Asheville

On Southern Fried People

McCormick Field, 2016

Sunday, June 26, 2016

West Virginia Power (Pittsburgh Pirates) vs.

Asheville Tourists (Colorado Rockies)
McCormick Field
South Atlantic League (A)
Asheville, NC
2:00 PM

Outside the Game: 

I had an afternoon game this day, but thankfully at 2 PM and not noon. So, I was able to have a relatively reasonable morning of breakfast and packing before setting out on the two-and-a-half hour drive to Asheville. As I had the entire evening at the hotel, I made a snap decision to splurge on a Homewood Suites hotel with a full kitchen and make some dinner, because, why not?

I drove out to the park to get my ticket and take my pictures, and then had just enough time to go to my hotel and drop off all my bags and head back out to the game. The old stadium had a semi-residential locale at the top of the hill, but I got there early enough to utilize a street spot by the entrance. I don't know if it gained me anything; I just enjoyed that experience.

At a little before five, I was heading back to the hotel. As I had all night ahead of me, nothing was really open on a Sunday afternoon, and I had this nice kitchen in my room, so I walked to a nearby supermarket, hopping from patches of shade to shade, to buy some pasta and such and went back to the hotel in the sunset.

I'm not sure why the idea occurred to me, but it was far more enjoyable than I had even anticipated to cook for real for a night on the road. I made up some tolerably good pasta (with canned sauce, but what can you do) with a tiny bottle of wine from the hotel shop, and settled in to watch Game of Thrones and prove out my scorecard.

I've had worse nights.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, McCormick Field

Once again, when you put "historic" right in the name of the stadium, you know what you're getting into. "Historic McCormick Field" has been around since the 20s. (Babe Ruth sang its praises during his off-season barnstorming.) It is built into the side of a hill, facing out into the tree-covered rise that is a suitably bucolic an experience for baseball. The team name "Tourists" refers to the number of actual tourists that came to Asheville to enjoy the scenic beauty, and presumably the ballclub.

The main and only entrance (excepting for the staff entrance near the parking lot not open to the public) is at the top of a steep road from the main thoroughfare. An archway leads into a small plaza where the ticket booth and the team store reside. Many older renovated parks expand out instead of up, but the particular geography at work hasn't allowed that to happen.

There is an outer walkway that extends from outfield to outfield behind home plate. All of the concessions, stores, and party areas are all on this circuit, with regular breaks in the masonry of the seating area with stairs up to the seating bowl. Once out into the seating area, a smaller walk runs through the seating bowl, separating out the box seats from the regular seats. The small press box sits at the top of the seats behind home plate, underneath the awning extending out to save people from the fiery sun.

Old style clapboard advertisements are all along the outfield wall, with a small digital scoreboard sitting in right field. In another nod to Durham, there is a "hit sign, free subs for everyone" sign, as well as a more unconventional "hit white duck, win taco" sign nearby. Sadly, the close confines of the old seats to the field require the entire seating area be covered in netting. Both ends of the seating end in special party clubs where you can sit next to the bullpens from either team.

M-o-o-n, that spells "moon."

The Tourists have two mascots, Ted (the bear) and Mr. Moon, who (as promised) is a giant anthropomorphic moon head wearing sunglasses. It makes its own sense. The regular array of races and contests were on offer between innings, though the mascots were probably taking it at half speed to avoid sunstroke.

There was a decent crowd for a hot Sunday afternoon game, and it was a lot of families, but it was pretty obvious that this was a baseball town and they were watching the game for more than general entertainment purposes.

At the Game with Oogie:

Hot scoring

 I was desperate for lunch when I got inside, so I ended up get a hot dog meal, including a big-old hot dog, fries, and souvenir soda, for whatever ridiculous amount of money it was.

Given the really old stadiums don't generally have a wide variety of seating options, I ended up about two rows back from first base in what passed for the super-fancy area. It had in-seat service from a local buzz-cut college girl that I mostly used to ferry me a never-ending stream of beverages to keep me from melting in the afternoon heat.

