with colorful painted signs for the various concessions around the walkway, including Bojangles and the nominal Spartanburgers (including a "build-your-own burger" bar under a giant model of the mascot). There are even two team stores, one by home plate and one built into the parking deck in left field. There is a DJ stand by home plate for the musical MC, and the aforementioned mascot, Chuck (as in chuck beef hamburger) runs the heavily burger-themed events on the field. It was also Elvis night, featuring a curiously skilled Elvis imperson... tribute artist, who also did a post-game concert on the promenade after the rain fell hard enough for the tarp to come out post game.
There was a respectable crowd for a Saturday afternoon game with threat of rain, and they stayed for the entire game and most for the post-game concert.
At the Game with Oogie:
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| Diet friendly |
My adventure began at the security check getting in, as the security guard unexpectedly asked me about my camera gear. It turns out he is pro photographer who moonlights as a security guard for the team and was legitimately interested in my load out. It took a minute or two for my brain to switch gears and tell him about my ancient setup, and then I was free to enter the park.
After getting into the swampy stadium, I did my regular loop for pictures and hit the gloriously air-conditioned team store for some extended browsing. Given the myriad of concession choices available, I settled on just getting a two cheeseburgers in a giant helmet with fries, and several Powerades to keep me from dying.
My seat was in the shade on the third base side of the field. There were not many people sitting directly around me except for a youngish couple next to me on my left and an older couple a row or so behind them.
The Game:
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| First pitch in the game between the Emperors and the Spartanburgers |
The soggy contest between the Rome Emperors and the Hub City Spartanburgers had discrete packets of actions tucked in between rain and nothing.
The Emperors just had a reached on error to show for the top of the first, while Hub City strung a leadoff single, hit batsman, walk, two steals, and a double-play into just one run for an early 1-0 lead. Both teams went in order in the second, with the Spartanburgers doing it the hard way, with a hit batsman and a walk both getting caught stealing. The Emperors had a walk to show in the middle of strikeouts in the third, while Hub City went on a two-out tear, with a hit batsman, infield single, walk, double, single, and homer bringing in six runs to extend the lead to 7-0.
Both teams went in order in the fourth, when a light to medium rain began to fall, but the Emperors got on the board in the fifth thanks to two errors, a single, and a homer to close the lead to 7-3. Hub City got one back in the bottom of the frame with a single, double, and double-play, extending the lead back to 8-3. Rome went in order in the sixth, and the Spartanburgers tacked on another run with solo shot in the bottom of the inning, to pad the lead to 9-3 on an unflinchingly official game at this point.
The Emperors got on back in the top of the seventh on an infield single, double, and sac fly, and the Spartanburgers stranded two singles to leave it at 9-4 after seven. Rome kept it interesting in the eighth with two walks, a single, and a ground-out bringing in two runs to close it to 9-6. The Spartanburgers decided to put this rainy game to bed, batting around with five straight and six total walks, bringing in three to extend it to 12-6. The Emperors went meekly in order in the ninth, leaving the home teams victorious at that tally, as the grounds crew rushed to get the tarp on the ever-dampening field.
The Scorecard:
I used the THIRTY81 Press Pocket Scorecard for this game, in lieu of a home scorecard. I've written up the card before, and this was a pretty conventional game scoring-wise.
There were only a few notes. The Emperor's catcher was the K-Man for the day, and he went down in the top of the third. In the bottom of the third, with the bases loaded, there was a double that got the trail runner to third, but a throwing error from right let him score. In the top of the fifth, there was an "error" that was a clear infield single. And in the bottom of the sixth, there was an attempted sacrifice bunt that went for an infield hit.
The Accommodations:
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| Marriot, Spartanburg, SC |
After a bit of discombobulating in the morning, I booked the Marriot tower right in downtown for a reasonable amount of money. If it is good enough for the Rome Emperors, it is good enough for me.
A large bathroom was just off the entrance to my room on the left. The big room had the king-sized bed, nightstands, and pull-out couch on the left, and the dresser, TV, and desk on the other.
It was a little fancier than average, and let me sleep in AC, which is all I needed for this evening.
On More Driving, Not Interrupted by a Game
Sunday, August 2, 2026
Cary, NC
Outside the Game:
I had another solid night of sleep and was up for the start of breakfast. I had to pay for breakfast this morning, and it was very much worth it. The buffet was excessive, with things like freshly made breakfast sandwiches in the chaffing tray, as well as unlimited quantities of all the hot breakfast basics you could imagine.
