Fayetteville

On the Everlasting Hope of Leaving

Newark Liberty Bald Eagle Freedom Apple Pie Airport

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Morrisville, NC


Outside the Game: 
I had this particular trip planned forever, as soon as I found out that there were two new baseball teams that were going to force me to go to North Carolina yet again. I spun it into a summer Friday, but I had always planned to leave on the Thursday from work. But as time and luck would have it, my main client was going to be in our offices that day. Now client visits are never actually fun, but it also made things more difficult in that I couldn't just be wearing my normal "travel clothes," because I had to be dressed for the client. This necessitated packing more than I wanted to, as well as carrying my sneakers with me to work. Now, granted, none of these are exactly insurmountable obstacles, but it did add to my normal travel stress.

This particular client meeting led to a bunch of really insane directives that I won't go into here, but the day did pretty much grind to a halt once they left, with most of the stunned staff leaving early, and I had plenty of time to kill before heading to the airport for my late flight. After murdering enough time, I was off, and took a leisurely run to the airport, which was always welcome. I took a nap on the train, had nice, long walks on the insane security lines they had arranged at Newark Liberty God Bless America Apple Pie International Airport, and then had a relaxed dinner at the Italian place in Terminal C until it was time to board.

Boarding was uncontroversial, and I was able to get to my seat and secure some overhead space with no trouble. This was during one of the bad heat waves, and it quickly got hot on the plane, to the point that the flight crew told us to turn on our overhead air jets to try and make things better, because I guess re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic is better than doing nothing. The old couple next to me was particularly suffering from the heat, but we eventually got underway for the short flight, and high altitiude eventually took care of the heat problems.

I watched most of the Lego Movie 2 during the brief flight before being vomited out into the very last end of the RDU Airport, for a nice, refreshing walk to the rental car area. After a wait, I got a shuttle and my rental Honda Accent and was able to take the short drive to my hotel. The world's slowest Indian man checked me into my room, and I was able to get settled in an asleep before one AM.


The Accommodations: 

Days Inn, Morrisville

I normally go to the Microtel at Raleigh-Durham Airport for my stays here, and it makes me depressed to realize that I have a "regular" hotel for the North Carolina airport. But they do have so many damn baseball teams. Besides the over-long check-in procedure, the Days Inn that was my backup--and right across the street from the Microtel--was fine, which I believe is the mission statement for Days Inn. I had two double beds (which just meant that I had a double bed with a ton of pillows), and the beds were across from a dresser with TV and a small non-descript desk. The bathroom had a toilet and a tub shower, with a vanity outside by the entrance to the room.

I slept, and that's about all I needed from it.

On Christmas in FayetteNam

Segra Stadium, 2019

Friday, July 26, 2019

Carolina Mudcats (Milwaukee Brewers) vs.
Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Houston Astros)
Segra Stadium
Carolina League (MiLB, A+)
Fayetteville, NC
7:00 PM


Outside the Game: 
I woke up early the next day, but I stayed in bed because I was still tired. I eventually dragged myself downstairs for some breakfast, and it was a surprisingly nice spread for a Days Inn, and I downed some yoghurt, Fruit Loops, and a bunch of microwave chicken sandwiches that you could douse with a pot of sausage gravy.

This was all lovely, and then a couple walked in. Many of you may not know about Goreans. They are a BDSM variant that come from the Gor series of sci-fi/fantasy books, where many women are kept as abject sexual slaves. To say the series is controversial is a bit of an understatement. Anywho, the people into this in real life wear distinctive collars (or at least the slaves do), and I know all this because I fell down a Wikihole once that I regret tremendously. Today was the day I'd meet my first in person, as the woman of the pair was wearing that collar. The smug-looking guy sat down, and she went around and wordlessly got him breakfast until he motioned for her to get her own once he was served.

Look, I really don't care what you do in your private lives, but this cringe-topia stuff in public makes me an unwilling participant in your sex life, and I want no damn part of it.

I was just about done eating when they showed up, so I beat (uh, I regret the phrasing immediately) a hasty retreat to my room where I took a nap, arranged my hotel for that evening, bought my ticket to the game, and worked out addresses to put into my talking direction box later on. I then took a nap before showering up, packing, and getting ready for the noon checkout.

Awkward stand-off

On the road by just after noon, I had a short hour or so drive to Fayetteville, home of Fort Brag, and affectionately or not known as FayetteNam. There's not a ton to do in this town that aren't pawn shops or strip clubs, but there is the Airborne and Special Operations Museum, and it had free admission. And I had time to kill, and so there we were. It was quite a nice little museum, if a bit heavy on mannequins and describing things--especially the Special Ops folks--in the most positive light possible. On my way out, there were some Italian paratroopers on the way in who I talked to briefly (the Italian is still functional, hooray) before heading across the street to the North Carolina Veteran's Park for a look around.

It was then that I noticed that they ballpark was literally right across the street. I hadn't planned on it, but since I was here, I decided to pick up my tickets and do my outside photos. The Amtrak train lines were right between me and the park, so I took the car down the street to the park, but due to the big construction going on around the stadium, it required a lap or two to realize where to stop. I parked across the street at City Hall and walked down a long construction corridor to get to the box office and pick up my tickets. I stopped in at the team store to do some shopping and ask where the hell to park for the game that night before heading back to my car to go to the hotel.

Gourmet lunch

I checked in with no issues, and since I didn't have lunch yet and had a suite at the hotel, I bought a bunch of microwave food before heading up to the room. I had my sit-down lunch, as it were, before taking a very serious nap that was the fury of a late arrival last night and a lot of walking so far today. At about 5 PM, I set out for the game and found the $10 lot that the team store personnel had recommended just down the street. It was a give-away night, so they had told me to get there early, and early I was.

