Queens

On Resuming

Not Shea Stadium, 2025

Friday, May 10, 2025
Chicago Cubs vs. New York Metropolitans
Not Shea Stadium
National League
Queens, NY
7:15 PM

Outside the Game:
After a season's absence trying to organize my life situation to an acceptable degree, I decided to take the plunge and head back to the ballpark from my new, old place.

I dallied with the thought of driving to Queens for about two seconds, and then considered taking in the train, which would be too time inflexible coming home, or would involve me driving and parking in Hoboken (again raising the specter of driving), and then conceded to the inevitable and decided to try and take the bus right by my house to the stadium. This would end up right at Port Authority, where it would be a quick 7 ride to the park, and really, how bad could even the bus be on an early Saturday afternoon?

The answer is what made me largely abandon the bus as a means to commute. Firstly, on the weekend, NJ Transit combines two bus lines into one, nearly doubling the commute time, but that was factored into their scheduled timing. But even with that, the bus ended up arriving over twenty minutes late for no appreciable reason other than incompetence. No traffic, or accidents, or construction would justify it.

At any rate, the good news is that I was eventually and tardily dumped into Port Authority, where there is a direct connection to the 7 trains, which still managed to transport me to the park a half hour before gates opened. I took a quick walk around to see the receding of the chop shops to progress and the pre-game "Street Party" going on before attaching myself onto one of the longer-than-expected lines by the right field gate. I soon discovered this to be because of a bobble-head giveaway that evening. But at least I was in the shade while I waited.

Heading home was similarly disappointing, and not just because of the game result. After boarding a 7 train that the passengers were assured was an express, we soon found it to be a local, elongating the commute. Back at Port Authority, it took a couple of tries and nearly being locked in a gate--which was opened to enter but not to exit--to find the correct berth for the bus home, as well as a bonus miserable 20 minute wait in the muggy heat, thirsty and sweaty. But board the bus we did eventually, and it had the two-route path home as well, but I eventually was dropped off a block from my house, where I quickly grabbed a drink and a much-needed shower before bed.

The Stadium & Fans:

Center to home, Not Shea Stadium

In my involuntary one-year sabbatical, there were a lot of little changes to the Not Shea. The museum, for some reason, was ousted from its home to make more space for the already sprawling team store, with the Hall of Fame plaques relegated to pillars at the top of the main escalator, by the lineup board. The Shake Shack finally ousted Blue Smoke to take over the entirety of that center-field pavilion for itself. I'm not sure if it lessened the lines at all.

The restaurant on the club level was no longer reservation-only and was open to the masses, and to be honest, I can't remember which member of the cola wars owned the current Coca-Cola Porch the last time I was there. Mr. Met & his wife were taking photos as soon as gates opened now, and the aforementioned "street party" special event was a DJ, some food stalls (one run by Mookie Wilson's family), and merch. So, you know, whatever.

It was a good Friday crowd that kept faith until the end, but they went home without anything to cheer about.

At the Game with Oogie:

The first Shack in a while

I went straight in the right field gate to Shake Shack and landed my first Shack of the year, then did my normal bumming around and photography before shouldering my way into the team store and trying to track down what happened to the museum. I had a supplementary pizza & pretzel before the game started in the luxury level. I honestly can't be bothered to learn the new names anymore. Caesars? Smirnoff? Whatever. I had pizza.

My seat was on the third base side at the top of the bronze level. There was a lovely old couple sitting next to me, and a gaggle of Japanese fans in the row in front of me, clearly here to watch the Cub's Suzuki.

The Game:

First pitch, Cubs vs. Metropolitans

The Metropolitans, flying high for most of the year, of course started their first rough patch as soon as I show up for a game, contesting a match with the playing-over-their-heads Cubs. But you can blame anybody except Baty, who went 2-4 with five RBIs in an attempt to single-handedly win the game despite the ambivalence of the rest of the team.

The Cubs struck first and early. A leadoff single, an error on a stolen base attempt, a walk, a single, a walk, and another single brought home two runs, giving the North-siders an early 2-0 lead. New York went uninspiringly in order, as did Chicago and the Metropolitans in the second. The Cubs opened the third with a double and a single to extend their lead to 3-0. New York got an odd hit-by-pitch followed by a catcher's interference that went nowhere in their half of the frame.

Chicago lead off the fourth with a home run to pad the lead to 4-0, but the Metropolitans finally got something going with two singles and Baty home run to center to close the deficit to 4-3. The Cubbies only had a stranded single to show for the fifth, as did New York. Chicago finally went in order again in the sixth, while the Mets stranded a leadoff single that stole their way into scoring position.

The Cubs went in order again in the seventh, while New York left a single and walk on the basepaths. The eighth heated up again as Chicago strung a series of walks and singles into two more runs to open up their lead to 6-3. In the bottom of the inning, the Metropolitans got a man on base for Baty to hit another one out, closing the lead again to one run at 6-5. The Cubs went meekly in order in the ninth, as the Mets erased a leadoff walk with a double play and couldn't get the batting order around to Baty again, ending the game at a 6-5 loss.

The Scorecard:

Cubs vs. Metropolitans, 5/10/25. Cubs win, 6-5

I was trying out the new Frixion erasable pens for the first time at a park, so I went to use the regular program scorecard for the first time in a long time.

Using the new heat-erasable ink actually went a lot better than I expected, and scoring the game involved a lot less paraphernalia, so this may be something I move to going forward, even if the cost of pens over pencils is appreciably higher.

The game itself had few things of note. An infield single in the top of the first was nearly a great 5-3 putout and was noted as such, and in the bottom of the third, an F-6 putout was erased on a catcher's interference, awarding the batter a base.

And that was pretty much it.

