Portand

On Et Tu, Tappan Zee?

Hampton Inn Sturbridge

Thursday, July 31, 2014
Sturbridge, MA


Outside the Game:
I used up my last Summer Friday of the year to free myself up to get to New England and see the region's last two teams: the rainy Portland Sea Dogs and the Vermont Lake Monsters. And there was going to be a lot of driving in the next few days, to the point that I was considering flying to either Portland or Burlington. Given the workout I'd been giving my car, I was seriously weighing the flight option, but given my last nightmare getting to Buffalo, I decided that driving was probably the safer option.

I got out of work on time and went home to do some laundry and catch a nap. I was going to try and get at least three hours out that night to leave a shorter drive in the morning. I had some tentative plans still in play to have lunch with an author who had used one of my baseball photos in one of his books. He had just started a new job, however, and it looked as though he was not going to be able to get free for lunch. Even if I didn't meet up with him, I was hoping to get some time in Portland and do a little more exploring.

I was out and driving a little before 9 PM, hoping to get into the hotel around midnight. I decided to take the Tappan Zee route instead of either the Lincoln Tunnel or GWB for obvious reasons, and up until this day, it had always proven to be the wiser option.

But not this night. For whatever reason, they decided to do some construction on the Palisades Parkway that brought traffic to a standstill. My TomTom was actually unable to find an alternate route once committed to the Palisades, so I had no choice but to sit in the traffic until I got past it. And this easily added another twenty minutes to my drive just to start.

Once I got past that blockage, I didn't notice until it was far too late that my TomTom was putting me on 95 instead of 84, and by then, I was trapped. I was subjected to nearly constant (or so it seemed) construction for the rest of my trip that added at least another half hour to the trip. Literally as soon as the last construction ended, the signs went up for the next construction. Most of it was fairly mild shoulder work or lane closures, but in several places, they shut down all but one lane, bringing traffic to an absolute standstill and prompting some re-routing on local roads to get past it. One of these days, someone is going to have to sit down and explain to me in great detail the thoughts behind late-night road work that creates just as much traffic as daytime road work and why that is a good idea.

So my three hour drive rolling in at around midnight quickly became a four-hour drive that got me in barely before 1 AM. Ironically enough, I was staying in Sturbridge, MA again, where I had bailed on my way back from my last New England trip. A very cranky Oogie checked into his nice hotel that he would never see much of at all and then went to bed.


The Accommodations:
I was staying at the Hampton Inn Sturbridge this time instead of the Super 8. I had considered staying at the Super 8 again, but I figured that I'd be getting in early this night and wanted someplace a little nicer to spend my time. Oh, the fun we have with plans.

For what little I saw of it, the room was quite nice. A big bathroom was just off to the right of the entrance, with marble counters and a wonderful tub that I would have liked to try out, and a coffee machine.

The bedroom itself was further in, with a microwave and refrigerator stand, two dressers (one topped with a TV), and a full desk on one wall, a couch and easy chair on the adjoining wall, a giant king-sized bed (with a Levenger lap desk) on the wall adjoining that.

I was in no real mood to appreciate the ambiance, and I was asleep as soon as I could strip down and construct a pillow fort into which to burrow and hibernate.

On Finishing Things

Hadlock Field, 2014

Friday, August 1, 2014

Trenton Thunder (New York Yankees) vs.
Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox)
Haddock Field
Eastern League (AA)
Portland, ME
7:10 PM


Outside the Game:
Not close to fully rested, and somehow still stressed out from all the road construction the night before, I was ripped out of unconsciousness the next morning, not awake, not asleep, but somehow pissed off. I threw on some clothes and went down the hall to the nice breakfast buffet, which I destroyed, not having eaten in quite a long time at that point. I dragged back to my room and contemplated what to do while face down in the bed.

I knew I had to shower, pack up, and book my hotel for the night, and that eventually took me to around 10:30 AM. I flirted with the idea of taking another nap, but I had another two or so hours to get me to Portland, so I packed up my car, checked out, and headed out to the wilderness.

It being an early Friday afternoon, I didn't expect any issues this far north, but I was to be proven wrong, as construction and traffic congestion continued to plague me on 95 until the Maine border. Then, magically, the seas parted in front of me, and I was able to eventually pull in at the ballpark at around 1:30 PM. Having taken pictures previously, I just got my ticket and snapped a few quick shots before heading back downtown. Having missed the last tour at the Longfellow house during my last visit, I was inspired to recreate my steps of what no doubt would be my triumphant return, or something. I was able to get into the downtown parking lot at about 1:55 PM, and then I booked over to the museum, as I know the tours ran on the hour.

I got there just as they were gathering up the next group, and I wasn't even the last one there, as a family from New York joined our group in the front of the house a minute or so later. Having failed to make the 2 PM tour last time, I successfully joined it this time, which indicated something or other about my success for the rest of the day. The late middle-aged woman running the tour was every inch the life-long academic, especially in the way she semi-successfully tried to relate to the children in the group. The older brother was having none of it, but a bookish younger sister was her star pupil. Her tour was thorough and exhaustive, and I can say I definitely learned something from it.