There was already a small line by the time I attached myself to the end of it with a half-hour before gates, so I called my parents while I was waiting, and a short while later, I got my team logo winter hat and was off and running.

On the way back to the car after the game, I realized I had lost my lens cap somewhere, which was annoying, but I beat all the traffic out by ditching the fireworks, and I was back at my hotel in no time. I packed up again, planned for the next day, showered off the sweat, and settled in for an early night.


The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, Segra Stadium

Segra Stadium will be lovely when it is finished. Fayetteville is clearly banking on the park being the center of a revitalization of downtown, but most of the surrounding gentrification (condos, parking garages, etc) are still under construction, making it a little bit of a rough going to get to the park.

Once you get inside, it is a very nice park, especially for A+ ball. One big promenade goes around the entire park, with the main seating area descending from it from outfield to outfield. A second level of party decks, luxury boxes, and the press box runs above the man level from about first base to third base. A large kids play area anchors the left-field corner on top of a picnic hill by the bullpen, while a party bar and deck sits in the right-field corner near the batting cages building. Small sections of seats dot the center field wall around the pyramid batter's eye, and the big digital video board sits in left-center against the background of trees above the outfield wall. The Amtrak station is literally behind the left-field wall, and trains make regular appearances during the game, prompting musical cues such as Last Train to Clarksville from the stadium PA.

Most of the main concessions and the Bird's Nest team store are on the promenade behind home plate, making it tricky to grab food while still watching the game. A big Home Plate Bar mixes up the inevitable cornhole with a foosball table. There is a memorial plaque to Babe Ruth (who got his professional start at the defunct team in nearby Cape Fear), and a fully-expected POW-MIA chair.

Demon bird

Bunker the Woodpecker is the mascot that runs the between-inning entertainment with the human crew. It was "Christmas in July," for some reason, so most of the events were Christmas-based. They went all-out on this, to be fair, even going so far as to have a snow-making machine on a small field beyond the center-field wall that turned into exactly the kind of anarchy snowball fight you'd imagine from a place packed with kids. Other events including building a snowman (wrapping people in toilet paper, an event that failed spectacularly), Christmas-themed quizzes, and the present-wrapping contest.

Ah, the present-wrapping contest. The concept was simple. Hilariously huge boxes were given to two women to wrap in the time between an inning, and whoever finished first would win some prize or other. Except one of the women was a young Hispanic lady who was wearing a tight, spaghetti-strap top. I mention this because she was rather blessed, and while she was flailing around and bending over trying to wrap her package (she would win the contest), her straps fell off regularly, and while nothing technically got revealed... well, let's just say it was quite a show, and I'm pretty sure a tweener boy in the row in front of me went into puberty at that very moment.


At the Game with Oogie: 

Chicken fingers and souvenir soda

I scored a seat on the home-plate side behind the long dugout a row back. It was a nice enough seat with a good enough view. There was a big family sitting behind me, mostly women, and no one except the husband was interested in the game. They spent more time out of their seats than in them. The other, smaller family in front of me was watching the game intently, so I suppose that balances things out.

Minor scoring

I entered when the gates opened and did my inside photography. I wasn't too hungry, so I ended up just getting a chicken fingers basket and a souvenir soda. There were multiple events after the game, starting with the minor-league standard ball toss and ending with a fireworks, but I was out the gate and back to the hotel before they even started to fire them off.


The Game: 

First pitch, Mudcats vs. Woodpeckers

This game pitted the middle-of-the road Mudcats against the bottom-adjacent Woodpeckers in a quick-and-tidy, low-scoring, pitcher's duel, decided by one inning.

Things began inauspiciously for the home team in the top of the first as a leadoff walk for the Mudcats promptly stole second, but three quick outs stranded the runner on second. Fayetteville had a leadoff single and a two-out walk in the bottom of the inning, but nothing came of that, either. Both sides went in order in the second, but the Woodpeckers started their inning again with a single, but this time, he was erased on a double-play. Both sides anemically went in order in the third.

The fourth inning saw Carolina get on the hit parade with a one-out single that made it to third on a blown pick-off throw, but there he stayed. Fayetteville again went in order despite a leadoff single, this time the victim of a failed stolen base attempt. In the fifth, it was the Mudcats turn to go in order, but it was finally the Woodpecker's time to shine. A leadoff double made it to third on a single, and a sacrifice fly to right brought in the first run of the night. A double right after only got the runner to third, but an error on the throw in by the center fielder let another run score, and another double brought in a third run, leaving the score 3-0 after five. Carolina stranded a one-out double in the top of the sixth, while a leadoff walk and two-out hit batsman suffered the same fate in the bottom of the frame for the Woodpeckers.

The seventh saw both sides go in order, and the Mudcats did the same in the eighth. Despite two walks, Fayetteville managed nothing in the bottom of the eighth, and Carolina went quietly in order in the ninth, leaving the home team with a 3-0 victory.


The Scorecard:

Mudcats vs. Woodpeckers, 07/26/19. Woodpeckers win, 3-0.

The scorecard was not part of the inaugural-year team program, but a stapled collection of papers that was also a free give-away. It had match-up information and recent news for the team, scoring instructions, rosters, and the scorecard, which was a nice little packet to have. The lineups were pre-printed, with no obvious space for replacements, giving a stats block for each batter and pitchers. The full bench and bullpen were listed out, as were the umpires, and a stats block in the upper right-hand corner had space for first pitch, time, and weather, as well as the R/H/E totals for each team. The vistor abbreviation in this block was wrong, apparently unchanged from a previous series when they were playing the Potomac Nationals (POT).

