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

Augusta (NJ)

On This Uber Thing the Kids Are Talking About

Skylands Stadium, 2016

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Rockland Boulders vs. Sussex County Miners
Skylands Stadium
Can-Am League (Independent)
Augusta, NJ
7:05 PM


Outside the Game:
So, I found out belatedly that the stadium in Sussex County had a new occupant starting last year. The stadium was the previous home of the long-tenured NJ Cardinals minor league team, whom I had visited years before I started the “official” baseball trips as an adjunct to visiting the NJ State Fair, which has its grounds right next to the park. In the interim, Skylands Stadium had only been occupied briefly by an indy-league team that folded after a couple of seasons. A new Can-Am franchise decided to try its luck in rural jersey: The Miners.

My only problem is that I had been without a car since mine died in early May, and with the Yard Goats playing their season on the road thanks to construction issues, there wasn't a pressing need to get a new one just yet. So, when I realized that I had another team to see within driving distance, I had to rent a car for the weekend.

Which is easier said than done. There is an Enterprise lot in the depths of Hoboken, as well as one I found in the Heights, but they were both not open on Sunday, which would make me return the car either Monday morning or evening, not only paying for an extra day, but making things quite inconvenient. I was thereby forced to rent from a place just outside Newark Penn Station, but I had to get there. It was only a short drive, but, well, you know the problem with that by now. I could take the PATH, but with all the weekend construction, it wasn't reliable or timely, plus I would have to get to the PATH trains, which was more difficult with the light rail to Hoboken not running. The obvious choice was a cab, but it was quoted at something like $30.

I had downloaded the Uber app a while ago when I literally had no other way to get home from work late one night (the corporate car service eventually came through at the last minute), but I had never used it. I decided to bite the bullet here, and Saturday morning, I put in for my first ride. I got one nearly immediately for $4, cheaper than a local Hoboken cab just within Hoboken. The guy picked me up and dropped me off, and it was amazing. I was wondering why all the people who had told me about the app in the last couple of years had never told me about this app before. It was a revelation.

I picked up my car after waiting in a bit of a line (apparently it is a big stop for visiting doctors at the nearby Newark hospital) and went on my way, driving back to Jersey City with no trouble. Since I had a car, I immediately stopped at the grocery store and bought all the canned goods that would fit in the trunk, as I finally had a way of getting masses of metal back to my apartment without actually lugging them by hand. Then, after a congratulatory nap, I headed out to the wilds of north-west Jersey.

Unsurprisingly, there was no traffic of any kind, because who goes to northwest Jersey? I got to the park quickly, bought my tickets, took my pre-game photos, and then... had literally nothing to do. Because there is nothing in that area in Jersey. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. There were the fairgrounds (which wasn't hosting anything for a couple weeks), and... fields, I guess. I drove around for a while trying to find something interesting, but I came up blank. I was driving just to drive at that point, but I realized I was out of sunscreen, so I drove the ten minutes to the closest CVS, bought sunscreen, and drove back. And then I just sat in the parking lot until it was time for the gates to open.

Leaving Skylands

After the game, it was another uneventful ride home. I parked by my apartment and went to bed. The next morning, I drove out to the rental place, dropped off the car, and then got another convenient Uber ride home. Uber: Why Are You Not Using This Thing?


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Skylands Stadium

Skylands Stadium started its life back in the 90s when the NJ Cardinals were in town. It has undergone renovations since then, most recently before the Miners moved in before last season. The outside of the park has stairs up to an entrance plaza, with the gates in between the team store and the ticket booth. A giant globe firepit ball sits in front of the plaza and gets lit up after night games.

The park has the old-school inner and outer walkways, with the concessions and stores on the outer walkway behind the seats, and the inner walkway between a lower and upper seating area that extends from outfield to outfield behind home plate. Luxury boxes and the press box are right at the top the upper seating rows from home to first base, and a modest mid-90s video scoreboard is perched out in left-center.