A little under an hour later, the tour was over, and I was starving. I took a quick run through the house's garden with a couple from Canada and then headed across the street to the first place I saw, which turned out to be a crunchy vegan restaurant. Absolutely in immediate need of food and knowing I would be eating nothing but crap later tonight, I said what the hell, and I went in and ordered a veggie burger from the rail-thin dude who seemed to serve as the proprietor and chef.

Out of the heat, I went to the cooler and grabbed two all-natural sodas as he grilled up my "burger." As it was cooking, he came out to ask what popcorn I wanted with my meal, which apparently was included. I picked out the garlic kind, and I soon had my vegiburger and popcorn. And, you know what? It was actually pretty tasty, and that just wasn't the lack of food talking. I finished eating, settled up, and headed back out into Portland.

Hitchcock inspiration

As the gates were opening at 5:30 PM for a 7:10 PM start, I didn't have a ton of time after eating. I walked down to Old Port and tooled around on the waterfront for a while, watching the sea gulls swarm all the fish markets and the proto-hippies swarm in the parks. Thinking the later had a good idea, especially still being sleep-deprived and having a bit of a drive after the game that night, I found a park bench in the shade and took a nap.

Thusly refreshed, it was about time to head to the park for the game. This was the first time I was pulling up to the park on a day when the game was to be played, so it took me one pass across the stadium to realize where I had to go for parking. On the second try, I got into a lot just past the right field wall, and I was off.

There were... a lot of cheerleaders out in front of the park. This was eventually explained by the appearance of some of the New England Patriots cheerleaders in a pre-game event. However, the ushers kept everything under control, even to the point of over-ruling the police. A cop rolled up onto the pavement and parked his cruiser, and with a confidence not seen since 2000 around these parts, an usher went right up to the officer and told him directly to get his car off the pavement and park in one of the spots nearby. I was even more surprised when the officer didn't say a word and followed the instruction.

So it was no revelation that they got everyone organized and in the correct lines as the gates opened promptly at 5:30 PM to let everyone in.

After the game, most of the people were still in their seats for the post-game fireworks, while I just wanted to get out so I could get to my hotel at a reasonable hour. I was out and in my car as the first explosions rocked above the stadium. I typed in the address for my hotel in Hooksett, MA into the TomTom, but got no results. I then decided to try and call the hotel to see if there was another address that I could use, but upon calling 411, I was told there was no listing. And after a pause he asked if I meant "Hooksett, New Hampshire" to which I calmly and confidently said, "Yes." A quick state adjustment later, and my TomTom knew what my fool head was talking about, and I was on my way.

To get from Portland to Burlington, there is a huge mountain in the way. You can go north of it on a state road, south of it on interstates, or through it on a national park road. The TomTom suggested that south was the way to go, so that is where I had booked a hotel about two hours out from Portland, right before I would be turning north for the rest of the drive.

As a welcome change from the night before, the drive to my hotel was rather uneventful, and I pulled in around 11:45 PM, with a promise of a better-rested evening.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Hadlock Field

And here we were again. This was the second attempt to get in to see a game at Hadlock Field. The first had started with an unexpected early peak inside the park and ended in rain. This attempt started with traffic and a huge flock of cheerleaders outside the gates, but the gates actually opened this time, and Slugger the Sea Dog was revealed from behind to greet the fans.

As it was when I did my original poking around, Hadlock Field remained an old bandstand park that had been renovated over the years and not torn down, and that's always a good thing. The main seating bowl was a U from left to right field around home plate. A narrow walkway separated the lower box seats from the upper reserved seats all around the park, and two sections of bleacher seats were available, an attached set at the end of the regular stands in left field, and a "US Cellular Pavilion" in right that shared an entrance with the "Coca-Cola Picnic Area" seats located next to it in right field. The press box and luxury suites didn't form an overhang as is found in most of the more modern minor league parks, but it was instead attached directly to the top of the seating bowl behind home plate.

The outfield was a cacophony of activity. The "little Monster" sat out in left field, with a--horrors--digital scoreboard worked in its base. The main video board was in left-center, followed by the batter's eye, and more ad space (crowded with a pitchers scoreboard and out-of-town scoreboard) until the US Cellular Pavilion bleachers in right field. Every conceivable surface is covered in ads, and many comically oversized inflatable or static ads top the stadium, from the LL Bean boot and Prime Auto Group guy in right field to the Delta Dental Tooth and giant Coke bottle in left field. Hey, if that is what it takes to keep an old park open, I'm all for it.

Slugger at the gate

Steep staircases with low head clearance lead from the stands into the "promenade" surrounding the outside of the park from outfield to outfield. In left, it ends in the large "Shipyard Grill" concession, snaking through under the grandstand where all the concessions and stores are, around to right field with a small play area, the Hadlock Brewhouse, and the entrance to the right-field seating areas (tickets only). Much like the Fightin' Phils stadium in Reading, the inside walkway is packed to the gills with memorials and memorabilia, from the expected (dedication, championship, and alumni plaques), to the inevitable (the team store, "Souvenir Shoppe" [sure]), to the historical (the old home plate, Sea Dogs Hall of Fame, Maine Baseball Hall of Fame), to the weird (the baseball bat rocking chair, a stand selling Yankees merchandise). Similarly, the seating bowl is covered in retired numbers and pennants along the luxury booth exterior.