I headed up to my room after, and had a long, full nap, waking up in time to finish packing up and picking a hotel for the night before checking out. With nothing else to do for the day, I took the short drive over to Duncan Park Stadium, the historic park in town that was replaced by the one I visited the day before. As I was wandering around, I met a woman originally from Philly who was walking her dog. I talked with her a bit, finished seeing what I could of the old park, before heading out to grab some gas and head out on the road around noon in a light rain.
Outside of the rain, it was a decent enough drive without many issues, though I was unexplainably weary for most of it and had to struggle to keep alert. I'm not sure if it was just all the driving catching up to me or not, but here we are.
I nevertheless safely pulled into my hotel a little before 4 PM in an isolated little enclave. I checked in and dragged my stuff up my fancy suite just before the skies opened up with thunderstorms. I ignored that and unpacked into my luxurious room and then took a long nap before showering and shaving and getting dressed to find some dinner. I went down and asked the receptionist, but she wasn't from the area, so I went with my plan to go a Southern, employee-owned restaurant called "Lucky 37."
I was worried about getting there right before closing, but they close the doors at the time they take last orders, which is really smart. I was served a charming older lady, and started with something called "Voodoo Sauce Pizza," and on the recommendation of the waitress, I got the fried half chicken. Both were exquisite. They also had a vanilla wafer cheesecake, which against better judgment, I ordered, but I was unable to finish. I drove back to the hotel, went up to the room, and splayed out and caught up on podcasts for the evening, calling my mother and getting to bed early.
The Accommodations:
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| SpringHill Suites, Cary, NC |
I decided to splurge a little bit, as this might be my last hotel stay on the trip, and I would be spending all night there. It was additionally right down the street from where I needed to be the next day and wasn't that expensive, so it was a no-brainer to go with the SpringHill Suites in Cary.
The room opened up on combo dinning/living room. There was a half kitchen on the left and a pull-out couch and built-in desk on the right. Past them was the bedroom, with a king-sized bed on the wall with nightstands across from a dresser and TV. A sliding door led to curiously long bathroom. The doors were right in front of the long vanity with the shower to the right. The toilet was a long, long way away in its own little hallway. I'm not sure I could have made a free throw from the shower to the toilet.
But it was cozy and comfortable and quiet, and so that's all I needed.
On a Lot More Driving, and No Game
Monday, August 3, 2026Clifton, NJ
Outside the Game:
I had a crappy night of sleep because my stomach was upset, no doubt by my over-eating the night before. I went down to find an outstanding breakfast buffet, almost better than the one I paid for the day before. I ate respectably, alongside a Team USA youth baseball team of some sort, and then went back up to my room for a nap. I got up and finished packing, planning for a couple of hotels depending on where I was feeling.
I checked out at noon and took the short drive to the restaurant where I was meeting my old colleague. She texted to say that her meeting was running long, so I waited inside in the AC, and after sorting out how she thought we were meeting somewhere else, she arrived and we had our lunch, only interrupted by my mother's care facility calling to try and ask me to come in, which ruined an otherwise nice lunch.
I was on my way back home at around 1:30 PM and headed out and up. It was a pretty painless drive up 95, and I called an audible and took the long way around DC and Baltimore since it was approaching 5 PM, and while there was a little rain, it was the right call, as I didn't really stop at all. The only delay was a little backup as emergency services were just showing up at a motorcycle accident where the rider had laid down his bike in the rain. Judging by the condition of the bike, this may have been the third fatal accident I saw on this trip.
When I was back on 95 north of Baltimore, I stopped off at an interstate rest stop for gas and some food. I was feeling pretty good and riding high on the JoCo I was playing on my stereo, so I decided to just head directly for home. The gods were with me, for outside of not being able to get a hold of my mom, there were really no backups on 95 at all... until I got to my exit for Clifton on the Parkway, where at 10 PM at night on a Monday for no good reason they were shutting down all the lanes except one right before my exit. I cut through the rest stop right before the exit and shamefully rode the shoulder to the exist and got home before my consciousness pooped out.
I dumped all my stuff and went to bed, ready to deal with it all the next day.
The Accommodations:
Home, sweet, Clifton
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