Outside of one unobtrusive ad at the top, there were no advertisements on the card, and the scoring squares were small, but not uncomfortable. There were ten innings of scoring columns, with each batting line ending in a slightly bizarre Hits / At Bats/ RBI headers. Each inning column ended in a full blow-out of runs, hits, errors, and left on bases. The pitching lines were pretty regular stats, ending with the somewhat uncommon "batters faced." There was extensive space for notes on each team, which was welcome, and pretty necessary.

The first weirdness of note came in the bottom of the second, where a leadoff grounder to third hit the bag and caromed off into the ether for a hit. In the top of the fourth, a two-base E1 was annotated to reflect a blown pick-off by the pitcher throw far away. The bottom of the fifth was rife with oddities. The leadoff double was noted to say it was hit to the wall, and the left fielder got his glove on it, but couldn't hold it. The next batter scored on an E8 that was explained as the center fielder's wild throw to second. A double to dead center later that inning was noted that it fell between two fielders, either of whom had a play on the ball. And in the bottom of the seventh, there was a full-count walk that was changed to a strikeout after the fact, which provoked a good deal of discussion. Beside all that, the only thing mildly out of the ordinary was a strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out double play in the bottom of the sixth that had a bit of a run-down, scored DP K-2-6-3.

The line of the night went to the Woodpecker's reliever, with 2 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts, and 6 batters faced. Can't hardly do better than that.


The Accommodations:

Home2, Fayetteville

I relatively splurged on the Home2 for the evening, since this was the only full-day and sleep-in I'd be able to do for this weekend blitz tour. While the place was nice, for what I was paying, I would have liked it to be nicer, for example. There were numerous little problems (stains, broken things, etc) with the room that you'd overlook in, say, a Days Inn, but you can't help but be a little disappointed in with a nicer hotel.

The entrance to the suite was right by the kitchen area (which, for an "efficiency suite," only had a microwave). The bathroom was just to the right with a nice enough shower, toilet, and sink vanity. Further down the room was a living room with a fold-out bed across from the desk/dining table, with a curtain to divide up the room if you so desired. The main king bed was further down on the right, across from a large dresser and a TV with a divan.

Outside of little things, there was nothing really wrong with it, but it didn't seem much worth the price is all.

Click to see all the pictures from this trip.

2019 Side Trip -- North Carolina

Lillington

On Being Deep in MAGA Country

Jim Perry Stadium, 2017

Friday, August 4, 2017
Carolina Mudcats (Milwaukee Brewers) vs.
Buies Creek Astros (Houston Astros)
Jim Perry Stadium
Carolina League (A+)
Lillington, NC
7:00 PM


Outside the Game:
Even with a solid night's sleep, it was a lazy morning in the hotel. I had breakfast at the buffet, and then spent time packing up all the formerly wet clothes and gear from the rainout the night before.

Once I was all packed, I made my final decision for the day. Instead of staying in Myrtle Beach for another day to try and get the game in here, I decided to head through North Carolina to pick off one of the new teams. It made for a shorter drive the next day, plus the forecast for Myrtle Beach wasn't all that great again, so there wasn't a big benefit to staying.

I left at about 11:30 AM and grabbed gas, stopping for an early lunch at a Burger King on the road, where a dog sat plaintively outside, staring at me eating my lunch for the duration of my stop, making me feel guilty. I was then out on the road again.

Now, this area of the state is centered around Fort Bragg, a major Army base. One of the main roads through the area runs right through the base, and as I drove up to it, I found it to be closed. Apparently, there was a golf tournament for the brass, and the road through was closed for the duration. This presented a pretty big problem for me, as my GPS kept desperately trying to go through the base road.

I picked a cardinal direction ultimately heading towards my destination and drove on local roads in that direction until the GPS finally gave up trying to take me through Fort Bragg and picked a new route. It was somewhat longer, but I had some time to work with. I eventually checked into my hotel a little west of where I was going, as it was in a slightly larger city and was close to the road I needed the next day. I checked in, dropped off my stuff, grabbed my game bag, and was out on the road to the game.

And I ran into more problems. Following the address for the stadium got me to a Baptist church in the middle of nowhere. I calmly followed my way back the way I came and tried following directions for the college that the stadium was at and drove on the road for a long time without seeing the park. I turned around and drove back and gave up and went into a gas station for directions. They told me I was on a wrong parallel road and showed me the way to go. After driving down that road, I was almost to the end of the college again when I finally saw the back of the stadium. With about forty minutes to go before the game, I parked, bought a ticket, and headed into the game.

The way back was much easier, and I was back at the hotel in under a half hour. I got my stuff together, packed up, got my directions for the next day worked out, and then went to sleep grateful to not be lost in my car anymore.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Jim Perry Stadium

Jim Perry Stadium is a collegiate baseball stadium primarily for Campbell College, named for MLB alumnus Jim Perry who went to the school. And also, until a new stadium is built downtown, it is the home of the newly relocated Carolina League squad, the Buies Creek Astros (which, as you might guess, is a farm team for the Astros).

It is quite nice and new for a college park, but a bit tiny for a minor league park. The Astros will only be playing there one or two years until they move to the city and change their name, so I grabbed some merch that will be rare, if not valuable. The park had a nice brick facade around it, with the BB&T Bank Gateway serving as the main entrance to the park, right across from the small parking lot. The one ticket booth is just under the iron arch at the entrance. A small fan services stand just through the entrance gives out free programs.

