Life, liberty, and the pursuit of five miles in flip-flops...

This past weekend, I sent Mike Baggerman, the Power's broadcast intern, on the four-day, five-and-a-half game trip to Lexington.  This had been planned for some time, long before some games got suspended or postponed at our ballpark in early July.  It was a good chance to let him experience life on the road, and I have asked him to share his thoughts.  We will have a guest blog post later this week.

Rather than stay in Charleston, my wife and I took the now-rare chance to spend time together on a weekend getaway.  The goal was simple.  Find someplace that we would like to go within a morning's drive.  Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Charlotte were all discussed in some capacity (My early front runner was Columbus for the Under the Sun Tour- Smashmouth, Gin Blossoms, Sugar Ray, and other performing.  College music days all over again.  Unfortunately that show was Friday night and couldn't work logistically).

We settled on Charlottesville, VA, and I'm giving this trip my usual treatment.  Everyone we told about this excursion had a favorite restaurant (or five) that we had to try.  We did our best to accommodate!

We left at 8:30 on Saturday morning, made a few stops, and were at the Downtown Mall area in Charlottesville by lunchtime.  We got started with Eppie's, a fast, casual establishment.

http://eatateppies.com/

Brienne had the BBQ sandwich while I tried the Saturday special, a barbecue brisket sandwich.  The brisket was slightly on the oily side, but still a great choice.

The Downtown Mall is a wonderfully unique area.  It is a cross-section that is part-Strip District, part-Bridge Road Shops, part-Broadway.  Boutiques, theaters, an old-fashioned drug store with a soda shoppe, bars, restaurants, and book stores.  We would use this as the centerpiece of our trip.

After a stop at the hotel, we headed over to the University of Virginia's campus.  On the way, I had to stop at a Panera to use the wi-fi.  For the life of me, I could not get things to work at the hotel and had to make a WV Power roster move.  While Mike was handling the broadcasts in Lexington, I kept this responsibility on myself.  Just like old times when I didn't travel with the team.

While I was in Panera, Brienne walked through a section of shops at the Barracks Road Shopping Center.  She came across some of her favorites and one that truly caught her attention: Oil & Vinegar.  It is a store that sells... oils and vinegars (among other toppings, mixes, and things like that).  This was a store that would fit in perfectly in several cities we have lived in over the years.  I could see it on Bridge Road or in Shadyside.

http://oilandvinegarusa.com/

You buy the glass bottle (we purchased a few 100ml bottles for $3.25).  Then you pick which oil or vinegar you want and buy it per 100ml.  They have several kinds of extra virgin olive oils, flavored olive oils, grapeseed oils, and a variety of vinegars.  We bought small bottles of spanish unfiltered e.v.o.o, blood orange olive oil, cherry almond vinegar, and a riesling lime grape seed oil.  We spent about $45 in the process, but will give one away as a gift and most definitely utilize the others in our off-season cooking or daily lunches (Brienne had a salad today with the cherry almond vinegar and the blood orange oil).

UVA was one of Thomas Jefferson's crowning achievements in his retirement years (according to the tour at Monticello).  Several friends or colleagues hold a variety of opinions of this school and campus for one reason or another.  Some think it is the greatest place on earth.  Others went to Virginia Tech.  Since we hold no bias towards or against, we made sure to walk the grounds and take in the sights.

It is a gorgeous campus, no doubt.  It sparked a conversation, however, about being satisfied with the education choices we made. I went to Mercyhurst College for undergrad while Brienne attended Chatham College (both have since become universities since we left).  You could walk from one side of each campus to the other within 15 minutes.  It took 15 minutes to park at UVA.  The variety of educational institutions in this country are immense, and as this shows, there is always something for everyone.

For dinner, we got gussied up and went to the Blue Light Diner (at the Downtown Mall).

http://www.bluelightgrill.com/

Brienne and I split our meals.  She ordered the steamed lobster while I had crabcakes.  Each dish had two portions, perfect for trading plates halfway through.  She also ordered a watermelon daiquiri.

We are such non-drinkers that we had to Google how to spell daiquiri when she posted a pic on Facebook.  I had a local brew.

Ironically, most everyone told us to go to a winery.  See the comment above as to our drinking habits.  We skipped the wineries on this trip.

For dessert, we walked to the other side of the Downtown Mall and went to C&O Restaurant.  It looks like a greasy spoon on one side, has a gorgeous brick facade on the other, and then you feel like you are in a circa-1850's tavern once you get inside.  Dark wood (not paneling, actual wood) lines the walls with great ambiance and gives an amazing feel.  It was so dark that the flash kept going off while trying to take a picture, so I did not get one to post here.

This is, however, what our plate of chocolate bread pudding looked like.

After the fact.  It. Was. Awesome.

On Sunday, more delicious food and Monticello.    We attempted to go to a place called Beer Run for brunch.  It was 10 am and they didn't open until 11.  Then we opted for Horse and the Hound.  They opened at 11.  Back to the Downtown Mall for breakfast at Cafe` Cubano.

French toast and Chorizo and Cheese Potatoes.

