Auburn

On Flipping the Script

Leo Pinckney Field at Falcon Park, 2014

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Batavia Muckdogs (Washington Nationals) vs.
Auburn Doubledays (Miami Marlins)
Leo Pinckney Field at Falcon Park
NY-PENN League (A-)
Auburn, NY
2:05 PM


Outside the Game:
This was the day of long driving. Not only did I need to drive out to Auburn (just an hour or so away), I had to reverse the process after the game to head down to Jamestown (three hours or so), thanks to the unnaturally early start time of 11:05 AM on Monday, thanks to "School Day" event with the Jammers.

I got up relatively early to go down and grab some breakfast at the hotel before heading back up to pack. I was checked out and on the road by 10 AM, and after a quick drive, I was in Auburn before noon.

I went directly to the park to pick up my ticket and take some outside pictures. That done, I decided to head into town to see what of the local culture was available. The two big local attractions are the Harriet Tubman House (which was closed this Sunday) and the Steward House. I parked in a lot near the later and took a walk through downtown.

Steward House

This was as stereotypical a "small town Main Street" as I'd ever run across. There were ghost signs, dilapidated buildings, and just enough businesses holding on to mark it as a city on the edge. An arts community had also taken deep root, with installations all through downtown and several theaters around town. There was also a large war memorial on the main drag, dedicated to soldiers from all of America's wars (up to the Iraq War, with the end date left blank, with a perhaps unintended poignancy). There was also an old-school diner poised somewhat precariously over the river that ran through the middle of town.

A little before gates, I headed back to the stadium, parked as far back in the lot as I thought would spare me any foul ball trouble, and headed into the game.

The game going longer than expected, I headed straight out to the car right after the last out to get started on the drive down to Jamestown. A good half-hour of said drive was going on the back roads from Auburn out to the Thruway.

Once out on the Thruway, it was just a matter of not driving off the road for several hours. I was tracking to get in at about 8:30 PM, so I just had to keep my car on the road. As I was phasing out of radio range for the Rochester stations and into the range of Buffalo's, I managed to scan immediately from one fading classic rock station to another.

Soon after, I had an unusual driving occurrence. I had an instance of synchronized rocking out by two unassociated people in separate cars. AC/DC's Dirty Deeds has a very specific cadence, and trying to keep myself interested in the road, I was going with it. As I was passing another car on 90, he very clearly was bouncing at the same rhythm, and I think we both noticed at the same time. So I threw him the horns, and he threw me the horns, and I sped off into the growing night.

Outside of having to get off of 90 just to get back onto 90 in Buffalo, the rest of the drive wasn't of note. I eventually made it to my hotel in Jamestown just as the gas light went on in my car. Conveniently, there was a gas station right next to my hotel. Less conveniently, there didn't seem to be any way to get to my hotel. After driving around several times, I found a road that led to a road that led to a path that got me to the hotel.

I checked in and went up to my room to drop my stuff off, and then ran across the street to get some McDonald's for dinner before the Game of Thrones finale came on. Basking afterwards in the complete removal of any of Tyrion's motivations from the book, I went back down to get some gas, as it would be an early morning the next day, and anything that I could get done to speed things up that night would no doubt be beneficial. In leaving, I finally found the disguised main entrance to the hotel with the addition of the night street lights on the street. I drove next door, found my gas tank and the means to open said gas tank, and then filled up. Feeling peckish, I went inside to get a drink and a snack. Next to the counter was a bin of fresh jerky, and how can you not have some fresh jerky?

I went back to the hotel and went up to get to bed at a decent hour to prepare for the impossibly early game the next day.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Falcon Park

Leo Pinckney Field at Falcon Park is an oddity in that since the early 80s, the park and the minor-league franchise has been owned by the City of Auburn. The structure is very similar to its neighbor in Batavia down the road, with a covered grandstand capped by a small press box, and a row of seats running down to either outfield. A wide walkway separates the box seats below from the bleachers above in all sections, except the grandstand behind home plate that is all backed seating. An additional exterior walkway runs from left field to right field behind the bleachers.

The main entrance plaza is just behind first base, and houses mascot's Abner's "house," as well as the scorecard stand and the merchandise trailer. Several regular concessions dot the buildings in the plaza, but there are other smaller food stalls, including a beer stand under the bleachers on third, a BBQ tent on the first base side, and a small food cart behind home plate so you can get food without missing the game.

In left field, there is a clubhouse and bullpen, as well as a covered picnic group area. In right field, there is also a clubhouse and bullpen, and a children's play area and the Buffalo Wild Wings Party Deck. The stadium has a number of memorials, but especially of note were memorial plaques to certain (one would assume) die-hard fans that were located in the grandstand behind home plate.

Whatcha watchin?

