Burlington (NC)

On the Last Licks

Burlington Athletic Stadium, 2017

Sunday, August 13, 2017
Danville Braves (Atlanta Braves) vs.
Burlington Royals (Kansas City Royals)
Burlington Athletic Stadium
Appalachian League (Rookie +)
Burlington, NC
6:00 PM


Outside the Game:
In a week of lazy mornings, this lazy morning took the cake. I woke up and had breakfast, then went back to sleep until 11:45 on a noon checkout. I quickly booked a hotel for the night, showered, finished packing, and checked out by my noon deadline.

It was just under four hours from Bristol to Burlington, NC. The drive seemed to go on forever, but it kept moving with only one minor backup just across the border. I stopped for lunch at a Wendy's somewhere on 40 in North Carolina and got to the park early.

I parked up and bought a ticket, and then did my walk-around of the stadium. A pair of visiting Braves fans were just ahead of me and managed to scoop up all the balls that I was just a little late to get. All's fair, etc. etc.

In just my brief walk around the stadium, it was obvious this was going to be a brutally hot and humid day. I retreated back to my car and turned on the AC for a little sit down/nap until it was closer to gates for the 6 PM game.

Braced for the heat, I headed out with a healthy crowd waiting for the gates to open. It was "Princess Night," with all people dressed as princesses getting in for a free general admission ticket, so there were plenty of pretty, pretty princesses waiting to get it, and the crowd swiftly entered when the gates opened up.

After the game, I was straight to the car and the blessed air conditioning for the hour ride out to my hotel for the night. As I pulled into the Microtel, my tank was just about out of gas, a perfect condition to return the pre-paid gas car.

I checked in, showered all the humid off me while blasting the room's AC, and then packed and prepped for the flight the next day. I then watched Game of Thrones and went to sleep.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Burlington Athletic Stadium

Burlington Athletic Stadium has escaped corporate naming so far, which is a point in its favor. The stadium is also in the middle of nowhere, so there is space around it without being wedged in somewhere.  The parking lot was even a short distance away from the field, which was certainly a rarity with moist of the Appalachian League parks.

The park had clearance all the way around, so you can walk completely around it. The woods in the back are a nice breathing space, and a picnic area in that woods is protected from home runs by a large wall to prevent picnickers from getting picked off by homers. The admin offices are even in a separate building from the main complex, which was rare at this level, as well.

There was one main entrance to the park behind home plate, guarded, as per Appalachian League mandate (apparently), by the single ticket booth. A large concrete promenade extends around the outside of the seating area, from outfield to outfield, with entrances to the seating area from ramps at home plates and at first and third base. As with most Appalachian League parks, all the facilities are built into the back of the seating area, for the most part. The concessions are constructed in the back of home plate, and there were several stand-alone beer concessions, in addition to a separate team store behind third base, along with the "Grill 1986." The field house behind third abase lso has the bathrooms, and for "Princess Day" a number of stands were set up on the plaza to help decorate the princess further with face painting and temporary hair dying.

Seating was split into three areas. The main grandstand behind home plate had several rows of flip-down seats and them more rows up of bleachers, all under cover, with the old-time wooden press box on the top. Separated from the grandstand at each base was a run of bleachers going from beyond the dugouts into just past the bases. Right field ended with a picnic area, and a sizable children's play area behind it. Left field ended in another covered picnic party area. The digital scoreboard was in right-center above a single-height outfield wall covered in ads, except for the batters’ eye in center in front of the tree line running the length of the outfield.

"Future Stars" posters were just under the stadium sing at the main entrance, the broadcast booth was named for Stephen Gates, the field house was named for Richard Robinson, and several former players had their jerseys painting onto the field house wall, including Big Sexy, Bartolo Colon.

Bingo brings joy to everyone. Except Ned.

Weird-looking monster-ish mascot Bingo was on hand before and during the game to help with the usual between-innings shenanigans and contests. For a late Sunday-afternoon game in the summer, there was a decent crowd, and an appreciable number of pretty-pretty princesses. It didn't quite work out for the home team, but they seemed in good spirits.


At the Game with Oogie:

Pizza, burger, and a Gatorade

After all the rain and discomfort from bleacher seats, I treated myself to a reserved seat under cover and with a fold-down seat behind home plate.

Of note was when I was walking around, I saw a woman with an Eephus League scorebook with her. I asked where she got it, and she said it was her husband’s, but he couldn't make the game tonight, so she was keeping score. I thought that was pretty neat.

