Places and People... Part II

Savannah boasts Minor League Baseball's oldest operating park.  The locals call it "Historic Grayson Stadium" and it has been home to baseball since 1926 (on and off from 1926 until 1954... and then 100% on since 1971).  My first job in baseball was with the Williamsport Crosscutters at "Historic Bowman Field," which also opened in 1926 and is recognized as the third oldest operating park in the minors.  That is the only park I will call "Historic"... sorry Savannah.

Otherwise... Historic= Old.  Some ballparks hide their age better than others.  Some have had major or minor renovations to hide their age.  A tweak here and a coat of paint there will cover quite a bit of wear and tear.

I think Grayson Stadium shows her age.  Renovations were done in 2007, but it still has the look and feel of a park that is pushing 90 years old.

This was my first view of history.  Perhaps we are all coddled by new stadiums with luxury amenities.  I love PNC Park for all of it's glory, but I also enjoyed Fenway and old Yankee Stadium.  The orange seats in the bottom left of this picture are stadium seats.  There are green wooden bleachers throughout the remainder of the main grandstand.  That green thing to the upper left is the press box.

And this catwalk hanging from a 90-year old roof is how I get to the press box.  I'm afraid of heights.  I think it is funnier when tall people are afraid of heights, but that is not me.  I'm 5'8" if I stand on my toes and still lie to you.  I would not walk across this catwalk when anyone else was on it.  I had to have one free hand to grab the rail... just in case.

Once I made it to the box, this was the view.  I can handle a press box in a solid building.  My view in Oklahoma was probably two times as high and three times as far.  But this is beyond funny.

Savannah has a very good team this season, as evidenced by their winning record as the series began.  The New York Mets have been the parent club of the Sand Gnats since 2007 and consistently send great pitchers to the South Atlantic League.  The Mets also sent along three of the league's best hitters to open the year.  The Power fell 4-2 in the series opener, lost a 1-0 heartbreaker on Saturday (in under two hours I might add), and fell in a 3-2 walk-off on Sunday afternoon.  West Virginia's bats finally woke up in the series finale in a 10-1 win, including the second two homer, five RBI game during April by Stetson Allie.  Good defense, great pitching, and truly, some fun baseball to watch (and broadcast).

On Saturday afternoon prior to the game, I hopped on the early bus and headed towards the ballpark.  Jimmy D, our bus driver, agreed to drop the coaches off and take me a little closer to the downtown area on his way back.  In the end, he went out of his way to save me some walking and I truly appreciated that.

I had done some research on Savannah, mostly on where to eat.  If it seems like these blogs have a lot to do with food, I thank you for reading carefully.  I love good food.  Not exotic.  Not bizarre  Good, delicious food.  Our Power groundskeeper recommended a place called Zunzi's.  It also came up repeatedly in my research.  So that was the lunch on Saturday.  Zunzi's is a blend of international flavors: Swiss, Dutch, South African, and Italian are the main influences.

www.zunzis.com/menu

I was told to try The Conquistador.  This is a sandwich that was featured on several foodie shows and came highly recommended by most everyone that I told my lunch plans to.  We will get back to the sandwich in a moment.

This may be the only photo I appear in

While in line, I met a guy named Jeffrey.  He is a photographer from Los Angeles, but was in town visiting.  He had gone to school in Savannah and told me that this was an all-time favorite spot for him... a multiple-times-a-week-type place.  Jeffrey is also a world-class beard (and mustache grower).

I was not going to strike up a conversation at first.  I thought few paparazzi-style pics might have been sufficient.  But then I thought of this blog and how awesome the story would be to tell.

Jeffrey was a great guy to talk to.  We discussed Zunzi's, his work, his beard (which he just trimmed five inches off of), his mustache, my job, and my travels.  I had a 15 minute wait from the time I got in line until the time I ordered my sandwich.  This was one of the most interesting conversations I've had in a while.  Did you know that there are beard championships?  Jeffrey travels the world for these events.  Doesn't this sound like an ideal promotion for our ballpark back in Charleston.  Too soon for Redneck Night (BTW... May 25 with an appearance by Mountain Man according to our staff in the shameless plug department).  But down the road... this could be huge.  An event that grows on you.  Yes... I went there.

View some of Jeffrey's photography at his website- www.jeffreymustache.com

The Conquistador:  Baked Chicken Breast served with lettuce and tomato on French bread with their special sauces.  A simple concept but downright amazing.

To get both sauces (the contents of which are unknown to me but are incredible), you must apparently say "Shit Yeah."  So I did.  Who am I to not follow protocol?

I capped this meal off with some pecan pie.  It was the best meal yet.  Simplistc yet well-prepared food can trump the over-indulgent, overly-elaborate concepts that you'll see on most food shows.

I had a two and a half mile walk back to the park.  It was a gorgeous day, so I didn't mind.  Savannah is a tremendous city (at least at 80 degrees and limited humidity).  There are great historical buildings, statues, parks, and squares.  I happened to get to walk back on the day of a sidewalk art festival.  And I do mean Sidewalk Art.

There were, perhaps, 500 people decorating the sidewalks on my way through a major park.  Not to mention another 2,000 walking around, enjoying music, food and sunshine.

I have also included a few more photos from my walk back to showcase some of the great views of this great city.

Carriage Tours

One of many fountains in one of many parks

I'll leave you with this story for now.  That last photo is of the ceiling fans that they have at the ballpark in Savannah.  I have seen them before at car dealerships in the service department.  The are made (usually) by a manufacturer that goes by the brand "Big Ass Fans."  The blades are roughly 10-15 feet long.  I was explaining some of the details of the park on the radio during one of the games and brought these up.  I, of course, did not call them "Big Ass Fans" on the air.  I said big fans... or Big-Blank Fans to keep it clean.  I'm sure they are a vital part of keeping patrons happy and cool during hot, sticky summer nights.

In their dangling press box with one long room and no interior walls to separate anyone from anything, the PA announcer sits all of five feet away from me.  During an inning break, he turned and asked me, "What did you say about our fans?  Did you say we have big-blanked fans?"

I'll never have another bad day.