Abner (a mascotized version of Abner Doubleday, mythical founder of baseball) is involved in most of the on-field antics, which were decidedly fewer than normal for minor leagues. There was only a race or contest every other inning or so. The fare was mostly minor-league standards, but there was one original cup-stacking contest that I hadn't seen before, no doubt a relic of the cup-stacking craze that peaked a few years ago.

The Sunday afternoon crowd was nearly all families, though there were some baseball fans there, as well as relatives of the players. Not surprisingly, a large contingent of Batavia rooters came down the road to populate the first-base visiting seats. Both fans were responsive, but the home team didn't get much to cheer for.


At the Game With Oogie:

Sun scoring

This was almost a repeat of the previous night's contest just a little further down the road. I got in as the gates opened and did my usual business. In right field, there was a smokehouse bar-b-que concession, and I got myself a pulled pork plate that was apparently exactly what I needed.

There was a bit of a problem with my seat, which I had ordered over the phone. I had asked for ticket behind the home dugout, and they had given me one on the visitors' side behind the backstop. I asked the usher if it would be okay to go out and come back, and he assured me it would, so I went to the ticket office, sat in the line for a minute, and told them the issue. The guy at the counter said it was no problem, and exchanged my ticket for one behind the home dugout. So they get points for customer service.

BBQ plate

I put myself in the seat a little before game time. I was surrounded mostly by families, and in the row ahead of me was a mother with her sons and several of his friends from their Little League team, all of whom had just been made All-Stars, if I overheard correctly. One of the kids was really into the game, and trying to explain/correct some things to his mom. At a couple of points, I had jumped in to provide some authority on some rules questions or events that happened on the field. It had gotten to a point in the late innings where that kid said something to his mother about the Tampa Bay Yankees, and his mother was correcting him that it was the Rays in Tampa Bay, and he just looked back at me, and I had to tell her as politely as possible that there was in fact a "Tampa Bay Yankees" in the low minors. I've got your back, little baseball dude; I've got your back.


The Game:

First pitch, Muckdogs vs. Doubledays

The convenience of having opponents so close at hand is that it allows series such as this, where the same two teams played in Auburn on Friday, Batavia on Saturday, and then back in Auburn on Sunday. This afternoon contest was the third game they would play in the series, having split the first two contests.

The game seemed to be a parallel of the game the day before, as the Muckdogs jumped out to an early lead in the first with a one-out single followed by home run crushed to deep center. Two outs ended the half 2-0, Muckdogs. The Doubeldays had a less auspicious start. After a leadoff strikeout, the next batter was horrifically plunked in the head and removed from the game for a pinch runner. An error on a pickoff throw got him to second, joined on the bases by a two-out walk, but all runners were stranded to end the first.

The game quieted down from there. The Muckdogs had their own hit batsman in the second and nothing else. Auburn had a one-out single to show for the bottom of the inning. In the top of the third, the Muckdogs had a one-out single that was cut down from center trying to stretch it into a double. The Doubledays went in order in the bottom of the third, as did Batavia in the top of fourth.

However, Auburn seemed to have something in the bottom of fourth. A one-out double made it to third on an error by the left fielder, and a two-out walk chased the pitcher, but a fly out to left ended the threat. The Muckdogs again went in order in the fifth, and while Auburn had a bunch of runners in the bottom of the inning, none of them got past first. A leadoff walk was erased on a fielder's choice, the trailing runner got picked off first, and a two-out walk was also erased trying to steal second to end the inning.

In the top of the sixth, Batavia got a leadoff single bunted over to second, but two strikeouts left him there. The Doubledays had their leadoff batter make it to first on an error by the shortstop, and then to second on a subsequent error by the pitcher, but three outs stranded him at second.

The seventh was when it all came apart for Auburn. The inning started with a strikeout, but the batter made it to first on a passed ball. A one-out single made it first and second, but a passed ball quickly turned it to second and third. A walk loaded the bases, and a sacrifice fly brought the runner from third home. Another passed ball moved the runners up to second and third again, but a double cleared the bases. The next batter singled the runner from second home and then made it to second on the throw home, but a strikeout ended the half at 6-0, Muckdogs. Auburn managed just a single in the bottom of the inning.

Batavia went in order in the eighth, but the Doubledays showed some life. A pinch-hitter started the inning with a single. A one-out double made it second and third. And then a towering homer to center cleared the bases and chased the Batavia pitcher. The new Batavia hurler got the next two to end the inning at 6-3, Muckdogs.

In the ninth, the first Batavia batter reached on an error, but three ground-outs left him no further than second base. The Doubledays ingloriously went in order, cementing the 6-3 Muckdog win.


The Scorecard:

Muckdogs vs. Doubledays, 06/15/14. Muckdogs win, 6-3.

The scorecard was a pamphlet-sized purchase at a booth in the main plaza. The problem with it was that while it was a centerfold fold-out with adequate space, it was printed on glossy paper, which was completely antithetical to most pencil writing, and especially red colored pencil, which was pretty much invisible on the page.

