High Point

On Seeing a Big Dresser

BB&T Point, 2019

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Sugarland Skeeters vs. High Point Rockers
BB&T Point
Atlantic League (independent)
High Point, NC
6:30 PM


Outside the Game: 
I had a lazy morning, mostly because some drunk asses woke me up galloping down the hallway at 5 AM and slamming their doors. I dragged down to breakfast, and there were a lot of army personnel there, which is probably not surprising given the area. It was a nice spread of food, and I filled up and went back up for a nap.

I woke up and showered with just enough time to book my hotel for the night and check out before noon. I was soon on the two-hour ride up to High Point, which went without incident. High Point's claim to fame is the "home furnishing capitol of the world," but it clearly has seen better days. While there are still a lot of showrooms outside of town, downtown was obviously crumbling for a while. The ballpark is part of a bet to revitalize it.

World's Largest

I stopped at the ballpark to buy a ticket and take some pictures, and then I was off to a local Chik-fil-a for some lunch, the best of slim options available to me. With time to kill and no hotel to go to until after the game, I made a quick stop at Walmart for some items and then headed off to the World's Largest Chest of Drawers. It was a hokey tourist attraction in keeping with the town's furniture theme, and there were one of two other people there looking at it at the same time, so it clearly had its appeal. I then drove over to City Lake Park, pretty much the only other thing to do in town. It is nice city park with a big pool and water slides, mini-golf, boat tours and rentals, kids rides, and a couple of playgrounds.

Damn, a dam

Even though it was hot out, I grabbed a Gatorade at a concession stand and wasted an afternoon walking around. While walking past one playground, I saw an absolute gorilla of a man with his tiny little daughter. And it was obvious who was in charge of that relationship. But even when he tried to say in his lightest tone possible, "Whatever you want, princess," the bass in his voice still shook the ground nearby. I could only think that whatever man does this girl wrong will never be found. If they had any brains, they wouldn't even try it after meeting her father.

I found a bench in the shade right by the edge of the lake by the dam and took a nap to fortify me, and then it was time to head over to the stadium. All the nearby businesses were renting out their parking lots to take in the bonanza until the main parking lot was completed, so for $5 I parked right across the street and lined up.

I ditched before the fireworks started and was able to be in my car driving towards the airport as the first explosion started. It was an uneventful hour drive to the airport vicinity, but every second I was awake now was one minute of sleep I wasn't going to get, so I was moving like I meant it. The Microtel being full-up again, I booked the Days Inn again, and the same, super-slow Indian gentleman was working that night, again, but my annoyance level was much higher. I dashed up to my room after check-in, got everything ready for my early morning the next day, took a shower, and tried to get to sleep as fast as possible with the residents of the room above me running some manner of race above my head.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, BB&T Point

Like Fayetteville, BB&T Point is clearly seen as the anchor to a revitalization effort of the downtown area. And as with Fayetteville, a lot of construction remained uncompleted for the first season, even around the park with things like parking lots not opened. But especially for an indie league team, the facility was quite nice.

There were three entrances, but only one opened (more on that in a bit), and they all dumped out onto a promenade that circled the entire park. The one row of seats extended down from the promenade from out outfield corner to outfield corner. A kids play area anchored the left-field corner (with rocking chairs), a party deck took up the right field corner, and in right-center field, under the giant digital video board, there were the "Home Run Porch" and the "Vintage Seats," which will hold seats from various old stadiums across the country. Just not yet, it seems.

The entire first-base line was taken up by a low, brick building with an unconventional press box at the end by home plate. The rest of the building was the "Catalyst Club," a club room for all the attached luxury boxes that took up the remainder of the building. The "David Deck" behind home plate had the requisite cornhole games, and the concessions were all in one area behind third base. There was a small team store by the customer service deck, but most of the merch was in the "High Pint," a combo brew pub and team store, for some reason. A dog park was under construction in right, and a "Blessings Park" was under construction beyond left-center. For no good reason, there was a school bus in the right field plaza.

The outfield wall had ads printed on in, fairly unique, and looked out on a view of trees and downtown buildings. There was the standard POW-MIA Seat by home plate, and five retired numbers, which is really odd for a team that just started this year. Never did get an explanation on that. The only real big disappointment was the field, which was completely astroturf, even the pitcher's mound. I have no idea what kind of wear that did to the players, especially the pitchers, but I suppose it saves them on groundskeeping fees.