No, really. Yankees hats

As might be expected with the guests of honor being three Patriots' cheerleaders, most the between-inning activities were either cheerleader-themed, cheerleader performances, or had any of the dozens of cheerleaders in attendance as participants, most likely because of the Yankees-related opponent. Say what you will of Boston fans, the place was pretty full up, and the fans were into the game. And, of course, there was a giant lighthouse in center field that rose up and shot fireworks any time there was a Sea Dogs home run.


At the Game with Oogie:

Brat and soda

The Sea Dogs games are apparently a popular affair in a stadium with a small capacity, so, learning from last time, I had bought my ticket a while ago. While there were no seats available in the section right behind the dugout, the area above the walkway had a single seat, which I scarfed up. Either way, the fans were right on top of the action. For whatever reason, everyone who bought the tickets around me didn't show up, as I had a buffer to each side. Closest to me were two older couples down the row from me, and a group of three New England twenty-something stereotypes way down the other direction in the row. Either way, I was just able to relax and watch the game without much interaction.

The Shipyard Grill in left field was the specialty food, and while a good deal of it was seafood-based, I was able to buy a non-fatal Italian sausage. Still hungry, I got a Fenway Frank and a pretzel to nosh on during the game itself.


On the way in, I bought a program from one of the vending stalls. He asked how I was doing, and I said fine as long as the weather holds out. He stated definitively that there would be no rain that night, and I told him that's what I was told on July 4th when I came last. He retorted that he hadn't worked that night, and since he was here, there would be no rain tonight. It was irrefutable logic, really, and I headed back to my seat with my food fairly reassured about the hopes for a full game that night.


The Game:

Dusk at the game

This contest between the league-leading Sea Dogs and the middle-dwelling Thunder had the added juice of a minor-league Red Sox-Yankees matchup, especially as the senior squads faced off a couple hours south in Boston.

The game itself started slowly, as both sides went in order in the first. The Thunder had a leadoff single in the second, followed by a walk. The lead runner made it to third on a double-play ball, but a fly-out to left ended the threat. Portland only managed a one-out walk in their half. Trenton went in order in the third, and the Sea Dogs only managed a two-out walk this time.

The anemic offenses got a jolt in the fourth as the Thunder got a two-out, no-doubt homer to right to open the scoring at 1-0, Trenton. Not to be outdone, in the bottom of the inning, Portland hit a homer to center to tie it up. A one-out walk was erased on a double-play, and the fourth ended tied at 1-1. Trenton kept it going in the fifth, however. A one-out single was followed by a walk, which was followed in turn by a giant homer to center to clear the bases. Two more outs followed to end the half at 4-1, Thunder. The Sea Dogs couldn't rise to the task and went in order, as did everyone else through the top of the seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh, Portland had something going quickly. A leadoff double was followed by a walk, and a ground-out to first made it second and third with only one out, and a walk loaded the bases and chased the Thunder pitcher. But the new pitcher got a 5-4-3 double-play to end the inning without damage.

Trenton only had a one-out single in the eighth, and the Sea Dogs went in order. In the ninth, the Thunder got a one-out single who moved to second on a ground-out to first. A single brought him home, and the trailing runner made it to third on an odd passed ball (see below), before a ground-out ended the half. The Thunder closer got the Sea Dogs in order to cement the 5-1 Thunder win. The crowd was somewhat placated with post-game fireworks and the knowledge that the top-level Red Sox won their game against the Yankees.


The Scorecard:

Thunder vs. Sea Dogs, 08/01/14. Thunder win, 5-1.

The scorecard is part of the full-color, glossy magazine program, which is a problem because they use the glossy paper for the centerfold scorecard as well, which is not very receptive to regular pencil and nearly antithetical to colored pencil. Nearly 40% of the scorecard is taken over by a Budweiser ad, but otherwise is okay, with enough space for comfortable scoring, replacements, and pitchers.

There wasn't much weird going on, scoring-wise. There was a 5-4-3 double-play in the top of the eighth, which is always nice, and as for statistical anomalies, all the runs were scored on home runs until the ninth inning.

The only truly weird scoring was in the same top of the ninth. On what appeared to be third strike on a batter, the ball got away from the catcher, allowing the runner on first to go to second, and then there was a throw to first to complete the strikeout, allowing the runner on base to get to third, but it was all for naught as the pitch was called a ball. The manager came out to say his piece about the unclear ball/strike call that got this started, but as the game was largely sealed at that point, he didn't argue all that much.


The Accommodations:

Fairfield Inn & Suites

In what I'm sure had more to do with the timing than metaphysics, I was in a better frame of mind for my room at the Fairfield Inn & Suites. There was a big, fancy tiled bathroom to the left of the entrance and the main bedroom a little further on. On one side was an easy chair and the king-sized bed and night tables, and on the other was a dresser, TV, and desk.

Once again, I didn't spend much time there. After showering, I went to bed and got sleep. And that's all you really need from a room.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2014 Labor Day

Manchester

On Two Out of Three

Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, 2014

Saturday, July 5, 2014
Trenton Thunder (New York Yankees) vs.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays)
Northeast Delta Dental Stadium
Eastern League (AA)
Manchester, NH
7:06 PM


Outside of the Game:
I had a lazy morning in Portland in my super-fancy bed. As I didn't have to check out until noon, and there wasn't anything particularly gripping I was looking forward to in Manchester (in retrospect, the understatement of the year), I made a morning of being in bed. I eventually went downstairs to get a breakfast sandwich, finished packing up, and then wallowed in bed for another hour or so.