Hot dog and souvenir soda

Just in front of me was a local fan who was really into the team. She knew all the players by name and cheered them on loudly, and she razzed all the opposing players loudly. Needless to say, you see where I'm going with all this. She was a hoot, and she made the afternoon go a little more cool. She made fun of my elaborate sun protection wear, telling me that I was never going to hide from this heat, as she sat in her shorts and tank top without a care in the world. Frankly, she was more qualified than myself to judge.

The Game: 

First pitch, Power vs. Tourists

This was a Sunday afternoon scorcher in the middle of summer, and it was hot as all get-out for this game. No, really. Check my scorecard. Under "Weather:", I wrote "HOT." The game was over in two hours and fifty minutes, and I can only imagine a little bit of that is both teams wanted to hit the showers as soon as possible.

The Power went in order in the top of the first, but the Tourists decided to go a different route, starting the game with a bunt single and a double that didn't get the runner from first in. A grounder to second scored him and moved the runners up, but a strikeout threatened to end the scoring until the next batter singled clean to center to bring in another run, leaving it 2-0, Asheville at the end of one. West Virginia tried a little harder in the second, with a leadoff single bunted to second, but there he was stranded.

Asheville didn't score in the bottom of the second, and it is still hard to work out how. The half began with a double to left-center. A fly out to deep right got the lead runner to third with one out. A walk made it first and third. A grounder to first got pegged home to stop the run but concede the runner to load the bases with one out. But then a weak pop to short made it two outs, and the next batter struck out swinging--but the catcher dropped it. He had the wherewithal to tag the plate, but that was some Metropolitan-level of not scoring right there. Both teams went in order in the third, but the Power finally showed some pep in the fourth. A one-out walk was followed by a towering homer to dead center to tie up the game 2-2. The Tourists went in order.

The fifth was a scoring frame for the Power, as a one-out double and single made it first and third. A sacrifice fly to left scored the runner from third, but the runner from first went to third on throw without touching second and lost the race back to the bag. The Tourists manufactured a run in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff double, a fielder's choice to second, and a single to right, leaving us knotted at 3-3 after 5.

Both teams had a player hit a double and steal third and get stranded in the sixth, which is nice for symmetry, but not scoring. The Power broke the tie in the seventh with a two-out single followed by a homer run, to take the lead 5-3, while the Tourists went in order. Both teams had symmetry again in the eighth with runner on first and second who made it no further.

In the ninth, the Power tacked on one more run with a leadoff single, a fielder's choice to second, and another single, while the Tourists went in order, leaving the final tally 6-3, Power.

The Scorecard: 

Power vs. Tourists, 06/26/16. Power win, 6-3.

The scorecard was a double-sided photocopy separate from the free newsprint, full-tabloid program. It was about average all-around, to be honest, although the Tourists didn't pre-print the lineups.

Scoring-wise, there were a couple of items worth mention. In the bottom of the first, the Tourists first baseman got a double that was his 100th hit of the year, and important enough to warrant an announcement on the PA. In the wild bottom of the second, there was a fielder's choice to the first baseman who threw home instead of tagging first to cut off the run, and that same inning ended on a dropped strikeout with the bases loaded that wasn't over until the catcher saw fit to tag the plate. And there was a good-olde CS 7-1-6 in the top of the fifth, as a runner advanced to second on a sacrifice fly, made it to third on the throw home, and then the alert shortstop called for the ball because he noticed the runner didn't touch second. The throw made it back before the runner, who was called out. I can still hear the manager yelling at him now...

Other than the wild bottom of the seventh described above, it was mostly straightforward.

The Accommodations: 

Homewood Suites by Hitlton

I was the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Asheville. Asheville is apparently quite a frou-frou town, with arts and renovated downtowns and the like. It was all closed on Sunday evening, though, so I just decided to stay someplace nice.

I had managed, again, to somehow get a handicapped-accessible room. Everything was a little lower than expected, but it didn't really affect me any. The full kitchen with the dinette table was just off the entrance to the room, and connected with the living room, with couches and chairs and TV and entertainment center.

The separate bedroom was through the doorway, with a king-plus bed, and end tables, and desks, and dressers, and another TV, just in case. The huge bathroom was perhaps even more spacious due to the handicapped access.