Hype the Rocking Horse

Rocking horse "Hype" didn't show up until the middle innings, and most of the contests on the field between play were the "greatest hits" of minor-league and indie ball, with give-away, quizzes, and dumb contests. They are still clearly working the kinks out, as one of the quizzes ended abruptly in anarchy, as the announcer read one question, another question displayed on the scoreboard, and then the answer to the next question was shown before the first one was answered. Despite the lack of polish, they seem to be drawing decent crowds, and even in indie ball, they seemed to care about the tight game on the field that came down to the last strike.


At the Game with Oogie: 

Indie scoring

I was at the gates fifteen minutes or so before they opened, and when they did, I was quickly inside with my bobble-head giveaway and out and around to get my pictures and whatnot. As I passed the right field gate, there was a family on the other side of the locked gate asking if the gate was opened. Not sure if this was a trick question, I told them "no," and they asked in turn if I knew it was going to open. I'm not sure what they were expecting from me, a patron like themselves, but I pointed out two actual employees walking towards us and advised the guests that they should probably ask them.

Rocker Dog and souvenir soda

I went about my way, stopping in at the team store/craft brew bar (don't ask) and then buying a "Rocker Dog" and souvenir soda, as I wasn't that hungry in the humidity. I eventually made my way to my seat behind the visiting dugout. The guests to my right were a young family with a small boy. The husband and I got talking about baseball and my trips, and he was really interested in all the places I'd been to. We also talked MLB, and he was a Braves fan, which I didn't hold against him, and he had been to a couple of major league parks as well. His wife disappeared in the early innings to take his son out to play in the playground, but he also disappeared in the middle innings. Perhaps the kid was acting up? Who knows? I never saw them again.


The Game: 

First pitch, Skeeters vs. Rockers

The hometown Rockers faced off against the cream of the independent Atlantic League, the Skeeters, and the surprisingly tight contest went on until the last pitch.

Things started shakily for High Point, but they managed to keep the Skeeters off the board in the top of the first despite three straight one-out walks. High Point went in order in their half. Sugarland went in order in the top of the second despite a leadoff single thanks to a double play, while the Rockers went in order the normal way. The Skeeters again went in order despite a single thanks to another double-play in the third, while High Point again did the same the normal way in the bottom of the inning.

Sugarland finally went in order the conventional way in the fourth, while the Rockers broke up the perfect game with a bunt single that eventually was stranded on the basepaths. Both sides went in order in the fifth, but in the sixth, the Skeeters got a one-out single all the way to third with two steals, but left him out there. High Point pulled the same trick with a leadoff double to start their half that made it to third on a fly out to center and died on the vine.

The scoreboard finally lit up in the top of the seventh, as Sugarland started off with a walk and a stolen base. A one-out single brought in a run, and then a double made it second and third with one out. A triple cleared the bases and a sacrifice fly to center brought him in, leaving it 4-0. The Rockers only mustered a single in their part of the frame. The Skeeters went in order in the top of the eighth, but High Point finally made their move. A one-out hit batsman started the rally, and a two-out walk made it first and second. A single brought in the lead run, and a double-steal made it second and third. A crowd-pleasing homer to right-center brought them all in, and the eighth ended in a 4-4 tie. The lead lasted for the blink of an eye, as Sugarland had another leadoff walk, who advanced to third on a long single. A sacrifice fly brought the lead runner home, then a single brought in the tail runner, giving the visitors back the lead at 6-4. The Rockers last licks began with a single, but it was erased on a fielder's choice. A two-out single made it first and third with two outs. With the winning run at the plate, a full-count battle ultimately ended with a strikeout, cementing the Skeeters' 6-4 victory.


The Scorecard: 

Skeeters vs. Rockers, 07/27/19. Skeeters win, 6-4.

The scorecard was a free two-sided cardstock give-away separate from the program. Rosters were separate print-outs, along with an uncommon separate print-out of the day's lineups and umpires. I seem to remember other Atlantic League teams using a similar scorecard.

