Dayton

On Appropriate Civic Pride

Fifth Third Field, 2015

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Lansing Lugnuts (Toronto Blue Jays) vs.

Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati Reds)
Fifth Third Field
Midwest League (A)
Dayton, OH
7:10 PM

Outside the Game: 

I woke up to torrential rain in Perrysburgh, which didn’t give me great hope for the day. I subsequently had a lazy morning, eventually mustering enough enthusiasm to go down to breakfast and then come back up to my room to sulk for a while longer.

Reaching back into my reserves, I again found the courage to shower, pack, and head out into the rainy early afternoon for my two-hour drive down to Dayton. In a small miracle, the weather got better and better as I drove, eventually arriving in Dayton to an impossibly hot and sunny late summer day. I went to the stadium, bought a ticket, took my outside pictures, and then went back to the hotel to collapse for a while. The trip was taking a toll on me at this point, and I was pretty sure I was done for the year.

I spent the afternoon just wallowing on the bed with intermittent naps until it was time to drive out for the last game of the trip, and probably the year. It was a short, uneventful drive, and I parked up and went in at gates open.

The trip back after successfully seeing the game was uneventful as well, and I spent the rest of the evening planning out what to do with my unexpected free day the next day. I had a tip from a co-worker that I was probably going to act on, so I did some research and then spent some in the tub before turning in.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, Fifth Third Field

The second Fifth Third Field of my trip was in Dayton. It is another park dropped in the middle of a downtown Midwest “city,” with its brick facing and iron fences taking over a block or so of downtown real estate, along with a broad plaza in the shape of a baseball diamond dedicated to Don Crawford. Just around the corner from the stadium is “Ted Mills Baseball,” apparently a well-regarded baseball academy run by a local legend. Next to the main entrance in the plaza are a row of ticket booths built into the building, as well as the suites entrance to the park. Another general admissions entrance is found in center field.

The entrances dump out onto entry plazas at home and center onto a promenade that circles the entire field. All the concessions, stores, and other offerings are on the promenade facing the field so that fans can get food while still viewing the field. A single area of seats, accessible by intermittent stairways, extends down from the promenade, running from outfield corner to outfield corner. There is an additional area of seats in left field (“The Dragon’s Lair”), while a large picnic hill covers right field to center. A legitimate upper deck runs from first to third base, with a row of luxury boxes and party decks at the top of the upper seats, as well as the press box. The single-tier outfield wall only has three ads in the outfield corners, and it runs non-symmetrically, with some indents and out-dents in left-center and center. In one of the indented sections in left are a series of plaques to home sellout streaks and a retired number. The batters’ eye in center rises up to a large backing that covers part of the downtown cityscape that frames the park. The gigantic main digital video scoreboard looms in left-center, topped with a more sinister looking version of the mascot Heater which breathes fire with every Dragon home run. Auxiliary scoreboards are in the outfield wall and on the fronting of the upper deck. There are a covered picnic area in left field, and statue of the mascots at the home place entrance plaza.

Heater and Gem

Heater the dragon (get it?) is the local mascot, along with his distaff counterpart, Gem (also a dragon, but with a less aggressive themed name). Mascots are always popular, but Heater and Gem did seem particularly beloved by the fans, and they were mobbed as soon as they made their appearance in the entry plaza at the gate opening. There was a third mascot, the inflatable Wink, who I guess was a dragon as well. They schmoozed with the crowd all before and during the game, taking time out to help host the between-inning games on the field. Most of those activities were your standard-grade minor-league fare of silly contests, races, and give-aways, but there were some at least unique twists on them, including a tire race (where participants were girded in inflatable tires and forced to race) and a farm dance (a standard dance-off for kids, but they were dressed up in cow and chicken outfits for the duration). There was also a junior dance group on display this evening, who spend some of the inter-inning periods dancing on the tops of the dugouts.

Dayton has a placard boasting of their 1,000 consecutive sellouts, so it is not surprising that they drew a big crowd for the game, even if it was a relatively meaningless late-season contest. And the crowd was into the game as well as the other entertainment, so it seems that Dayton has at least a bright baseball future.