The Accommodations:
Clifton of my heart

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

Stand-Alone Trip

Queens

On Doing the Work

Not Shea Stadium, 2022

Sunday July 10, 2022
Miami Marlins vs. New York Metropolitans
Not Shea Stadium
MLB National League
Queens, NY
1:40 PM

Outside the Game:
I had a weird corporate four-day weekend that would have been more welcome under the circumstances if they had told us they were giving us a four-day a weekend more than a month in advance. As a schedule guy, it also screwed up a ton of schedules having two missed work days in there, but hey, free four-day weekend in July right after one for the Fourth. Sadly, I spent most of it dealing with real-world things, but I knew I was going to catch a game of the Metropolitan homestand somewhere in there. Saturday was the retiring of Keith Hernandez's number, as well as a bobblehead giveaway, so that game was sold out; I decided to go for the more sedate Sunday afternoon game, being sure to get tickets in the shade.

The third day into a three-day weekend I was pretty slow getting up, but I had gone to bed early enough that I was out of the house by nine-ish. But I clearly wasn't fully awake, as I remembered several blocks into Hoboken that I had forgotten my camera, so instead of going back, I decided to try out a game just with my camera phone. I took a leisurely walk the rest of the way to the Hoboken PATH station, grabbing a convenient train to 33rd, then up to the 7 and over. I didn't have too long to wait for any trains--a blessing on a lazy Sunday when mass transit can seem similarly sluggish--so I counted my blessings at this point. The 7 train was sparsely filled with eager-beaver Metropolitans fans such as myself, and we were disgorged in Queens with over an hour and half before gates.

I took my time walking around. I visited that odd little park that the Mets had installed next to the subway station; tried to figure out an angle to get a photo of the stadium, Seaver, and the original apple; and even took a trip out to the Shea infield in the parking lot. After walking a bit, I settled on the right field entrance again, with its welcome shade and short line. The gates opened, and in I went.

After being shooed out of the stadium by staff just looking to close up after the end of the homestand, I meandered back to the subway in time to sit on the 7 Express for a while before heading back. Two quick connections had me back in Hoboken, but I decided for a Lyft back home, where I sorted out my purchases and fixed the game bag before settling in for a long, dark Sunday evening.

The Stadium & Fans:

Center to home, Not Shea Stadium

The crowd at the game this day was a curious kind of exhale after the previous day, where Keith Hernandez had his number retired amidst a sold-out audience craving the ceremonial bobble-head given away in its honor. The crowd was big, but not over-eager or clawing at the doors, and it was a reasonably laid-back Sunday afternoon with no particular expectations.

The stadium had not changed much since the visit earlier in the year, with the exception of the removal of the protective fence around the Seaver statue. There was a sizeable crowd in place, but nothing extraordinary, and the between-inning events were nearly the same.

At the Game with Oogie:

Scoring away

As I was one of the first in the park through the right field gate, my beeline to the Shake Shack resulted in me being served the first order of the day, which was wolfed down in a shaded table in center field. My regular process followed, with a trip to the team store and museum, and then more ramblings around the park. I was hungry at this game wedged between lunch and dinner and managed to eat some pizza and an order of rice balls before the affair was complete.

I was smartly seated in the shade of the bronze club level of whatever sponsor has the naming rights this year, just shy of third base, even though it has been nearly a decade since David Wright has departed. It was pretty packed in that day. There was a family to my left, some younger folks in front, and an older couple next to me. For all our close quarters, there wasn't much discussion until towards the end of the game where the father next to me and I were both bemoaning the sate of play and trying to identify what exactly was happening in the late innings.

The Game:

First pitch, Marlins vs. Metropolitans

The first-place Metropolitans were squaring off against the lowly Marlins this Sunday, but the Marlin's Cy-Young-Candidate ace was on the mound in the last game of a four-game set, facing off against Walker for the good guys, so it was going to be quite the pitcher's duel. There were high hopes, but no offense.

The Marlins managed just a one-out single in the first, erased on a double-play, while New York went in order. Miami then went in order in the second and third, while the Metropolitans went in order in the second and had their own one-out single erased on a double-play in the bottom of the third. Both pitchers had given up one hit and faced the minimum at this point.

Both teams saw some life in the fourth. The Marlins started the inning with a hit batsman and a single, but a double-play and groundout ended the threat. New York staggered two singles with nothing to show for it in their half of the inning. Miami went in order in the fifth, with the Metropolitans stranding a single. The Marlins again went in order in the sixth, but New York had a leadoff error and walk erased on a double play and a fly out to no avail.

Miami had a leadoff single and a walk in the seventh, but stranded them on three straight outs. The Metropolitans had two, two-out singles stranded in their own half. The Marlins went in order in the eighth, and New York stranded another lone single. We limped out of regular baseball with Miami going in order, and the Mets stranding a reached-on-error.

Extra baseball went quickly. The Marlin's ghost runner stole third and scored on a wild throw. Three more singles followed between outs to plate the first runs of the game at 2-0, Marlins. New York's offense continued to sputter. The ghost runner made it to third on a fly out, but died on the vine despite a walk getting the tying runner on base. The Marlins won, 2-0.

The Scorecard:

Miami Marlins vs. New York Metropolitans, 07/10/22. Marlins win, 2-0.

I used the scorecard in the Mets program. There were no changes from the one earlier this year, so no need to go into the details.

For most of the first nine innings, there was nothing of note, for the most part. Both pitchers were throwing a gem, and both had faced the minimum through three. In the top of the fourth, Lindor made a great diving stab that started a double-play that was worth a gem (!). In the bottom of the fourth, there was a collision between the Marlin's left fielder and shortstop that resulted in the shortstop being removed from the game the next inning.