The card itself was quite detailed. The top begins with full team standing stats for both teams (I was only able to fill in what was announced). There was then a game summary area, with lines for winning and losing pitchers, saves, and home runs. Below that was a stat block for the game, with starting and ending times, dates, temperatures, and locations. To the right was a defensive chart, and to the right of that was a place for league standings.

Below this was the player lines. Each player line had spaces for three replacements, and each scoring square had a pre-printed diamond and Scoremaster-like boxes for balls and strikes, the lines ending in quad-boxes for at bats, hits, runs, and RBI. They were tight, but efficient enough for proper scoring. There were twelve innings columns, terminating in runs/earned runs, hits, errors, left on base, and pitch counts. On the bottom left were bench players and coaching staff boxes, next to the was full pitching lines, and to the right of that was a bullpen box. I filled out everything that I had access to in the materials and announcements.

For all that, there were only a couple of plays of note. A pitching replacement in the bottom of the seventh wasn't announced, receiving a piqued note, and in the bottom of the ninth, on a 5-4 groundout, there was a long argument over whether the runner was obstructed (after which the decision was "no.") While the Atlantic League was trying out several new rules changes for MLB in the second half of their season (such as "stealing first base" on any dropped pitch), sadly none of them came up, and there weren't any other plays of note.

The only other item worth mention was the six pitchers that the Skeeters rifled through on their way to the win. Maybe they get paid by the inning?


The Accommodations: 

Days Inn, Morrisville

I was at the Days Inn again, and this will be my last stay there. It isn't because of the room itself, but if I have to wait for that Indian counterperson again, I might loose my mind.

My bed rental was fine, and a near mirror-image of my first room. The bathroom with the external vanity was on the right side of the entrance. My double beds were on the right wall, opposite the dresser with TV and the desk. I didn't get nearly enough sleep here, but that was my own damn fault.

On Everything Too Early

RDU

Sunday July 28, 2019
Jersey City, NJ


Outside the Game: 
I was up at 5 AM, and therefore not happy about it. I grabbed my stuff, did a quick sweep of the room, checked out, and drove over to return my rental car, not killing anyone in the process. I was at the terminal before 6 AM and through security shortly thereafter. After procuring breakfast, there was nothing to do but wait around, surfing the Interwebs and Duolingo.

We boarded on-time without incident, and I was in a daze through the entire flight, not quite able to fall asleep but not actually up, either. I watched an hour of Alita Battle Angel, and we landed as quickly as we had taken off. After all my previous experiences, I decided to finally just grab a Lyft home, and I did so, and I'll never use a cab or a car service again from Newark. For about a third of the price, I was whisked home half-awake and was out into the morning just as my landlord was heading out to Sunday mass.

I got my load of laundry in the machine and had a dangerous soak in the tub where I managed to not fall asleep and drown. After transferring things to the drier, I passed out for a good hour on the couch, spending the rest of the day taking naps and unhappily getting ready for work the next day.

So it goes.


The Accommodations: 
Jersey City, sweet, Jersey City

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

Side Trip 2019 -- North Carolina

New Britain

On Getting Out for a Day

New Britain Stadium, 2018

Saturday, May 26, 2018

Sugar Land Skeeters vs. New Britain Bees
New Britain Stadium
Atlantic League (Independent)
New Britain, CT
6:35 PM


Outside the Game:
After some tentative plans to go to Indiana by way of Chicago fell through, I was floundering with what to do with my Memorial Day weekend. In doing some cursory research, I discovered that New Britain, which had lost its minor league affiliated team to the Yard Goats two years ago, had already filled the hole with an indie league team. The Camden Riversharks of the independent Atlantic Baseball League had folded two years ago when the city of Camden bought the stadium they were playing in, tried to play hardball about the rental, and then the team had folded, leaving them holding the bag for a multi-million dollar baseball stadium that was now just hosting college baseball. Good job, Camden. Apparently, the park is going to be torn down, now, which is a shame. It was a really nice ballpark.

Anyway, although I had already visited New Britain Stadium, there was a new team in a new league there, and I decided to spend my Saturday on a trip up to see them, and air out my car a little bit, as well. Now that I finally had air conditioning to drive around in, I might as well use it.

