On a One-Hotel Town
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| Cooley Law School Stadium, 2019 |
Friday, August 9, 2019
South Bend Cubs (Chicago Cubs) vs.Lansing Lugnuts (Toronto Blue Jays)
Cooley Law School Stadium
Midwest League (A)
Lansing, Michigan
7:05 PM
Outside the Game:
So I was using a summer Friday from work to run out to Michigan for a couple of days. I decided to leave Friday morning instead of Thursday night, and even thought it was an early flight, I got at least six or seven hours of sleep before my car came to pick me up at 6 AM. We ran into little traffic on the short ride out to Newark Bald Eagle Liberty Baseball Apple Pie Airport, but even at this early hour of the morning, the traffic in the other direction towards New York was already piling up. My driver said that it wasn't that uncommon, which was super surprising to me. When would you have to get up to beat the traffic into NYC if 6 AM was too late?
That philosophical question aside, I was into the airport and quickly through security--and by quickly, I mean 20 minutes later. I stopped at the nearest restaurant for breakfast, but the credit card reader wasn't working. No one on staff would acknowledge me, so I just left and got breakfast at another place down the terminal a bit, gouging myself on some eggs Benedict.
I tried booking a hotel for that night as I walked over to my gate, but I ran into some unexpected issues. There was only hotel available in downtown Lansing. I was worried that there was a convention in town or something. But I nevertheless booked the Radisson, except that I didn't get my customary confirmation email, nor was the booking showing up in my app. Of course, now it was just about time to board the plane. So I was calling Hotels.com customer service, only to be told they couldn't help me, and they transferred me to someone else entirely who couldn't help, and then I had to board. Just as I was about to scan my ticket, a confirmation email came through, so, whatever, I guess.
It was a packed flight, and I was next to a woman and her young child, and the woman apologized in advance, but the kid was incredibly well-behaved, and I slept through most of the short ride, which was even shorter than normal, as we landed a half-hour early and had to wait a little for the jetway guys to make their way over. Even that delay, we were still playing with at least 20 minutes of house money.
As per normal, I was at the furthest gate in the terminal, so I had a healthy walk to get to the shuttles for the car rentals. After a bit of a wait, I got my Dollar shuttle and my paperwork. It took a couple of tries to select a car because the first few I looked at didn't have a lighter port, so my GPS wouldn't work with them. A converter quickly went on my shopping list for when I went home.
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| Kia Power |
But soon enough I was in a Kia and off on a pleasant, one-hour drive out to Lansing. I arrived in town much too early to check in, but I was able to leave my bag and car at the hotel and take the short walk to the stadium to buy my ticket and take some pictures of the outside. In the small team store, I picked up some souvenirs while overhearing the employees talking about an acquaintance’s run-in with the police--they didn't seem embarrassed of over-sharing in front of strangers, so there's that.
Right across the street from the park was the Lansing Visitor's Center, so I took the opportunity to stop in and ask how to kill the rest of the afternoon. They gave me some ideas nearby, and even suggested a restaurant or two for lunch, but they also confirmed that there was only one hotel in all of downtown Lansing. The staff obliquely mentioned some political shenanigans, which I suppose I should have expected, but outside of confirming that there were new hotels on the horizon, I never got a straight answer. Subsequent research led me to find that in order to lure the Radissdon into building a luxury hotel downtown, the city had to provide a controversial 30-year exclusivity deal to the hotel, which is just coming up now. And, completely coincidentally, the Radisson hotel had decided to do major upgrades to its property in Lansing for the first time in 30 years. Odd, that.
Anywho, I headed across the street to the "Nuthouse," the sports bar across the street from the stadium. I had a French dip steak sandwich for lunch and then moseyed back to the hotel to check in and dump all my stuff in my room before heading out again.
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| Really, the shiny, metal head |
My first stop was the REOldsmobile Museum, conveniently located on Museum Drive, by the shiny metal head. (No, really.) I realize that I know less about the former US auto industry than most, but if you're going to come to the former home of the Oldsmobile, you might as well learn something. The museum was really a giant garage that held models of Oldsmobile from the first to the last produced. There was also a bit on founder R.E. Olds, and perhaps the most ironic thing in the entire museum was that his palatial mansion on the outskirts of town was torn down for an interstate. The Lord giveth...
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| Hanging out... |
The museum had a huge selection of the cars, from the first Oldsmobile, to an actual REO Speedwagon, to a Vista Cruiser, to the prototype fully electric car from the 90s, as well as telling the story of how GM eventually killed the brand after nearly a hundred years. It was an interesting experience, and certainly an important lesson in history of how companies murder the power of organized labor by any means necessary.