Needless to say, it was an acceptable time to spend an extended evening in a very civilized manner.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2016 The Carolinas

Charleston

On Leaving Without Issues

Terminal C, again

Thursday, May 27, 2016

Morgantown, WV


Outside the Game: 

A four day weekend beckoned, and I was off to visit my friend in West Virginia. I nailed down everything I could at work, and then set off for the airport.

Beside some monorail delays, everything went smoothly. I upgraded to priority boarding and flew through security, got dinner, and waited for the plane to board. We had only the smallest of delays, and the plane landed a little early.

I couldn't understand him. He had a heavy Accent.

I got my rental car with next to no fuss, and had an uneventful drive down to my friend’s house in Morgantown, arriving a little before midnight. After some small talk, I went to bed. It was really as boring as all that.


The Accommodations: 

Waiting for my late arrival was an inflatable mattress in the computer room, as my friend’s kid had taken up the old guest room. And slept I did.

On Vacation

Friday, May 28, 2016
Morgantown, WV


Outside the Game:

This was just a day of random geekery and time with my friend's family. Nothing all that interesting to people who are not us.


The Accommodations: 

I spent another night in the computer room on the inflatable mattress.

On Disappointing Capitol

Appalachian Power Park, 2016

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Columbia Fireflies (New York Metropolitans) vs.

West Virginia Power (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Appalachian Power Park
South Atlantic League (A)
Charleston, WV
7:05 PM

Outside the Game: 

So West Virginia doesn't have the greatest of reputations, and, to be fair, most of that is earned. The vast majority of the population is poor and deeply fundamentalist Christian, the state is nearly exclusively rural, and its main claim to fame and source of money is a coal industry that is rapidly and thankfully going the way of Dodo. It is the front line of the "War on Coal," and the entire state is fiercely rightist, against its own best interests in most cases.

My friend lives in the most "liberal" (if the word can accurately be applied to the state at all) enclave of the state, home to its state university, and wedged in the northwest corner of the state just an hour or so south of Pittsburgh.

This is all relevant because I needed to check off the only other professional teams in the state, which was in the state capitol in the south of the state. It was a good two-and-a-half hour drive, and we were considering bunking up and driving back the next morning. We had breakfast and lunch with the family, and then we set off south for the game and whatever else happened.

We had to drive through the very heart of the state, and things got scary for this city boy. For instance, we regularly saw cars (well, trucks) running with no license plates. For those of you who don't know, that is the calling card of the “sovereign citizens” movement. And for those who don't know about them, they are people who believe essentially that the navy took over the legitimate US government and by declaring so, they aren't subject to US law. Now, this is a gross condensation of their beliefs, but, sadly, it is not an inaccurate one.

So, two things stand out with guys driving on state highways without plates. Firstly, there are a lot of sovereign-citizen types in this area. Secondly, there are not a lot of cops around. Because, as you might imagine, driving around with no plates is super illegal--naval flag or no--and no one is pulling these guys over. We are very much not in "Howdy, stranger" South as much as "You ain't from around here, are ya, boy" South.

I kept it 10 and 6 and mostly in the right lane for the drive down, which, thankfully, ended without incident. We went to the park to pick up tickets to find out that the parking lot for the ballpark was also the parking lot for the mini mall across the street. And we had to pay off some homeless guys to "keep an eye" on our car. So that was fun.

We picked up the tickets, I took my pictures, and we decided to make a run to the nearest CVS for a drink while we waited for the gates to open. Well, the CVS looked deceptively close, but was really a long walk away, so we really needed those beverages when we got there.

Charleston wasn't that impressive. It had a vibe of a mid-sized 70s city that hadn't been updated or repaired since then. "Depressing" was a fair assessment, and, I know it is cruel, but the folks walking around looked like they should save up to buy another chromosome. Yes, yes, it makes me an ass, but whatever.

We eventually went back and waited for the gates to open. We piled in and watched the game. It ended early enough that we decided to drive all the way back instead of staying over at a hotel. We got back after midnight and got some sleep.