Right field ends in a large group picnic area and the Wheelhouse restaurant, which serves game goers and local patrons during the game. There was even a concert going on the night I went. Right field ends with a large grass area that stops out behind the stands. There is a themed railroad train ride for the kids and a panning for gold station. For fan appreciation night, there was an all-day fair (with separate admission) in this area, with pony rides, water activities, and fair games.

Herbie the Miner

Herbie the Miner (one of the few mascots you'll see wearing jeans on purpose) was the crowd wrangler at the park. Your minor-league standard diet of races and contests filled up the spaces between innings. The pre-game festivities were a demonstration by an overly serious rural martial arts class taught by--I suppose to be--the one Asian guy in Sussex County.

It was fan appreciation night, in addition to the pre-game festival, so there was a respectable crowd out for this meaningless late-season game. It was mostly families for a night’s entertainment, but there were a couple of old-timers rocking NJ Cardinals gear to give it a certain baseball cred. That said, nearly no one seemed to care about the game on the field as much as the between-inning frolics.


At the Game with Oogie:

Indie scoring

I got seats behind the first base home dugout, as the idea of "safety netting" thankfully hadn't reached the Can-Am League yet. Not surprisingly, it was wall-to-wall families all around me, and given the location, there were a lot of signature hounds.

Chicken fingers and a corn dog

The concessions were all cafeteria-style favorites: cheap but strangely tasty. I ended up with chicken fingers, a corn dog, and a Powerade. They'll live on fondly in my colon for years to come.


The Game: 

First pitch, Boulders vs. Miners

If "playing out the string" had a face, it would be this game. The second-place Boulders had already punched their ticket to the playoffs, and the second-to-last Miners were having their fan appreciation day, but the players certainly didn't seem to appreciate it.

The story of the Miners is four hits and six total base runners the entire game, being set down 1-2-3 in 4 innings. They didn't get a man into scoring position until the bottom of the ninth, where a leadoff walk finally made it to second on defensive indifference and made it to third on a wild pitch, briefly stirring the crowd up before they gave up the ghost.

On the other hand, the Boulders had baserunners every inning, and runners in scoring position or brought home in all but two innings. The first two runs came in top of the third with a walk and two doubles. Another run came in the fourth, with a walk, single, and sacrifice fly. In the top of the seventh, a leadoff hit batsman stole second, made it third on a fly out, and then was brought home on a single. The fifth and last run came in the ninth, with the same batter from the seventh earning a leadoff walk and stole second again, to be brought in by a two-out double.

Final score was 5-0, Boulders, and I don't think a soul in that place cared.


The Scorecard:

Boulders vs. Miners, 08/27/16. Boulder win, 5-0.

The scorecard was a regular two-sided printout of an online scorecard stapled to the rosters. It was a good size and not marred by advertisement, so that was nice.

As with the play on the field, there wasn't really anything all that interesting on the stats front, either. A double in the top of the third was really just the center fielder losing the ball in the lights. The pitcher came blatantly up and in on the batter with two outs in the top of the fourth, but he didn't get run for it. It was clear headhunting. He would eventually get tossed the next inning after arguing his second of back-to-back walks. One supposes the umps had heard enough at that point.


The Accommodations:
Sweet home, Jersey City

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2016 Stand-Alone Trip.

Pomona

On Testing the Boundaries of Reality

Provident Bank Park, 2013

Sunday, May 26, 2013
Quebec Les Capitales vs. Rockland Boulders
Provident Bank Park
Can Am (Independent)
Pomona, NY
2:00 PM


Outside the Game:
I loaded up on the slightly more posh breakfast buffet at the Holiday Inn in Binghamton before I set out for the day. Since it was an early afternoon game, and I had a good two and half hours to go, I needed to set out relatively early.

I was in the car and listening to a staticy "Talking Baseball" that got more and more clear as my drive went on. Outside of some minor construction congestion, my drive was mercifully without incident, and I managed to pull into the parking lot about twenty minutes before the opening of the gates, which was just enough time to take pictures of the outside of the stadium and get my ticket.