At the Game with Oogie: 

Ohio scoring

I got in when the gates opened, and that was important, because there was a lot of ground to cover in the deceptively large stadium. Not to make a TARDIS analogy, but it was way bigger on the inside. I did my normal walking around and taking pictures. As I was getting my landscape shot from home plate, I sent a lady skittering to get out of my shot. It turned out she was a local reporter, and we talked a little bit about our particular gigs before I set off again on my quest.

I hit the steam store, got my score card filled with the lineups, and then went out in search of food. A brisket sandwich and souvenir soda were a good start, but a Polish sausage was necessary later to finish off the meals for the evening.

Brisket sandwich and souvenir soda

For most of the trip, I’d managed to find a dead space of seats, even in the most crowded parks, and that was the case again tonight. I was in the lower deck of the stadium in the last few rows of seats near third base. There was no one in my row or behind me, and there was only one older couple in the row ahead of me, so I was again mostly left to my own devices for the game.

The Game: 

First pitch, Lugnuts vs. Dragons

This matchup between the Lugnuts--you know what's fun to say? Lugnuts--and the Dragons was a close contest until some late-inning scoring.

The Lugnuts got on the board first in the top of the first with a one-out homer to center. The Dragons came back with their own run in the bottom of the inning, with a one-out double brought in by a single, leaving it knotted at 1 at the end of one. Lansing loaded the bases in the top of the second with only one out, but while a grounder got the lead runner at home, a line drive was snagged by the shortstop to end the threat. The Dragons went in order for their part. The Lugnuts went ir order in the third, but Dayton opened the bottom of the inning with a double, and two short singles eventually brought him in, for a 2-1 lead at the end of three.

Lansing immediately tied it up with a homer to dead center at the start of the fourth, but them went three and out, while the Dragons went in order for their part. The fifth and sixth flew by, with everyone going in order except for a leadoff Dragon's double in the bottom of the sixth that was stranded.

Lansing went in order again in the seventh, but the Dragons got their scoring shoes on. A leadoff single was erased on a pickoff, but the next batter tripled and then a walk made it first and third with one out. A sacrifice fly to center brought in the lead runner, and a double to left brought in the runner from first. A single drove in the runner at second, leaving 5-2 at the end of seven. The Lugnuts got one back in the eighth, with a leadoff walk going to second on a ground-out and third on a wild pitch. A sacrifice fly to center brought him in, shortening the lead to 5-3.

But the Dragons got it back in the bottom of the eighth, with a two-out rally, starting with a single to center. A grounder to short turned into a two-base error, and a single brought in the lead runner from third to make it 6-3. The Dayton closer only gave up a one-out single in the ninth, and the home team sealed a 6-3 victory.

The Scorecard: 

Lugnuts vs. Dragons, 09/05/15. Dragons win, 6-3.

The scorecard was the centerfold of a nicely put-together, free, full-color, half-tabloid program. The magazine paper was not glossy, so it was easy to write on, even with pencils. It included the rosters for both teams, with the opponents filled in. The thing that was most noticeable about it was that it had an actual ounce of visual layout design applied to it. It was extremely noticeable compared to most other programs in the minor (or even the majors) because of their absolute lack of the same. It was nice to see something so well-designed, and certainly tied-in to a community and ownership that actually cared about the quality of the team. So, really, top marks all around.

There were a couple of plays worth note from a scoring perspective. In the top of the second with the bases loaded, a grounder to first was thrown home to the pitcher on a sacrifice bunt attempt, who erased the runner with a tag, not a force at the plate (3-1t). In the bottom of the seventh, the triple with one out was partially due to the center fielder for the Lugnuts getting injured on the play and not able to retrieve the ball. There was also a brief rundown on the caught stealing before it, with a CS 1-3-6. A first for me was the bottom of the eighth where the Dayton DH was thrown out of the game after arguing a strike call in the end-of-inning strikeout. There was no digital lineup, so I have no idea who replaced him, as he wouldn't come up again--a mystery that remains unsolved at this point.