Then we get to extras. The damnable "ghost runner" starts on second, so I used a dotted line to get them there with an "EI." The Marlins put in a pinch runner for their ghost runner, just to make it even more ridiculous (he stayed in an played left). He stole third, and the catcher threw it into left for an error to score the game's first run. The jiggering into the bottom of the tenth had a new pitcher coming in and batting for himself, though he never got up. Alonzo stopped being DH and played first in the tenth, while the previous first base slot became the pitcher. This apparently is becoming common now, and I just hate everything about it.

The Accommodations:
Home, sweet Jersey City

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

Stand-Alone Trip

Queens

On Yin and Yang

Not Shea Stadium, 2022

Saturday, April 16, 2022
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. New York Metropolitans
Not Shea Stadium
MLB National League
Queens, NY
7:10 PM 

Outside the Game:

I had a fitful sleep the night before, struggling mightily against my alarm that morning. I had my clothes all laid out for days--I was trying out the Jomboy Media Shea Station blitzball jersey for luck appraisal--but even with the prep work, I eventually left a lot later than I expected, taking a Lyft to get to the subway at around 9:30 AM. I hit a string of good luck, quickly getting a PATH train to 33rd Street, and an orange up to the 7, although I just missed an outbound 7 going to Queens. Even this early, several Mets fans were shifting around half-awake, awaiting the next train that pulled up in due time and had us heading Queensward in the Saturday morning.

I was dumped out about a half-hour before the gates were to open. I, of course, immediately went to the new Tom Seaver statue, dominating the plaza outside the home plate entrance. I'm not saying that the remarkable performance of the Metropolitan starting pitching so far this year is due to finally giving Seaver his due, but I am not saying it isn't. The statue is everything that it should be, and it is defines the stark contrast of having an owner who is a fan of the team and owners that were fans of a team that jilted the city a half-century ago.

The give-away was a replica of the aforementioned statue, so it was going to be a big crowd. Walking around to the various entrances, I found that the right-field entrance had a line of just a several dozen people, while also having the virtue of being close to Shake Shack. I parked up there with about twenty minutes to go and then amused myself on my phone until the gates opened up and I got my precious trinket.

The way out was more sedate, but I took another look at the statue before heading onto the trains back to Manhattan. A couple of quick transfers got me back to Hoboken, where it fell apart. Lyft had few drivers running, and not wanting to give those bastard Hoboken taxi drivers another penny of my money, I just decided to hoof it back to my apartment, calling my mother to pass the time. And thus a mostly disappointing day ended.

The Stadium & Fans:

Center to home, Not Shea Stadium

So, the obvious big change was the statue out in front, which we covered. I'll talk about some concession changes below, but there were other little cosmetic differences around the park. The M&Ms were removed (due to some expiring partnership, I imagine), a "Hit It Here" sign for the lottery appeared in right field, and a Home Run Apple home run counter (which did get to tick over during the game) showed up in left field. The home lineup at the top of the Jackie Robinson rotunda changed from replica baseball cards (which I really liked) to a digital display (which I guess was okay). A lot of smaller digital displays found there way around the park, and they were coordinated for things like home player introductions, or--in a much more Orwellian fashion--during advertisements. At one point, a DraftKings promo urged people on every screen in the park to place a bet during the game, which no doubt had Shoeless Joe Jackson spinning in his grave enough to potentially affect the rotation of the planet.

The crowd was big and boisterous, but it had little to cheer for until the late innings, when they got loud if out of boredom of something to do. Mr. and (regrettably) Mrs. Met were on hand for most of it, doing their pre-game shenanigans and then shooting t-shirts into the crowd and leading sing-alongs. Not a ton had changed there.

At the Game with Oogie:

Home Run Apple Ice Cream

With social distancing rules but a memory, the stadium was completely packed in this second home game of the year and the first weekend game after the unveiling of the Seaver statue, even though it was the day before Easter and deep in the heart of Passover. I gained entry early enough that crowds weren't too much of an issue. I immediately made my way back to Shake Shack, which had over the last year completely colonized the center-field concession spot it had shared until recently with Blue Smoke. I was able to walk right up to the counter and have my order nearly immediately, and claimed a small circular table to have my repast, while taking my new Seaver statue replica into my observation.

Thus filled, I made my way back to the front of the park to make my pilgrimage to the museum. It had a new exhibit on the 60th anniversary on the Metropolitans, and then I made the small lateral move to the store, which had been reorganized in the offseason. I made a bunch of ill-considered purchases, and then found that the line for the registers actually snaked back into the museum. Despite the length of the line, it moved swiftly and efficiently, and I was out into the rotunda in under five minutes.

I took a trip up to the club level. Signs for the long-forgotten "Ceasar's Club" were still in the stairwells, but it was now the True Premium Vodka Lounge, sponsored--for some incomprehensible reason--by Mike Piazza, complete with prominent Italian flag. Because when I think of vodka, I think of Italy. I continued my walk around the park, eventually seeing Mr. and Mrs. Met in the back of center field and then retreated back to the lounge an hour or so before the game. I purchased the new Home Run Apple ice cream and a souvenir soda and settled into my seat behind third base.

The area was packed. A young Asian couple was immediately to my left, where the woman was clearly the baseball fan and the boyfriend spent most of the game texting his friends and making car stereo purchases on his phone. A pair of Indian friends were to my right, making frequent long trips for beers while bravely leaving their Seaver statue replicas unguarded under their seats. Families were in front and behind me, a pair of fraternal twins scoring in front of me, and a young girl and her brother warred for most of the game behind me with no Metropolitans offense to distract them.

The Game:

First pitch, Diamondbacks vs. Metropolitans

The Metropolitans were looking good so far this year, but their losses had all contained around three things: poor defense, a pause in the offense, and the implosion of the at-best shaky bullpen. All three were on display today in this game against the Diamondbacks, a team with one player batting over .200 at the start of the game.