Seats run from third base to first base around home plate, with one row of seating rising up from entry ways at regular intervals along the outside promenade. At the top of the third base seats is the Perry Pavilion, with an inside party area and special seating. Netting rings the entire seating area, so no hope there. The Fighting Camels Press Box sits at the top of the home plate seating area, and a small digital scoreboard sits in right-center field, as a part of the tree-line that covers the outfield wall, only broken up by a college building near dead center.

One small concession stand with super-cheap prices serves the stadium behind first base. A large plaza sits behind home plate for congregations and catch, and there is a standing room area next to right field that seems to be the prime place to grab autographs.

There was no mascot to speak of, at least this night, and the small crowd filled the small stadium. The locals that attended seemed to be into the game, or at least paying attention, which was good, because there was next to no activity or the regular games and contests between innings, which at least had the game moving along at a good clip.


At the Game with Oogie:

Hayseed scoring

Even arriving late as I did, there wasn't a lot to this college park, so I was able to get all my preliminaries done without much ado. At the one super-cheap concessions stand, I got a souvenir soda, a red hot, and a cheeseburger for under $10. So, I was a cheap date that night.

Cheap eats

I had a seat right behind home plate in the middle of the aisle. All the seats, even the nice ones behind home plate, were molded plastic, so it was pretty uncomfortable. There was a decent crowd of locals at the game, and no one that I saw rooting for the visiting Mudcats.

An old dude came in a little late wearing his MAGA hat, and loudly demanding if anyone had a problem with his hat to anyone that would listen or even looked his way. A couple of people cheered him, and most said nothing one way or another. I was a visitor, so I kept my peace, but Jesus Christ, it did not make feel warm and fuzzy about this area of the country.


The Game:

First pitch, Mudcats vs. Astros

The newly minted Astros were facing off against their league rival Mudcats in this early season matchup that did not end up being a pitchers’ duel. The longball played a big part of the game and would factor heavily in its conclusion.

The game started slowly, however, with both teams going in order in the first. The Mudcats started off the second, however, with a double, who made it to third on a ground-out and was driven in with a sacrifice fly to center to stake them to an early 1-0 lead. Buies Creek came back in the bottom of the second with quite a two-out rally. Back-to-back doubles were followed by a homer to left, moving the home team in front, 3-1. The first Carolina batter in the third was hit by a pitch, and then progressed around the bases on a passed ball and two wild pitches to score and close the lead to 3-2. The Astros also worked a base runner around, with a one-out walk stealing second, getting to third on a ground-out, and then coming home on a two-out single to re-extend the lead to two runs, 4-2.

The Mudcats ran the table in the fourth. A leadoff single was followed by back-to-back, one-out doubles and then a triple and a sacrifice fly, leapfrogging out to a 6-4 lead. Unbowed, Buies Creek evened the score with a one-out walk and a homer to center, tying it up at 6-6. Both teams needed a break and went in order in the fifth. In the top of the sixth, Carolina hit a two-out homer to center to make it 7-6, while the Astros went in order.

Not to spoil anything, but Buies Creek went in order for the rest of the game. In the top of the seventh, Carolina turned a leadoff walk, steal, ground-out, and booted grounder to first into another run, went in order in the eighth, and hit a solo homer to left-center in the ninth to secure a 9-6 victory.


The Scorecard:

Mudcasts vs. Astros, 08/04/17. Mudcats win, 9-6.

The scorecard was part of a magazine-paper mini-tabloid free program given out by the gate. The scorecard was part of the center spread, and it was pretty awful. To begin with, it was on glossy paper, which made it very difficult to write on with pencil and decreased its legibility. Further, although it had substitution lines for all the players, each player line had two rows of mini-diamonds, further reducing legibility. Another sin was the fact that scorecard was crammed into about 80% of the space on the page, with 20% taken up a Buies Creek logo, for no good reason. Also, the background of the scorecard was all dark blue, which left no areas for marginal notations at all. Just a bad scorecard, really.

Thankfully, there weren't many interesting scoring plays, because it would be nearly impossible to read or record them on this scorecard. There was a 3-6-1 DP in the bottom of the seventh, and the hit/run/RBI line for Buies Creek was 6/6/6, but that was about how out of the ordinary it got. Also, there was a disproportionate number of homers in the tiny college park (4).


The Accommodations: 

Hampton Inn

I stayed at a hotel in Sanford, about a half-hour from the stadium. There were a lot more hotels in the larger town, it was closer to where I wanted to go the next day, and it was more convenient to the roads I needed for the long drive the next day.

It was a Hampton Inn, so it was pretty much exactly what I expected: slightly, but not really, upscale. A large king bed dominated one side of the room, with a small pull-out leatherette couch along the same wall. Opposite was the dresser, desk, and TV. A decent-sized bathroom, with wall-length vanity was off the entrance to the right.

I didn't spend much time there at all, but it got me a good night's sleep before a long drive, so it was all I needed of it.

Click here to see all the pictures for this trip.

2017 The Carolinas II & Tennessee

Zebulon

On Finally Reaching One's Limits

Five County Stadium, 2016

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Lynchburg Hillcats (Cleveland Indians) vs.
Carolina Mudcats (Atlanta Braves)
Five County Stadium
Carolina League (A+)
Zebulon, NC
7:05 PM


Outside the Game:
I slept in on my South Carolina sojourn, and that would turn out to be a good plan. I eventually got myself moving, and stopped at a FedEx to ship most of my ill-gotten baseball gains back home before heading to the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum.

