Great Ballpark, Horrible Game

Empty Seats

Milwaukee Brewers v Pittsburgh Pirates, May 20. 2010


PNC Park, Sec 213, Row 10

A business trip with a group.  My first time seeing baseball in Pittsburgh (I've seen football and hockey already).  A great stadium in a phenomenal location.  Of the 4 classifications of baseball stadiums in my lifetime (Classic, Concrete Bowl, Dome, New), this is the best new stadium I have been in.  Great city views, a little intimacy.  Piss poor team for 20 years now.  But Pittsburgh has some great baseball history.

Only 13,975 was on hand for this one.  The Bucs shot out to a 3 run lead in the bottom of the 1st with a few singles, a triple followed by a double.  The Brew Crew responded in the next frame with 2 of their own.  The Brewers went ahead in the 4th, when the final score was determined.

In the annals of Major League Baseball, this was not an epic game.

Introduction to Minor Leagues Part II

Mgr John Mizerock

Kinston Indians v Wilmington Blue Rocks, May 19, 1996


Fawley Stadium, Sec 10 Row 5


 The home team went 80-60 this year in the Carolina League.  The Blue Rocks are the Single A farm team of the Kansas City Royals.

John Mizerock, a former Richmond Brave, was the manager this year for the Blue Rocks.

Baby Beltran

Winston Salem v Wilmington Blue Rocks, May 16, 1997


Fawley Stadium, Sec O, Row 2

We discovered minor league baseball thanks to the greed of the MLB players union in 1995.  I worked for a minor league team a decade prior.  But back then the minors were the Bush Leagues.  A stop along the road where teams did little to no marketing and kids fell asleep by the 2nd inning.

But post strike minor league teams found they had a captive audience if they wanted to go get it.  And the first thing most well run teams did was target the children.

Wilmington, Delaware was a good 1 hour from our home but I was familiar with the city.  The kids loved the intimacy, the between inning antics, the mascot.  These people wanted my kids there.  Can't say the same for the Philadelphia Phillies in their concrete bowl with artificial turf and tens of thousands of empty seats. 

The Blue Rocks had Carlos Beltran on the roster that year. 

More NASCAR

Pontiac 400, May 15, 1999

Richmond International Raceway, Henrico V, Row 18

NASCAR is a sport that ranks far down on the list of sports I follow.
Hockey, baseball, football, college basketball (only), curling, women's volleyball, NASCAR......   But I sure do seem to go to a lot of races.  It must be the tailgating.

The Intimidator was still alive for this one.  He got a Top 10 finish.  He never ran well in Richmond.

Top 10:  Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, Bobby Hamilton, Rusty Wallace, Joe Nemechek, Kyle Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Ward Burton and Rich Bickle. 

Sold Out Bush Leagues

Binghamton Mets v Trenton Thunder, May 14, 1998

Waterfront Park, Sec P, Rw O

The Thunder was drawing over 400,000 per season, which is a pretty impressive number considering the size of the ball park.  At the time the Thunder were the AA team for the Boston Red Sox.  Today they are the AA team for the New York Yankees.

Big Time LAX

Delaware v Virginia, May 13, 2007

Klockner Stadium, GA

NCAA Tournament Lacrosse with the defending national champions taking on Delaware.  To give you an idea of the magnitude in the LAX world, a Delaware paper the next day had headlines which read; "Is there a bigger all-time UD win than men's lacrosse over Virginia?"  Virginia not only was the defending NCAA champion but also won four titles overall.

I have a son who was playing lacrosse at the time.  This was our first big by lacrosse game we have ever attended.  Delaware did dominate UVA most of the 2nd half.  The Blue Hens kept UVA scoreless for 28 1/2 minutes.  Delaware went on to win the 1st round game 14-8.

In a creepy side note, Virginia's freshman George Huguely went on to (allegedly) murder his former girlfriend and a womens LAX player in 2010 on campus. The murder attracted worldwide media attention.

I'm not a big star-f*cker.  It's uncomfortable to see a celebrity with others gawking and staring.  But at this game I went to a out of the path trash can and the guy in front of me turned around into me after discarding his trash.  It was football Hall of Famer Howie Long.  Howie almost bumped into me on the turn so I struck up a quick conversation about Delaware controlling the 1st half.  He was gracious enough to continue the conversation with his observations.