The game was lethargic for the first half. Arizona went in order in the first, and the Mets only managed a walk. The Diamondbacks stranded a single in the second, and so did New York. Arizona went in order in the third, while the Metropolitans stranded another single.

The middle innings didn't have much else happening, either. Carasco worked out of a top of the fourth with a single and double leaving second and third with no outs, intentionally walking the only decent Diamondback's hitter to load the bases for a player batting 0.000. New York went in order in the bottom of the frame. Arizona just had a walk and a stolen base to show for the fifth, while in the bottom half, the Mets erased another hit batsman with a double-play. The D-backs went in order in the sixth, while New York stranded a leadoff walk.

Things finally got moving in the last third of the game. The top of the seventh started with a leadoff single for Arizona, and then after a pitching change, the bullpen finally lived up to form and gave up a two-run homer to the lightest of hitting shortstops. A two-out walk was followed by a misplayed and lollygagged double that scored another run, leaving Arizona with a 3-0 lead. The Metropolitans limped through the bottom of the inning with a single to show for it. The Diamondbacks just had a single in the top of the eighth, and then it looked like New York finally remembered the team that they were for a second. A one-out single was followed by a no-doubter homer to left. Lindor walked the tying run to first, bringing Big Meat Pete to the plate, but his scorcher was right to the shortstop, leading to a double-play to end the inning--and rally--at 3-2 Diamondbacks. Arizona threatened again in the ninth, with back-to-back one-out singles. A two-out intentional walk loaded the bases before a strikeout ended the threat. The Mets, not rising to the moment, went weakly 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, leaving the final tally 3-2 Arizona.

The Scorecard:

Diamondbacks vs. Metropolitans, 4/16/22. Diamondbacks won, 3-2

I used the $6 program scorecard again, which wasn't much changed from the previous year: cardstock paper in the centerfold with no ads. There were twelve player lines with room for substitutes (less an issue with universal DH [boo]) with AB, R, H, and RBI totals, and twelve inning lines with R/H splits. There were six pitching lines for each team, and totals for Double Plays, Doubles, Triples, Home Runs, Errors, and Left on Base.

A lot of things of note. Alonzo had a sterling play in the top of the third to save a single, looking like a water buffalo trying to dodge a bullet. The Mets lined back to the pitcher in the bottom of the fifth, who was able to double-up the runner at first and kill an incipient rally. Also worth noting is the misplay in the seventh that gave Arizona the insurance run they needed. Marte misplayed a double (by Marte--conspiracy?) and that got across what would be the deciding run of the game.

To really underline the ineffectiveness of the Mets' offense, no less than three Diamondbacks had golden sombreros this game, and they still won. Mets' starting pitching: 5 innings, 3 hits, no runs, 8 Ks. Mets' relievers: 4 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 8 Ks. Just kill me.

The Accommodations:
Back in my non-mandatory isolated apartment in Jersey City

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

Stand-Alone Trip, 2022

Port St. Lucie

On Seeking Karmic Justice

Clover Park, 2020

Friday, May 10, 2020

Houston Astros vs. New York Metropolitans

Clover Park

Grapefruit League (Spring Training)

Port St. Lucie, FL

1:05 PM 

 

Outside the Game: 

After another early night to bed (or, as it is known in Florida, "going to bed at the regular time"), I was up before 9 AM again, even losing the hour at the end of Daylight Savings. I showered, dressed, and grabbed my stuff to leave. The drive up to the park with my dad went quickly, but for some reason, my father just would not stop the car to let me out so I could go to the training area. He kept driving and driving until I eventually just left the car when he hit another red light. I mean, really.

The ballpark had undergone yet another renaming over the winter, now sporting a "Clover Park" moniker after yet another sponsorship deal. (The Clover wasn't luck this year, was it, gentlemen? WAS IT?)

I took some pictures of the new features outside (more on that later) and went out to the still ramshackle entrance to the training area. Thanks to my father's recalcitrance to dropping me off, I only had under ten minutes before they started closing up. I took my pictures and went on my way directly to the team store before the big crowd from the training area got back. The store was much improved and enlarged, I made my misguided purchases and got on line to get in.

Thankfully, there was shade on the line, and I occupied myself reading a Stengel biography on my Kindle. Eventually, the gates opened up, and I was quickly inside the complex.

On the way out, we had a big wait for my father again, who had to go before we went while the bathrooms were overflowing with people waiting to do the same. As it turned out that this was the tenth year we were doing these Spring Training trips, we got together in a dugout photo op outside the park and took a picture. My father would eventually send it to me a week later just as the lockdown started, and it was a weird reminder of the world that was.

I napped on the way back to the condo, showering and packing when we arrived. Just my parents and I went out for a Sunday dinner again at a local Italian place that liked to serve up lots and lots of food that was acceptable enough. Back to the condo we went, and I watched some TV on my tablet while finishing up packing and going to bed early again for the flight the next day.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Home to center, Clover Park

So the newly renamed Clover Park was the latest in the carousel of names the Mets' Spring Training facility has had over the years. The newest one is the naming rights for a point-of-sale company, and the "clover" name didn't turn out too lucky, but we didn't know that at the time.

In the off-season, in addition to the name change, the park has had a bunch of improvements, both cosmetic and structural, and it really did invigorate the old concrete lump of a stadium as much as is probably physically possible.

Starting on the outside, the entrance to the training facility was moved from behind left field to behind right field, and was slightly more pleasant than before. The training facilities themselves got a bit of an upgrade, with some photo points added in, and most of the fields getting some TLC besides.