I did all my pictures in the slogging humidity, and then grabbed a cafeteria-style pizza and pulled pork sandwich along with a Gatorade from the one concession stand. I grabbed a couple more bottles of water to help me survive the rest of the game.

There was a decent crowd, but there was only one family with two kids in my area, off to the left. The kids spent most of the time running down the mascot and otherwise occupying themselves, while the mom and dad watched the game.


The Game:

First pitch, Braves vs. Royals

The home Burlington Royals and the visiting Danville Braves finally gave me a pitchers' duel in the Appalachian League, with a brisk 2-0 win taken by the visiting team.

That said, the scoring did start as early as possible, with a leadoff home run to left in the top of the first to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. Burlington just had a walk to show for the bottom of the first. Danville continued in the top of the second with a leadoff double to right, which combined with a single and a ground-out to stake them to a 2-0 margin, and who knew that would be it for the day? The Royals got their leadoff man on in the bottom of the second, and he got as far as third before being stranded. The Braves just had a two-out double in the top of the third, and Burlington just had a runner reach on an error in the bottom of the frame.

Both sides went in order in the fourth, and Danville had two baserunners erased on steal attempts in the top of the fifth. The Royals just had a single in the bottom of the fifth. The Braves stranded two singles in the top of the sixth, and Burlington went in order in the bottom of the inning, while both went in order in the seventh, and eighth.

Trying to finish with some luster, the Braves had a one-out double reach third on a wild pitch before getting stranded, and in their last licks, Burlington had a two-out single make it to first and third with another single. With the tying run on third, and the winning run at bat, the game ended without heroics and a ground-out to short, to seal the Braves’ 2-0 victory.


The Scorecard: 

Braves vs. Royals, 08/13/17. Braves win, 2-0.

 The scorecard was part of a free, full-color newsprint booklet program as the centerfold spread. It was actually pretty involved, with each scoring frame having a Scoremaster-type layout, with pre-printed diamond, ball and strike boxes, initial on-base box, and out-number box. Each player line had a place for subs, as well as batting average, position, and inning entering the game. The full pitching lines were unnecessarily crammed into the bottom right of each score box, especially since there was an area for the officials on the bottom left of the scorecard with more lines than there have ever been for umpires in any ballgame, ever. Each inning tally had a full slate of stats, including not just runs, hits, and errors, but also earned runs, left on base, and double plays. Thankfully, the scorecard took up the entire spread, and it was printed on white, so there was enough space to record all this information.

That said, there wasn't a lot scoring plays of note except for a pickoff 1-5 in the top of the second and a 2U with the bases empty in the bottom of the fourth, resulting from a pop hit foul at the plate, called fair by the umpire, and the runner got tagged out by the catcher. Statistically, there were 17 strikeouts in the game, so you can tell why it went briskly.


The Accommodations: 

Microtel

 I ended up at the Microtel right by the Raleigh-Durham airport again. It was another tiny but clean room, with a small bathroom right off the entrance to the right, and a small bedroom with a twin bed and end table on one side of the room, and a small built-in desk, dresser, and TV on top of the dresser on the other side, with a small built-in window couch and drawers over the AC unit.

It was cheap and quiet, and I spent about ten hours total there, so it did its job.



On Naps

Raleigh-Durham again

Monday, August 14, 2017
Jersey City, NJ


Outside the Game:
So after everything, I slept really poorly my last night. I got up, finished packing, showered, and checked out. I smugly returned my running-on-fumes rental car with my pre-paid gas. I got into the airport and through security in a timely manner and grabbed some breakfast.

As soon as I got to the gate, my delay was announced. Not being in the mood for it, I plopped down at the gate and took a nap until it was time to board. I trudged on the plane and immediately fell asleep again. I woke up in time for snacks, and then woke up again in time to land. I grabbed a cab, went back to my apartment, did laundry and napped some more, dreading my return to work and wondering if I was getting too old for all this running around.


The Accommodations: 
Sweet home, Jersey City

Click here to all the photos from this trip.