After a lazy morning of cooking and napping, I headed out at around 2:30 PM, after most of the Memorial Day traffic had abated, and I had carefully planned a route up to 84 so I wouldn't hit what was left of it. I got to the car with my game bag and headed up to 95 via 1 and 9ish, avoiding a backed-up 495. Once I was up and going to the Palisades, it was all good. The drive out was nice and uneventful, and beside a small slow-down going through some road work in Waterbury, it was an uneventful ride up. I got there a little too early, so I stopped to get overpriced gas in my car and had a small snack before driving out to the stadium and parking. I took some pictures outside, and also noticed that the beautiful old wooden ballpark, the Beehive, that used to be next New Britain Stadium had been "renovated" at some point and turned into a high school field. Some of the grandstand still existed, but the old wooden bleachers were all torn down. That made me pretty sad as I bought a ticket and went inside the newer park.

Coming out of the game, I beat most of the crowd that had stayed to the end of the game to see the fireworks. I was out on the road before the explosions even started, and had a nice, relaxing ride back to Jersey City, hearing the Yankees lose big and how the Metropolitans had also already been trounced within an inch of their life. I spun around to see if there was any parking by my apartment on the street. There wasn't, so I went to my garage, got a Lyft back to my place, and was comfortably in bed by midnight.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, New Britain Stadium

I had visited New Britain Stadium before when it was home to the Twins AA affiliate the Rock Cats in the Eastern League. Two years ago, that team moved to Hartford and became the Yard Goats, so New Britain became the Bees in the independent Atlantic League. The stadium was still the same, which probably makes it one of the nicest in the Atlantic League. Outside, the biggest change is the signage, as well as one wall of the stadium that previously had all the Eastern League teams is now covered with all the Atlantic League affiliates. Also, with smaller crowds, only the main entrance by home plate was opened.

It still opens onto a covered promenade behind the seats that wraps around from outfield to outfield. All of the stores and concessions still reside in here, but now with a yellow paint job and bee-related names (the team store is the B. Hive & Co.), and a couple of the concession stands were closed, including a Puerto Rican restaurant near first. There was also a photo booth that was closed, as well.

The seating area was split up by a walkway that ran through the center of all of the seating, from short-outfield to short-outfield. The lower boxed seats ran the length of the seating bowl, while the upper deck was only seats until the dugouts, and then bleachers for the rest of the top seating run. At the top of the covered eats behind home plate were the press box and several luxury boxes. At the top of the third-base seats was the Rooftop Beehive Bar, and there was another unnamed party deck on the top of the first-base seats. Right field ended with a children's play area, while left field ended with a covered picnic area. The aging digital scoreboard rose in left-center field, among the trees that lined the outfield wall and above the single tier of outfield wall covered in local advertisements. The New Britain Sports Hall of Fame is still in the exterior walkway, the dedicated plaques are on the front of the building by the entrance, and the press box is named for Larry Michaels.

Stinger and fans

Mascot Stinger the bee is around before and during the game, schmoosing with fans and leading the between-inning entertainment that was the regular minor-league level of races, contests, and giveaways. One unique event was a sun roofed SUV that parks by the stands, and contestants try and hit the people inside by throwing bean bags into the sunroof, while also raising money for solders' charities. There was a respectable crowd for a holiday weekend, although it wasn't nearly halfway filled. Many of the fans were just there for something to do, but a good number did pay attention to the action on the field.


At the Game with Oogie:

Chicken fingers and soda

I did my walking around to see everything that was different. They did a good job converting the place over to more modest designs, though I did find an old Rock Cats sign still hanging around.

I got some chicken fingers and a soda to eat and regretted not getting a backup beverage after sitting in that sun for the first hour. I got a seat right next to the dugout on the home side. There was a Hispanic family next to me who was clearly there because the father (grandfather?) loved baseball. They all amused themselves while he watched the game closely. There was another family to my right, and they were more annoying. The mother kept teasing her teenage son in front of her by touching his neck with her toes through her open-toed shoes, which was amusing the first time, but bordering on abuse after the twentieth. One of her other kids asked me for a pen to try and get autographs, which I gave him, but then he asked if I wanted it back. Why, yes, I do want my property back that I loaned to you, you little so-and-so. The older son kept running his mouth about everything, and was universally wrong about nearly everything he said, which was annoying to endure. I tried to concentrate on a family a couple rows ahead of me where a father and a young son were patiently explaining everything that was going on to an older sister. It was nice.