The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, Appalachian Power Park

Appalachian Power Park, if nothing else, really drove home the "Power" message, in case you missed it. It is built into an old warehouse area, and it has incorporated those buildings into the stadium, a'la Baltimore and other such places. Condos loom over left field wall, and the warehouse building in right holds offices. City streets surround the park, and you can hang out beyond the outfield wall to shag home run balls. There is a homeless guy who stays there during batting practice getting all the balls that go out and will give you one for a small donation to his beer fund.

The outside entrance of the Warehouse building holds the corporate offices for the team, meeting rooms, the WV Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, and Paterno's at the Park, a restaurant that you used to be able to also access from right field, but there now seems to be have been a rift between the restaurant and the team, so while patrons of the restaurant can still watch the game, there is no ready entry from the park to the restaurant during games.

The main entrance to the park is by home plate, but for some reason they saw fit to make most of the area the designated smoking area, so there is only one gate in the wall of gates that is used for entry to the park. The right field "Power Alley" is the most used entrance, by the main ticket booths, and there is also a largely disused entrance out in center.

As with most parks of this level, all the entrances dump out onto a promenade that circles the park above the seating bowl. At the top of the seats behind home plate are a bunker of luxury boxes and the press box, while more party decks and luxury boxes form the second level of the buildings on the right side of the infield, built into the Warehouse building. Regular seating runs from first to third base, while the outfield areas get bleachers, and a lone bleacher sits out in right field and two rows of seats run in front of the play area in left-center, just below the main scoreboard.

On the back of the bunkers are the Road to the Show and the Wall of Fame, along with the previous team names and affiliations. A party deck anchors right field, while an elevated picnic area sits in left. The promenade along the third base line holds columned arcades, which for this evening held a pre-game concert of some pop-country band I had never heard of and hope never to hear of again. The small team store (The Power Outlet) sits in right field, almost as an afterthought.

There is an interesting view to the outfield. It is capped with a clear-cut cemetery on the wooded hill in left-center that is quite a thing to look at. One nice thing they had was a special picnic table section on the promenade right above home plate (and probably not coincidentally right by the Tiki Bar) for the Rowdy Alley, a group of dedicated home fans. They were in attendance that night, and at least one of them was wearing a beer can hat, because of course he was.

The running of the Chucks

It was Redneck Night, which was a redundancy if I'd ever heard one. The grounds crew was decked out in jean-short overalls, checkered shirts, and hunter's caps. Mascot Chuck held some redneck themed events, but, unfortunately, the goddamn Zooperstars were there, which meant sitting through the machinations of those inflatable suit morons that I had seen at too many minor league parks at this point.

A majority of the crowd seemed to be there for the pre-game concert, and the crowd was mostly the minor-league standard families. But, they get extra points for the Rowdy Alley, who root, root, rooted for the home team and hazed the visiting Fireflies at every opportunity (and there were plenty this evening).


At the Game with Oogie: 

"Pulled pork" and souvenir soda

As is probably obvious at this point, I was at the game with my friend. We had seats on the first base line, just past the extension of the safety netting, so we both could get photos of the game. While I was writing up the lineups, one of the older ushers saw me and asked if I was scoring the game. He seemed to approve of me doing so.

A so-called brat

The food at the park was pretty awful. The main concession stands were selling (unarguably cheap) school cafeteria food on Styrofoam plates. The "beef brisket" sandwich was slightly better than a sloppy joe. A grilled cart by home plate was marginally better, but the portions were tiny. Given the size of some of the people in this place, I wonder how some of them didn't starve to death during the game.


The Game: 

First pitch, Fireflies vs. Power

On hesitates to use "brutal beating" too often, lest it lose its meeting, but this SALly-league matchup between the farm clubs of the Pirates and the Metroplitans was the brutalist of beatings, as only a ten-run differential can truly impart.

The Fireflies didn't start out too badly, with a leadoff single in the top of the first. A blown pickoff throw by the first baseman got him to second, and a ground-out to second base got him to third. But there he was stranded. The Power started with the same leadoff hit trick, but he then stole second base, got to third on a ground-out to short, and was driven in by a single to right to make it 1-0, Power.