2017 The Carolinas II & Tennessee

Bristol

On an Historic Event

DeVault Memorial Stadium, 2017

Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Danville Braves (Atlanta Braves) vs.
Bristol Pirates (Pittsburgh Pirates) -- Game 1
DeVault Memorial Stadium
Appalachian League (Rookie +)
Bristol, VA
6:00 PM


Outside the Game:
The day began with a lazy, lazy morning in Princeton, grabbing breakfast, washing up, and then checking out with the same people who had checked my friend and I in several days before. I entered my trip to Bristol into my new GPS, got gas, and headed out for the two-hour drive.

The trip was thankfully uneventful, and I stopped along the way for lunch. I discovered an issue with the hotel bill at that time. My friend had put his credit card down when he arrived first at the hotel. I had subsequently given my card to charge the room, as my friend had slipped me some cash when he left town the day before. But both of our cards had the room charge on them. A quick call to the hotel later, it turned out the charge on my friend's card was just a hold for the room and it should disappear in a day or so (which it eventually did). I called him up to make sure everything was straight, and then continued to Bristol.

Now the thing about eastern Tennessee is that it is the only place that has less going on than western Tennessee. Another friend of mine grew up in the area he accurately described as the "belt buckle of the Bible Belt," but he was from the somewhat more progressive west, and he was at a loss to what I would do with myself in the eastern part of the state, where one of the only real attractions was the Appalachian League that I was there to see.

The one thing that part of the state did have going for it was caves. The area of the state is riddled with caverns, and that was just fine with me. So, my first stop in the state was Bristol Caverns, a rather popular commercial cave just outside of the city.

Bristol Caverns

I parked up and walked in just as a tour was ready to leave, so I and a group of about twenty people were led into the cave by a guide who gave a history of the cave as well as its commercial exploitation. One of the first things you pass in going to the entrance was a second entrance that was attempted in the 80s but failed for a number of reasons. The guide explained that the old family that owned the cave now had no real ambitions for it beyond what it was, as it brought in a tidy income for their golden years, and they weren't about to fiddle with the golden goose this late in life.

The caverns themselves were quite lovely, with a lot of interesting features and an underground river, but the guide was a bit of a character. When speaking of the rumors about the Native American use of the cave, he let drop the line that he was 1/8th Native, and I almost failed to stifle my laugh when he said it. You see, there is next to no chance that this good ole boy had Native blood in his lineage. It has become a hip thing for people to claim, even in the capital "S" South, but in reality, most tales of Native American blood (as in, nearly all of them, especially in the South), are a case of older relations trying to cover up African-American lineage. A little Native American blood was borderline acceptable and perhaps a tantalizing point of pride, but any "Negro" blood definitely was not, and it was an easy way to explain away some darker colorings.

Anyway, after the tour, I drove to my hotel and checked in, unpacked, and took a nap. And then I was off to grab some money and head to the game. The park was an oddly arranged affair with a shared parking lot with the football stadium next door. The sole ticket booth was at the end of a long walkway that led to the stadium, so I was able to score my general admission seat and head on in for the first of two games.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, DeVault Memorial Stadium

DeVault Memorial Stadium was an odd duck of a park, as many Appalachian League stadiums would turn out to be.

The park was located right next door to a football field (another common occurrence), and the one ticket booth was at the head of a long, winding walkway the led to behind home plate of the field. A dual-level building behind home plate housed the "Mose" Saul Pressbox (upstairs) and the Fred & Brenda Scott Concession stand, and the Dotty Cox  Souvenir Stand (downstairs). Further memorials were a POW/MIA seat, and a commemorative plaque on a 27-strikeout perfect game thrown in 1952 by the Bristol D-league franchise of the day. A cement walkway ran above the reserved seats and below the bleachers from outfield to outfield. Three rows of fold-down reserved seats ran from dugout to dugout behind home plate. From the bases into the short outfield, and behind the reserved seats at home plate were three rows of bleachers, metal in by the bases and straight cement behind home plate.

Behind the third-base side home dugout there was "Home Run Alley," a party porch with its own bar. Further behind the third base side was a steep picnic hill, topped a covered bench area (the only covered seats in the park). The basic electric scoreboard in left-center field is part of the two-level outfield wall covered in billboards and backed by trees. The park banned tobacco, and the only place to buy liquor was in Home Run Alley, which surprisingly enough, is where the lushes congregated for the duration of both games.

A lot of mascots for a Rookie team

The team had two costumed mascots, generic monster "Ding" and pirate Captain Buc. There was also a human Captain Buc who wandered the stands interacting with the kids and blowing balloon animals and such. There was a decent enough crowd for a mid-week double-header, and they seemed into the game as much as you can be, given the outcome. Not surprisingly, the Home Run Alley crowd was the most vocal. There was a minimum of activity between-innings and mostly centered in the stands.