At the end of the game, a team of local Hispanic Little Leaguers came and sat down by the dugout in open seats and started arguing about fellow players. One guy commented it was like having a live Sand Lot re-enactment.


The Game:

First pitch in the Insect Bowl, Skeeters vs. Bees

This early-season match-up of insect teams Sugar Land Skeeters and New Britain Bees looked to be a one-sided affair, as they had opposite records, with the Skeeters at 17-9 and the Bees at 9-17, but the game was largely over in the first and just dragged out the required nine.

The Skeeters started the game by getting their leadoff batter to third on a single, passed ball, and fly out, but they stayed stranded at third. New Britain, however, came out swinging and did not stop. Well, except for their leadoff hitter, who flied to right. But then it was six straight hits (four singles [including a bunt single], a double, and a triple) before a walk and an RBI ground-out. Batting around, the leadoff hitter made two outs of the inning, striking out, but with the Bees perched on a 6-0 lead after one. Sugar Land got a runner on an error and a single and nothing else in the top of second, while the Bees cooled down with a lone single in the bottom of the inning. The Skeeters went in order in the third, while New Britain stranded a two-out double in their half.

Sugar Land got on the board in the top of the fourth, turning three singles and a double into two runs to close it to 6-2, while the Bees finally went in order. The Skeeters returned the favor in the top of the fifth, while New Britain got a one-out homer to left in the bottom of the frame to open the lead up to 7-2. Sugar Land got a double in the top of the sixth, while the Bees did them one better with a double and a walk. Neither scored.

The Skeeters stranded a walk and single in the top of the seventh, while New Britain just managed a walk. Sugar Land did the same in the top of the eighth, but the Bees had a leadoff homer to deep left-center in the top of the eighth to extend the lead to 8-2. The Skeeters gave it a go in the top of the ninth with a one-out rally. A double was followed by a walk and then another double top close it to 8-3 with second and third and only one out, but the Bees' closer got two fly outs to right to end the game with an 8-3 victory for New Britain.


The Scorecard:

Skeeters vs. Bees, 05/26/18. Bees win, 8-3.

This was kind of a first for me. The scorecard was free, such as it was, but the scorecard didn't include a scorecard. It was a cardstock tri-fold, but it was all ads for the team and sponsors. It was sort of an "assemble your own" deal, as there were printouts next to the cover with an actual scorecard, starting lineups, rosters, and statistics for both teams. You could store all these in the "scorecard," and it provided a stable platform on which to score, but the scorecard wasn't a scorecard.

The print scorecard was a Scoremaster variant, with boxes to record balls and strikes in the top left of each scoring box, along with a pre-printed diamond. It included an ongoing line score at the bottom, and comprehensive inning totals. There was space for replacements, and although slightly cramped, it was easy enough to score a game on it.

There weren't any especially interesting scoring plays per-se, but there were a bunch of odd things in the game. Firstly, the Sugar Land pitcher who gave up 6 runs and let the Bees bat around in the first inning stayed in the game until the sixth inning. I have to imagine it had something to do with pitching staff situations. Or maybe Skip wanted him to get the opportunity to bring down his ERA. Who knows? Also, the Skeeters did a switch-up of players in the second inning. I'm not sure if it was an injury or not, but it wasn't announced. A new second baseman came in and the current second baseman went out to left field.


The Accommodations:
Sweet home, Jersey City

Click here to see all the pictures from this trip.

2018 Stand-Alone

Waldorf

On a New World Champion of Frustration

Regency Furniture Stadium, 2014

Friday, July 25, 2014
Sugarland Skeeters vs. Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
Regency Furniture Stadium
Atlantic League, Freedom Division (Independent)
Waldorf, MD
7:05 PM


Outside the Game:
I woke up rather refreshed and went down to get some breakfast before retreating to the hotel room to laze around in my gigantic bed for a while. Determined to get some work done, I downloaded some new games and played them until it was time to leave.