I finally motivated myself to get downstairs, make a lame joke about the weather to the staff while checking out, and head out into the New England early afternoon. Only an hour and change from Manchester, I wasn't worried about the drive. And, indeed, once I got into New Hampshire, I was incredibly impressed by their driving. I have never seen a state with better left-lane control than New Hampshire. People went into the left lane to pass, and then moved their asses back to the right as soon as they were done. If someone came up on someone in the left lane, they were over right as soon as it was safe. It was like what I imagine driving in Germany is like.

I got into Manchester a little before 1 PM. Since I wasn't staying at a hotel in town, I didn't have anywhere to check in, so I was just going to amuse myself with what the town had to offer. I first rolled to the park to pick up my tickets. Having nothing big planned for the day, I did a walk around then. It turned out that as with their parent club, the Fisher Cats had a hotel beyond the outfield wall. They also had a deck that looked out into the park. Finally having a use for my Stadium Journey business cards, I went to the front desk and told them I was doing a review of the park and if it would be okay if I could take pictures from The Patio deck. They agreed, I took my pictures, and I was off into the afternoon.

Gill Stadium

The current stadium replaced an older, bandstand park, Gill Stadium, located more in the city proper than the riverfront, so I headed out there. I parked and found a high school game going on, so I made my way in, watched some of the game, and took some pictures. It was a park that looked like the cross between a nineteenth-century ballpark and a modern high-school football stadium. After my fill, I went back to my car.

My desperately low on gas car. I think I was running on fumes at this point, and so I went to nearby gas station to fill up. It turns out that I was close in my assessment, as I apparently had .3 gallons of gas left in my car. So there's that. I stopped for some much-needed lunch at this point. There was a automatic car-wash place next door, and I went over to use the vacuums to give my car a much-needed cleaning and de-stankification.

After that, I had to fill time until the park opened its gates. They had a mill museum on the University of New Hampshire campus in town, so I went to that first. Of course, it was closed for the July 4th weekend, as was the small science museum and activity center run by FIRST that was in the same building. The afternoon just got much longer.

Manchester is the biggest city in New Hampshire, which is as significant as being the tallest mountain in Kansas. I walked around the "New Hampshire Historical Walk" down by the river and the closed museums, and then drove to downtown and parked. I found the (appropriately closed) visitor's center, and just rambled about after that. There was a homemade chocolates place downtown where I stopped to get some dark chocolate-covered raspberries to eat while wandering.

Eventually, I decided to tell the Tom Tom to just find a park. After some driving around, I found one, and took a nap in the park for a bit. It was hot out, I was tired, and I didn't know how late I'd be up driving that night, so it seemed like the thing to do.

Nap complete, it was almost time for the stadium to open, as they opened the sports bar in left field two hours before the game. I drove over and saw the parking lots boasting $10 event parking. Thinking the better of that, I found a place on the street, triple-checked the signs, and then asked the ticket taker if my assessment of the parking situation was correct before I went into the stadium for good.

Leaving the park, my car was still there, which was welcome. Given the early hour, I was likely to get to the hotel at a reasonable time. I set my Tom Tom, pointed myself south, and drove.

And sometimes, it can still hit a sweet spot when you're driving. On the road mostly to yourself, at night, with the window slightly rolled down to let in a roaring breeze, a good classic rock station on the radio... it all ain't bad, especially when you just put it to the floor to see how fast you dare to go.

This lasted, especially with the New Hampshire drivers, for a good while. And then, some jackass decided to pass me on the left when I was doing 80 in the middle lane and the left was free. Without even looking, I thought, "Masshole," and, sure enough, his Red Sox license plate was illuminated in his LED plate lights, and the spell was broken.

I made it to the motel in no time, but I was getting a little tired. After an unnecessarily complicated conversation with the night clerk, I was directed to the most complicated room in the hotel, which was in the back by the pool. A short drive later, I was parked and getting all my stuff out of the car.

Which is when I found the remainder of the chocolate-covered cranberries, which I had chucked under the seat at some point during the day, and now looked like some manner of horrible transporter accident, melted and reformed at least once during the intervening afternoon and evening into something unholy.

All of my stuff was dragged past the pool and onto a small walkway hanging over some body of water. I was greeted at my room by swarming mosquitoes around my outside room light, and I got into my room as quickly as possible to avoid letting in any "friends."


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Northeast Delta Dental Stadium

Northeast Delta Dental Stadium starts with the rather large handicap of the corporate naming hanging over it. That said, it is actually more of the sum of its parts, or at least the sum of its name, whatever that might be.

The park is located on the river, just beyond the Manchester campus of the University of New Hampshire, and--as with their parent club of Toronto--they have a hotel in their outfield (in this case, the Hilton Garden Inn). As mentioned, there is a patio that looks out onto the park, but during game time, it is actually called "The Patio, and hotel guests get a free game out on their balcony.)

The path around the park isn't complete, and it is cut off by the river around right field on one side, and there is a sidewalk that makes it around to about first base on the other side where it terminates in a parking garage. There's not much to see outside, so it isn't that big of a loss either way.

