minor league basebalLOL
So little brother Carlos and I headed up to Hagerstown for the Suns' Independence Day matchup with the West Virginia Power, with post-game fireworks. The drive up, by way of the Dulles Toll Road/Greenway/Highway 7 and Interstate 81, was hot but fortunately dry. I arrived about 90 minutes late and found Carlos in the bar of the Chinese buffet attached to (but not part of) the Days Inn we were staying at. Some time later, after avoiding most of the carb-laden Oriental delights, we dropped our stuff in the room and headed off to the ballpark. The "box" seats I'd reserved were right down front to the left of home plare, which is a mistake I won't make again; I missed a lot of the first three innings because of late arrivals, children, and random fans wandering past. Next time I'm getting seats at a higher altitude. >:(
The game itself reminded me of just how much the kids learn on their way through the farm system. Both teams were just horrible on defense, with the visiting West Virginia Power being charged with five errors and the Suns with two, although I think the scorer was being excessively generous. There were plenty of booted balls, poor throws, dropped/missed balls, and just plain bad fielding to double those totals, easily. I don't think the Prairie League teams I saw in the late 90s were this bad.
Still, it was entertaining. As usual in the minor leagues, there was a comically costumed mascot, between-innings contests (usually featuring small children), dancing atop the dugout roofs, and similar amusements, and of course, this being Independence Day, there were fireworks set to patriotic music - Sousa marches, the four hymns of the Armed Forces, and Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA". Very nice. :)
Got up at 0800 the next morning, showered, dressed, and rode out to Willamsport for breakfast at Waffle House. No waffle for me, though. :(
Rode home by way of the Martinsburg Wal-Mart, I-81 to I-66 at Strasburg, and humorously enough stopped to tap my kidneys and get more fluids at the same Sheetz station I stopped at when I first came to the Commonwealth back in 2007, almost exactly three years ago. Going to spend some of this afternoon/evening catching up on Internet stuff of varying importance, then I'll probably have dinner and crash early since I didn't pack the nose hose this time and consequently didn't sleep too well.
The game itself reminded me of just how much the kids learn on their way through the farm system. Both teams were just horrible on defense, with the visiting West Virginia Power being charged with five errors and the Suns with two, although I think the scorer was being excessively generous. There were plenty of booted balls, poor throws, dropped/missed balls, and just plain bad fielding to double those totals, easily. I don't think the Prairie League teams I saw in the late 90s were this bad.
Still, it was entertaining. As usual in the minor leagues, there was a comically costumed mascot, between-innings contests (usually featuring small children), dancing atop the dugout roofs, and similar amusements, and of course, this being Independence Day, there were fireworks set to patriotic music - Sousa marches, the four hymns of the Armed Forces, and Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA". Very nice. :)
Got up at 0800 the next morning, showered, dressed, and rode out to Willamsport for breakfast at Waffle House. No waffle for me, though. :(
Rode home by way of the Martinsburg Wal-Mart, I-81 to I-66 at Strasburg, and humorously enough stopped to tap my kidneys and get more fluids at the same Sheetz station I stopped at when I first came to the Commonwealth back in 2007, almost exactly three years ago. Going to spend some of this afternoon/evening catching up on Internet stuff of varying importance, then I'll probably have dinner and crash early since I didn't pack the nose hose this time and consequently didn't sleep too well.