As Waldorf didn't seem to have much on tap, and since Baltimore was on the way and the Orioles weren't home, I decided to go to the sports museum next to Oriole Park that I didn't get a chance to visit before. It was a quiet drive that dumped me right at the stadium. Since the O's were away, I was able to snag street parking right next to the stadium, although it took me three tries before I could get one of the "easy" street parking machines to deliver an actual ticket to put on my dashboard. I figured I should be heading south no later than 3 PM, so I bought enough time to get me to then, and I headed for the museum.

As I was parking, a group of three young Orioles employees (judging by their outfits and the fact that they were smoking right by a staff entrance to the park) looked at my car, and one of them asked me what year that was. And I told them it was a 91 Plymouth Sundance. And he looked incredulous, and said, "She must run good for you." I said she did and that I was going to give her a twenty-fifth birthday party soon, and we all had a laugh. That was literally the only time anyone has ever mentioned my car on one of these trips.

Upon purchasing a ticket for the sports museum, I realized that I hadn't been to the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum, either, and so I got a combo ticket and headed into the Sports Museum. All of the baseball material was very well done, going from the 19th century Orioles, through their various minor-league incarnations, and eventually the O's of today.

Probably one of the only people to see both of these.

As expected, there was a rather extensive section on George Herman Ruth (including the sibling of the plaque at Koshien Stadium--I think I may be one of the few people in the world who has seen them both), but they also went through the Negro Leagues in Baltimore, as well as minor-league, semi-pro, and youth baseball. There was an interactive section for the "kids," and there was a bunch of other stuff on football that I kind of blew through. I cleaned out my wallet at the gift shop, and one of the staff directed me to follow the baseballs painted on the pavement to go the short distance to the Babe Ruth birthplace.

Surprisingly enough, following said baseballs painted on the pavement dutifully led me to the museum on a side street several blocks from the park. The museum is housed in the Ruth family house, which means that Ruth didn't live there too long before he was shipped out to the school for wayward boys. There are a couple of restored rooms in the building to recreate how the house appeared when Ruth was there, while the rest of building is dedicated to exhibits on his playing career, his entertainment career, and his family life. Of particular interest was a scorecard someone had of Ruth's first professional appearance on the then minor-league Orioles.

Signed

They also had a museum store, and I also spent a bunch of money there. One of old men working enthusiastically told me that I should have lunch at Pickles, which is one of the sports bars across the street from Orioles Park. Who am I to disagree with someone who works at Babe Ruth's house?

Center field to home plate, Oriole Park at Camden Yards

So I stopped at Pickles and had some overstuffed club sandwich or some such, and then went to Orioles Park to take some pictures. They have the pedestrian walkway in the back of center field open on non-game days, so I was able to take a lot of pictures of things that I didn't get the last time I was there, before I got a tad, um, obsessive about such things.

Educated, fed, and photographically complete, I decided to head down to Waldorf at a little before 3 PM. At a little under 50 miles away, I should have arrived there in under an hour.

There's traffic on Fridays during the summer. I get that, I do. Some people even take half-days, but leaving before 3 PM, I figured I was in good shape. And that was a gravely mistaken assumption, as it turns out.

I'm not good in traffic. That is a fault of mine that I freely acknowledge. Traffic is the distillation of everything that I hate about the world in its most concentrated and pure form: illogic, stupidity, and inefficiency due to the previous two items. Boston has the worst drivers in the nation. Of that, there is no doubt. Miami and the entire state of Pennsylvania come in a close second. I don't even acknowledge what people in LA do as "driving," or they, too, would make this list as well.

But there is a new king for frustration while driving, and that is the Baltimore/DC corridor. It is not just the traffic, which is horrific. It is also the fact that everything about their road systems seem to be designed to increase traffic instead of alleviate it.

For example, there are the traffic lights. Whoever designed this traffic light pattern should be dragged from his bed, thrown to the street, see everything and everyone he loves or cares about killed or destroyed in front of him, and then be stabbed in the stomach with a typhoid-laced rusty spoon--careful to miss any important bits--and left to die, slowly.

The way these lights work for a four-way intersection is thus: one lane of left-turn lanes only are given the green. Then the opposite side left-turn lane is given the green. And then one side of straight or right-turn traffic is given the green, and the other. This then repeats for the perpendicular traffic. What this means is: if you just miss a green light, you are going to be spending the next three to five minutes of your life waiting to move again. And not only is that infuriating in itself, it also blocks up the traffic behind everyone for miles more than if the lights kept any sort of reasonable pattern.