The Accommodations: 

Dayton Marriott

For this stopover, I splurged a tiny bit at the Dayton Marriott. The average bathroom was right off the entrance to the room on the left, with the slightly premium fake granite and hardwood vanity. The bedroom had a large king bed with end tables and an easy chair with side table on one side of the room, and a large dresser with flat screen TV and a desk and chair on the other.

For my purposes, it was quiet, clean, and comfortable, so it did its job for me that night.

On Flying High

National Museum of the Air Force

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Dayton, OH

Outside the Game: 

On the advice of a co-worker from the area, I heard about the National Museum of the Air Force, and especially the Air Force One exhibit, which required you to get their early for tickets. This prompted an odd situation for me.

I got up early, right when the museum was set to open, and then I drove out, bought an admission, and signed up for a later bus for the Air Force 1 exhibit. This caused great confusion of the people at the desk. People who show up right at opening are usually there to get on the first tour bus to the exhibit, so when I said I wanted to go later, they had to actually go and find the sign-up list of the later buses because I was not something they expected. I then went back to my hotel, had breakfast and went to sleep for a little while longer.

I woke up and booked the same hotel I stayed in on my first night just outside of the airport, and then got packed up, checked out, and went to the museum for real this time. The National Museum of the Air Force is an extensive facility in several huge hangars that traces American military aviation from its earliest times up through the government space program. There were also exhibits on such diverse subjects as the Holocaust, Bob Hope, and Walt Disney. The section on the US nuclear arsenal was particularly evocative. It started with a replica of Fat Man and continued with life-sized nuclear missiles. There was something just foreboding about it, especially as someone who lived through the 80s. The world could be completely ended just by these bland metal tubes seemed incredibly silly.

Not threatening at all

One of the main things that I took from the museum is that we really need to bring bomber jackets back. There was an exhibit on WWII and Korean jacket art, and they are seriously the most bad-assed things we've ever done in the US military. They deserve a second act.

Air Force One Hanger

But the Air Force One exhibit was really the key experience. You have to go onto an active air force base to see the hangars that hold that exhibit, as well as the experimental planes section, hence the buses and the tight schedules. They drop you off right by the hangar, and then they come to collect you promptly after an hour.

You get to wander around a historical collection of Air Force Ones (and Twos) throughout history, including the one on which JFK died after his assassination. Some of the aircraft (including the first AF1 for FDR) have truly horrifically bad mannequins of the presidents. The 50s era Air Force One features an Eisenhower mannequin that looks much more like Yul Brenner than Ike.

Seriously, who is that?

After I had my fill (both in the museum and at the cafeteria), I headed out for my three-hour drive back up to Detroit. There was no traffic, thankfully, and it was just a matter of driving up. I eventually got to my hotel, and checked in, grabbing dinner at a nearby fast food place and went to bed ahead of an early morning the next day.

The Accommodations:

Comfort Inn

I was back again at the Comfort Inn Detroit Airport, but there was some construction, or something, going on. All the hallways were being heated in the waning weeks of the summer, for some reason, so walking to and from your room was enough to break you into a sweat. Thankfully, however, the air conditioning in the rooms still worked. For the time I was staying there, I just kept the air conditioning cranked and lived with it.

My room was fine otherwise: a standard bathroom off the entrance to the left and one bedroom with a king-sized bed across from a dresser with TV and desk.

On Leaving Early

Really early

Monday, September 7, 2015

Jersey City, NJ

Outside the Game: 

I had an early flight home this morning, so this is where re-using the hotel right outside the airport came in handy, despite all the issues. I got cleaned up and packed, and at 7 AM, I only had to drive in a straight line to return my rental car and catch the shuttle to the airport.

Detroit Airport

I got through security with little issue, and I was off to the races at the deserted airport. I found a stall open for breakfast, and thankfully, there was no problem with the flight. An uneventful jaunt (that I mostly slept through) later, I was at Newark Liberty God Bless America Freedom Bald Eagle airport and caught a cab back to my apartment for an afternoon of laundry and more naps before going back to work the next day.