The main entrance plaza is out by left field, next to the ticket office. The gates open two hours before the game, but only for the team store (at the bottom of the stairs) and the Samuel Adams Bar & Grill (at the top of the stairs in left field). Season ticket holders get to sneak into the seating area when the Bar & Grill is opened, but mortals have to make due with the Bar & Grill, which has a full menu of bar food and at least one single malt scotch, which had me contentedly sitting on the picnic tables in front of the establishment and watching batting practice until the gates fully opened. The facility has pennants of former Fisher Cats who made it to the majors, a New Hampshire baseball Hall of Fame, and Fisher Cats championship banners both inside and on the outside of the building.

The seating is just one, steep bowl leading down from the promenade that circles the stadium with no walkways inside the seats themselves. Metal bleachers end the seating in right field. Concessions are all along the main promenade, which runs from right field to left field behind home plate. A second level of press boxes and luxury suites is perched over the lower deck from around first base to third base. The upper decks terminate on the Cross Insurance Deck in right and the Small Dogs Electronics Party Deck in left.

Northeast Delta Dental had a "Smile Center" along the promenade, and the minor-league standard "Best Seats in the House" were provided by some furniture store. There was a bevy of scoreboards: the main one in center, an auxiliary board on the upper deck on first base, another thin auxiliary video board on the left field wall, and--most notably--a manual scoreboard in the corner in left field. Five Guys Burger and Fries has a "Strikeout Counter" on the press box (but sadly no concession in the park), but it wasn't up-to-date much during the game. The seating in the park was okay, but in the last rows of a section, where I was sitting, the corner in left was hard to see, which was annoying, as I always like watching the updates of the manual scoreboards.

Fungo sees you. Oh yes, he does.

Fungo the Fisher Cat (I guess, actually--I don't know what a fisher cat looks like, but I figure it is a safe guess) runs the on-screen activities. Because of the July 4th holiday, the Fisher Cats were in ridiculous stars-and-stripes uniforms, but they didn't hold an embarrassing candle to the patriotic horror-show get-up that the MC had to wear that day. The between-innings entertainment was mostly minor-league standards, though they did have a Frisbee-fetching dog (who also worked as a bat boy one inning) and the Baseball Bingo, to be addressed presently.

Dignity

At the Game with Oogie:

Baseball bingo winnings

There was a bit of ambiguity on the stadium Website as to which was the home dugout. I bought tickets behind a dugout and hoped for the best.

As the sports bar in left opened up an hour before the game, I went there to watch batting practice, and, since it was an actual bar, I bought a dram of Glennfiddich. Scotch and baseball are the confluence of all that is good in the world, even if the scotch was served in a plastic cup.

Bar before the game

After the park opened up, I wasn't particularly hungry, given my snacking, so I ended up with some chicken fingers and fries, as well as a pretzel.

Chicken fingers and Gatorade

It turned out my seats were behind the visiting dugout, which was filled with regional Yankees fans since the Thunder were playing this evening. To my right was a father and son Yankee fans, and to my right was a family of Red Sox fans from Lowell. We eventually all got to talking, especially when they were playing baseball bingo, as suddenly my scorekeeping had a practical application for those other than myself.

On my way out the park, I saw an older couple head-to-toe in Fisher Cats gear, so I thought it a safe bet to ask if they were locals. They confirmed that fact, so I gave them my locals-only prize from baseball bingo (more on that in a bit) since I doubt I would ever be in the area again to use it. They thanked me and I went out to my car.

As I was walking up the street, the couple rolled up next to me in their car to thank me again and ask me if I needed a ride or anything. I explained that my car was literally feet away and that they should just think well of me when they were enjoying their sandwiches.


The Game:

First pitch, Thunder vs. Fisher Cats

This game deep in New England had a bit of energy behind it, as the Yankees, or at least one of their instruments, was making an appearance. While the Fisher Cats are technically a Blue Jays affiliate, the region is clearly Red Sox territory, so you'd be forgiven if a neutral observer decided they were watching a Yankees/Red Sox game based on the fans.

This game was played as though the teams were being penalized for every minute it went on. It flew by, and if not for a particularly long at bat, there was a chance of the game being over in under two hours. For the most part, the batters just weren't up to the pitchers.

Both teams had only a two-out single to their credit in the first. The Thunder repeated the feat in the top of the second, but the Fisher Cats went in order. The Thunder shook things up with a two-out homer to right in the third, but the Fisher Cats had their own one-out wonder, who walked, made it to second on an errant pick-off throw, and moved to third on a ground out. But unlike his Thunder counterpart, he didn't make it home, leaving it 1-0, Thunder, at the end of three.

And it looked like that run might stand. The Thunder went in order in the fourth. New Hampshire had a leadoff single erased on a nifty 3-6-3 double play and then had a two-out single stranded by a pop out. Both teams went in order in the fifth. Trenton only managed a two-out double in the top of the sixth, while the Cats had a one-out single that made it to second on a steal, only to be stranded.