Monticello was a sight to see.  Apparently I saw it when I was four, but have no recollections at all.

http://www.monticello.org/

After a tour at Monticello, we went back to Beer Run for a late lunch.  Brienne had the bacon, egg, and pimento cheese croissant and I had their fish tacos.  Not my favorite food from this trip, but still decent (the fish was in a thick batter that took away from the slaw and chipotle sauce).

http://www.beerrun.com/

Had we gone to brunch in the morning, we would have gotten to and stayed at Monticello until about 3:30 or so.  And would have been standing on the little mountain in this...

Funny how things work out.  I'll never have another bad day.

I've got good news and bad news.

The good news is the first trip of the second half contained my recently anointed favorite park, Lakewood.  The bad news is that this journey also includes my now least favorite stop, Hagerstown.

First up, the good news.

Lakewood, as mentioned earlier, does things right.  Not just at the park either.  The amenities are solid from start to finish, with the exception of the hotel air conditioner that broke during our first trip there (which, in hindsight, might have broken because I never allowed it to stop running).

Within a short walk from the Toms River Clarion Inn is a Walmart, sushi place, movie theater, and a pizza place that our manager, Michael Ryan, seems to swear by.  I gave that a shot.  To the left is a slice of stuffed eggplant pizza.

Eggplant makes this healthy right?  Don't answer that.

The BlueClaws visiting clubhouse is one of the largest in the entire league and most definitely gives off a big league feel.

Comfy couches, a big screen television, and autograph stalkers that wait outside the door.

We also played a game during an appearance by one of baseball's all-time best mascots: the Philly Phanatic.  I have had the chance to interview Tom Burgoyne, the man inside the suit, and he is nearly as much of a character as the character is itself.

The Power continued their strong play against Lakewood during the series, taking three out of four.  The series should have been split, however, with two wins apiece.  West Virginia benefited from some ninth inning help in a 5-4 win in the Sunday finale from a player I feel is the league's worst defender this season.  I'll spare his name during this post, but just know that if he gave any effort whatsoever, the Power would not have won that game.

Now the bad news...

On to Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown.  Since this is my first year of traveling with the club, I have not had the... pleasure(?) of experiencing this ballpark from the 1930's.

Renovations have been done a few times, including an upgrade to the playing surface so that the Suns could get Bryce Harper during the 2011 season.  Hagerstown lags behind the rest of the league in attendance (44,353 at the time of this post- nearly half of the next fewest).  There is talk of this franchise moving to another city, possibly Fredericksburg, VA, in the near future.  That would be a coup for that city and the league, no doubt.

I do think Hagerstown and Municipal Stadium deserve a team.  A New York-Penn League team.  Short season ball with 38 games creates demand, gives the Suns natural rival (the Orioles affiliate in Aberdeen), and allows the staff to focus more on the fan experience.

I also find it... amazing... that multiple people who work for the Suns had been told that their experience was not indicative of life in Minor League Baseball.  They have been told that it is better everywhere else they might work.  I find this astounding.  Do you go to work and have senior staff tell you that you'll be better off working someplace else?  If you know that the place you work is lacking in some wayand you have the power to fix it, shouldn't you fix the problem?  Facility, amenities, and surroundings may have you behind the eight ball, but the human element can still make lemonade out of 80 year-old lemons.  Even if that lemonade tastes 110 proof... whatever it takes.

I'm not sure if that metaphor makes any sense.  Probably not.

As for my experience, it was less than lacking enjoyment for a few reasons.  They stem from the fact that I am apparently high-maintenance and someone thinks I am new to this business (please note the sarcasm).  Also I am afraid of heights (no sarcasm).

This is the spiral staircase to the press box.

This is my phone connection.  I'm going to stop there because the rest of this experience makes me mad.  My best friend talked me up into a fury and my wife talked me down to biting my tongue over the whole thing.  Feel free to read all the reviews of this ballpark and its' experiences.  

They are on the internet (making that a new inside joke... it really was a line that irritated me).

I had a great meal on the last day.  Crabcakes at Schula's Grill and Crab.  I had every intention about closing this post talking about the five mile (roundtrip) walk to get crabcakes.  Crabcakes and Football...  That is what Maryland does.  Once I got back from lunch, I changed my mind as to how this story ends.  First though, my crabcake.

And now the rest of the story.  Every stop along they way has autograph hounds.  Not just the fans inside the park waiting by the dugouts, but outside the clubhouse and by the bus as well.

This stop was a new low.  People in Hagerstown know where the teams stay and wait as players get on the bus daily.  On getaway day, stalkers... seekers... whatever... waited in the lobby as our guys sat around waiting for the bus to leave for the park.  After our guys were cordial enough to sign a whole sheet of cards that are clearly not just for you or your child, the seekers got in their cars and drove to the park to get a second of third sheet of autographs from the same players.  

I am baffled by this version of autograph hound.  I have been around the game long enough to see a lot of things, but never to this extent.  It was in a public space, yes, but borders on an invasion of privacy.

Another reason why I am happy to be calling the games rather than playing in them.  Then again... players don't have to worry about pulling tarps.

I'll never have another bad day.

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.