Tuesday would be the only two-game day of the trip and it started with me meeting Skylar at the desk.
Skylar had been so helpful on the phone in getting us an extra day at the hotel without having to switch rooms and I wanted to thank her for her helpfulness.
After a few minutes of chatting with her, which I would wind up repeating each day after this during our stay, Our day would begin and it would start with an early morning goodbye to the hottest ballpark that I've ever visited.
A trip to the "Gates of Hell" in Kannapolis for the last time to Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium and an 11;00 start time gave me a chance to work on the Intimidators team set.
Kannapolis is in the process of building a new stadium for the 2020 season, so this is the last time I can have the privilege of setting my rear on fire and having my sandals melt.
Usually, I'm sad to see a stadium go and I'm also usually not a huge fan of downtown stadiums, but I'll make an exception in this particular case!
Kannapolis had not released a 2018 team set in a befuddling decision, so I was pleased to see the team decide to have one for this season.
Kannapolis had already visited Hagerstown before the set came out, so everyone on the team was a need.
I decided to do Kannapolis rather than visiting Lexington (at Kannapolis, you have to pick one side or the other) mainly due to the Carolina League schedule for 2020 (Both team's affiliates have their High A teams there) which could repeat the 2019 one, which saw the White Sox team in Winston-Salem open in Frederick and never return, while the Royals team in Wilmington come to Frederick throughout the season.
And it was one of those typical draining hot days that seem to be 10 degrees hotter on concrete without shade.
Because of the heat and its effect on Fred, Lefty and I made sure Fred was in the area of some shade, which shrinks rapidly as the morning moves on, and descended to the field to start working on Kannapolis, who made the strange decision to wear their black jerseys on a day like this.
I did pretty well, only missing the starting catcher and a coach or two.
However, the two highlights had nothing to do with autographs.
The first was when we walked along a grassy berm that you need to traverse to reach the Kannapolis bullpen and walking down we saw a drainage pipe that leaked water and made a small area quite muddy.
I managed to see this on my way over, but the klutz that I am, slaps both feet into it as I chase a player to sign.
I had mud all over my legs and sandals, so a restroom stop to get as much as I could off of me was a must, and a shower before the second game in the evening was as well.
As for my sandals? Well, I always try to buy the type that is worn by fishermen and beachgoers that are made to deal with water, mainly because in this hobby, you can be caught in thunderstorms and downpours very quickly, so that was as easy as rinsing them out in the shower to be as good as new.
The other was encountering a local nicknamed "Radar Rock".
This guy had something to say about everything.
"Where are you from"?
"Maryland"
"Why are you wearing a Mets hat?"
"It's not a Mets hat, it's a New York Giants hat"
"It's not the Giants, they are blue and white"
"New York BASEBALL Giants"
"Why not the Brooklyn Dodgers"
"I don't like the Dodgers, I like the Giants"
"Why do you root for them, they aren't from where you are".
FAR FAR too much time listening to this guy, while I am trying to work on players to sign.
The guy never shut up and I just couldn't get away from him fast enough!
Maybe it was trying to get away from him that caused me to hit the mud! Ha Ha!
It was getting hot and Fred was beginning to wear out, but before we left, Fred ran into Blair Jewell, a former employee of the Harrisburg Senators and now with the Intimidators.
While Fred talked to Blair, Lefty and I went down to field level and added the two pitchers that were charting.
Fred reports that the Intimidators' upcoming name change will be a "more normal name than the goofier names" that have been more prevalent in minor league baseball over the last few years.
The day after our visit, the team announced that their new stadium will have netting that will run the entire length of the grandstand.
The addition of more and more netting to stadiums will not only affect my hobby, but it could also affect how other fans decide to spend their dollars.
It will be very interesting to follow over the next few seasons how the new netting at the parks that implement netting affects attendance either positively or negatively.
We returned to Asheville from Kannapolis for lunch and some downtime at the hotel before a trip to McCormick Field for the evening.
The food was a return to Rocky's Hot Chicken after a successful debut during Fred and I's trip in 2018.
I ordered a chicken sandwich this time and even though I still don't think Rocky's has the heat that they advertise, it's still top-notch chicken.
After some hotel time, we went to McCormick Field for the Tourists and the visiting Lakewood Blue Claws.
Since Lakewood comes to Hagerstown fifty times a season, Lefty and I concentrated on the Tourists.
I was surprised to see a very big crowd on a Tuesday without a strong promotion.The crowd was so strong that every time (Three in fact) that Lefty and I got into a bit of a roll getting players to sign, we would have to move because someone needed their seats.
I didn't mind moving because the seats were paid for and the crowd was large.
The only time that moving bugs me is in this situation that occasionally happens in Hagerstown- no one in the entire three-row area and here comes a dude with seat 1,2,3,4 who wants to show his wife/girlfriend/kids how he made these guys move because he paid for these seats.
Of course, you move for them, but there are only 75 other seats with no one in them (if there were said people, you wouldn't be able to walk up and buy front row, seats 1-4 would you?) would it kill you to sit in row two for 15 minutes until the game starts?
It really wasn't a problem though under these conditions and the usher was very nice each time, so other than not getting a lot of cards signed, it wasn't so bad.
I did get the often-injured and not-expected-to-be-in-town Riley Pint to sign his SAL top prospect card, so a disappointing total, but not a complete defeat.
The post-game didn't bring a lot of success either as there was an absence of local graphers and being that Asheville made one visit to Hagerstown and the one game that I managed to see was rained out, I just didn't know many of the players facially.
I'm not sure that I added more than two or three players tops.
All and all, the Asheville trip was the most disappointing trip from a graphing perspective although it was fun being in a crowd that was excited about baseball rather than Paw Patrol, bobbleheads, or fireworks!
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