It is worth mentioning that they had a prayer before the start of the game. I had been to games in countless states and countries before this, but the moment I see a game in the Belt Buckle of the Bible Belt, they have a prayer before the game. It was a first, but sadly not a last, as it would be repeated for the rest of the games in Tennessee. I mean, seriously guys: even West Virginia didn't pray before games.

The area behind home plate were also packed with scouts. As in, there was a clutch of them with their speed guns taking notes after every pitch. That's rookie league for you.


At the Game with Oogie:

Rookie scoring

I grabbed a GA ticket for the game and still sat right behind home plate, so that worked out well, though the concrete seats were a bit too much, if you ask me. My back certainly agreed by the end of the first game. I scored a lot of cheap grub before the start of the first game and retreated to my seat for the duration.

Well, almost the duration. There was a Baseball Bingo game going that I didn't win, but my program came with a contest ticket that I did win. When I went to the souvenir stand to claim my prize, they seemed a little confused that someone bothered to come get their winnings, such as it was. It turned out to be a leather Volvo keychain, which I guess made some sort of sense in some way I didn't understand.

Winner, winner

The bleachers behind home were pretty packed for the game. In front of me was a young family with a baby. She was catered to by the human mascot for a while, and then settled down for a nap in the later innings on a fuzzy blanket laid over the cement seats.


The Game:

First pitch, Braves vs. Pirates, Game 1

This Appalachian-League contest between the Danville Braves and the Bristol Pirates was going to be two, seven-inning games to make up from the rain-outs that had been affecting this area, as well as where I had been further north. It would turn out to be a historic one, at least for me.

Danville started the game with a leadoff single that was erased on a double-play. The Pirates second batter was hit by a pitch and erased on a fielder's choice to end the inning, so not much to brag about for both teams. Both sides also went in order in the second. The Braves woke up in the third with a leadoff infield single to third, a double to score the lead runner, a single to make it first and third, and then another double to bring in the lead runner and make it second and third with no out. The pitcher promptly uncorked a wild pitch to score a run and move the lead runner to third. A deep fly to center from the next batter looked to be a tailor-made sacrifice fly, but the center fielder gunned down the runner at home for an unlikely double play, and another fly out to center ended the half with Danville up, 3-0. Bristol again went in order in their half.

A single, a double, and a wild pitch somehow didn't score a run for the Braves in the top of the fourth, and the Pirates went in order again. Both teams sat down in order in the fifth, but Danville got it going again in the top of the sixth with a leadoff walk. A single, groundout, and booted grounder by the first baseman got in another run, staking them to a 4-0 lead. The Pirates again went in order, as it started to dawn on everyone that they were being no hit, and just missed having a perfect game thrown against them except for the hit batsman two guys into the game. In the seventh, Danville scraped another run across on a single, two groundouts, a wild pitch and a passed ball, and Bristol, in their last licks, went down quickly, cementing the Braves 5-0, no-hit win.


The Scorecard:

Braves vs. Pirates, 08/08/17, Game 1. Braves win, 5-0.

The scorecard was part of the $1 program, which came with a Baseball Bingo card, as well as a raffle ticket. It was a solid program, as a full-sized tabloid with cardstock paper. Instead of the centerfold, the scorecard was on one page in the early part of the program. It took up the entirety of that page, on white background, with a decent amount of space for scoring, with each square not having a pre-printed diamond. There was not a ton of places for replacements, however, but that didn't affect me as it was two seven-inning games, and there were only three pitching lines, which also would have been a problem if these were normal games. The scorecard even had a brief paragraph in the upper left-hand corner about ground rules, and not chasing foul balls into the football field next door.

The big story here, of course, was the first no hitter that I had witnessed in person, even if it was only a seven-inning affair. It just missed a perfect game by the hit batsman two players into the game. The only odd scoring play of note was the DP F-8-2 in the bottom of the third when a runner on third tried to take it home on a fly-out to center and got gunned down by a great throw.

Also, I just noticed that I put the home Bristol Pirates at the top of the scorecard for some reason. Maybe that jinxed them.

No hits

And, to sum up, no hitter.


The Accommodations:
There was a second game to see before rest, though I did take a nap in my room before heading out to the game.