The study in the house

That was a fun little stop. It was literally the man's house that had been moved across the street from the baseball stadium. There was a lot of memorabilia inside, and surprisingly to me at least, quite a crowd. The volunteers, to a person, were very friendly and knowledgeable, and, of course, had a certain opinion about whether Jackson should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame or not. It was an enjoyable little visit that even touched on vintage baseball.

I did have a long drive ahead of me, but nothing else to do before the seven o'clock game. Sadly, the drive was longer than the four or so hours expected thanks to a big accident. I had to detour through the tech triangle where one of my main work clients is located, so it felt a little like walking past my own grave on vacation. But I did make it to the park to take pre-game photos and pick up my ticket before heading to the hotel.

On my way to check in, my glasses broke again, and I had no superglue to fix them. After dumping all my stuff in my room, I got directions to the closest CVS and bought some of said glue, headed back to the hotel to repair the glasses, and take a nap before heading out. That was my second-smartest move of the night.

Departing

Getting back to the stadium was quick and easy. I just had no idea how long it was going to be before I left again. And when I did, after 1 AM, I was in less of a good mood. I drove back to the hotel sullenly, got into my room, and passed out aggressively.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Five County Stadium

Say what you will about Five County Stadium, but the one thing you can't call it is "cookie cutter." Located in the middle of nowhere and next to a water treatment plant, on the outside, the park looks like a 70's concrete multi-use stadium, or an odd corporate building.

The two main entrances are at the edges of the seating bowls, flanked by ticket booths, as well as the home plate entrance. There is a narrow walkway that runs the inside of the seating bowl from outfield to outfield behind home plate, but not around the park, mirrored by a larger promenade outside the seats running the same distance. The outer walkway is directly underneath the concrete upper-deck seats that ladder up from the edge. So the lower level of seats from first to third base sit under the upper deck, while two semi-detached banks of seated bleachers sit in the short outfields.

At the top of the first-base upper deck is the "Cattails Restaurant," and out in left field is the "Catfish Landing" bar. Party pavilions, luxury boxes, and the press box cover the remaining territory at the top of the upper deck. Don't plan on a direct view of the game if you’re in the main seating area, as the stands are right on top of the field and are veiled in netting from upper deck to lower. The main video board sits out in left-center field to keep you in touch with the game, with a smaller scoreboard in right-center.

With the exception of the bar in left, all the concessions and team stores are in the outer promenade, so you can't keep up with the game while shopping for food or sundries.

Given the unique situation of the game, it is hard to really judge the fans, except that it was pretty impressive that so many hung around after the rain delay until the second stoppage of play. Muddy the Mudcat and the other between-inning entertainment only had an abbreviated display for this game given the conditions, but it was standard minor-league variety stuff. The grounds crew (as well as all the office staff shanghaied into helping out) were the real MVPs of this game.


At the Game with Oogie:

Scoring, interrupted

Before this whole drama would become apparent, I ran into a nice, chatty usher who chatted me up when she saw me wandering around and taking pictures. Her husband was in the army, and she worked this job to keep herself busy. She loved baseball, and loved the team, and loved the food, and spent a good amount of time giving me suggestions on said food. At her recommendation, I would get a two hot dogs and soda combo, as well as some mini-tacos.

Because of the odd arrangement of the park, I had to get seats in the upper deck. I was in the first row behind third base, and even given the oddness, they were quite nice seats. I, of course, would spend most of the game not in that seat. During the extensive rain delay, I was walking around the park for wont of anything better to do. I got to know all the ushers, because no one had anything to do but talk. After several hours, you get a little stir crazy. I eventually went full poncho and headed out into the rain, because, what exactly else did I have to do?

Dogs and a souvenir soda

The row I was seated in had two older couples next to me, and they were both there for when the fireworks and game began. They left the park, as did most of the healthy crowd remaining (as there were several after-game activities planned like a ball toss and run the bases) when the fog call came in at midnight. When I left after 1 AM, there were, perhaps, 200 people total left in the park, including all the players and staff.


The Game:

First pitch, Hillcats vs. Mudcasts

Where to even begin.

So, before first pitch, the tarp came out on the field, just in time to cover the torrential rainstorm that the grounds crew said was going to "touch" the area.

It "touched" the area for the next several hours with blinding rain the kind I had only seen in Taiwan previously. Apparently, the storm had been expected as a glancing blow, but it had hit head on. At the edges of the outfield, the water was at least ankle deep in most places. There was no way that this game was going to get played.

Except that the league and the ownership wanted to get the game in, apparently really, really badly. As the whole drama unfolded, and I was one of the few that stuck around, I was eavesdropping on the action on the field. The physical arrangement of the park let me overhear all the conversations between the managers, umpires, and grounds crew, as well as the gossipy ushers who were happy to talk with me because they had nothing better to do.

No one below management wanted anything to do with this game, but the powers that be clearly did. The managers were yelling at the umpires and the grounds crew that there was no way they'd let their guys go out there, but when the rain stopped after two hours or so, the grounds crew, ticket takers, and anyone else they could drag out from the offices were on that field trying to dredge out a half a foot of water.

A small downpour

Scheduling and more impending bad weather had someone spooked, so for over an hour, they manually drained that field. The umpires and managers would inspect the field and reject its safety every fifteen minutes or so, but ownership kept at it, and after several hours, it was good enough to play on, or the opposition gave up, or some combination of the two.

Which leads to another special event: They decided to do the fireworks before the game, because the game would end too late to have them afterward. So, the fireworks went up before the game as the grounds crew did even more work on the field.

And the game eventually started at around 10:05 PM.