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| Democracy, or something |
After stopping there, I headed over to the state capitol building, also a short walk from my hotel. By virtue of state capitols most likely having minor-league baseball teams, I've been in perhaps half of the state capitols in America so far, but I've never gone inside, not even in Trenton or Albany. But the Michigan statehouse was right here, and it was free, so here we went. After a bit of exploring, I found the entrance under the main stairs in the statehouse, and I was greeted by extremely helpful and cheerful people who gave me a tour booklet and sent me on my way. There was a lot of construction going on, so certain parts such as the senate chambers were closed off, but it still surprises me that they just let people walk around a government building like that. I could have broken into the governor's office before anyone could have stopped me. The governor wasn't there, mind you, but you always expect there to be more security on point.
I trundled back to the hotel and took a monster nap to reset myself. The staff warned me about renovation construction on my floor until 6 PM, but I surely didn't hear anything over my snoring. It was time to go to the game when I woke up, so I grabbed my stuff and headed back out to the park to line up, where I called my parents while waiting and eventually was permitted entrance.
After the game and fireworks, I walked back to the hotel and ran a tub. I put out my breakfast order on my door, finished my scorecard, and worked out what my tomorrow would be while in the tub, and then was quickly ready for an early night in a pillow-laden bed.
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home plate to center field, Cooley Law School Stadium |
In earlier days, Cooley Law School Stadium was known as "Oldsmobile Park," but now, it is named for the local law school. The stadium is literally dropped in the middle of downtown and adapted to its surroundings in a way I greatly approve. There is only one entrance at home plate, next to the box office and the team store, and there are several baseball statues and a fountain are out in front of the park. The right field stadium walls are spaced bars, so people walking on the sidewalk outside can actually look into the park, which is a nice feature not seen much these days. The entirety of the outfield boundary from left-center to right field are made up of colorful apartments ("The Outfield Lofts") that have the distances printed on the buildings.
Once you get inside, you have the standard A-ball layout, with a single promenade that runs around the entire park. One row of seating runs down from the walkway from about first base to third base. Short right field has bleachers running its length, and short left field has the seating for the Pepsi Porch all-you-can-eat area. A second row of luxury boxes and the press box runs above the promenade, also from about first base to third base.
The park has some unique character with the outfield walls, which are highest on the shoulders, but still high across the entire outfield due to the smaller confines of the park. Those outfield corners turn balls into a bit of a pinball machine, and some weird plays happen when hits go there. The main digital video board sits above a small picnic berm in left field, in front of some condos further on, and they are the only other thing you see outside of the Outfield Lofts. A small video board strip runs in the lowest part of the outfield wall in right, as well. The Chevrolet Terrace out in right field has a Chevy logo made up in baseballs, and further along in the outfield walkway is the Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame, right by the play area in the left field corner. A number of local baseball awards, sponsors, and renovation plaques are found the main entrance to the park.
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| Pierced |
Even given the sun issues, there was a big crowd out for the game, and they were active and involved with the comings and goings, especially when the home team was doing well, which, as it turned out, was a lot of the time in this game. The generic monster mascot is Big Lug, with lug nuts as piercings in a way to make any Brooklynite proud. The events between innings were your standard minor-league fare, although more than average involved nuns, but more on that below.
At the Game with Oogie:
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| Free pizza is the best pizza |
So the first thing of note at this game was the bus full of nuns. I'm not sure if it was a promotion or something, but there was a literal bus full of nuns that were hanging around as I waited to get in and who went in as a group. I joked with the other people in line that I didn't realize the Lugnuts were in such trouble that they needed that much spiritual help.
It was also "pizza party" night, so everyone got a slip of paper for a free slice of pizza from the concession by first base. I went there as soon as I got in and only had a short to wait for my free slice, but as I walked around taking pictures, as is my want, the line was nearly down to homeplate a half-hour before gametime. I strolled around the park and took my pictures, strengthened by my free pizza. I eventually supplemented it with a souvenir soda and a hot dog, but, to be fair, the pizza was pretty darn good.
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| Blinded by the light |
Under normal circumstances, getting seats behind the home dugout is a sure bet to be out of sun as fast as possible, as very few home teams point their home dugout into the sun. But oh, not Lansing. I was in the first row behind the dugout, and the sun seemed like it was intensely focused directly on me until it finally went down around the fourth inning. I am not exaggerating when I say it was blindingly bright, to the point that I was using my scorecard as a screen for my face, looking around the edges of it to see the pitcher and batter while staying in blessed shade. The way the stadium was constructed, there wasn't even a building or part of the grandstand to block the sun as it was setting, giving everyone in my proximity an extra half-inning or more of sun. It was pretty miserable. To top it off, the local Knights of Columbus, perhaps showing off for the visiting nuns, sang every verse of God Bless America before the National Anthem, leaving us all hatless and unshaded for a good five minutes before the game even started. The fans around me all seemed to be season ticket holders, so they were armed with high-number sunscreen and blackout sunglasses. I'm not lying in saying it was the brightest sun I've ever encountered at a game.