After the game, it was under an hour to get back home. As I had time and no agenda for the evening, I decided to just trust my TomTom when it took me down the Palisades Parkway to see how it would take me home, and even though it decided to use 1 & 9, by some miracle, there wasn't a backup and I got back to my garage at around 6 PM.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Provident Bank Park

Say what you want about Provident Bank Park, but it is easily the most ambitious indie league park I've ever seen. Most independent league parks seem to aspire to A or AA-level stadiums, but the Boulders clearly decided that their new digs were going to be AAA-level.

To start with, the seating and the walls went all around the field, and didn't just go from left field to right field like most low minors parks. The stadium had a rear facade by the back parking lot and open fencing surrounding most of the park. There were several gates on the shoulders of the building, though the main entrances were by home plate, and next to the team store and the luxury box entrance.

The main entrances led to the main promenade that led down to the seating bowl. The main seating area was fairly standard for a minor league park, with one area of seating extending from left field to right field, with luxury boxes overhead from first to third. But the promenade went all around the stadium, and there were special seating areas in the outfield. The Corona Short Porch was a bar with seating located at field level in right. On the promenade level in right field was the Boulder Berg kids area. Extending from right center to left center (though broken up by the batter's eye) were honest-to-god bleachers. The Coors Light Bridge Bar was out at field-level in left field, and on the promenade level was another building branded to a local radio station.

The Rockbird runs the show on the field along with the promotions team. There's the regular minor/indie fare, with a special focus on races, of which there were numerous examples throughout the afternoon. It was also "Bark at the Park" that day, so there were a lot of four-legged fans in attendance. The Rockbird ever had his own charge, and despite raising some Disney-esque questions of what is a pet and what is not, the pooch on the field was clearly over-excited by the amount of balls in his immediate area that he was not allowed to play with, and often made attempts to madly dash away from the over-taxed mascot.

The Rockbird doing The Bird: Birdception

The fans were mostly a family affair, and decently into the game. Well, with one notable exception.


At the Game with Oogie:

Chicken fingers basket

It is so very rare to have nearly everything in your life succinctly critiqued by an encounter with one individual.

When I got to the park, a good twenty minutes before the gates opened, there was already someone waiting in line to get in. He was in his late teens or early twenties by the look of it, in a personalized jersey, with unkempt long hair, and a bag of stuff. By the time I took all my photos and got on line, I was two or three people back from him, and I didn't think much of it at the time.

As per normal, I got the best seats behind the home dugout that were available. It put me four for five rows back of the dugout in the middle of the row, really close to home plate, because Provident Bank Park had the smallest foul ball fences I think I've ever seen on a ballpark. I was clearly in season ticket country, and the guy with the custom jersey was right behind the dugout in the next section over.

He brought out the cowbell pretty early. It was beat-up number that he hit with a similarly beat-up Boulders mini-bat, at every opportunity. Forgetting that there wasn't that much to cheer about early in the game, for the most part, all he was doing was hitting that cowbell and then texting or something on his phone. It was getting old pretty quick, especially for the sparse crowd sitting around him, and when one spoke up about saving the cowbell for when it was warranted, he said that he wouldn't stop cheering how he wanted to and how could you possibly tell someone to stop cheering at a sporting event? And then he furiously texted some more. You could hear the eyes rolling in the entire section.

It wasn't just the cowbell itself, but that he was clearly trying to mess with the opposing players with it. He would hit it right when the opposing pitcher was releasing the ball, or when an opposing batter was ready to swing. I figured that this was going to end pretty soon, as the opposing manager probably had something to say on the issue, but I wasn't paying particular attention to him, and he disappeared at some point.

As soon as he left, all of the regulars in the season tickets section starting talking about him. Apparently, not only is he always like that, but he is often tossed from the seating area for using untoward language around kids. The exasperated tones told you all you needed to know about this guy.

He inevitably re-appeared, and was immediately visited by an usher who wanted to see his ticket. He made a big stink about having to go to his actual seat, while texting away on his phone. To my great luck, his "real" seat was right next to me.