Outside the park got a big renovation as well. The largest was the consolidation of all the entrance gates into one big entrance right behind home plate, no doubt to accommodate the now-mandatory metal detectors. The old gates in left and right field are gone, and now the home plate entrance dumps out into a largish-plaza area with a stairway straight up the main promenade.

The outside of the park underwent other upgrades and changes. The 9/11 and other memorials were moved a short distance, and the outside was clad in orange and blue banners showing players and luminaries both past and present, with the home run apple added to the elevator spire. The team store was moved and renovated from its claustrophobic former self into a two-story space that had entrances both outside and inside.

Once inside, most of the interior was gussied up and changed, mostly for the better. The walkways have all been mostly wallpapered with logos and slogans from years past, as well as things like 1969 World Series' tickets and scorecards, and rather clever mixed photos of old and new players together, such as Tom Seaver and Jacob DeGrom holding onto Cy Young awards. Members of the Mets hall of fame are on banners affixed around the park, as well. For a team that usually does really poorly with its history, this was a nice change of pace. All the victory pennants and the like are now houses on the press box deck behind home plate.

The left field area was complete redone into the Budweiser Terrace and the Jim Beam Bourbon Bar, with stairs leading down into the Training Complex. The right field berm was re-christened the SunCoast Sun Deck. It wasn't all good, as most of the concessions stands were standardized, and things like the UltiMet Grill were moved out to the outfield--a shadow of its former self--and all the other specialty food stands seemed to have been removed.

Let's get this out of the way: It was the first Spring Training match-up with the Metropolitans and the Astros after the cheating scandal of the year before. (Can I even remember when it was really important?) People were starting early and often banging on the trash cans around the field in mockery of the Astro's cheating signals of previous years. Pretty quickly, the staff asked people to stop banging on the trashcans. This led quickly to something they couldn't really prevent, which was banging the plastic chairs, which sounded almost as good, and there was certainly a lot more volume through so many people doing it.

The Asterisks were booed the entire game. Every single guy who came up got booed pretty unmercifully, and since it was a split squad game, there weren't even that many regulars there, but Verlander was pitching, and he got it both barrels until he was pulled. It was a nice mob justice moment, but it was ultimately blunted by the fact that it didn't achieve anything except piss the Astros players off--but really, that is all we could have hoped for.

At the Game with Oogie: 

The last of the spring scoring

As mentioned, this was the yearly game with my family down in Florida. I had my parents call everyone and warn them that the clocks moved ahead that morning. They ended up mostly showing up before the end of the first, but it was everyday issues that caused the delays, not the clocks.

I was all by myself for most of the pre-game. I walked around to see all of the improvements to the parks, take my pictures, and get some chicken tenders and fries from the Ulti-Met Grill, which had inexplicably moved around the stadium as well. I took a run through the team store that was open from the inside of the park, as well, before settling into my seats and waiting for everyone else to show up.

We got into the cheering and booing as much as anyone. It felt a little cathartic to have our moment of hate for the Astros, and it really did seem to bother the players, which made it even better.

 

The Game:

First pitch, Astros vs. Metropolitans

This meaningless Spring Training contest between the Metropolitans and Houston Asterisks only gained meaning in that it was a fight of good versus evil, and good won. Also, Verlander and Thor were starting.

The Asterisks went quietly in the first in order, while New York stranded two singles. Again falling under the power of Thor, Houston again went in order, while the Mets stranded only one single this inning. The Asterisks started strong in the third, stringing back-to-back doubles into a run, while New York went order for their half, with Houston at a 1-0 lead after three.

With Thor out, Houston managed a lone double in the stop of the fourth, while the Mets did their darndest not to score. A leadoff walk was erased on a double-play, while a double was followed by a single, with the lead runner getting gunned down at home. The Asterisks went in order in the fifth, but New York got going with a single and two doubles turning into two runs, to give them a 2-1 lead. Houston stranded a walk and a hit in the sixth, while the Mets went in order.

The Asterisks only had a leadoff single to show for the seventh, while New York stranded an error and a single. In the eighth, Houston went in order, but the Mets started their half with a homer to left, ending their half with a now 3-1 lead. The Asterisks repeated a Mets achievement from earlier in the game in their half of the ninth, with a one-out single getting gunned down at the plate on the double that followed, securing the Mets pointless--but upstandingly moral--3-1 victory.

The Scorecard: 

Astros vs. Metropolitans, 03/08/20. Metropolitans win, 3-1.

The scorecard was the centerfold in the $5 Spring Training program. Disappointingly, it was still on glossy paper with colored backgrounds, making it the worst for pencil scoring and erasing. For no good reason, a quarter of the top of each side was wasted with generic baseball pictures, though there was white space around the edge of the card for notes. Scoring tips and rules and regs took up another 10% of the bottom of the card, leaving only about half of it for the scorecard.

The scorecard itself lacked pitching lines. I added them in an unused box at the bottom of the lineups. The scorecard featured 17 player lines, just enough to not have space for each player and a replacement. The player lines were number, player, and position, and had 11 columns for innings, ending in at bats, RBIs, runs, and hits. Each column had a split, presumably for runs and hits per inning.

There weren't a lot of plays of note. In the bottom of the first, a hit was ruled a single when it was really an E6. In the bottom of the fourth, a runner on second tried to score on a single and got caught at home CS 9-3. Similarly, in the top of the ninth, there was a runner on first trying to score on a double who was cut down CS 7-6-2. The only other noteworthy event was in the bottom of the eighth, when a hitter got a single to left against the shift that I thought was worth of a word or two.

The Accommodations: 

Back at my parents' condo for the evening before my flight the next day.

On the Coming Storm and Amazing Symbolism

Airports, always too early

Monday, March 9, 2020

Jersey City, NJ

 

Outside the Game:

Those of you keeping track of dates will notice that this is the Monday of the week when everything got shut down. As you'll remember, the country, the government, and especially Florida were largely ignoring things as infection numbers started to go through the roof.