At any rate, my TomTom decided to take me down some two lane highway called the Baltimore-DC Parkway (or something) instead of 95. This was fine until the lights began and stopped traffic dead. I turned off and made it to 95 South, which got me relatively quicker to the inner loop beltway, which is where all hope goes to die. It took an hour to get around the Beltway with stop-and-go, bumper-to-bumper traffic that had me at my absolute wit's end. The TomTom helpfully told me to miss the exit it was trying to take me to. (I can only imagine that there had been a traffic pattern change recently, as the "exit ramp" a quarter mile after the real exit ramp was didn't exist, so I had to go one more exit, turn around, and then fight the traffic in the other direction until I reached my actual destination.)

At my exit, I was then dumped into another "highway" with traffic lights every quarter mile, so that the ten miles that I needed to traverse took another half hour.

Sweaty, enraged, and beyond my depth, I found that the TomTom address for the hotel was nowhere near an actual hotel. The address on the Website hadn't matched up with my GPS at all, and I called earlier in the day to get a new address. That address put me in the middle of nowhere. I pulled into the nearest driveway and called the hotel in a rather foul mood. After talking to three people, I eventually talked to someone who could give me actual directions to the hotel, and five minutes later I was there, a good hour and a half later than I intended to get there and ready to impose bloody murder on any situation to displease me.

When I inquired at the front desk how people get anywhere down here, they replied that they were impressed that I made such good time getting there from Baltimore. Realizing we weren't even speaking the same language, I went up to my room and unpacked.

With a shower and a nap out of the timetable, I cleaned up a little and went back to my car. It was about 5:20 PM, and the stadium was about ten minutes away according to the TomTom, and I was off.

Except that it was still Maryland hell. There seemed to be traffic lights--without exaggeration--every five feet, and I missed them all. I didn't pull into the parking lot until 5:45 PM. I parked my car, made a brief effort to remember where I parked, and dashed up to the ticket booth to get a ticket, and I then did a turbo run around the park to take my pictures before getting on the line of people entering the stadium. This was as close to gate as I'd ever been at a park, and it (and the heat) made me reek with failure.

At least the fireworks were pretty.

After the game, I set out as soon as the game was over and was to my car as the fireworks started. I watched for a minute, and then started the drive back to my hotel. I was able to make the 10-minute trip in only twenty minutes this time (while only getting lost once), a great achievement in this hellscape of driving purgatory.

I went up to my room and peeled off my disgusting clothing, took a shower, finished packing up, and flopped into bed.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Regency Furniture Stadium

Given my late and upset arrival, I pretty much did a run around the outside of the park before the gates opened, all the while cursing every last thing about Maryland.

The park itself, perhaps especially because of its corporate branding naming, appeared a little... it is hard to say. I'm going to go with "shackish." Perhaps more "pre-fab gazebo." It really is hard to say. Something was off about it.

Inside, it struck me similar to the Rockland Boulders' place, in that it was a very nice stadium, but perhaps it was too much park for an indie team. There was one section of seating extending down the main promenade, running from short left field to short right field behind home plate. The press box and luxury boxes extended above in a second level from about first to third base. Most of the concessions extended that same expanse. There's a patio and kids' area in right field and a picnic area and a "Legends Club" in a another pre-fab shack-looking building in left field. A boardwalk extends around the entire outfield. There is a lawn berm extending most of the way around the outfield, with bench seats right by the wall. Bumper boats and a sand play area with playground toys is in right center.

A manual scoreboard is in the wall in left and a digital video board in right field. Alien-looking furry mascot Pinch runs the standard indie between-inning contest along with human helpers lead by an MC in a flop hat and tie-dye. The crowd was quite respectable given the time and the location, but they mostly seemed in it for the entertainment as opposed to the baseball.


At the Game with Oogie:

Sad scoring

I purchased my ticket much later than usual, but I decided on the same place, box seats behind the home dugout (third base side, this time).