The Accommodations: 

Sweet home, Jersey City

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2015 Ohio

Toledo

On Flying to Detroit

The absolute end of Terminal C

September 1, 2015

Detroit, MI

Outside the Game:
So it goes.

Work was deciding to be complicated again, but because of the good fortune of being between two projects at the moment, I had nearly full coverage already built-in for my vacation, as well as a string of untimely good luck that was riding me through the week.

Things had turned around from two weeks prior when a 60+ hour work week while my boss was on vacation had nearly driven me from my job again. I was quite skeptical about a new project that I was being thrust into like some human band aid to assuage some client where things were turning south. Well, it wasn't all good news. I found out on Monday night that I was being sent to LA to meet said client the week I was coming back. Los Angeles is literally the worst place on the planet, as anyone who has ever talked to me knows. It is the worst place in the world, filled with the worst people in the world, and it should be burned to the ground and let turn fallow into the godless desert that begat it. Laid barren, but not forgotten, no: It should be remembered for all times as the price of human folly and wickedness and a warning of a repeat of the same.

Where was I? Right, baseball. Anyway, outside of the trip, things were going uncharacteristically better at work, and the Tuesday of my departure doubly so. Projects were just flying off my to-do list to ease the burden of those covering for me. Things were getting a little hairy towards the end of the day, but thanks to a late flight, I was able to guilt my way out the door at a reasonable time and make my way out to the airport.

Even the subway cooperated, as an early evening ride up the 1 was only mildly interrupted by waiting for an express to pass, and after a minimal amount of endless wandering I was able to find the NJ Transit trains at Penn Station. A went at a time of a virtual cornucopia of airport connection trains, boarded, and napped contentedly to my destination.

Even security on a Tuesday evening was nothing of a concern, and my only problem was arriving at the airport too early for my flight. I availed myself of a restaurant, had no problems with the credit card machines this time, and had a peasantry overpriced meal, eventually walking around until it was time for my flight.

Surprisingly, demand to go to Detroit on a Tuesday was not high, which might contribute to why the ticket for this flight was so relatively cheap. All things considered, it worked out, as the flight was at most half sold. Boarding was almost simultaneous, as the gate staff rifled through boarding groups, and even though I was a lowly Group 4, I was called within the first three minutes of boarding.

Everyone got on the plane in a relaxed mood, and the only real downside was that I was one of the few single people who had someone next to me, so I was unable to spread out into two seats.

It was also a new plane that I had never been on before. It has full-sized overhead bins, so I didn't have to gate check my bag, and everything was relatively modern and comfortable. All the lights were digital LEDs, the air sprayer was actually effective and cold. It was like moving into early 90s technology, which was a welcome upgrade over most planes I had been flying on.

Ohio Steed

The flight went without incident, but not without a little nap. We got to the airport a little early and had to wait for our gate, but we were quickly out the doors,  I was off to the rental car to pick up my red Nissan something-or-other, and I was off to semi-coherently check in to my hotel by the airport and crash.

The Accommodations:

Comfort Inn

I stayed at the Comfort Inn at the Detroit Airport. I had a tidy room, with a king-sized bed, nightstand, desk and easy chair on one wall, and a long, low dresser under a flat-screen TV and yet another desk on the other wall. The bathroom was just off the entrance, and had a room-length vanity and sink, toilet, and shower.

It was clean, quiet, and away from the flight paths, so it was everything I needed that night.

On Relating to Maxwell Klinger

Fifth Third Field. 2015

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Louisville Bats (Cincinnati Reds) vs.
Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit Tigers)

Fifth Third Field

International League (AAA)

Toledo, OH

6:30 PM

Outside the Game: 
I got up late and had a lazy morning. I wasn't swapping hotels this night, so I didn't have to do a pack and run. I had a really short drive to Toledo to and from the game, so I took it easy most of the morning, had a leisurely breakfast, and then I went back to the room for a shower and pack up for the day.