I had bought a seat upgrade the night before for a window seat and premiere boarding, so I got up this morning with little concern, showered, and finished packing before the short drive to the airport. Except when we got to the airport, it was was anarchy: police everywhere, backups, check points. Our beloved leader was coming down to golf again through West Palm Beach Airport, no doubt thinking of the decisive action he was going to take on the pandemic that was raging around him. I eventually got dropped off at the terminal with time to spare, but the security line took longer than at Newark and I got the gate just before boarding was to start. I ran next door to get a Croissanwich from the Burger King and ran back just to hear that boarding was delayed.

It was short, however, and we boarded close to on time. I was in a row with an old lady, and we had a seat empty in the middle of us, which, in retrospect, was probably a good thing. There were people who were freaking out and wiping down everything in their seat area with cleaners and disinfectants, but I thought it obsessive at the time. The airlines were already cleaning the planes. Wiping down your tray table wasn't going to save you from this thing when we were all crammed in together otherwise. No one at this point was wearing masks.

I spent most of the flight asleep, and we got off at Newark after another small delay, related to the president flying out earlier in the day, so Trump got me coming and going. I called a Lyft and went home to unpack and do laundry and other things necessary before the return to work on Tuesday, though it would only be for two days...

The Accommodations: 

Back in my apartment, which I would become intimately familiar with over the next several months...

POSTSCRIPT:

I hope everyone out there reading this is safe and sound with their friends and families. This isn't a hoax and shouldn't be political. Wear your goddamn masks (even you, Karen) and stay distanced, and we'll get through this all.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2020 Spring Training

Syracuse

On Difficulties Getting Out of Dodge

Thursday, May 2, 2019
Cooperstown, NY

Outside the Game: 
So, there was a simple plan. I was going to get out of work at a decent hour, head out no later than 6:30 PM, and be in my hotel in Cooperstown at 11 PM.

No plan, of course, survives contact with the enemy.

First up was that the PATH trains back to Hoboken from work were all messed up. After getting as much information as I could about the delay, I called an audible, and decided to go home via Newport, which is always possible, but definitely the lesser of the two options. I get on a super overcrowded Journal Square train, disengaged myself at Newport, and trudged unhappily out to the light rail station to wait for the appropriate train.

It is here where I completely spazzed out. My age being what it is and my eyes not being what they were, I've been attempting to transition over to progressive lenses, as close-up material is getting blurry these days with my regular distance lenses. I even went so far as to purchase the glasses, but they give me intense headaches trying to get used to them, and I just end up carrying them in my messenger bag out of guilt and failure and continue to take my glasses off when I'm reading on the subway.

This interesting diversion into my everyday glasses policy pays off here. While I was waiting for the light rail, I reached back into my shirt pocket to retrieve my glasses for outdoors reading, and I was unable to find them there. This immediately set off a twinge of panic, as I've always harbored a horrible fear of accidentally missing my pocket and dropping my glasses on the subway when I wouldn't be able to hear them. I search my pocket, the interior of my jacket, my jacket pockets, my messenger bag, etc., as I realized I was likely going to have to use my progressives on the road for the first time in the worst possible circumstances. Overcome by emotion, I gave myself a face palm, whereupon my hands solidly connected with the tops of eyeglasses frames, which sat--as they had been for the entire trip--rather solidly on my head.

This is not what they call a "good omen."

I eventually made it back to my apartment and grabbed all my pre-packed stuff for this trip and Lyfted down to my car's garage. All things considered, it wasn't as bad as it might have been, and I was off on the road just before 8 PM. There was light traffic for the most part on the drive up, even the accursed 495 exchange, and I started to relax, just as the GPS decided to have some fun in the final approach to Cooperstown to divert me through unpaved country roads between farms that would likely save me .1 miles on the trip. And so I was driving in pitch darkness on tiny farm roads, trying not to die on my relaxing final drive into Cooperstown.

I got to my hotel just before midnight, which was great time, all things taken into account. The sky opened up just as I got all my stuff into the room, and I had a decent night's sleep as nature raged outside my window.


The Accommodations: 

RailRoad Inn, Cooperstown

I was at the Railroad Inn again, after my satisfactory stopover in December. I was in a different, but similar room, and the only real changes seem to be the addition of actual sitting chairs to the rooms, which was a weird omission during my last visit. A king-sized bed sat on one side of the room, facing the aforementioned chair, next to a dresser under a big-screen TV. The bathroom was off the main room, with a fancy shower and small sink next to a regulation toilet.

There was nothing much to note. It did what it needed to.

On People Not Understanding What a "Day Off" Means

NBT Bank Stadium, 2019

Friday, May 3, 2019
Scranton RailRiders (NY Yankees) vs. Syracuse Mets (NY Metropolitans)
NBT Bank Stadium
International League (AAA)
Syracuse, NY
6:30 PM


Outside the Game:
I woke up early to shower and pack up. I loaded everything into my car for the drive later and then returned to check out of the hotel to find myself faced with the same employee from my visit in December. I don't think he remembered me, but he confirmed I could leave my car until I departed town, and I headed out into the damp morning to the Hall of Fame.

A short walk later got me to the Hall, where I got in free thanks to my shiny membership card, and I headed directly to the Library to finally get in after all these years.

I found it, of course, closed. The bookstore outside was, however, opened and manned, and I talked with the attendant about what was going on. He said there was only one librarian today and that she was in a staff meeting, with the library opening a little late after the meeting was over. We talked a little about the state of baseball and the mutual-agreed disgrace that was Tim Tebow being in AAA.