It was well-attended for an indie-ball game during vacation season, and there were families all around me. To my immediate right was three generations of the same family: a grandfather, father, and the granddaughters. The grandpa was patiently explaining everything about baseball to his inquisitive granddaughter, and we got to talking during the game, especially about the unbelievably bad officiating that was going on--but more on that later. Behind me was another family and a visiting guest. It was their guest's first professional baseball game, and they got him and his friend on the field to do the sumo suits wrestle between innings.

Chicken sandwich and soda

Since I was so hot and disgusting, I wasn't very hungry. I got a meal deal for a chicken sandwich and fries to get a jumbo soda, and I think I downed about two Gatorades before and during the game to keep my fluids up.


The Game:

First pitch, Skeeters vs. Blue Crabs

This game was, if nothing else, made to engender a respect for major-league umpires, as the independent variety do not hold up to scrutiny. It is often a cop-out to claim a game was stolen by the umps, but in this case, the boys in blue nearly wrapped up the game in a bow for the visiting Skeeters.

The Skeeters started the game with a single, but then went in order, and Maryland went in order in the bottom of the inning. Sugar Land got their leadoff hitter on base again in the second with a leadoff walk, but he was similarly stranded with three subsequent outs. The Blue Crabs went in order again, as did the Skeeters in the top of the third.

Maryland got something going with four straight singles to start the bottom of the third, bringing in two runs. A sacrifice fly to left brought in the runner from third, but the trailing runner got picked off flatfooted to end the inning 3-0, Blue Crabs. Both sides went in order in the fourth.

Things went odd in the top of the fifth. Sugarland started the half with a single and a stolen base. A fly out to center moved the runner to third, and a walk followed. Then the umpires called a balk on the pitcher, which was a balk only to the umpire and no one else. It wasn't even close to a balk. This scored a run and moved the trailing runner to second. Two more outs stranded the runner to make it 3-1, Blue Crabs. The bottom of the inning began with some manner of hit for the Blue Crabs. The hit was originally called foul, then reversed to a double, then reversed again to a single. A sacrifice moved the runner to second, but two strikeouts ended the threat.

The sixth started with a walk, a strikeout, and a change of pitcher. Another walk was followed with another out that moved the runners to second and third. A single brought them in. The next batter walked while the guy on first was stealing, but the umpire did not make the call in any sort of timely manner, so the catcher threw to second and into center, getting the runner to third. Luckily, a ground-out stopped the damage with the game tied at 3-3. The Blue Crabs went in order in the sixth.

The top of the seventh broke the tie with a one-out homer, making it 4-3, Skeeters. In the bottom of the inning, Maryland only managed a walk. Another new pitcher for the Blue Crabs got two outs in the eighth, but then gave up a double and a single to bring in another run before a fly to right ended the half at 5-3, Sugarland. The Blue Crabs went in order again.

Another Southern Maryland pitcher came in and got two outs, but to shake it up, he gave up a single and then a double to bring in run before a fly to right ended the top of the ninth at 6-3, Skeeters. The perhaps tired Blue crabs went in order on last licks to end the game at that score for the opposition.


The Scorecard:

Skeeters vs. Blue Crabs, 07/25/14. Skeeters win, 6-3.

The program was a pamphlet-sized give-away at the door. The scorecard was a one-pager on cheap magazine paper that lead to a lot of smudging and poor pencil adhesion. Also worth mentioning was that this was a scorecard for ants. It was crammed into one page, with the bottom quarter of the page taken up by an ad. There was absolutely no space for substitutions, and barely enough room to score with line notation.

That said, the story of the game was the poor umpiring, and there are extensive notes on the ball four screw-up, as well as the foul that was a double that was a single. Otherwise, the only scoring of note was the 1-3-4t caught stealing in the bottom of the third, and the fact that I think the Blue Crabs were getting paid by the pitcher, as they managed to cram in seven in a nine-inning game.


The Accommodations:

Hilton Garden

I was staying at the Hilton Garden, and eventually even found it.

The hotel was nice, not that I was in a mood to appreciate it when I got in. My room was also nice, but not as nice as the night before. A big old bathroom was just off the entrance (no tub, but the shower did its work well), and the main room was separated into my big old bed on one wall, with an easy chair next to the window, and a desk, TV, dresser, and a little kitchenette with refrigerator, coffee machine, and microwave on the other side.

The bed slept well, and after the unending frustration that this day had foisted upon me, it was quite welcome.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2014 Maryland