And he immediately started up with the cowbell again. Which he was ringing in his left hand, right by my ear. I felt I was magnanimous in letting him do it twice before I spoke up. I asked him, rather politely, if he wouldn't mind hitting the cowbell somewhere else besides my ear. He immediately started in on his right to cheer, and I told him, perhaps a little less politely, that he can bang the damn bell, but somewhere else besides my ear. Perhaps it was my demeanor, and perhaps it was because he was already in the cross-hairs of the ushers, but he, with extreme passive aggression, went up and to the right with his cowbell from now on, and I let the matter rest. He even more passive aggressively scooted two empty seats down eventually, muttering about what he has to do just to cheer on his team, and how unfair the world was clearly being to him, who was clearly within his rights.

While that could have been more than enough for the little man, it wasn't the end. Eventually one or two boys a few years shy of teenagedom apparently recognized him from his custom jersey. This keeper of the rulebook on cheering for baseball was not only a professional cheerer, but also the purveyor of a fan site (Twitter, Facebook, whatever the kids do these days) for the Rockland Boulders. All that texting on his phone was actually live-tweeting about the game. After being asked by the gushing boys if he would follow their Twitters, we learned that he also has rules about his important Twitter, in that he won't follow people he doesn't know, even if they follow him first.

The whole discussion was blowing my mind, as he sat there, bragging to pre-teens. He bragged about how he never cut his hair because he didn't have to anymore. He bragged about going to every Boulders game with season tickets his mom bought him, even though he lived fifteen minutes away. He bragged about getting to every game over an hour before the gates opened. He bragged about going to community college. I could perhaps bear it all in silence until he said this, largely verbatim, to the best of my memory: "I'm nineteen years old; I'm an adult." And then I could not quite completely smoother a laugh that I'm not sure he didn't hear.

So there was this nineteen year-old know-it-all, jealously guarding the little fiefdom that no one else wanted that he carved out in the world, petulantly going on about his "rights" and what he "could" and "couldn't" do according to his bizarre little code of laws, carefully guarding this misplaced image as a "rebel," being universally reviled by anyone that had to spend any time around him, and only being admired by those significantly younger than him -- but the fact remains that I was right there with him for most of it. Who, really, am I to judge? With today's technology and beginning my baseball obsession several years earlier, I might as well have ended up a worse version of him.

In other news, the Boulders had this thing where they put up pictures of "celebrity look-alikes" of fans on the scoreboard. Earlier in the game, it was someone who "looked" like John Goodman. They put me up there with Steven Speilberg, presumably because we were both wearing baseball caps and had beards and large noses. Because you know who no one has ever told me I look like? Steven Speilberg.


The Game:

First pitch, Capitales vs. Boulders

Each game on this weekend trip was getting more and more ridiculous, to the point of not being able to expect anything weirder just by the limits of reality. And again I was proved wrong.

The Capitales got a single erased on a double-play in the top of the first, while the Boulders went in order. The Capitales went in order in the second, while the Boulders at least got a leadoff walk who stole two bases before being stranded on third. The Capitales had a bit of a rally in the third, with a leadoff walk (erased on the subsequent fielder's choice) and then another walk and a double-steal, to make it second and third with one out. But two strikeouts ended the inning with no one across. The Boulders went in order in the bottom of the third, as did everyone after until the top of the sixth.

Then the Capitales got a one-out double followed by a single that made it first and third with one out. But again, two outs followed with none coming across. The Boulders again went in order, as did the Capitales, facing a new Boulders pitcher. The Boulders got a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh, but he was caught stealing to end the inning.

In the top of the eighth, the Capitales mounted a serious threat, with a leadoff single sacrificed to second, and then a walk made it first and second with one out. Pitchers were changed, an out was had, but another walk loaded the bases. But a clutch strikeout ended the game and kept it scoreless.