And they nearly did it. The players were damp and tired, and the game went on at a bit of a clip, but it was getting played. The battle of the cats finally started off, and the visiting Hillcats jumped out to an early lead in the first, with a back-to-back doubles, a sacrifice fly, and a single bringing in two runs. The Mudcats threatened in the bottom of the inning with second and third with two outs, but they could not score. The Hillcats only a had a walk in the second, but the Mudcats answered with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the frame to make it 2-1. The third was scattered hits and strikeouts for both teams, but the Hillcats started the top of the fourth with a leadoff home run of their own, before striking out in order, to make it 3-1.

The rest of the game was a smattering of walks, a double, a triple, and a lot of strikeouts. This got more pronounced going into the sixth as a billowing fog started to roll into the field. It got hard to see in the sixth inning, and by the bottom of the seventh, after a leadoff walk, the umps called it, because you couldn't see the field from the stands and someone was going to get hurt, badly. And so, the game was suspended because of fog just after midnight.

Can't score what you can't see

And still they didn't call the game. Ownership was content to wait out mother nature. Another hour passed, and then the managers pulled their teams from the field for a second time. It was after 1 AM at this point. But the game was suspended, and not called.

Up until this point, I had never left a game before it was officially called. I couldn't even imagine a scenario when I'd do so. I had finally found that locus, as I said screw this, packed up, and left the crowd of 200 or so people to go back to the hotel.

As it would turn out, this game did, in fact, end with the second suspension of play, but I didn't know that at the time. I had become a quitter. My moral high ground was forever lost. But I did get to sleep before 2 AM.


The Scorecard:

Hillcats vs. Mudcats, 07/02/16. Hillcats win suspended game, 3-1.

The scorecard was a photocopied paper separate from the free tabloid program. It was unnecessarily cramped by the team logo taking up nearly a quarter of the top of the card, leaving tiny boxes for the actual scoring.

I doubt I will ever have these notes again, separately, or on the same scorecard:

"3 HR rain delay + fireworks; Start 10:05"
"12:10 Teams pulled from field for fog"

And that is probably for the best. This is the game that broke me.

There were 21 total strikeouts in a game called in the 7th. Not surprising given the weather conditions, but that still has to be some sort of record.


The Accommodations:

Comfort Suites Pavilion Raleigh

For what little time I spent there, I was at the Comfort Suites Pavilion Raleigh. It was halfway between Zebulon and downtown Raleigh, and seemed a good concession, although the extra drive back to the hotel was not welcome at 1 AM.

I had a nice enough suite. The large bathroom opened right off the entrance to the room, and the rest of the suite was a two-part railroad, with a living room of couch and kitchenette separated by a half wall to the bedroom, with the king-sized bed, desk, dresser and TV.

Outside of the nap before the game, I spent more dollar per minute in this hotel room than any other this trip, and perhaps for all of my trips.

Stupid rain. Stupid fog.

On Making It Up on the Flip Side

Raaaaaar

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Cary, NC


Outside the Game:
I was not exactly a happy camper when I woke up later that day. By the time I could be driven awake, I was a half hour from check out and hadn't nearly had enough sleep as far as I was concerned. I ran myself through a shower quickly, and while packing, I did two things.

Firstly, I determined the final status of the previous night's game. Play had concluded when play was stopped for the second time due to fog. They weren't going to continue the game, but call it official and end it at the second stoppage of play. So, I wouldn't have to stay in town to see the final innings or see another game to make up the stadium.

Secondly, I looked for a hotel near the airport that was really, really nice. And I found a five-star place in Cary that was over 50% for a one-night stay, so I quickly jumped on that deal and got the address. And then it was largely a rush downstairs to check out on time and get out on the road.

My plan for the day if I didn't have a game was to go the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. It was free and had some great reviews, and I likes me a good museum. When I drove into town and parked, the museum wasn't set to open for another hour (it being a Sunday), so I walked around until I found an open restaurant, Tasty 8's, a burger joint. I had my breakfast/lunch and walked back to the museum just in time for the doors to open.

I have to say how impressed I was with the place. Except for some graffiti on some evolution exhibits and a little too much corporate sponsorships (but what do you want for a free museum), I had no real complaints about the place. It was huge, well laid out, and had a great diversity of old-school and interactive exhibits. I seem to recall going hog wild in the gift shop as well. I most remember an exhibit by a local meteorologist that had you guess the path a hurricane was going to take. I suppose the first thing is that there are so many hurricanes that this needs to be a point of common reference for everyone down here, and this was explained by a little turn of geography that I hadn't ever noticed before: North Carolina just straight-out leans into the ocean and pretty much catches every big storm that comes up the coast. So, I learned something. Check mark for Sunday. It was all-in-all the kind of experience that helps forget the tortuous failures of the night before.

And it was just going to get better. After I had the fill of the museum, I headed out to my hotel, The Mayton Inn. I knew it would be fancy, but not this fancy. And I immediately learned why it had so steep a discount, as there was a massive street construction project on the road of the stately hotel, and I would find out later from the staff that it had been going on for nearly a year.

I checked in, had my car valeted away, and was shown up to my room by the staff. The room was as big as my apartment, and I mean my current three-bedroom and not my old one-bedroom. The rooms all came with complimentary iPads for ordering guest services and use while in the room.

I had just enough of roughing it, so I embraced it totally. I did a load of laundry to get some clean clothes (as the humidity had taken a greater and faster toll on my wardrobe than expected), and then I just walked around the town for a while before heading back to the room for a well-earned nap. I ordered up some room service on my iPad for dinner, soaked in the giant tub for a long while, and then retired the super-king bed to watch Game of Thrones on the giant-assed TV.