On Playing Two
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Danville Braves (Atlanta Braves) vs.
Bristol Pirates (Pittsburgh Pirates) -- Game 2
DeVault Memorial Stadium
Appalachian League (Rookie +)
Bristol, VA
8:20 PM


Outside the Game:
The second game of the doubleheader ended at around 10:30, and I was back to the hotel in no time. I finished up both scorecards and set my head to rest in Tennessee for the first time.


The Stadium & Fans:
See above. Most of the crowd stayed for both games, brisk as they were.


At the Game with Oogie:

First hit in a while

Between games I went to the concession stand and grabbed a hot dog to tide me over for the second game. I decided to take in the second game from the bleacher seats behind first base. The metal bleachers were actually a welcome relief after the stiff concrete for the first game, and I sat at the very top, so I had some backing with the chain-link fence, so that was even more relief. Much as it must have been a relief to the home fans when the Pirates got a hit and then eventually even scored some runs.

Dog

There was no one sitting near me for the second game, although some teenagers were running back and forth around my section intermittently. I was able to see some foul balls go into the football field just beyond the first-base side of the park. Even though the program had a notice not to, enterprising kids hopped the fence to grab souvenirs when they thought the adults were suitably distracted.


The Game: 

First pitch, Braves vs. Pirates, Game 2

 The second match-up between the Braves and the Pirates started at the odd time of 8:20 PM. It looked to be more of the same until a breakout inning halfway through the contest gave the home team something to cheer for.

The game began spectacularly with a passed ball third strike allowing a runner to reach base. A single got him to third, but he was thrown out by the catcher when he was sleeping too far off the bag at third. With two outs in the bottom of the first, the Pirates finally got their first hit in a while, though he was stranded there. Danville got a sole baserunner in the top of the second due to an error, and the Pirates went in order, while both sides went in order in the third.

Danville scattered a reached-on-error and walk in the top of the fourth, but the Pirates finally woke up. The inning started with a walk and then a bunt single. Everyone advanced on a grounder that the pitcher threw away after the play, letting a run score. The next batter grounded to first, and a play to home was too late. Another grounder was not played cleanly, and a single brought in another run. A walk loaded the bases, and a grounder to short was sent home to cut off the run, but the play moved up the runners. A hit batsman forced in a run, and then a would-be sacrifice fly to right field turned into a F9-2 double play, as the runner from third got nailed trying to score. But Bristol was out to a 4-0 lead. Danville went in order in the fifth, and the Pirates had a reached-on-error in the bottom of the frame.

In the sixth, the Braves finally got on the board with a leadoff double that got driven in with two short singles to close the gap to 4-1. Bristol had the first two batters of the bottom of the sixth hit by pitches, but they left them stranded there. In their last licks in the top of the seventh, the Braves only managed one baserunner on a two-out boot by the pitcher of a ground ball, and the Pirates got their 4-1 win of the nightcap.


The Scorecard:

Braves vs. Pirates, 08/08/17, Game 2. Pirates win, 4-1.

For the second game, I used the BBWAA scorebook to record the game.

While not a no-hitter, this one had a couple of scoring plays of note. In the top of the first, there was a runner that reached on a third strike thanks to a passed ball. He was eventually caught stealing off third 1-2-5 when the catcher saw him too far off the bag. The eventful fourth inning had some plays of literal note. What was ruled a bunt single was actually an E3, thanks to some home cooking. That runner would score on a fielder's choice 3-2, where he was called safe. In the top of the sixth, a hit was ruled a double, but it really was an infield fly with no one on that dropped for a hit. And the inning ended on a DP F-9-2 where another sacrifice fly ended up on a double play due to the outfield arms being faster than the runners from third.


The Accommodations:

Hampton Inn Bristol

For most of the remainder of the trip, I was staying at the Hampton Inn Bristol, which was just on the Tennessee side of the border. I went with a nice efficiency room, and it proved to be a convenient and pacific base of operations for the rest of the week. Just off the entrance to the right was the somewhat small bathroom, which had a nice-sized tub that would get a lot of use over the stay.

The bedroom had a big king bed, with night tables, a refrigerator and microwave, and large easy chair with Ottoman on one side of the room. On the other was a small luggage table, a dresser with TV, a large bureau, and a desk by the window, that would be my base of operations for the trip.