The Thunder went in order again in the eighth, but the Fisher Cats finally found some offense. A leadoff walk moved over to second on a ground-out to second. A short single made it first and third with one out. Another single drove in a run to tie it up, left it first and second with one-out, and chased the Trenton pitcher. The new pitcher immediately uncorked a wild pitch to make it second and third with one out, and the batter lined a single to left that drove in both runs to give New Hampshire the lead, although he was gunned down at second unwisely trying to turn his hit into a double. A grounder to second ended the inning with the Fisher Cats leading, 3-1.

The New Hampshire closer came in, gave up only a one-out single, and that was it, sending the New England fans home happy with a 3-1 Fisher Cat win.


The Scorecard:

Thunder vs. Fisher Cats, 07/05/14. Fisher Cats win, 3-1.

The scorecard was a free giveaway at the entrance to the park. Also given out were "Baseball Bingo" cards, but we'll get to that in a minute. The program was a tiny half-tabloid on magazine paper, which made it hard to write on for regular pencils and near impossible for colored pencils.

Given the fast pace of the game, there wasn't a whole lot of interest, scoring-wise. There was a 3-6-3 double-play, which is, of course, the best play in baseball, and in the big home eighth, there was a 7-5-4 caught stealing as the batter tried to turn his single into a double.

The real story here was Baseball Bingo. I had seen this once before at Binghamton. There, it was not team dependent. Everything that could happen on the field was printed onto a Bingo card, and as the event happened, you were allowed to cross it off your card. A lot of the events were bordering on the ridiculous (I think there was unassisted double-play on my card), and I don't think anyone won.

They handled the game a little differently in Manchester. The cards were only affected by the home team at bats. You got a pre-printed bingo card with fold-down squares, and depending on what each batter did, everyone got the same numbers. It was arranged by players. For example, the catcher striking out was I 17. The catcher walking was G 49, and so on. The designated hitter did not get his own letter/number combo, and special events (like errors, hit batsmen, or reaching on an error) were in their own little box.

So I was keeping record on that game card as I was filling out my scorecard. Around the fifth inning, I was two numbers away from bingo already. In the bottom of the sixth, the right fielder struck out, giving me N 31 and bingo. I was a minor celebrity in my row. At the half-inning break, I chugged up to the bingo counter to collect my prize.

When I got to the old man running the booth, he told me that the left fielder flying out (N 42) wasn't called. I then showed him my scorecard that had him flying out at the end of the last inning. He said he was only going by what they flashed up on the scoreboard, and I told him that I don't care if they flashed it on the scoreboard or not, the left fielder flied out. Two people behind me in line joined in, and we convinced him it happened, so I got my prize: a $10 gift card for a local sub shop. So after scoring yielding no tangible rewards up until this year, it had now gained me a book in Rochester and a $10 gift card for a sub shop I would never visit in Manchester.

Everything's coming up Oogie.


The Accommodations:

Super 8

As I didn't know exactly when the game was going to end, I picked a hotel that was about an hour and a half on the way back to Jersey, figuring that even if the game went late, I'd still have an hour or so of driving in me, and the closer I was to home on the Sunday at the end of July 4th, the better.

And since I wasn't expecting to be there long, I decided on a relatively cheap Super 8 Motel, especially after the soaking I took in Portland on July 4th, bother figuratively and financially. I wasn't expecting too much, but it was relatively nice place--at first glance.

The room was nice, with a king-sized bed with nightstands on one wall, and a TV and dresser and a small table on the other wall. A small closet was next to the bathroom in the corner of the room. After doing a bit of hunting to kill all the mosquitoes that got into the room when I opened the door, I sat down at the table.

And the chair had some stains on it. And the chair and table were wobbly. As was pretty much everything.

But for the price I paid and the amount of time I was going to be there, it really didn't matter. The bed worked.

On All Good Things, And All That

The surprising view in the morning

Sunday, July 6, 2014
Hoboken, NJ


Outside the Game:
I woke up at about 8 AM, but my body was rather insistent about not actually leaving bed. My greatest effort resulted in almost turning on my side. Drifting in and out for a half hour or so, I finally stored up enough energy to get in a sitting position. I then gave up, laid back down for fifteen minutes, and then boredom defeated lethargy, and I was able to tumble out of bed.

I had everything pretty much set up the night before, so I threw on some clothes, handled sanitary needs, and got ready to drag all my stuff out to the car. Upon exiting my room, I discovered that my room actually had a beautiful view of a river and pond at the end. Someone was already making use of the pool overlooking the lake. It was certainly one of the most scenic Super 8's I'd ever been to, if a little threadbare.

I piled my stuff into the car and then continued on to the office, where I partook of the breakfast buffet and then checked out. At around 9:15 AM, I was on the road, listening the staticy tones of the Talking Baseball tribute to Frank Cashen that had begun at 9 AM.

The drive was uneventful. At this early hour, and coming in from the north, there was no traffic to speak of. At most, it was a little congested on the Tappen Zee Bridge. At about a quarter after noon, I was back in Hoboken, parked up and dragging my luggage home. I retrieved several days of mail and went upstairs, and thankfully, I was the only one in the house.

This joy was short lived, as I saw clear signs that someone besides myself had been in the place. After seeing that all the important and valuable stuff was still in place, I recalled a message I left my landlord the previous week about the carpenter ant sighting I had on my window sill. After calling her back, she said she had called her maintenance guy, but he didn't say anything about going in to spray. A few minutes later she called back and confirmed that he had been in with an extermination, and that it was termites and not carpenter ants, and she apologized profusely for them going in without telling me.