It was mostly families around me, but there were a lot of empty seats in the season ticket section I was in, even for a Friday game. Everyone did breathe a sigh of relief when the sun eventually went below the horizon. The between-inning entertainment even came over to the home dugout after that, so they clearly knew what was going on.
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| Boom |
Since I was so close to the hotel and had nothing to do after the game, I lingered for the fireworks, or at least the start of them. There's only so much cheapo fireworks displays a man can take, but I finished off my scorecard, saw some explosions for a bit, and then headed for the entrance to beat the rush on the way out and get back to the hotel for a soak in the tub.
The Game:
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| First pitch, Cubs vs. Lugnuts |
Both the Lansing Lugnuts and the visiting South Bend Cubs were languishing in the bottom-middle of their division, but for this match-up, the home team came out the better team in an utter blow-out.
The Cubs started the game by stranding two singles in the first. Lansing did mostly the same, but managed to also get on base by an E6 and still not get anyone across. Both sides went quietly in order in the second. And then paths would divide. A single, a walk, and another single got a run on the board for South Bend, to grab an early 1-0 lead. Not content to sit back, the Lugnuts got two runs on a single, walk, double, and sacrifice fly to claim a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the inning.
The Cubs went in order in the fourth, but Lansing kept scoring, batting around in the inning with four singles, a triple, and another sacrifice fly getting them four runs and a 6-1 lead. South Bend went in order again in the fifth, and perhaps tired, the Lugnuts also went in order. The Cubs struck back with a solo homer in the top of the sixth to close it up to 6-2, while the Lugnuts went on another scoring barrage. In the bottom of the sixth, three singles, a triple, and a homer got across five more runs, leaving the home squad with a comfortable 11-2 lead.
To switch it up, South Bend went in order in the seventh, while the Lugnuts just had a single to show for their half of the inning. The Cubs just had a single in the eighth, while Lansing got another insurance run in the bottom of the frame on a leadoff hit batsman, a ground-out, and a single, extending the lead to 12-2. In the top of the ninth, South Bend got their leadoff hitter on base despite striking out (thanks to a passed ball), but then went in order, inking the home team's 12-2 shellacking.
The Scorecard:
Cubs vs. Lugnuts, 08/09/19. Lugnuts win, 12-2.
The bi-fold cardstock scorecard was a $1 premium at the park, and well-worth the modest price. The front and back cover were black, with stylized team logos. The inner fold was 75% scorecard at the top and the bottom 25% was devoted to detailed scoring instructions. Not an ad to be found--very commendable in this day and age.
The scorecard itself was a standard and spacious layout. Both sides had the batting lines at top, pitchers in the bottom left, and game stats in the bottom right. Each team had lines for starters and room for three replacements at the bottom. There were columns for 10 innings, with cumulative totals for At Bats, Runs, Hits, and (R)BIs. Inning totals had runs and hits. There were no diamonds in the scoring squares, which were big enough to be comfortable, although there was screened background printing behind some of the squares, detracting from readability. There were five pitching lines with standard abbreviated stats, and the game stats had starting time, ending time, attendance, and weather on the left and line score and pitching records (along with home runs) on the right. There was sufficient white space around the card for notes, but not a devoted area. Without the background printing, it would have been one of the best scorecards I've come across.
The game itself had some oddities, mostly on the home side. In the bottom of the third, there was a shot to third with a man on third and second. The runner broke for home on contact, and got caught in a 5-2-1 rundown. The runner from second made it to third, and the batter who hit the fielder's choice ended up on second. There was a sacrifice fly to short later that inning where the runner scored. The Cubs challenged the play at third, and it was denied. In the bottom of the sixth, a two-strike pop-up into foul territory fell between three fielders to extend the at-bat, which led to a single. The next batter hit a triple to left. The left fielder threw wildly to third, and the pitcher was late in backing up; he threw wide to home when he got there, leading to a score on the E7. Two batters later, there was a hot shot to third that was originally ruled an E5, which I disagreed with strongly. The official scorer later changed it to a hit.
The right fielder for the Cubs got a sombrero, and the first baseman for the Lugnuts got a dot, with a 4-5 night, with a double and a triple, scoring three runs and driving in three runs. The K-Man was the Cubs' center fielder. He did not strike out.
The Accommodations:
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| Radisson, Lansing, MI |
Even though they are contractually the only hotel in downtown Lansing, at least until next year, the Radisson was a very nice hotel and not overly expensive. It had a full staff that were good at their jobs, and the facilities were nice, just pretty outdated (which they were quickly rectifying with the renovations in the face of actual competition on the horizon).
My room entrance was right by the long bathroom to my right, with vanity, toilet, and a recently repaired tub and shower. My main room had the king-sized bed on one wall, opposite a dresser with TV, desk, and mini-fridge. An easy chair was on the wall with the bed. They even spotted me two water bottles.
Once again, nice and in good repair, but it was showing its age.
2019 Side Trip: Michigan