Finally

The library eventually opened, and I was second in line, as their was an older couple waiting. They were asking the young librarian for help with a service that I hadn't heard of before. Apparently, the Hall of Fame Library can pull nearly any baseball contract, majors or minors, for someone. The man was asking for his own and his wife was seeking her father's contract. As she was off helping them, I wandered around the small room and started to do some research on the library computer.

When they were delivered the copies of their respective contracts, I bombarded the haggard solitary librarian with dozens of questions, which she answered dutifully. I decided to pull a book or two and gave her the slips. She said because she was alone, I would have to wait an hour or so for her to get the books, which was fine. I went out into the museum and puttered around the exhibits again.

On the top floor, they were installing a new exhibit on baseball cards. There were workmen installing display cabinets and the like, and I got to talking with the staff member guarding the entrance. It was set to open on Memorial Day, of course, but he let me poke my head in and see what they were doing. After a satisfactory conversation, I headed back to down to the library.

The Ball, She Honks

The librarian was helping other visitors, but she slid over my books, and I went back to the table to enjoy. The most important one was a 1980s Dutch instructional book on baseball that I spent some time using my Duolingo Dutch and general baseball knowledge to plow through. The other was a scoring book that unfortunately wasn't what I thought it was, but I didn't really have time to make another attempt. I was already laden with several pages of cribbed references to books in the HoF system that I hadn't known existed, to become Amazon purchases later on. I turned my books back in, thanked her, hoped she got some help soon, and headed to the museum store. I bought the full version of Stratomatic, along with a bunch of other crap I'm sure I didn't need before heading back out into the dreary afternoon.

I stopped at various stores on the way back to the hotel, buying some scoring socks at the new Beseballism store, as well as other small and sundry purchases. They were doing heavy construction on the third-base seats at Doubleday Field, but there was still a high school tournament playing on the field. The batting cages next to the field were finally open, and I popped in there for a bucket of balls before buying some lunch sandwiches and heading back to my car in the mild drizzle.

I booked my hotel for the night in the parking lot of my last hotel and then headed for the two-hour drive over to Syracuse for the game that evening. The drive was fine, except for one... tiny... little... thing. I got a call from work in the last half-hour of the drive, as the client had decided to do something so incredibly stupid that it hadn't even entered my mind to prep anyone for while I was gone, because they couldn't possibly be stupid enough to try the thing that they then went and did.

So, you know, obviously. So while I'm trying to complete an unfamiliar drive, I'm trying to talk through a client submission process over the phone with people who hadn't done it before while straining to hear the turn-by-turn directions from my GPS and trying to do so without running anyone off the road. After talking for nearly twenty minutes, I realized the client couldn't do this process even if they wanted to, because they didn't have necessary prerequisites in place, and I told work to tell the client that, and that I was going to take a nap.

I did complete the ride without killing anyone or myself, and I parked in the lot across the street from my hotel to check in with a very nice lady with no teeth. It was quite a first impression for a supposedly upscale hotel in the middle of some big lakeside redevelopment. But my room was ready early, and true to my word, I went up to my room, unpacked, and the took a stress nap that you would not believe.

I called work when I woke up, and nothing else having gone wrong since my last call, I headed out to the stadium. My GPS had the yips, but I eventually found the place and got in and parked. I was stalled going in because I left my multitool in my pocket and had to walk back to my car to dispose of it, but the gate staff didn't ask for a second screening and just waved me through. So there's that.

I didn't wait for the post-game festivities and fireworks and went straight back to the hotel, picking up some snacks downstairs before going back to my room for a hot, hot shower. I set up all my rain gear to dry and then went directly to bed early, not prepared to deal with absolutely any more of this day.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home to center, NBT Ballpark

I had been at NBT Ballpark years ago, when the team was the SkyChiefs and the field was turf. Thankfully, they had corrected both of those errors in judgment by this, my second visit to the park.

The fortress-looking facade houses a slightly underwhelming AAA park. It isn't bad, but it is just out of date enough to not have historic interest. The main gate is the only one that opens, and the large flanking entrance ramps on each side of the field haven't been used recently. The entrances dump out onto a promenade that runs outfield-to-outfield behind home plate, above the one lower section of seats. An upper deck houses additional general admission seating, as well as the press box and a row of luxury boxes.

The promenade ends in right at the Hank Sauer Room of Excellence, which wasn't excellent enough to be open this day. The serviceable team store is also on the promenade, as well as the Syracuse Baseball Wall of Fame, and--in a nice nod to the people in the seats--the Frederick J. Karle Fan Walk of Fame, and all the concessions. The only fan-accessible part of the outfield is the Jim Beam Party Deck in right field. A giant digital board sits in left field, to the left of a looming batter's eye in center, framing the trees that line the outfield wall.

What's a "Scootch"?

Generic orange monster Scootch runs the on-field activities with the human fun staff. In spite of the rain, the questionable tests of skill went on as scheduled between innings, with the regular minor-league fair of events. The crowd wasn't huge for a weekend game, but those that showed up mostly stayed for the entire game, even with the inclement weather, so good on them.


At the Game with Oogie: 

Rainy scoring

Even before I got inside, I was greeted by a free spiede sample from Lupos, so I knew I was in for a good food night. Once I got in, I did my photos and some shopping and then made a bee-line for the spiede stand to grab another of the lovely spiced goodness which is the only thing that Binghamton can be proud of these days.

Lupo's, baby

I got a ticket behind the home dugout and not quite past the screening, which had been extended out to the outfield. I was in a sea of families by the dugout, but they all seemed to be okay. However, there was a light rain since before the start of the game. The rain got serious, prompting me to don my rain gear, but even these precautions were not enough, especially when dealing with a newsprint scorecard, and I retreated up to the covered seats for the remainder of the game, which was never paused by the constant downpours.