With my big mystery solved, I was set for a long Sunday afternoon soaking in the tub, doing laundry, and taking a very serious nap.


The Accommodations:
My presumably termite-free apartment

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2014 July 4th

Trenton

On Agreeable Company

Arm & Hammer Field, 2014

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) vs.
Trenton Thunder (NY Yankees)
Arm & Hammer Field
Eastern League (AA)
Trenton, NJ
7:05 PM


Outside the Game:
Every single time I thought work couldn't get worse, it did. This time it was the most incompetently handled lay offs that I'd ever encountered in my professional career. It actually ended with our CEO talking about what an awful week she was having. Frankly, that was just a taste of the tone deafness with which it was executed. So off for a game I was.

As they are only an hour away, I had been to the Trenton Thunder during my first "official" trip way back when in 2006, but I hadn't taken many pictures, so I decided to revisit them. Checking their Website, they were doing a (two-admission) double-header to make up an earlier rain-out in the season. The first game was at 2 PM, and the second at 7 PM. Being so close, I decided to try for the 2 PM game, setting out around 11 AM.

I made it maybe five miles. They inexplicably were still doing construction on the NJ Turnpike northern spur that had the entirety of it backed up nearly to the Holland Tunnel. After crawling along to the Bayonne exit for nearly twenty minutes, I bailed off at that exit and decided to go to the later game.

I drove back home ad did some odd chores and shopping, and then set out again around 4 PM. Duly warned by previous attempt, I took 1&9 from Hoboken around Newark Airport to hook up with the Turnpike after the spur. The drive down was quick and uneventful. I took my initial pictures and then walked around at Waterfront Park until the gates opened. I found some weird, off-limits, pillbox-looking thing above the park, but did not venture in. Eventually, it was time to line up to get in.

On the way out, there was some congestion at the front entrance because of all the school buses at the evening's event, so I left out the back and got home quickly, early, and without incident.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Arm & Hammer Field

Last time I was there, it was named "Waterfront Park." But the park in Trenton had apparently garnered the new title of "Samuel J. Plumeri, Sr. Field at Arm & Hammer Park." So, there's that.

There is now a statue of Mr. Plumeri in front of the park with several baseball-loving children, and an open seat to take pictures next to him. The main plaza is in front of the park where the statue sits, with the ticket booth on the bottom of the structure, and two entrances into the park up two stairways on either side of the ticket booth. There are two other entrances/exits between first base/right field and third base/left field. The left field entrance also has full handicapped access.

It is a fairly standard minor-league park layout. All the entrances have stairways that lead up to the upper promenade, which extends from left field to right field around home plate. A luxury level runs above from first base to third base. The press box is located on the walkway level behind home plate, and above the press box on the suite level is a giant, main "Yankees Suite," with big windows facing towards the field. Above the suites runs "Thunder Country," which showcases pictures of the mascots and many of the former Thunder players who now (or have) graced the majors, including Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciapara. Above the press box is a championship banner and the retired numbers.

There are two scoreboards, one in left-center and one in right. The one in left was used for pitchers stats, while the right-field board was edge-to-edge display and used for videos between the action, as well as listing full lineups and batter's stats during the game. This was rather unique for AA ball.

Right field was anchored by a Kids Zone that was at field level, and a picnic area sat at then end of the promenade in left. Concessions lined the top walkway, with the Waterfront Grille in right featuring local favorites from Chickie & Pete's and Case's. Behind home plate are the entrances to the suite level, the team store, lineups, and the "Road to the Majors" exhibit. A lower walkway runs the same course and separates the box seats below from the grandstands above.

The didactic Thunder the thunderbolt

The stadium was packed, as it was visited this evening by most of the New Jersey Special Olympics, as well as several other school groups and teams. Apparently, they are introducing baseball to the Special Olympics this year, and the NJ final will be played at Arm & Hammer Field. Boomer (the bird) and Strike (the thunderbolt) led the on-field antics. It was your regular races, quizzes, and contests, though they did have a "Dog of the Day" event with the local animal shelter to try and get a pet adopted, which is always nice.


At the Game with Oogie:

Thunder scoring

I was starving when I got to the park, despite having lunch. I went to the Waterfront Grille in right and got a Case's pork roll sandwich early, which was a good idea, because there was quite a line later on. You place your order at the front, get a form with said order, and then claim it at the end in back. This was the first stadium in a while that did not have a helmet of fries available.

As per usual, I got a seat behind the home dugout on the first-base side. There was only one older woman in the row with me, who had to move out of my way on my way to my seat. We eventually fell to talking, and she and her family are quite the baseball fans. They are from Staten Island, and they have season tickets to both the Staten Island Yankees, as well as the Trenton Thunder, so they are intimately acquainted with most of the Yankees low minors system, to say the least.

It is Taylor Ham, you barbarians.

I was wearing my Cylones cap, as always, and we got the trash talk out of the way early. She was good-natured about it, which clearly placed her in the one-third of tolerable Yankees fans of the world. We talked for most of the game, with her pointing out who was good and who was bad on the team, and expressing joy and disappointment in the events as the game progressed.

