The picture says it all as Ryan and I drove over four hours to reach Jamestown, New York, and then watched as a massive thunderstorm smashed the area just before the gates opened.
The net result was the Lowell Spinners and Jamestown Jammers were rained out and we were on our way home.
The company was good though and I had a blast spending time with Ryan and I hope he did as well.
The scenery was interesting as we wound our way through various forests and small villages that I've never been to before, but nothing overly stimulating.
Jamestown didn't seem to have much interest in their team as we drove through various (though not all) part of town, I didn't see one Jammers sign, ad, etc.
It was like the team didn't even exist.
Even the Suns do more than that!
Before the rain started about thirty mins before the gates opened, we tried to find something to do and just continued to come up empty on the places even miles away.
No Wal-Marts, Targets, etc and not even tons of places to grab a drink to pass the time.
There was a Tim Horton's as Ryan Siebert tipped me off on, but otherwise almost desolate.
I might not pick on dull Hagerstown for a little while!
We pulled into the parking lot and saw about six cars, no line (as in zero people), neither of the two ticket windows open, just three employees standing inside the gates.
They must have had the radar ready because the sky opened and you saw Lowell players running for the clubhouse.
After sitting in the car as the rain pummeled the car, things remained status quo and when it got to five of six, we walked to the gates-none open, so we walked to the side of the field and walked into the office to ask the status of the game.
The game hadn't been called yet, so we are escorted to the team store, which had terrific prices.
I bought a hat and the girls at home each a shirt and talked about the move of the team.
The fellow that was there with us told us that it wasn't a done deal and that it could be the Jammers or Batavia or Auburn to move to Morgantown WV for the 2015 season.
I still think it will be the Jammers, but I understand why they didn't acknowledge anything.
After all, Hagerstown came right out and said goodbye and look at their wonderful attendance numbers.
Russell Dietrick Stadium is on the campus of Jamestown Community College and even though I didn't get to see the game, I liked the covered grandstand and it was sort of a cross between Hagerstown's Muni (the cover) and the more oval-shaped grandstand of the Potomac stadium.
It also made me think a little of Bowman Field in Williamsport PA where the locker rooms are part of the outer ring and the players have to cross the concourse by the fans to reach the field.
I bet I could have cleaned up as far as graphing goes in that alignment!
The team allowed us to walk around the stadium to take pictures and here was the one big regret of the day for me was when we asked to go to the team store, I didn't bring my briefcase because I figured I'd have to get tickets to get back in for the game.
When we walked up to the grandstand almost the entire team of Lowell was sitting in the stands.
I could have gotten almost all my cards signed then and there.
Bad luck.
I spoke to a few of them and asked if any had played for Greenville and saw the Muni.
One spoke up and said he had and said "pretty comparable to here".
After about five minutes, the guys must have gotten a text that said game called, because they all leaped up and went back to the locker room.
It was still raining and the rain intensified as the players waited for the bus and that helped my decision to not ask them to sign as they waited.
I just didn't want to gamble on rain messing the cards up.
Long drive home filled with rain and good conversation, although we drove by the Altoona park, who must have avoided the rain and managed to get their game in against Richmond.
It's too bad that the New York/Penn League is moving out of the small city/old-time ballpark situations.
Towns like Oneonta NY, Jamestown, and Batavia NY simply aren't big enough towns to keep teams anymore without building new parks and the desire to do so (or just as likely the money) are not enough to keep those towns baseball heritage alive.
So we move onto bigger population areas with brand new (and nice) stadiums that make more money, which is understandable, but I have to feel that we are losing something for days gone by.
The rookie and short-season leagues are made for small towns to help the youngest players get their feet wet as pros, I would hate to totally lose that altogether in the quest for big profits.
I didn't see one pitch thrown on a day devoted to baseball, but I still had a great time spending the day with Ryan.
Nine hours in the car round trip seems like a long time on paper, but it was not in real-time.
It was like a step back in time as we talked, laughed, looked back, and yet forward on the same day.
Great experience without the end result and I hope to make another road trip with Ryan soon and maybe even before the end of the season with some luck...
I'll have some more pictures as I get them from Ryan to add to this post.
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