Columbia got a leadoff bunt single in the second to keep the pattern going, stole second, made it to third on a ground out to short, and then got stranded. The Power decided to up the ante and got a leadoff double who made it to third on a deep fly to center, and then scored on a deep sacrifice to left, making it 2-0 Power after two. The visitors had a two-out walk make it to third on a single before being stranded again. The Power kept up with the leadoff hits (a single this time) that moved over to second on a steal and third on a passed ball. A two-out walk made it first and third, and another wild pitch moved the trailing runner to second. A single brought them both home to make it 4-0 Power at the end of three.

The Fireflies finally decided to score in the fourth. A one-out shortstop error got a man to first, who made it to second on a ground out to the first baseman. A triple then brought him home before a strikeout ended the threat with the score 4-1, Power. Not to be outdone, the Power started the bottom of the inning with a triple, brought in a ground-out to second. A one-out walk promptly stole second and made it to third on a ground-out to the pitcher. A two-out single brought him home, ending the fourth at 6-1, Power.

Perhaps out of gas, the Fireflies went in order in the fifth. West Virginia would not be so accommodating to the new pitcher for the Fireflies. The half-inning started with a homer to dead center. With one out, a hit batsman went to first. Two walks loaded the bases, and a single brought in one run. A squib grounder to first brought in another run, but gave hope to the end of the inning. This was quashed by another walk--and, subsequently, another pitcher. A single brought in two more runs, and a following single added one more. A strikeout mercifully ended the six-run beating, leaving it 12-1, Power.

The sixth went quickly, with the Fireflies going in order and the Power mustering only a single. A leadoff walk in the top of the seventh was followed by a one-out double to make it a close 12-2. Exhausted from running the bases, the Power went in order in the seventh. The last two innings were a grim march to conclusion, with both teams getting a single each in the eighth and nothing else, ending the fiasco officially at 12-2 for the home team.


The Scorecard: 

Fireflies vs. Power, 05/28/16. Power wins, 12-2.

The scorecard was part of the half-tabloid, full-color, free program. It was on magazine paper, but it wasn't overly glossy, so use with pencils was possible. What inhibited things more was the tiny, tiny scoring squares. Even though there was no advertising on the scorecard, and little space was taken up with the header, it was still cramped and very hard to fit progress around the bases in. Also, for no good reason in the compiled batting stats, they had hits before runs, which made me have to double-check myself a number of times when proving out.

The story of this game was obviously the brutal drubbing the Fireflies received. Their reliever in the bat-around fifth ended with the impressive pitching line of .6 IP, 6 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, and 1 K. That's just not easy to do. Otherwise, the scoring was pretty routine. The Fireflies K-Man complied in the third. The "Wings Inning" (rewarding the crowd with free wings if the home team scored) was the eighth, one of three innings where the Power didn't score.


The Accommodations: 

Although we flirted with the idea of grabbing a hotel room, the game ended early enough that we just drove back, and I spent another evening on the inflatable mattress in the computer room.

On Another Day

Sunday, May 29, 2016
Morgantown, WV


Outside the Game: 

The days started off a little slow after the late night, but it was another day of random geekery interrupted by meals. Not a lot to report.


The Accommodations: 

Another night in the computer room on the inflatable mattress.

On Being Homeward Bound

Bridge Bot

Monday, May 30, 2016

Jersey City, NJ


Outside the Game: 

My four-day weekend over, it was time to head home. Thankfully, I had managed to book a mid-afternoon flight that did not necessitate early rising. I got up, packed up, and had breakfast, and then took the drive up to the airport.

I calculated just enough gas to show up at the rental car place running on fumes, so I triumphantly turned in my car with the smugness of pre-paid gas wisely used, got through security, and checked in.

Of course, there are nearly never delays going home, and so I got back to Newark and took a cab back to my apartment so very excited for another day of work the next day.


The Accommodations: 

Sweet home, Jersey City

Click here to see all the photos for this trip.

2016 Stand-Alone Trip

Lakewood

On Revelations

First Energy Park, 2011

Saturday, August 7, 2011

West Virginia Power (Pittsburgh Pirates) vs.
Lakewood BlueClaws (Philadelphia Phillies)

First Energy Park

Southern Atlantic League (A)

Lakewood, New Jersey

7:05 PM

Outside of the Game:
My semi-official quest to see all the teams in New Jersey continued this weekend. I decided to check off one of the closer teams remaining (as the other two are Philadelphia-adjacent) and went to see the team in Lakewood, an hour and change from home.