Points off to Auburn for not even posting lineups. A staff member said they usually do so by the bathrooms on the first base side, but they hadn't done so since the start of the season. Boo.

There was nothing too exceptional, scoring-wise, from the game. The low A-ball nature of the game really showed through, with the copious errors, passed balls, hit batsmen, and especially the passed ball strikeout that stoked the Muckdogs rally in the eighth. Of note was the fact that Auburn substituted for a player twice (once in the first after a beaning and again in the eighth for a pinch-hitter) that required using an empty replacement line on the scorecard.


The Accommodations:

Hampton Inn & Suites

I stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites this evening, and it was an odd start.

I walked in the front door, and there was no one at the desk. Seeing the office door next to it, I knocked and received no reply. Doing some quick reconnoitering, I could find no employee of the hotel, period.

I went back to the desk and called the main desk on the phone there. I eventually got a staff member who said she was helping a guest and would be back shortly, and, oh, didn't I see the plaque?

Sure enough, there was a plaque on the counter that said all the staff were off helping guests and they would return shortly. Now, in my defense, you don't often find plaques being used for notes. Without looking, I had assumed that it was some award or other, because that is what one finds on plaques, not "back in five minutes" sort of notes.

I eventually got checked in and went up to my room, a large example of its kind that had two queen beds (I think that was the only thing they had available when I made the reservation), a fancy desk, and a fancy bathroom.

With the two queen beds, I had a truly copious amount of pillows. I could literally make another bed out of all the pillows I had on both beds. I eventually made a pillow cocoon that I slept in, completely covered in pillows. I believe this was the heart of all the ambitions I had as a five year-old, and I was now able to fulfill them. So, check mark for Sunday, really.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2014 Western New York

Batavia

On Why Alamo Rental (Metaphorically) Eats Dead Babies After Killing Said Babies

Friday, June 13, 2014
Hoboken, NJ


Outside the Game:
I clearly should have checked the date more closely when making my travel plans.

The plan, such as it was, called for me flying out from Newark Liberty Bald Eagle God Bless America Airport on Friday after work. The flight wasn't until just before 10 PM, so even if work went (inevitably) long, I could still make my flight.

As it was, work was unexpectedly wrapping up a little early, and I was even looking into perhaps moving up my flight. Everything was looking pretty okay.

I'm not the most superstitious person on the planet by any stretch of the imagination, but it was Friday the 13th. Oh, and pouring rain like there was a fire sale in Heaven. I realize that analogy is awful, but we're going with it anyway. The skies opened up a little before six PM. The weather report had it raining well into the night.

I called United Airlines rather quickly to see what my options were if my flight didn't get out. It turned out all the flights to Buffalo so far that day had been cancelled. My first game was at night the next day, so I had a little flexibility in getting out in the morning. But all the morning flights were booked (no doubt from the cancellations that day), and the first flight I could get wouldn't land until an hour or so before game time.

I then made my co-workers' lives rather difficult for the next half hour or so in my own indubitable manner. My best options looked restricted to taking an 8-hour Amtrak train to Buffalo that would have me rushing to make the game in Batavia. I went online to see if I could book a ticket on the earlier flights, and suddenly seeing availability, I called United back and got put on the one remaining seat on the 10 AM flight the next morning.

Feeling better about the world, I moved on to what I thought would be the easier tasks of moving my rental car and trying to cancel my hotel. As far as the latter went, I didn't think it would be possible, as I had gotten an unrefundable Internet rate and blown past the cancel time. I tried to call the hotel to tell them I wasn't showing up, but they referred me to Hotels.com. I tried to call them and got put through an automated phone tree hell and gave up.

It was then that I called Alamo to move my reservation 11 hours. I got a call center in India, which is always a great start, but I pushed on. I explained that my flight was cancelled, and that I would now be picking up my car almost exactly twelve hours later. And then the attendant gave me a price nearly double my original quote.

And we had a problem. I asked how she could possibly justify doubling my reservation cost on what was now a shorter reservation. She said that they base their reservations on the price at the time of the change instead of the original rate. I then said that I was keeping my original reservation and would just be late. She countered that she would be marking my reservation as unclaimed at midnight. I told her where to place my reservation.

After a few minutes on Kayak, I had a rental arrangement with Budget at slightly less than my original agreement with Alamo, and I called back them to officially cancel my reservation and tell them where to shove their price gouging, which was surprisingly also where I told them to put my original reservation earlier.

I finished up at work and went home to do some laundry. I called a car service for a ride to the airport the next morning and then went to bed, grumbling things about Texas-based rental car agencies.