The only attraction that really beckoned outside of the ballpark was the Toledo Zoo, which was really a mid-sized zoo and aquarium. I had a pleasant afternoon wandering around and looking at the animals, especially the orangutans--as always--my favorite. They had a really nice ape exhibit as well, so I spent most of my time among my fellow primates, although there were also penguins, but sadly, no puffins. The most indelible memory of the day was some diver in one of the large fish tanks who was cleaning all the coral, and I have to wonder if he was thinking about why he bothered to get a graduate degree in zoology if this would be his job.

I should have gone to a different muffler shop...

After my fill of the zoo, I drove over to the stadium, took my pictures, and picked up my ticket. I went in as soon as the gates opened. Leaving was easy from where I was in the lot, having parked early, and I had a nice, short drive back to my hotel, where I spent the rest of the evening in the tub.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, Fifth Third Field

Bank Fifth Third has gone on a corporate naming spree to put Coca-Cola to shame, as I’ve been to as many parks named for the bank as I have the beverage giant. Perhaps their crowning jewel is Toledo’s Fifth Third Field, an AAA International League park. The park is built right in the middle of downtown streets, and it is the cornerstone of an urban renewal campaign for the area, including a new “Hensville” area of shops and apartments that was still under construction across the street when I was visiting.

Klinger lives!

The park has got a ton going on even before you enter the gates. All the streets around the park are named for local baseball luminaries (Gene Cook Way, Ned Skelton Way, etc), and the square in the front of the main entrance is named first black players in the major leagues (before the “Gentleman’s Agreement” forced him out), Moses Walker. Toledo’s favorite son and the reason that the Mud Hens are perhaps the second most famous minor-league baseball team, Jamie Farr as Max Klinger in M*A*S*H is prominently featured on a mural. There are a dedication and a memorial plaque on the square, which also had the fan brick walk. The ticket booth is lodged in the brickwork on the side of the main entrance, and the park has a lot of decorative touches around the way, including baseball themed fences and railings and even branded sewer grates. Along the outside outfield wall, which has a barred wall you can look through, there is a statue of “knothole kids” called “Who’s Up?” Gates to get in are at regular intervals around the park and at nearly every cardinal point of the field, including an inexplicable “2nd Base Gate” in center field. The 1st Base Gate has “The Swamp” team store in its small plaza.

All those entrances empty out onto a main promenade that circles the top of the lower deck seating around the entire park. Nearly all the concessions are on the promenade face the field so fans can grab food while watching the game. The lower-deck seating is all accessed by stairways down from the promenade and runs from outfield corner to outfield corner, with a large picnic-table party area running from the right field corner to center field. The upper deck runs from short outfield to short outfield around home plate, with the seats extending down from the upper walkway and a large row of party deck, luxury boxes, and the press box sitting on the top of it. “The Roost” party deck with a wedge row of seating is in the right field corner, and the Muddy’s Marsh play area is behind the batter’s eye in center field.

The outfield wall is a single large tier covered in large ads, except for the blue and black batter’s eye in dead center. The main digital scoreboard with a video board above it rises above left-center field, while a digital video board looms above right-center field. All of this is in front of the Toledo downtown buildings that form the urban backdrop for the park. There are several plaques and dedications around the park, including a statue of kids scrambling after a home run ball in center field (“I Got it!”), the dedication plaque for the stadium, and three retired numbers for players and broadcasters on the facing of the upper deck in left.

Muddy has an existential crisis

Now, hang on to your hats, but the local mascot is Muddy the mud hen. (I actually had to look it up, and it is a real bird. Go figure.) He looks like the Poochy version of Big Bird from Sesame Street to be honest, with his cap carefully askew. In the annoying trend of mascots needing better halves these days, he has a distaff companion Muddonna (get it?). They run the on-field shenanigans along with a human crew. For all the AAA pretenses, it was mostly the minor league standards, with races, contests, and giveaways. They even had a post-game ball toss.