It was comfortable, quiet, and had some space to move around in, so it would serve my purposes quite well for my time in Tennessee, as well as purging some awful memories of Arizona, where my last long-term stay was… not as enjoyable.

Click here to see all the pictures from this trip.

2017 The Carolinas II & Tennessee

Danville

On a Big Rivalry Writ Small

American Legion Field, 2015

Tuesday, June 30, 2018

Kingsport Mets (New York Metropolitans) vs.

Danville Braves (Atlanta Braves)
Appalachian League (Rookie+)
American Legion Field
Danville, VA
7:05 PM

Outside the Game: 

Even with a good amount of sleep the night before with no drive ahead of it, it was still a lazy, lazy morning getting up. I had a lazy breakfast, followed by lazily going back to my room, and taking a lazy shower before packing lazily, and then lazily flopping back on the bed for a bit. After another doze, I had enough energy to pack up, check out, and hit the road.

It was just under two hours down to Danville from Salem. If you aren't paying attention and miss the exit, you can easily slip right across the border to North Carolina, which I almost did, delaying my first visit to that state by at least a year. Thankfully, I turned off the road just in time.

Danville isn't exactly a mecca of activity, but it did have one attraction I was looking forward to: The AAF Tank Museum. I pulled up to an empty-looking parking lot, which should have been a bit of a sign, but I ended up having to get out and wander a bit before seeing the sign saying that the museum was only open on the weekend. I was disappointed, but it was pretty much my own fault for not checking more closely, which is the sort of thing I am wont to do.

The sign is a lie.

The only other place of interest in town was the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History. I'm not exactly sure where the "fine arts" worked itself in, but the museum was in the Sutherlin mansion and the cause by which Danville calls itself the "Last Capital of the Confederacy." A fleeing Jefferson Davis made it to Danville ahead of his Union pursuers and spent a night at the house before the end of the war, making it the last traitor capital. The mansion itself was quite nice and well-kept, and ignoring the fact that they had a slave mannequin in the main bedroom, it had a surprisingly even-handed approach to the history, talking about why the stars and bars wasn't so special, and even admitting that slavery was the cause of the war, which you don't hear often enough in the South.

Refreshingly even-handed

I spent some time there before heading out to my hotel, yet another Best Western. I got my stuff in and took a much-needed nap and shower after a hot afternoon before heading out to the game. A short drive got me out to the field, which was pretty much a slightly upgraded American Legion ballpark, and I parked in the small lot before grabbing a ticket and heading inside.

After the game was more of the same, with a short drive back to the hotel, where I settled in for the remainder of the evening on the couch (because why not use the couch?) before heading to sleep.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, American Legion Field

American Legion Field is just that: an American Legion Baseball field that got spruced up a little for its minor promotion to a Rookie-league field where the ambiance is still decidedly "chain-link." There is just one entrance to the park, through one of many chain-link fences, just next to the tiny little outbuilding ticket booth that services the stadium. The entrance opens out into a little plaza that runs behind first base to home plate, where a lot of the stands, concessions, kids area, and team store are located. Small walkways run behind the stands to the bullpens in the outfield corners, with an additional opened-up picnic area and bar in left field around the corner from the main concession stand.

Three separate, covered grandstands with cooling fans and bunting are behind home plate, and then smaller ones flanking them on either baseline, ending right by the dugouts. Bleacher seats run the rest of the distance down the baselines out to the outfield, with small walking paths at the base of each bleachers or grandstand. The press box sits at the top of the home plate grandstand. Everything shy of the bleachers is covered by netting or chain-link fences, presumably for safety.

A double-tier outfield wall stands in front of a hill and tress that provide the stadium backdrop. A small digital scoreboard sits in left-center to keep the fans appraised of the goings-on. Some art and murals are on the back of the grandstands, along with a road to the show plaque, stadium dedication plaques, and some player banners.

Aliteration, the mascot

Blooper the bird is the local mascot, and he spends the entire game schmoozing with fans or leading the limited between-inning entertainment common to rookie-league ball. He seems pretty well liked, especially by the kids, who sprint to see him whenever he appears.

The turnout was sparse for this weekday game. There were few people in the grandstand and fewer in the bleachers. And for whatever it is worth, there were more than a few Mets fans in attendance, and my personal appearance was a not insignificant part of the crowd who happily saw the Metropolitans beat the Braves in literally any scenario.