The Accommodations:
Sadly, Hoboken

On Finally Getting Started

Dwyer Stadium, 2014

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Auburn Doubledays (Washington Nationals) vs.
Batavia Muckdogs (Miami Marlins)
Dwyer Stadium
NY-PENN League (A-)
Batavia, NY
7:05 PM


Outside the Game:
And I awoke in a new day, after a fitful night's sleep. Dragging my luggage back home the night before, I had wrenched my back, so tossing and turning was painful enough to wake me up. Fabulous.

I blearily went through a wash cycle and gathered up all belongings when my cab showed up. An uneventful Saturday morning drive to the airport commenced and ended swiftly.

I went to the kiosk to see if I could get a boarding upgrade, which I purchased dutifully faced with an overfull flight. After breezing through security, I had breakfast at the diner in Terminal C.

Everything was going smoothly until it was right about time to board. They changed the flight from an on-time Buffalo to a flight to Houston, and the board now showed us delayed to 11:40. I was immediately on the phone with United, but by the time I had walked two or three gates, we were back to on-time at our original gate. A brief phone call informed me that the original flight crew was delayed on their incoming flight, but a new flight crew had been found. They started boarding almost literally that second, so I thanked them, hung up, and got on line.

Besides some mild drama with an overly entitled woman bringing her pet on the flight, we boarded easily, and sat down to be told that we were 20th to take off thanks to a closed runway. We eventually took off around 10:40, so it wasn't all that bad. The rest of the flight seemed to go without issues, and we landed slightly later than originally intended.

Things are not going right in your life when you're looking forward to Buffalo

Offloading the plane was a cranky process, but eventually over. As  I got to the jetway, my bag was just being delivered, so I was able to grab my bag and go. I made my way to the car rental building and flipped off the Alamo counter on my way to Budget. I then discovered that apparently Alamo had screwed over everyone on my flight as well, because it seemed that half of said flight was waiting in line at the Budget counter.

The--of course singular--gentleman manning the booth made his painstaking slow way through the assembled line. The good news is that I got two or three phone calls in during the near hour I was on line. Finally arriving at the booth and getting my paperwork completed, I was told there would be a ten minute or so wait for my car. Beyond caring at this point, I just flopped down in a chair and stared out the window grumpily until my car was ready.

Eventually, a sporty Camry was waiting for me, and, at least, I got exactly one key fob, instead of more than one unavoidably fused together in one metal key ball of death to be jabbing my leg at random intervals for the remain of my journey.

My western NY chariot

I threw everything but the GPS into the trunk, put the address for my hotel in Batavia into the direction box, and set out. I took the precaution of asking the garage attendant for directions out to the Throughway, as sometimes it takes my TomTom a couple of minutes to wake up and realize where it is after a sleepy plane ride.

This turned out to be extremely prescient, as despite being out in the open for over ten minutes, my GPS could not re-establish satellite contact, despite my helpful yelling that perhaps it might want to try and look up. Throwing the thing on the front my dashboard usually resolves such issues, but it didn't do the trick this time. I had to physically hold the damn thing out the window, pointing it to the sky, before it finally resumed hearing the signals. As I had nothing to do but sit on 90 until the Batavia exit, this wasn't as catastrophic as it could have been, but it yet put me in a rather more annoyed mood.

Under an hour later, I was at Batavia, and my hotel was right off of I-90. I pulled in a little after 1 PM, and they were kind enough to let me check in early. As my assigned room wasn't ready yet, they  me in a suite that was open, marking the first thing that had gone right on this trip and marking the first decline in annoyance in about 24 hours.

I dragged my bags up to my room, and then set out to the Target down the street to get some heating pads from my shoulder that was barking again now that I had to drag my bags around. My purchase in hand, I walked around a bit to Batavia Downs, the racing track that is pretty much Batavia's only other claim to fame.

I slapped a couple of pads on my shoulder back in the room and then headed out to see the sights in Batavia. I went to the park very early, picked up my ticket, and took some photos outside to get that out of the way. I then drove into town to see what I could see, which wasn't much. There was a War of 1812 Peace Park that I wanted to see, because how often do you find War of 1812 memorials? The Peace Park was downtown next to some other historic building. Apparently, the American army retreated to Batavia after the Canadians torched Buffalo to the ground, and they made their stand there until re-enforcements could arrive, or something similar.

The Peace Park

I did some more walking around, visiting a hand-made candy store a little down the road to get some gifts for people at work, as well as a thing or two for yours truly. I did some more desultory driving around before heading back to the hotel for a nap before the game that I apparently needed a lot more than I realized. Fifteen minutes before the gates were to open for the game, I pulled into the parking lot at the stadium again. I got on the smallish line at the gate, and I was quickly inside.

There was some running the bases after the game, and even parked in the back of the lot as I was, it was relatively quick going back to the hotel. I finished up my scorecard and then went to bed at a reasonable hour.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Dwyer Stadium

Dwyer Stadium is a fairly standard low A-ball park that is located right in the middle of a larger Little League complex, with two or three youth parks surrounding the facility. Judging by the scoreboard and fieldhouse in left field, it also doubles as a youth football stadium in the off-season. Although the park has undergone some recent renovations, the field has been there for nearly 100 years.