Improvements all around, I say.
 

The Accommodations:

Mayton Inn

I've already talked about the Mayton Inn, and there's so much more to say. It is a giant old mansion building that is split up into giant hotel rooms. I had to go up a grand staircase to the second floor to get into my room, which had its own entryway. The entrance was flanked on one side with a giant closet with the softest robes you could imagine. Another hallway spread off, with more closet space leading to the main bathroom, with dual sinks, and jadeite counters, and an Olympic-sized tub. The other hallway lead to the bedroom, with kitchen furnishings on one wall, the bed on the connecting wall, chairs and a chine cabinet adjoining, and then a giant dresser with giant TV, and the desk area with the complimentary iPad station.

Room service

Seriously, though: A guy can get used to this.

On A Mixed Bag

See, it looks like a Wright Brothers wing

Monday, July 4, 2016

Newark, NJ


Outside the Game:
This day started much better than the previous one. I woke up lazily in my giant luxury bed, walked the half mile to the bathroom to take care of certain things, and threw on a bathrobe as my free breakfast room service was delivered. Things have been worse.

After breakfast, I had another soak in the giant tub, because why not, and then ruefully packed up. I got a late check out, which I abused, both for more time to stay lazing around in the room as well as the fact that I had a mid-afternoon flight, a short drive, and literally nothing to do except try and avoid the humidity.

There was a small mall between the hotel and the airport, and I ended up killing some time in a Barnes and Noble sucking down a beverage and free WIFI until I could sort of justify driving to the airport and dropping off my car.

And I eventually did so with no issue, and, of course, got through security with no problem, and then had a lot of time before my on-time flight would board. So, I walked around for a while and got lunch, and then gave up and plopped myself down in a massage chair for a half hour.

The good news there is that I got to fairly relaxed state. The bad was that I was apparently so relaxed that I was snoring as all get-out. I even snored so loudly that I woke myself up, which never happens, and in my groggy state, I found a lot of people looking my way. Well, you know what? You pays your fare, you gets your ride. Much more relaxed than before, I waddled over to my gate and boarded the plane home.

The flight back could hardly be worse than the flight down, and as it turned out, there were no delays, and we even landed a little early. Not content to just let me have this small victory, life jumped in and put me in the one cab left in all of Newark that didn't have EZ Pass. We got caught in the fireworks traffic, and we had to wait like plebeians in the toll lanes because this clown did not have a necessary piece of equipment. So, by the time I got home, it was as though I had landed a half hour late instead of twenty minutes early.

But, I was successfully home, for whatever that was worth.


The Accommodations:
Sweet home, Jersey City

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2016 The Carolinas

Woodbridge

On History and Awful Mascots

G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium, 2015

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Carolina Mudcats (Milwaukee Brewers) vs.

Potomac Nationals (Washington Nationals)

G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium

Carolina League (A+)
Woodbridge, VA
6:05 PM


Outside the Game: 

I got up a little early thanks to getting the unexpected early night the evening before, so I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for an early weekend breakfast buffet, and back up the room to shower and pack up. I checked out and headed on my way north.

It was a little under two hours up to Woodbridge, which brought me as close to Washington DC in a car as I ever wanted to get again. My last trip through the area had me swearing off driving anywhere in the Baltimore/DC corridor ever again. This was within spitting distance, but it was also one of the reasons I decided to come up from the south, because coming down from the north was *not* an option.

When one thinks of "sylvania"s, "Penn" and "Trans" probably quickly jump to mind, or perhaps even "Spots." "Leesylvania" is certainly nothing I had heard of before this trip, though it did make sense. The Lee family was prominent in Virginia since before the Revolutionary War and continued to be until the unfortunate troubles in the mid-19th century. Regardless, Lee's Wooden Land remains a Virginia state park skirting the border with Maryland. In fact, a pier bridge on the park is bisected the state line, creating a place for tourists to stand with one foot on either side and take pictures. Not that I would.

Because that would be silly.

Leesylvania is mostly a nature park on the water, with beaches, fishing, and athletic fields. There are also a number of hiking trails, and I took the "historic" one that passed the remains of the original Lee homestead, as well as the family gravesite. After an afternoon of walking around, it was time to head out to the park.

The Lee Homestead

I got the park a little early, as I had nothing else to do and my hotel for the evening was a bit of a drive off. I did my outside photos, bought my ticket, and then I may or may not have taken a nap in my car until the gates opened. But at that point, I did go in.

After the game, I headed out to my car and settled in for an hour and a half drive out to Harrisonburg, about half-way to my next-day's stop of Salem. It being a summer Sunday evening, there were few other people on the road, and the drive was uneventful. I pulled into the hotel a little before 11, checked in, dumped my stuff, showered, and jumped into a welcoming bed, as the travel was starting to get to me, and I was realizing perhaps I wasn't a spring chicken anymore.


The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field at G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium

You know people really liked G. Richard Pfitzner, because if you're going to name a stadium after him, that's a lot of extra characters to pay for on the sign. Pfitzner Stadium is a typical Carolina-league park. One long, single-story building next to the main entrance houses the ticket booths and the offices. A quick walk around established a couple of odd things, including an ice machine outside the park fence for no apparent reason and a skate park behind the right-field wall.

