If not for you, I wonder who it is late for.

Not for me.  I like the nightlife.  I like to boogie.

A quote from So I Married An Axe Murderer, which by the way, is a tremendously underrated movie from the Mike Myers collection.

The final road trip of the first half took us to Delmarva and Greensboro.  After a Sunday game at home, the team piled aboard the bus to make the eight hour ride to Salisbury, MD.  After a short stop in Cumberland, we arrived at the hotel at 3:42.

3:42 am.

This is truly the first time we have arrived in the middle of the night.  Most of our guys, I would imagine based on my own experience, are not in bed at midnight, one, or even two.  It will not be the last time this happens by any stretch.

After sleeping until lunch, I found a coffee shop across the street from the hotel and got a surprisingly good portabella mushroom panini.  There were some chain options in the area, but this was worth the gamble.  

The Shorebirds play on the Delmarva (or more accurately DELaware-MARyland-VA...  Ummm... VirginiA) Peninsula at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium, named after the brother of the Perdue Chicken magnate Frank.

Unfortunately, the Power and Shorebirds didn't play on that Monday.  Instead, back-to-back doubleheaders on Tuesday and Wednesday.  West Virginia took game one of each twinbill and dropped the second each day in walk-off fashion.  Won two... probably should have won all four.

On to the next one.  Since we played two on a getaway day...


5:30 am.

That is when I got into my room in Greensboro, NC, after a six and a half hour bus ride.

NewBridge Bank Park was built and opened the same season as Appalachian Power Park with the same amount of capital.  This is yet, as far as I can tell, another example of private vs. public funding.

The Grasshoppers stadium was built to Double-A specifications and holds 7,499 seated.  Could they not wrangle another $100 for one extra stadium seat?  I have no idea how much those seats cost, but you get my point.

West Virginia and Greensboro split this series, but ultimately it was the Thursday night loss that eliminated the team from first half title contention.  Or maybe it was one of the other losses in the first half, but they did stay in the race until the final weekend.  That made it a fun half season of baseball.

To this point in time, NewBridge Bank Park is my least favorite stadium.  I have no doubt that the amenities for fans are complete and make for a tremendous experience, seeing how the Grasshoppers contend with Lakewood for the league's top attendance year after year.

For a broadcaster, however, the experience is sub par.  And not the good U.S.Open kind of sub par.

  
I have five grievances.  They are, in no specific order, as follows:
1.  An obstructed view of the third base line (notice the suite overhang to the left)
2.  Paying for everything (save a water or non-diet drink if I was fast enough to grab one)
3.  No wi-fi in the press box
4.  Seven feet of glass but only a drive-thru sized window to open (would you like baseball with that?)
5.  No A/C

The first three are relatively petty.  Our dugout and bullpen are down the first base side so I could see most of the important things.  There was an Ethernet cable provided (which is good since I don't carry one), and I do get a per diem to cover food costs.  The lack of air conditioning made that room nearly unbearable on Sunday afternoon, fortunately I didn't have that much of an opening to let the hot air in I guess.  I've been told one SAL broadcaster actually sat on the floor and called games from underneath the desk.

Since I was on my own for food, I sampled some of the ballpark fare.  I will say that the menu was pretty solid around the park and their staff, for the most part, were extremely courteous.

That is a Buffalo dog on the left with blue cheese, hot sauce, and celery pieces.  On the right, a Dodger dog.  I also had a chicken kabob pita from a local restaurant that has a space in their concession stand.  Solid options for a reasonable cost.

I'm aware that I am writing this update a little later that expected.  We just returned from Lakewood (a favorite of mine you know) and Hagerstown's Municipal Stadium (which quickly replaced Greensboro's park as my least favorite).

I'll write a follow-up about the Lakewood/ Hagerstown trip this week.  I wanted to leave you with my lasting image of the Suns pressbox.























I'll never have another bad day.