The layout is basic. In the seating bowl, there is a row of box seats that extends roughly from just beyond third base to just beyond first base. A walkway separates the box seats from several sections of separated bleachers along the first- and third-base lines. The covered grandstand is behind home plate, where a section of box seats resides, ending at the top in a shed-like Wayne H. Fuller Pressbox. A picnic area sits at the end of left field and a small kids area sits at the end of right. The home and visiting clubhouses sit in right and left field, respectively, and the home dugout is down the third-base line.

A shed houses the team store just inside the main entrance. This Opening Day evening, they had a husband-and-wife folk group doing a pre-game concert next to the shed. Concessions were mostly limited to the main big building right by the entrance, though there were one or two smaller stands down the lines. An aged black-and-white scoreboard sat in left, with some of its lights no longer working. Speaking of not working, the PA system was completely shot and illegible in the stands, and the "I" was missing from "Visitor" clubhouse, rendering it "Vistor."

Homer is watching you

Muckdog mascot Homer made appearances throughout the game, with help from a fan services crew. It was mostly the same old minor league races and contests, though one stand-out was a contest for kids to hit the president of the team in the face with a cream pie, which, if nothing else, shows the management are good sports. The Opening Day crowd was pretty heavy, though not a sellout, and though there was not much going on for most of the game, they did get into it for the big comeback.


At The Game with Oogie:

Opening Day scoring

This being Opening Day, there developed quite a line at the concession stands as soon as the gates opened. By the time I got back for food after taking pictures, there was a bit of a wait to order. Eventually and inevitably, I ordered a "Muck Bowl," which was a plastic bowl with home fries and pasta salad under a hamburger and "dog sauce" on the top. Because, how can you not order that?

Bowl of muck

As per usual, I was sitting behind the home dugout. This would be my 96th stadium, and I was set to hit 100 by the end of the trip, but things got weird. Sitting behind me was a couple from Toronto whose son had been a prospect before having arm problems. That wasn't the weird part. Sitting next to them was a guy head-to-toe in Pirates gear. He was talking to the couple from Toronto, which is why I know all this information. He informed them that this was his 176th park he had visited.

Whoa, there.

At that point, I didn't really know what to do. Do I speak up? Do I mention my own trips? Do I not? Do I try and ignore this whole thing? Hearing the words come out of his mouth, I felt a little embarrassed. Do I really sound like that when I talk about this stuff? The people from Canada were being contractually polite, but did I sound as crazy as him when I talked about it?

In overhearing, it turned out that all of his parks weren't professional ones, and he wasn't keeping score, so already his rigor was much less than my own. And then this somehow became a thing. There was an odd tension of embarrassment and competition that ran through me for most of the night. The guy even had the exact same camera model as myself, but one upgrade higher. I really couldn't process all of the competing information I had going through my head.

Did I actually have a nemesis? This Pittsburgh native currently living in DC travelled a lot for work, and was willing to drive an insane amount of time on his trips. He was going to see another game in Jamestown the next day, and was then driving back to DC that night. That's nuts, right? Right?

Regardless, he left during the last inning to go take more photos and disappeared into the night. And I will never know. I feel we may meet again, however.


The Game:

First pitch, Doubledays vs. Muckdogs

This was the second game of the season for both teams. Auburn, an hour down the road, had their home opener on Friday versus Batavia, and then the next day, they drove back down the road to give Batavia their home opener against Auburn. This, incidentally, was only the second Opening Day game I'd ever been to.

It started off interesting, to say the least. An Auburn triple split the fielders in center. The next batter did exactly the same thing, driving in the first run. A deep fly to center almost did it again, but a great catch turned it into just a sacrifice fly, making it 2-0, Auburn, with one out. Two strikeouts followed to end the half. The Muckdogs went in order in the bottom of the first, and then the game went into neutral for a while.

The Doubledays had a two-out single in the top of the second, and the Muckdogs only had a one-out walk in the bottom. Auburn did the same with a two-out walk in the top of the third, and the Muckdogs had a hit batsman to lead off the bottom of the third and nothing else. Auburn had a lead-off single in the fourth erased on a double-play, and Batavia went in order in the bottom of the inning.

Things picked up a little in the fifth. Auburn had a one-out single erased on a fielder's choice. The surviving runner moved over on a (questionable) balk, and the next batter walked. But a strikeout looking ended the threat. The Muckdogs started the bottom of the fifth with a double, moved over to third on a fielder's choice, but two more outs stranded him at third. Auburn went in order in the sixth, but Batavia had a leadoff walk erased on a fielder's choice, with the second runner picked off. A two-out walk was stranded by a strikeout, still leaving it 2-0, Doubledays.