The first row under cover was filled with college kids, so I went a row back from them where it was just me and a couple of older men. One of them witnessed me taking careful score of the game and taking pictures and asked if this was my job. I'd be lying if I said this was the first time I had ever been asked this. Since I was writing this up for the stadium Website, the technical answer was "yes," but I just told them I was a big baseball fan, which was also true.


The Game:

First pitch, RailRiders vs. Mets

The damp fiasco was billed as the first "Route 81 Series," which is the road that connected up Scranton (the Yankees' AAA team) and Syracuse (now the Metropolitans' AAA team), and it wasn't much of a contest. Even with most of the Scranton team already playing in the majors thanks to the plethora of early season injuries on the parent Yankees, it was a walk-over of epic proportions.

The RailRiders jumped out to an early lead in the first that was mostly the Mets' fault. A one-out walk and wild pitch was followed by a single to bring in the run and stake them to a 1-0 lead. Syracuse went in order. Scranton kept going in the second with a one-out walk followed by a triple to left to give them another run, extending the lead to 2-0. The Mets started their half with a bunt single and a stolen base, but the runner was left to rot with three quick outs following. The RailRiders finally stopped scoring in the third, with a leadoff single erased on a double-play. Syracuse had their own leadoff single that they again stranded.

Scranton had a leadoff walk in the fourth fall another victim to a double-play, and the Mets had exactly the same fate. The RailRiders went back to their scoring ways in the top of the fifth with a solo home run to right, while Syracuse had another leadoff walk erased on another double-play. Scranton scored some more in the sixth with a one-out double and two-out single to extend their lead to 4-0, while Syracuse again went meekly in order.

After all their regular scoring, it was almost impossible for the RailRiders to not score in the top of the seventh, as a leadoff single was followed by a double, making it second and third with no outs, but two strikeouts and weak pop-out got Syracuse out of the inning. Perhaps feeling cocky, Syracuse finally got a run of their own in thanks to their own leadoff single and double. A wild pitch brought in the run and moved the runner to third, but three straight strikeouts ended the threat. Scranton got more on the board in the eighth, as a one-out rally featured two singles, a walk, and another single to plate two runs and extend their lead out to 6-1. The Mets went in order in their half. Not content to go quietly, the RailRiders tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth, with a single and back-to-back home runs, running their lead to 9-1. Syracuse went in order again, bringing the soggy night to close with a 9-1 victory for the visitors.


The Scorecard:

RailRiders vs. Mets, 05/03/19. RailRiders win, 9-0

The scorecard was free, which was extremely rare for AAA baseball, but it was newsprint, which explains most of it right there. The scorecard was in the centerfold, and to its credit, it took up the entirety of the page, with no weird blank spaces or ads eating up the real estate. Player lines with plenty of space for replacements ran down the left side, with space for 12 innings of ball and summaries at the end of each line, and run and hits at the bottom of each column. Pitching lines were located under the batting lines, with printed spaces for five pitchers, but it was oddly split into two columns without the column keys printed on the right side, which had to be manually added.

As the scorecard took up the entire page, the scoring squares themselves were spacious enough to score comfortably, and they had no pre-printed diamonds. However, there was background printing on the newsprint, which makes erasing extra smudgy and difficult.

Outside of the shellacking that the RailRiders gave the Mets, there wasn't all too much out of the ordinary for the scoring. There were five double-plays in the game, including a strike-em-out, throw-em-out number, as well as DP F9-5 on an attempted advance. The K-Man did not strike out; the Hit Man did not get a hit. Tebow looked completely overmatched at the plate, and went 0-3, including grounding into one of the many double-plays.


The Accommodations:

Aloft Syracuse

I decided to splurge a little bit and stay at the Aloft Syracuse, which, as mentioned, was one of the anchors to a redevelopment project that really hadn't gotten much into the execution phase. They were clearly trying to do something with the lakefront, but they hadn't done it yet, though several construction sites were in place to give the illusion that it might happen.

The whole place suffered from a bit of try-hardism, as it and the surrounding incomplete development aspired to more than they could achieve. The hotel staff weren't quite where they needed to be for a hip boutique hotel, the facilities weren't quite there, and it could never quite get over the fact that it was located at the periphery of Syracuse, of all places.

The room itself was fine. The room opened to a long hallway with a sink and vanity across from dressers and minor appliances, ending in smallish bathroom with a hip sliding door. The main room was a large bed under some hipster art across from a working desk and a window overlooking the undeveloped lakefront. The room wasn't as maintained as it should have been, with soap stains and dirty windows, which just added to the death a thousand papercuts to their aspirations to hip boutique-ness.

There are those who would say that my overall mood of the day has unduly influenced my view of the hotel, and as right as they may be, I am personally insulted by the very insinuation.

On Heading Back

Saturday, May 4, 2019
Jersey City, NJ


Outside the Game: 
Despite all the previous day's activity, I was still up relatively early on Saturday, and puttered around the room packing up my rain gear and the rest of it and mostly lazing around until the appointed hour to kick myself out or pay for another day.

I eventually dragged all my stuff down to my car, checked out of the hotel, and then headed out. I stopped at a nearby gas station to fill up my car and stock up on questionable roadside breakfast foods, and then pointed my car south and drove.

It was actually a pretty relaxing drive, at least much more so than the day before, and there were no real traffic backups except for congestion until I got back to Hudson County. There was a moderate backup getting past the Holland Tunnel, but soon enough I was parked up and back at the apartment, desperately trying to simultaneously put all the junk from this trip away while finishing prep and packing for the Netherlands trip that would be commencing later in the week.

As always, my ability to schedule properly amazed even me.


The Accommodations: 
Home, sweet, Jersey City

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2019 Stand-Alone Trip