Things went pear-shaped in the bottom of the eighth, when the Capitales pulled their pitcher, who was still working on a no-hitter. That no-hitter lasted two more batters, as a solo home run to left ended the no-hitter and the scoreless tie. The next batter singled to center, and the next singled to right, making it first and third with one out. A passed ball scored a run and moved the runner on first to second. A productive fly out to right moved the runner on second over to third. A single brought him home, and a double brought him home. Not yet content, another single (the third straight hit) scored the runner from second, making it 5-0 Boulders, before a flyout by the ninth batter in the inning mercifully ended the onslaught.

At this point, we awaited the Boulder's closer to finish up the ninth, and the home crowd could go home happy.

Not so.

The closer for the Boulders was victimized by a first baseman who couldn't handle a throw, allowing a lead-off runner on first. A passed ball moved him to second, but it hardly mattered, as the batter then homered to right, to make it 5-2. No one was too worried at this point.

The next batter walked, and the batter after him got plunked. People started to get worried.

A groundout to the first baseman calmed everyone down a little, but the next batter went yard to right and tied it up 5-5. A pop to first and a grounder to third by the ninth man in the inning eventually ended it, but the deja vu was strong, and the home crowd was stunned.

Onto the bottom of the ninth, and unsurprisingly, a new pitcher for the Capitales.

He plunked the first batter.

He plunked the second batter.

The third batter, simply trying to bunt the ball, was nearly hit twice before he got a bunt down in front of the plate.

The catcher threw that bunt into left field trying to get the lead runner.

And the game ended on an E2.

Two walk-off wins on errors in two days.

Baseball. Am I right?


The Scorecard:

Les Capitales vs. Boulders, 05/26/13. Boulders win, 6-5.

The scorecard was on nice cardstock paper in the center of the free program, but, as Derek Zoolander might say, it was a scorecard for ants. All of the boxes seemed to be shrunk down versions made to fit the smaller form factor, which made it difficult to scrunch in the scoring.

Taking a pitcher out when he has a no-hitter was inexplicable enough. Having the replacement pitcher face nine batters and give up five runs was more so. Having the new home pitcher then follow and do exactly the same thing buggers statistics. Having the new pitcher bean the first two runners and nearly hit the third breaks math. And the walk-off error on the catcher just needs a new universe to properly do it justice.


The Accommodations:
I drove back to Hoboken after the game, so I was back at home that night, wondering why I thought it a good idea to do this the weekend before I was leaving for a two-week vacation.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2013 Memorial Day

Newark

On Seeing a Game with the Old Man

Riverfront Stadium, 2011

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Rockland Boulders vs. Newark Bears

Riverfront Stadium

Can-Am League

Newark, NJ

6:40 PM

Outside of  the Game:
At the end of a very long week where my failed relationship with my job had gone from the “silent loathing at dinner” stage to the “screaming arguments in public” stage, I was in desperate need of getting my mind off things. Not having been to a Bears game recently, I once again retreated to baseball to take my mind off of life. I was going to go one way or another, but knowing that my father has enjoyed going to a Bears game before, I gave him a call to see if he wanted to go. We agreed to meet at the stadium after he went to church, and I set about the rest of my woeful inadequate attempts to de-stress for the rest of the afternoon.

The stadium is about a fifteen minute drive from my house, but in keeping with my luck for the week, the one bridge that I have to take in the most direct route to the stadium was undergoing some severe road work, so I had to trust in my TomTom to find an acceptable alternate route. And this I found, though it took longer than I wanted and added some more unwanted stress in an otherwise stressful week. Did I mention stress?

My father had already bought tickets by the time I parked in the lot that makes up the right field wall. We met up and went to claim our seats behind home plate.

There was a fireworks display after the game in which neither of us was particularly interested. We said our goodbyes in the parking deck, and the drive home was, of course, uneventful, as I had nowhere to be.

The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Riverfront Stadium

Riverfront Stadium was built in the late 90s in the explosion of independent league baseball, with facilities at about AA or AAA level. The stadium has one large promenade circling the entirety of the structure, where play and picnic areas, concessions, and stores line the back of the walkway so people can shop and get food while still watching the game. The seating bowl descends down from the walkway, looking out into the not-so-scenic rail yards of Newark. Some modest luxury boxes ring the broadcast booth area behind home plate.