Auburn went in order in the seventh, and the Muckdogs just had a two-out walk in their half and nothing else. The Doubledays had a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth, but he was picked off, and a one-out single was subsequently stranded, bringing nothing across.

Not so for the Muckdogs. A double started the bottom of the eighth, and the next batter walked. A grounder to the pitcher got muffed to load the bases. A single to deep short left the shortstop with no throw, brought in a run, and left the bases bombed. A grounder to second only got a runner at second, scoring another run and leaving it first and third with one out. Another single brought in the runner from third and left it first and second. A strikeout put hope for an end to the bleeding for Auburn, but the next batter got plunked to load up the bases yet again. A long double cleared the bases and marked a batting around for Batavia. The next batter walked, and the one after him got plunked, loading up the bases again and chasing the Auburn pitcher, finally. A grounder to short looked to end the inning, but the shortstop threw it away, bringing in another run. A strikeout finally ended the beating at an amazing 7-2, Muckdogs.

The closer came in for Batavia in the top of the ninth and quickly got a strikeout. The next batter walked and made it to third on a following ground-out to second. But a pop to the shortstop would strand him there, ending the game with a unexpected Muckdog win, 7-2.


The Scorecard:

Doubledays vs. Muckdogs, 06/14/14. Muckdogs win, 7-2.

The scorecard was part of a $3 magazine program, which was kind of surprising for a short-season minors team where the programs are usually give-aways. However, the scorecard was on non-glossy paper, all on one page, and had a decent amount of space for scoring. The facing page of the program even included instructions on how to score a game.

The park was very scoring-friendly. There were a lot of people writing on lineups cards, and in a particularly nice touch, they put a slanted shelf in the wall underneath the lineups so that scorers had a convenient place to write on when filling out said scorecards. So that was nifty.

Scoring-wise, this game had some oddities. I don't think I'll ever see back-to-back triples to start a game ever again. The catch right after to make it a sacrifice fly and not a double was worthy of a gem. Besides that, it was mostly standard, with a bit more hit batmen than expected and more yips in the field, which is probably the case for an early-season game in the short-season league.


The Accommodations:

Best Western Crown Inn

I was staying at the Best Western Crown Inn & Suites in Batavia, which was literally down the street from the NY Thruway entrance, which was convenient leaving the next day.

As mentioned, I got upgraded to a suite. It was frankly a huge room, with a large bathroom off the entrance, an island with a sink, refrigerator, and microwave breaking up the room, a desk and couch towards the front, and a king-sized bed in the back by the window.

I popped in an out all day, but the longest I spent in the room was when I crashed for the night. Still, not bad all around.

Click here to see all the photos in this trip.

2014 Western New York

Williamsport

On Running Away to Unexpected Things

Historic Bowman Field, 2013

Friday, August 30, 2013

Batavia Muckdogs (Miami Marlins) vs.
Williamsport Crosscutters (Philadelphia Phillies)
NY-Penn League (Short-Season A)
Historic Bowman Field
Williamsport, PA
7:05 PM


Outside the Game:
Work was conspiring to kill me; this much was obvious to me now. I lost track of the number of times I nearly just quit and walked out of the building that week, but I kept holding on to the hope of this long weekend of baseball and managed to carry on.

I was planning on leaving relatively early for the first leg of this trip. Williamsport was about three hours away, and there would no doubt be holiday traffic on the Friday of Labor Day, and I had already booked a hotel that morning, so I headed out a little before two. On the way out, I ran into at least one of the new tenants who were moving into the apartment vacated by my Florida-bound landlords. I was a bit nervous about this, as I am all things related to my living arrangements, but at least the one woman I met seemed nice enough.

And so I headed out on the road, and I was nearly immediately stymied by the Pulaski Skyway, which they saw fit to repair on one of the biggest travel days of the year. Okay, great. Groovy.

I found an alternate route on my TomTom, got some gas on the way, and took another way out to 280. Once I got on that road, things proceeded swimmingly, until traffic stopped about another half hour in. After slogging through barely moving traffic, the accident at the end revealed itself (three cars, no fatalities), and the road opened up.

I made up some of the time by ignoring the speed limit, but a full half hour is the kind of thing you can't make up altogether. And then there was the next backup. This was just a merge congestion, but it took another ten minutes out of my life. Oh, and did I mention it was incredibly hot, and my car's only "air conditioning" comes from driving really fast? Standing still for nearly an hour, I was drenched in a Taiwan-level of sweat, and the car was nearly unbearable.

After that last delay, however, it was all relatively smooth sailing, and I made up as much time as I could as I hurtled in the opposite direction from civilization as fast as I could go. But instead of checking in at the hotel, unpacking, and then going to the game, I instead went straight to the game due to the late hour.

They weren't going out of their way to tell you where to enter, but I accidentally found the correct parking lot and went out to do my normal business at the park. In addition, the first Little League field in America was across the street, as this is apparently one of Williamsport's claims to fame. So I canvassed out both before heading to the game itself.