At the Game with Oogie: 

Chain-link scoring

I actually had a rooting interest in this game, as the visiting Mets were playing the Braves in the big-league rivalry write small. So, I got a seat on the grandstand near the visiting dugout. I was actually in the last row right against the chain-link fence overlooking the walkway between the dugout and the visitors' clubhouse, so I was able to get a good look of the baby Mets coming and going throughout the game. There was an older couple in front of me, and off to the right, there was a young woman keeping score of the game who was clearly the girlfriends of one of the Kingsport players. For all of it, no one seemed to notice my Cyclones hat, except for one of the trainers on the Mets who happened to look up on his way to the clubhouse and pointing to his head when he saw me looking down at him.

Baloney sandwich, souvenir soda, and Italian ice

Going local, I grabbed a baloney sandwich and iced lemonade to eat, along with a tiny souvenir cup of soda.

The Game: 

First pitch, Mets vs. Braves

This little-league matchup between the rookie-league clubs of the Braves and the Mets didn't quite have the fire of the clash of the big clubs, but it was a tight pitchers' duel, that either bodes well for the teams' future pitching or poorly for the teams' hitting, or perhaps both.

The visiting Mets got two, two-out singles in the top of the first and nothing else. Danville started the game with a single that made it to third on a stolen base and an error by the catcher, but he was erased on a suicide squeeze attempt, and the score remained nil. Kingsport went in order despite a leadoff single thanks to a caught stealing, and the Braves went in order in more conventional fashion in their half. The Mets got a man to third of a single, balk, and a ground-out, but stranded him there, while Danville did the same with a leadoff walk, single, and ground-out.

Kingsport went in order despite a reach on error due to another caught stealing in the top of the fourth, while the Braves had only a single to show for the bottom of the inning. In the top of the fifth, the Mets loaded the bases with an error and two singles but, in true Mets fashion, stranded everyone, while Danville just had a single the bottom half. In the top of the sixth, there was finally a score, as Kingsport got a two-out homer to right, while the Braves went in order.

The Mets managed to go in order again despite a walk with a double play in the top of the seventh, while Danville had a one-out single get all the way to third thanks to an error by the catcher, but the runner was thrown out trying for home by the third baseman. Kingsport went in order in the eighth, while the braves got another leadoff single to third base and no further with a stolen base and another error by the catcher. The Mets went out in the top of the ninth with just a single, while in their last licks, Danville got a one-out single swapped for a pinch runner, but on first he stayed, and the visiting Mets walked away with a 1-0 victory.

The Scorecard: 

Mets vs. Braves, 06/30/15. Mets win, 1-0.

The scorecard was part of the $1 full-color magazine program, and it was bizarrely located near the back of the pogrom instead of in the traditional centerfold. It was only one page, but took up nearly the entire page, except for the team header at the top. It, however, had glossy magazine paper, so it was hard to write in pencil, and especially colored pencil. Each batting line had space for one replacement and batter totals at the end, with inning totals at the bottom of the inning columns. Each scoring square had a pre-printed diamond, which frankly just took up precious real estate in the tiny scoring squares, making it cramped to record the game. Pitching lines were beneath each batting line, and there was given space for umpires (not announced), date, and start and finish times.

There were a number of plays that got specific notes. The bottom of the first features a 1-2 put out on a failed suicide squeeze. The Kingsport catcher was the K-Man of the game, but he did not strike out. In the top of the fourth was a CS 1-3 that was on a pickoff. And in the top of the sixth, after a called third strike, the hitting coach got himself ejected for arguing the call with the umpire. The bottom of the seventh had a truly bizarre play with a man on first. A bunt was throw away by the catcher for a two-base E2, but the runner at third kept going, and was the victim of a 5-2 put out at home.

From the hard-luck department, Braves' reliever Phillips was hung with the loss, despite the best pitching line of the day, with 3 innings pitching, 1 earned run on one hit, but with six strikeouts otherwise. On, well.

There was also Baseball Bingo that night, and you got free cards with the program. I didn't win, or even get close with the two cards I was given.

The Accommodations: 

Best Western

I was in a suite at the Best Western Windsor Inn in Danville for the evening. The suite entrance was just to the left of the bathroom, with its big tub, room-length vanity, and toilet. The sitting room came next, with a pull-out couch, lounge chair, coffee table, and desk. And then was the bedroom, with the king-sized bed and nightstands across from the dresser with the TV above it. It was comfy, quiet, and I abused the hell out of that tub.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2015 Virginia