The entrance dumps out in a main plaza with concessions and covered picnic tables. An outer promenade runs from outfield to outfield behind home plate, but does not circle the park, while a narrow walkway runs along the base of the seating bowl by the field. The small grandstand and all the seats are raised above the field by about ten feet, and the dugouts are built into the base of the seats and not into the ground. The main grandstand with actual seats runs from about dugout to dugout behind home plate, with the press box squatting on the top of the seating bowl. Two separated runs of bleachers line the baselines into the outfield corners. A triple-decker outfield wall, covered in local ads, sits in front of the mass of trees forming the backdrop to the park. A small digital video board and scoreboard rises in left-center, and the franchises pennants and championships decorate the edge of the batters' eye in right-center.

Right field ends with a picnic pavilion and kids' play area, and left field just ends. The park has a ton of memorabilia of the franchise over the years. In addition to the regular dedication plaques, there is a retired number for Jackie Robinson on the outfield wall, a championship mural, a Wall of Fame (not be confused with the plaques of the Hall of Fame a little further down the way), a banner of the previous incarnations of the franchise, and a Circle K strikeout board.

"Uncle Slam," god help us all

The home mascot is the unfortunately named "Uncle Slam," a generic blue monster type mascot dressed like the guy from Rex Quan Do from Napoleon Dynamite. For better or for worse, he runs the events on the field between innings, your standard array of minor-league contests, races, and giveaways. After the game, the minor-league classic hoop toss came out on the field as soon as the last out was recorded.

There was a decent crowd for this summer Sunday afternoon game. The main grandstand was pretty packed, but the bleachers only held a sporadic crowd. They seemed more into the entertainment than the baseball, but they were duly appreciative of the home team's victory for the evening.


At the Game with Oogie: 

Section A, Row A, Seat 1, baby.

Perhaps the story of this game is that this is the very first time I have ever gotten seat "A 1" at a park, and perhaps the last time I ever will. It was luck of the draw this time, and Row A, Seat 1 was not, as you might expect, behind home plate, but it did put me in the first row above the home dugout.

Boneless chicken wings

I got in and did my pictures and shopping before grabbing some food. I started with some boneless wings and fries to start and topped it off a hot dog and soda. There was an option to have a side of bacon, so the answer was clearly "yes," and the bacon inexplicably came in a soda cup, but, hey--bacon.

Side of bacon

My seat was right against a ramp entrance to the field, above the home dugout right where the ballboy sat, so I could stare down at him for the entirety of the game. Later in the day, the shade from the ramp cast a shadow over me, which was quite welcome. There was a family of what I supposed to be season ticket holders next to me who pretty much kept to themselves for the entirety of the game.


The Game: 

First pitch, Mudcats vs. Nationals

The visiting Carolina Mudcats were facing off against the home-town Potomac Nationals, and while the home team fans did get to go home happy, they also got to go home quickly, with an extremely brisk game under 2.5 hours long that was played like the players had opera tickets later that evening.

Carolina went in order in the first, while the Nationals pulled the neat trick of also going down in order with a one-out double in the inning, as the runner got tossed out trying to turn his double into a triple. The Mudcats upped their game to a stranded single in the top of the second, while the Potomacs went in order despite a leadoff single thanks to a double-play. Playing the progression, Carolina had only a two-out double in the top of the third, while the Nationals went in order.

We finally got some scoring the fourth when the Mudcats had a leadoff double come home after getting to third on a double-play and then trotting home on a wild pitch, giving them a 1-0 lead. The Nats responded by going down in order again despite a leadoff single, thanks to another double-play. Carolina got a one-out single third thanks to a wild pitch and a ground-out but stranded the runner there. The Nationals got on the board to tie it up in the bottom of the frame with a single and a double, but the later was thrown out trying to make it a triple. The Mudcats went in order in the sixth, while the Nats got two more runs thanks to a double, and single, a sacrifice fly, and another double, stretching their lead to 3-1.

In the top of the seventh, Carolina stranded a single and a walk, while the Nats stranded two singles. The Mudcats went in order in the eighth, and the Nationals stranded a walk and a single. Carolina showed some life in their last licks in the ninth, getting two men on with a single and a walk, but the Nationals closer put it away with a ground ball back to the mound that put away the home-team's 3-1 victory.


The Scorecard: 

Mudcats vs. Nationals, 06/28/15. Nationals win, 3-1.

The scorecard was part of the free, full-color mini-tabloid program. The scorecard was in the centerfold, but it was on decent weight paper instead of glossy magazine stock, although at least a third of the page was taken up with ads.

The batting lines did not have official space of replacements, but there were batting summaries at the end of each batting line, and innings summaries at the bottom of each column. Each tiny scoring square had a pre-printed diamond, which made it hard to keep all the details legible, although the background was mostly white and the printing behind the scorecard was in the paper, not on it. Pitching lines (only three--but sufficient for this quick game) were under the batting lines, and each side had a stats box in the bottom right of the area.

There were several odd plays and stats in this game. The Nationals managed to go down in order four times, but only one of those times had no hits, relying on double-plays and outfield assists to erase runner from the basepaths. On no less than two occasions in this game did batter who hit doubles get thrown out from the outfield trying to stretch doubles into triples, to the point that you had to wonder if the Nats manager was trying to train them on taking the extra base or something.


The Accommodations: 

Best Western

I kept up the Best Western love at the franchise in Harrisonburg along my route down to Salem. A short stay in a decent hotel that was all it needed to be. A queen bed with nightstands and a desk was on one wall across from a dresser and TV on the other wall. A nice-sized bathroom was where I found out they put me in an accessibility room, because of all the extra hardware in the shower. I always feel guilty when getting put in these rooms, but the chance of a disabled person showing up after me and needing a room was so low, I didn't bother to ask for a different room.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2015 Virginia