Exunt Bowen Field

After the game, it was pretty simple to get to my hotel, which is good, because I had been driving most of the day and was not in the best of shape.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Historic Bowman Field

When you go and name your park "Historic Bowman Field," you are pretty much laying your cards on the table from the get-go. The ballpark was originally opened in 1926, and it is the second-oldest operating park in the minor leagues, and there are historic markers that attest to these facts. But much like the field in Reading, while historic, it has expanded outwards with some modern additions, but not nearly as many as its neighbor to the East.

The facility itself is located in a depression next to the main road that runs next to it. A statue just beyond center field commemorates the location of the first Little League game, and it is across the street from Carl E. Stotz Field, the original home of the Little League World Series (until it moved to the south side of town). It is still used by the first and oldest Little League in the world. On the outside of the outfield, you can see most of the historic-ness of the park, as its aged wooden wall still separates a home run from an extra-base hit. More modern walls extend out from behind home plate, where a plaza area, concessions, and a kids area have grown from the original footprint.

Center field to home plate, Carl E. Stotz Field

A VIP entrance is located halfway down the first-base side, but the main entrance is behind home plate, right next to the ticket office. It empties out into a plaza area extended out from the park. On one side of the plaza are the main concession areas, and fan services and the team store on the opposite side of the main entrance. The kids zone is on the opposite side of the plaza from the main entrance. Two covered tunnels on either side of the field lead up to the seating areas, and the first-base tunnel also houses the Bowman Field Hall of Fame.

There is a walkway that runs from about the edge of left field to the edge of right field. As with most older parks, most of the seating extends up from the walkway, into bleachers. There is a limited area of box seats that go down from the promenade to the infield wall. Out at the edge of left field is a patio bar open to all comers, while in deep left is "Cutter's Cove," a special ticketed area that has its own entrance, concessions, and facilities. There is an additional area of bleacher seats out towards right field that is only opened as necessitated by the size of the crowd. It wasn't open for my game.

The first thing you'll notice about Historic Bowman Field is the location of the dugouts. The visiting dugout on the third-base side is about where's you expect it (if a little further back), while the home dugout on the first-base side is its own stand-alone shed out in right field. The players have quite a hike to get to the on-deck circle, but the lack of dugout on that side puts the box seats right up against the field.

Boomer and Company

Boomer and the fan crew run the between-innings entertainment. It was mostly your standard mix of races and contests, but at the start of each inning, a card girl comes out with the inning number, much as between rounds at a prize-fight. I hadn't seen that before. And because of the proximity of the box seats to the field, the batters will often high-five or fist-bump any kids in the front rows on the long way to an at-bat. Presumably, this brings them good luck. The day I was there, troubled former baseball star (and the last 30-game winner) Denny McLain was signing free autographs in the plaza, as well as being the guest of honor in the on-field, pre-game interview segment.

The game had a pretty good crowd, although there was a predictable lack of Batavia fans who didn't make the trip down from upstate NY to central PA. The crowd was particularly into the game and cheered at all the right parts, which was a little unusual in the largely family-centric low minors.


At the Game with Oogie:

Historic Scoring

For the first game of the trip, I decided to get some seats behind the home dugout, as per my regular MO. Given the unusual layout of the park, this wasn't possible, so I settled on some box seats behind where the dugouts should be. And, given the name of the park, I don't know why I was so surprised that these were honest-to-god, old-timey box seats, complete with the railing to rest your head on. This was strictly season ticket holder area, as confirmed by the number of people around me who were discussing who wasn't able to come to the game that night, or who was coming later. No one seemed to pay me too much mind. There was one guy who was trying to do a seat upgrade to the boxes from the bleachers, and eventually a kindly season ticket holder allowed him to claim a seat near him that he wasn't using that evening, but after some questioning from the ushers, he indignantly went back to the grandstand even after being given permission. I'm not sure what was going on, but the regulars seemed to just get a chuckle out of it, so who am I to argue?

Today's offence to decency: The Lumberjack

I only got on line to get an autograph from Denny McLain just before he left for the pre-game interview. He didn't come back until right before the game started, and I wasn't willing to miss any of the game for an autograph. Instead, I grabbed a "Lumberjack"  sandwich from the concession stand, which was some manner of beef brisket and onions. It was delightful.


The Game:

First pitch, Muckdogs vs. Crosscutters

This one was a legitimate laugher with some truly odd moments, but the .500 Home Crosscutters managed to put away the visiting, bottom-dwelling Muckdogs quite handily.