The stadium has seen better days. Letters droop off of the hall of fame behind home plate, and most of the shops and concessions areas are undergoing renovations. A huge hit early in their career, attendance has dropped off significantly in recent years, and the Bears switched from the Atlantic League to the

CanAm League this year to save money with a shorter season and shorter commutes to most road games.

The stadium was between a third and half full, mostly with families wanting to see a cheap ball game, but my absolute favorite part was a line of older men, all keeping score, who were in seats at the top of the seating bowl on the promenade. I imagine that is me in not-so many years.

At the Game with Oogie:

Indie scoring

As I mentioned, I went to the game with my father. It is such a cliché, but we really do interact best when watching baseball, when there are no real demands on us except watching some hardball, and in having nothing to talk about except a ballgame, we have more real communication than we do for the intervening year.

We had some seats behind home plate, which are ridiculously cheap for at an indie league game. They had switched up the vendors this year, and we both ended up getting a turkey meatball sandwich to eat, because we were both able to lie to ourselves that it was at least within the realm of healthy. I mean, we didn’t get the regular meatball sandwich, so… healthy.

Outside of sitting, eating, and watching, the only real excitement was a rainstorm that blew in during the middle innings that eventually got so strong as to make us retreat up to the deck to get under cover for a half inning or so, before reclaiming our rightful seats. Rupert the mascot stopped by later in the game to do mascot things for the kids a couple rows ahead of us.

The Game:

First pitch, Boulders vs. Bears

This was pretty much a romp for the home team from pitch one. The Boulders only managed a single (whose runner got nailed trying to steal second) in the top of the first. The Bears went to work immediately, leading off with a single. A strikeout looking was the last out for a while. A walk and a short single loaded the bases, and a hit batsman brought a run home. A double cleared the bases, before a strikeout looking, an intentional walk, and a final strikeout ended the inning. Good news: struck out the side; bad news: four earned runs.

The Boulders didn’t do much better in the second, ratcheting a single and a bunch of fielder’s choices. The Bears got another run on a solo homer and scattered around some hits, leaving it 5-0 going to the third. The Boulders went in order, but the Bears finally chased the Rockland starter with four runs on a walk, two singles, and a three-run homer, making it 9-0 Bears.

Both sides went in order in the fourth, but the Boulders finally got on the board in the fifth. Two runners got on with a single and walk that were brought in with a triple. That runner came home on a sacrifice fly to right before a strikeout ended it 9-3. The Bears got one back in the bottom of the inning, scattering three singles, a walk, and a sacrifice fly.

The Boulders had a walk and then went in order in the sixth, while the Bears scored again on two walks and a single, leaving it 11-3. A leadoff triple and a single for the Boulders got them back one run, but the Bears outdid them five-fold on a bevy of walks and singles and a double, batting around with the score 16-4 Bears at the end of the inning.

And both sides went mostly in order the rest of the game, leaving the blow out at that score.

The Scorecard:

Boulders vs. Bears, 05/28/11. Bears win, 16-4.

I had recently purchased the Eephus League Official Scorebook, and I fortuitously decided to try it out for the first time at this game, as with the recent league switch, the Bears didn’t have a scorecard to beg, borrow, or steal, let alone buy, at the stadium.

The scorebook is lovingly designed and has a bunch of fun elements in it, such as recording who sang the national anthem, what you ate, and the seat location. But the one thing I worried about was the lack of space for substitutions. I figured that it might get eaten up at a National League game, or any game without a DH, but CanAm uses a DH, so it seemed like a safe place to get started with it.

And especially for a casual game such as this, the scorecard was fantastic. Its small form factor made handling it while eating and taking pictures as easy as possible, and it even held up well under the drizzle and downpour that we had during the game.

Outside of keeping up with the cavalcade of Bears runs, there was nothing of scoring note, although the game did feature the sons of two former big leaguers (Raines and Gossage) on the Bears side.

The Accommodations:
My apartment, of course.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2011 Stand-Alone Trip