It being a summer weekend, I was a little leery of a drive down the main shoreline arteries, but I surmised (correctly, in this case) that I’d be leaving late enough in the afternoon to avoid any major traffic on the way down, and I’d be coming back late enough to avoid any major traffic in the other direction. Beside some mild congestion and the inevitable toll-booth backups, the Turnpike and Parkway runs in both directions were without major delays, though the drive back was a little on the damp side.

Heck, I didn’t even hit much street traffic in Hoboken, a side effect of a summer weekend when most people get the hell out of Dodge.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, First Energy Park

First Energy Park is a rather nice single-A park, if a little pedantic with the naming. Unlike many low minors parks, this one had seating all around the field in a single bowl. There were picnic hills in left and right field, and there was a bar/grill area in dead center that was hosting a dollar beer and fifty-cent wings event that night, so it was quite popular, even with the impending weather. A small arcade and bouncy castle entertained kids in right, and a full-blown kids area in left housed your standard child-based amusements. In keeping with their Jersey Shore location, lifeguard chairs on sand boxes ringed the outfield promenade and were a big hit with kids, who scrambled out to claim them as soon as the park opened.

Food courts flanked the shoulder of each outfield on the promenade, and various stores and concessions extended around behind home plate. There was a second deck accessible only by elevators near the entrances that led to the more exclusive areas. There was a special “Upstairs” bar open only people who bought reserved box seats (though you only had to buy a ticket in that area once, and you got a pass that was good for the rest of the season), the requisite luxury boxes that lined the area around the press box, and two party decks at the end of the upstairs areas above first and third base.

It was Irish Heritage Night that evening, which included a free T-shirt for the first 2,000 fans, a visit from the New Jersey Irish Queen, the previously mentioned dollar beer night, special green jerseys for the home team, and a bagpipe band that marched around the promenade for most of the evening. As part of the festivities, there was a charity auction for the player’s uniform jerseys, which wouldn’t be used after this evening, anyway.

As with most minor-league events, it was family-oriented, with smatterings of hardcore baseball cranks. This summer weekend game was well-attended, with six-and-a-half plus thousand in the park that evening. That said, the place was mostly filled with some strain of Phillies fans, and, as per usual, they classed up the joint. While many of the fans were supportive of the team, there was some fairly constant heckling of home players whether the transgressions were real and imagined. 

Neutral arbiter

But the pinnacle of the evening was during the bean ball conflagration in the seventh. After the BlueClaws pitcher had come inside all inning and eventually hit a Power batter, the ump warned him. And he promptly hit the next batter, getting him chased from the game, in the largest travesty of justice any of the assembled fans had ever witnessed. In the bottom half of the inning, when the first BlueClaws batter got tagged, the amateur jurists of the stands demanded the umpire’s head, loudly talking about how he had to toss the Power pitcher. Sitting behind me, the male half of an older couple of Pirates (and subsequently Power) fans grumpily (and correctly) told the female half the people had no idea what they were talking about, as only the BlueClaws pitcher had been warned, not both teams, which would have necessitated the immediate ejection of the Power’s pitcher. She told him gently to calm down, and I turned around and gave him a sympathetic look.

At the Game with Oogie:

Damp scoring

I surprised the ticket-taker by announcing my willingness to “go for the $15 seats” to get behind the home dugout. My big-spending ways from up north were already catching notice. For my flashy expense, I got seats right behind the BlueClaws dugout and an aforementioned year-long pass to use the special bar upstairs.

My seat was one row away from the field and the top of the dugout, which was the frequent trotting grounds for the BlueClaws mascot, Buster. To his credit, there was only one mascot for the team (as opposed to the handful you usually get to peak children’s interest at a lot of minor league parks) and, as mascots go, Buster was actually on the entertaining side of things. He wasn’t just some marketing intern in a big, fuzzy suit. He seemed to actually care about his job.