They showed the MLB scores between innings on one of the scoreboards, and as the Mets had managed to inexplicably go to extra innings again after blowing a lead, my rowmate surreptitiously kept up on the score of the game on her phone and let me know when the Mets went ahead and eventually won. What more can you ask of an evening?

After the game, I wished her well back to Staten Island, and told her that I may see her later this month, as I expected to re-visit the SI Yankees for the same reason I came to Trenton that day.


The Game:

First pitch Sea Dogs vs. Thunder

This was only to be a seven-inning contest, as Eastern League rules prohibit more than seven innings if the minor-league teams play a double-header. The Sea Dogs were the Red Sox affiliate in this league, and the Thunder are the Yankees affiliate, so there was a little bit of juice to this game, especially considering that the Sea Dogs were so dominating their division. Also, the Thunder were using a back-up manager, as their regular manager was off at a college graduation of one of his children.

Additionally, my rowmate had told me that the day's Thunder pitcher had apparently just come off the disabled list and immediately been thrown into the game--a testament to his quality--as well as being so good that another Thunder fan a short distance away had a K board set up for him on the railing. He lived up to his billing in the top of the first, getting the Sea Dogs in order, including two strike-outs. The Thunder had back-to-back, two-out singles moved along by an error on a throw, leaving first and third with two outs, but a pop to third ended the threat.

The Sea Dogs only got a one-out walk in the top of the second, and the Thunder went in order in their half. The third inning shook things up. After two quick ground-outs, the Sea Dogs broke up the no hitter with a single to right. A double to right brought in the run, another single to right drove that run in, and another single made it first and second with two outs, before a strikeout ended the half at 2-0, Sea Dogs. The Thunder went in order again.

In the top of the fourth, the Sea Dogs managed an one-out double to center and nothing else. The anemic Thunder again went in order. The Sea Dogs got a leadoff single in the fifth, but it was erased on a double-play. A two-out walk was stranded with nothing across. The Thunder went in order, yet again. Facing a new Thunder pitcher, the Sea Dogs similarly went in order in the sixth.

But in the bottom of the sixth, the Thunder found some... thunder. A one-out double to center got them started. A grounder to second moved over the runner, and the next batter singled him in. And then there was a monstrous homer to left field to clear the bases. A fly to center ended the inning, but the Thunder were up for the first time in the game, 3-2.

They held that lead for five minutes. A two-out walk was followed by a double to left, to make it second and third with one out. A single brought them both in, and then the runner stole second. He made it to third on a ground out, but another ground out stranded him, with the Sea Dogs back in the lead, 4-3.

The Thunder started their half of the (last licks) seventh inning with a double to right. A sacrifice bunt moved him to third with only one out, but the bottom of the order (with a total batting average of under .300 and not pinch hit for) could not get him home, as a strikeout and fly to right ended it at 4-3, Sea Dogs.


The Scorecard:

Sea Dogs vs. Thunder, 05/31/14. Sea Dogs win, 4-3.

The scorecard was a free paper program handed out at the door. Although it was black-and-white printing except for the cover, it was of reasonable size and handled pencil writing well.

Beside being a seven-inning game, it was rather conventional from a scoring perspective. The most interesting bit came from the "strike out" inning in the third, where the Thunder did get a strike out to end the inning, but only after coughing up two runs. There was one double-play, and in the first, there was an infield hit to third that also had an error attached to the end of it on the throw to first, but that was about it. The Sea Dogs K-Man did not strike out.


The Accommodations:
Hoboken, at a reasonable hour

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2014 Stand Alone Trip.

Trenton

GAME 5

Waterfront Park, 2006

Date: Wednesday, July 5, 206, 7:05 PM
Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals) vs. 
Trenton Thunder (New York Yankees)
Waterfront Park
Trenton, NJ
Eastern League, Class AA
Promotion: Fireworks Night


The Stadium & Fans:
Waterfront is a nice little new-generation minor-league park. Everything was in very good order, which is probably why they were named minor league franchise of the year last year. The only quibble was that they try a little too hard to remind you that they are a Yankees affiliate, as every surface is covered with something referencing the Yankees.

The crowd was the standard minor-league mix of families, baseball nuts, and a smattering of scouts, who were suitably into the game.


Scorecard:

Senators vs. Thunder, 07/04/06. Senators win, 5-4.

The scorecard was a free giveaway pamphlet with reasonable-sized boxes and decent paper. Not bad for a freebie.


Miscellanea:
I was originally supposed to go to the Staten Island Yankee game this day, but they were rained out early, so I switched to come down to Trenton.


Travel & Other Non-Game Activities:
This was the first game I used my apartment as home base. It was a quick and easy jump on the NJ Turnpike down and back. I stopped at a rest area to grab some food on the way down, and the food concessions were all staffed with Eastern European college-aged "guest-workers." It was easily the best and most competent service I've ever received at a fast food restaurant.


The Game:
The quality of the AA play was a little better. The Senators had a couple of guys down from the Nationals on major-league rehab assignments. There were lots of walks and a little sloppy play, but it was a solid game. The Thunder fell behind early, tied it up, fell behind again, and then blew a chance to tie it in the bottom of the ninth, sending the first home team of my trip to a loss, 5-4.

Click here to see all the pictures from this trip.

2006 The East