The crowd was a little sparse for this late-season game, but those that were there were into the game itself as much as the between-inning entertainment.

At the Game with Oogie:

Late-season scoring

I got in with the opening of the gates, and I did my photography and shopping to get that out of the way. There was a lot to take in at this park, so there was a lot of good walking going on. I eventually settled on a gigantic Polish sausage for dinner before settling into my seat a couple rows back from the home dugout on the first base side. There was no one around me, so I was left to my scoring devices for the game.

Polish sausage

… with the exception of the fire. I had seen the faux pub they had on the promenade called "The Hen and the Hound," and was considering eating there. Except the place did burst into flame sometime in the middle innings. There was an alarm that people were trying to identify the source of, then firemen were streaking around the promenade, and then eventually some smoke wafted from the walkway as the fire was put out. No one really panicked in the stadium, and they made a calm PA announcement about it.

It was evidently a kitchen fire that was easily contained, and everyone mostly calmed down once the fire alarm stopped ringing. On the way out, they just closed up the slide wall on the stand, and beside the smell of smoke, you couldn't even tell there had been a fire.

But that was the fire that happened in a stadium while I was in it, so a check mark for Wednesday, I guess.

The Game:

First pitch, Bats vs. Mud Hens

These two AAA teams were way below .500 and playing out the string, and at least the home-team Mud Hens had something to cheer about over the visiting Bats at the end of it.

Both sides went in order in the first, for a scintillating start. Louisville went in order in the second even with a leadoff single, thanks to a double-play. The Mud Hens had a leadoff single that made it to third on an error and then scored on a one-out double, giving them a 1-0 lead. Both sides went in order in the third, with the Bats striking out in order.

Louisville started the fourth with a single, but stranded the runner, while the Mud Hens had a one-out homer to dead center to extend their lead to 2-0. The Bats got one back in the top of the fifth with a leadoff homer to center,  but Toledo got the run back with a one-out single, stolen base, wild pitch, and double to leave it 3-1. Louisville went in order again in the sixth, while the Mud Hens stranded a leadoff single.

The Bats managed to strand a walk and a double in the top of the seventh, while Toledo went in order. Louisville got another man to second in the top of the eighth only to strand them there again, while the Mud Hens worked hard to only score one run. A leadoff double was followed by a single to make it first and third with no outs. A grounder to first led to a double-play that caught the runner at third in a rundown, but a two-out double finally scored a run, giving them a more comfortable 4-1 lead going into the ninth. The Bats only got a one-out walk in the top of ninth, so the Mud Hens walked away with a 4-1 victory.

The Scorecard:

Bats vs. Mud Hens, 09/02/15. Mud Hens win, 4-1.

The scorecard was a free printout separate from the surprisingly free program. The double-sided sheet came pre-printed with the lineups for both teams, though there was no space for replacements. Each scoring box was empty, with a lot of space, but there were no cumulative stat lines for each player, though there were 12 innings printed. The pitchers were in the upper right hand corner, next to the pre-printed defensive alignments. One side had a box score and pitching stats, with time and attendance under the pitching lines, while the visiting side had the umpires in the same space.

There were a couple of plays of scoring note. In the bottom of the second, there was a pickoff attempt on a batter at first. The first baseman tried to throw over to second to get the advancing runner, but the throw hit the runner and bounced, letting the runner get to third. The strikeout player of the game fanned on his first at bat, winning someone some prize or other. A double in the top of the seventh was really a fly ball that got lost in the lights, and the fiftieth batter of the game struck out, which won some other prize or other. And finally, in the bottom of the eighth, with a man on first and third and no outs, there was your run-of-the-mill DP 3U-2-5t, as the first baseman took the force at first by himself, and then caught the guy at third in a rundown, 2-5t.

The Accommodations:
I was at the Comfort Inn for another night. I could have gotten a place in Toledo, but it was such a short drive that it was worth it to be able to lay my head down in the same place for two nights. Nothing much to report again.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2015 Ohio