The Muckdogs started it out by going in order in the first, and the Crosscutters didn't do much better, only getting a leadoff single that was erased on a pickoff by the pitcher (which would prove to be a theme for the game). The Muckdogs went 1-2-3 in the second as well, but the Crosscutters were not as quiet. Their leadoff man went yard to left, earning the dubious honor of tying the team record for home runs in a season. (It is dubious because a hitter with any real power and correctible mistakes would have been promoted long before he could attain such a record.) They kept the party going with back-to-back, one-out singles, which were followed by a double that brought both of them home. Two outs then ended the inning with the Crosscutters up, 3-0.

In the top of the third, the Muckdogs got a leadoff single, followed by a double, making it second and third with no outs. Three straight outs followed, but a grounder to second got the runner from third home on a fielder's choice, cutting the lead to 3-1, Crosscutters. The Crosscutters went relatively quietly in their half. A two-out strikeout would have seemed to end the inning, but the catcher lost the ball and the runner made it to first, and then he stole second. But another strikeout ended the inning with nothing across.

The Muckdogs went in order in the fourth, and the Crosscutters only got a one-out single (that was another pick-off victim at first). The Muckdogs got a two-out walk in the fifth, but he was caught attempting to steal, as opposed to being picked off. A two-out triple in the bottom of the inning by the Crosscutters was brought home by a subsequent single, but (stop me if you've heard this one), the baserunner was picked off to end the inning.

The sixth was a weird one. The new Crosscutters pitcher started the inning off with a walk, and then mangled a throw to first on the next batter, leaving it first and third with no outs. A ground-out brought the run in, but a muffed throw by the shortstop got the runner to second. Two outs followed, leaving the score 4-2, Crosscutters. The Crosscutters got a one-out double in their half, but it was erased on a hard-luck, double-play liner to the first baseman who got the runner flatfooted between second and third.

The Muckdogs went in order in the seventh, but the Crosscutters sure didn't. A leadoff double was followed by a shallow single, and then another double that brought both of them in, and then advanced to third on the throw home. A one-out walk kept the inning going, and a ground-out brought in the run from third. A hit batsman kept up the specter of batting around, but a grounder to second ended the inning with the Crosscutters extending their lead to 6-2.

The Muckdogs only managed a single in the top of the eighth, but the Crosscutters weren't done. A new pitcher walked the first two batters, and a single brought in one run, and an error by the shortstop on the throw moved the runners up. A sacrifice fly brought in the run from third, and the pitcher botched an easy grounder to move up the runners. A ground-out brought the runner in from third before another ground-out ended the inning, with the Crosscutters up, 9-2.

In the top of the ninth, the Muckdogs did not go quietly. A leadoff walk by the Crosscutter closer was followed by a one-out single and another walk to load the bases. Yet another ground-out brought in the runner from third, but a fly out to right finally ended the game, with the Crosscutters winning by a final score of 9-3.


The Scorecard:

Muckdogs vs. Crosscutters, 08/30/13. Crosscutters win, 9-3.

The scorecard was a separate $2.50 purchase and not a free giveaway as they often are at this level of ball. It was worth the price for the most part, as a magazine-sized program with notes and rosters was included, along with your average minor-league content. The scorecard itself was a little on the small size due to ads, but it was useable and on good paper to write on in pencil, if a little cramped.

There were a lot of unusual amounts of things in this game. Firstly, there were a great number of pickoffs (3). There were also a lot of runs driven in on fielder's choices (4), including all of the Muckdog runs (3 of 4).

Besides that, there were also some odd events of note. In the top of the third, a liner went off the pitcher to the shortstop for a 1-6-3 put-out. Also in the third was a strike-out victim reaching first, which almost never happens in the majors. The oddest moment, however, was in the bottom of the seventh, when the umpire rang a Crosscutter player up when he only had two strikes. It was an awkward moment when the batter refused to go, and the umpire had to sheepishly correct himself. The batter would eventually strike out for real.

And this was just me, but they switched around a guy in the Muckdogs lineup from the announced lineup and the lineup on the white erase board, so I was struggling in the later innings to figure out what went wrong. I  eventually corrected the situation.


The Accommodations:

Holiday Inn

I booked my room in kind of a rush at home, and frankly, a Holiday Inn sounded just fine, if a little pricy. Thanks to the traffic, I didn't get to the hotel until after the game, but it was just a short ride away. I blearily followed the mellifluous tones of my TomTom to the hotel, and found a parking space, unloaded my crap, and headed off to the front desk.

There was a drunk guy with a beer talking to the smiling clerk, and I didn't know if he knew her or not, or if that was a hostage smile. Either way, I checked in somewhat coherently and went off to my room.

And then I went back to ask if I needed a pass or anything for my car, and when breakfast was, and where the vending machines were. And drunk guy was still there, and it seemed more weird, but she didn't stop smiling, so I assumed it was okay. I went up to my room (which was quite nice with the king-sized bed, and the desk, and the TV), and took a shower to wash the day off me. And then I piled all the pillows into a giant cocoon and packed myself into bed.

The WIFI password was "Baseball." Make of that what you will.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2013 Labor Day