I was sitting right behind of the biggest BlueClaws fan in existence. He showed up a little after me, and clearly had season tickets in the first row of seats behind the home dugout. He was prepared with an improvised rain poncho and was decked out in the Irish-night gear from some year past. He had his glove with him and was listening to the radio broadcast of the game on a portable radio. Hard to the cores, yo. He knew all of the players by name and nickname and cheered them as they came in and went out to the field. He apparently didn’t get the Phillies fan handbook. He also was apparently supposed to be at a soccer game that night, as everyone that came to see him throughout the evening asked him why he was there and not at the soccer game.

The Game:

First pitch, Power vs. BlueClaws

The BlueClaws are the defending two-time champions of this league and single-A affiliate of the seemingly unstoppable Phillies, and the Power are the bottom-dwelling affiliate of the recently resurgent Pirates, so it looked to be a mismatch from the start. Through eight batters, the BlueClaws pitcher was perfect, before back-to-back singles and a walk broke up the no-no, but not the shut out, as the skies opened up to a constant rain that everyone seemed determined to play through.

Outside of a mild first-inning threat, the BlueClaws had nothing going on themselves until the third, where a leadoff triple got brought home on a fielder’s choice, making it 1-0 at the end of three. The Power came back with their own leadoff double brought home by a subsequent single, to tie it at 1-1 in the top of the fourth. Beside some scattered hits, both teams mostly went in soggy order until the top of the sixth.

The Power smacked their own leadoff triple in that inning, knocked in immediately by a sacrifice fly. A walk was followed by a double and a single, which scored a run. A wild throw by the catcher on a stolen base attempt brought in another run, before a strikeout ended the inning 3-1 Power. A one-out double for the BlueClaws went for naught as a line drive to third doubled the runner off second to end the bottom of that inning.

And then things got ugly. A single was erased by a double-play at the top of the seventh, but the BlueClaws pitcher was coming in close on the batters. He hit the next one, and got warned, and then proceeded to plunk the next batter, too, getting the hook from the umpire for the last offence. The next pitcher got a strikeout to end the inning, but not before ire had been raised. The very first BlueClaw got plunked in the bottom of the inning, making this the first bean ball war I had ever seen in person. The ump then warned the Power pitcher, and the next three batters went in order.

A lone two-out single was ditched on a caught stealing to end an unconventional 1-2-3 top of the eighth. And then BlueClaws got lucky, or the Power’s pitcher got bad – your choice. A fast strikeout was followed by a single and then two quick walks. A long double brought everybody home and chased the pitcher. The replacement gave up a single to drive in the go-ahead run, but then induced a double-play to end it, but not before the BlueClaws had jumped to a 4-3 lead in an incredibly quick half. The BlueClaws closer came in for the ninth and mixed in a walk during the process of setting down the Power, securing the inexplicable BlueClaws win.

Then it occurred to me, like a bolt of lightning. Firstly, I think it is obvious to everyone that the Phillies don’t deserve this run of good luck, which is preternatural at this point. Somehow there must be a reason behind this. And then the answer came to me: a Phillies fan sold his soul to Satan for a run of success for his team. He no doubt succumbed to the clever wording of such promises, and so garnered only the single World Series title, and the residual success without consummation will make the sole (soul?) title even more disappointing.

But here’s the thing: it means at least one Phillies fan is definitely going to Hell, and frankly, that’s a start. The only question that lingers is where a Phillies fan was able to get his hands on a soul…

The Scorecard:

Power vs. BlueClaws, 08/06/11. BlueClaws win, 5-4.

The scorecard was part of the free program handed out at the gate. It was a magazine-paper, pamphlet-sided publication, updated with information for the next two series. The scorecard was in the center fold, and had good space for replacements and pitching lines, but the boxes were a little on the cramped side and the paper wasn’t the best quality, so it didn’t hold writing the best, nor did it stand up to the rain particularly well. But for the price, you really can’t argue.

Beside the surfeit of “HBP” to record, most of my scorecard items for this game were notational, noting when the rain started and stopped, when a pitcher was tossed during the bean-ball war, and labeling the “K Man” for the game (who did get whiffed twice, leading to everyone in attendance getting a buy-one-get-one-free pass for a night admission to a nearby amusement pier).

The Accommodations:
Home, sweet home

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2011 Stand-Alone Trip