Road Trip: Danville and Winston-Salem

Day three of the trip started early-very early.
As in my alarm was supposed to go off at 5;15 for a 6:00 AM departure and I rolled over and saw the clock read 6:07.

It took me about 10 minutes to get ready ( Glad I was ready with card work before I went to bed!) for the waiting Landucci's in the lobby and we were off for the three-hour drive from Asheville to Danville VA.

Upon arriving in Danville, we were forced to wait until the gates opened despite the ticket manager standing out front talking to us.
She was very nice, so it must be the team's policy on when they open up, but it always makes me wonder why teams are so stringent on such things.
Danville is a stadium that isn't difficult to graph, but might be if you are short!
Each team walks from their clubhouse and has a short walk to their dugout, which is visible to fans and reachable to get items to and from- if you can get your item over the fence that is, so I can see where that could be a problem for the shorter person.

Danville hadn't released their team set as of then (or as of now for that matter), so I worked on the visiting Bluefield Blue Jays, who did have their team set released.
I managed to get all, but a handful of the set signed for my set and Mike Oravec's as well. (I was doing his set as well), so I was pleased.
Fred and Michael needed the Blue Jays top draft pick Jordan Groshans on a baseball (I didn't have anything for Groshans), so we stayed to watch the game and try for more postgame.

I've always like Danville's field and their grandstand area because it's compact, reasonably close to the field and best of all for a grandstand- they have ceiling fans installed to break up the humidity a bit for the comfort of their fans.
The previous Augusta stadium also had those applied to the ceiling of their grandstand and that would be a great idea for Hagerstown's Muni (problem is getting someone to pay for them) to help cool the fans (the human type) and perhaps more people would pay to sit there on hot days.
Another thing that caused Fred some struggles and I'm not sure that anything could be changed about short of an entirely new grandstand is some very narrow areas and steep steps (Say that really fast).
Fred had quite an issue navigating these at times, so keep that in mind, if you ever go to Danville.

After the game (a Bluefield win), Fred and Michael nabbed their man in Groshans, I picked up a few more players for the team sets and we decided to move down the road to Winston-Salem for their scheduled game with Myrtle Beach.
While we were driving, we discovered that their game the previous night had been rained out and there would now be a doubleheader, which the Dash would be opening the doors only fifteen minutes before the game.
Due to staying in Danville, there would be no way to get to Winston-Salem in time for pre-game, so with a certain amount of disappointment, we stopped for an early dinner at Bad Daddy's Burger Bar.
Fred and I had enjoyed our trip there earlier this season, it was easy to find and not that far from the ballpark.

After our meal and a LONG wait behind a less than friendly patron at the box office, we watched game one and tried to get the lay of the land before any graphing at the end of game one.
There is an area near the Dash dugout that you may stand (unless the area is sold) and try to get the home team.
We were allowed down to the area and I was rewarded with Luis Robert (The only guy that I needed badly) running right by, just as an usher told us that we had to leave (All of us, not just Michael and me).
I really try to go with the flow in these situations and just left, but after I climbed the steps and moved away, another usher ran over and said the first usher was wrong and we could stay there.
I appreciated the correcting of the mistake, but the mistake cost me a good position and I would have next to no chance when Robert ran by again to warm up for game two.
I did have a gentleman and his wife ask me if we had been removed from the area and I explained what happened quickly as I moved to the outfield area.
You just may hear from that gentleman in part four.
I still had one more Robert chance as he warmed up on the field, but once again, no interest, although I did nab Nolan Brown and Michael was able to add Blake Rutherford for me, so it was not a total defeat.
Meanwhile, Michael was disappointed in White Sox first-rounder Nick Madrigal (I had nothing for him), who signed one baseball, not on the sweet spot, and when Michael asked if he would sign his full name (Michael collects baseballs with the first middle and last names) Madrigal said: "how 'bout I sign it like I usually do"?
The player has the right to sign (or not) in any manner that they want, but that essentially gave Michael a baseball (at 15 dollars a pop) that for his collection was worthless.
Madrigal could have said, " is that OK or not"? and gave the choice to Michael for his baseball.

With Winston-Salem being 150 miles away from our base in Asheville
, a frustrated bunch discussed at the beginning of game two about staying for postgame.
Between Robert (Myself) and Madrigal (Michael), we talked about the distance between the hotel and just how long that drive was going to be if the pair didn't sign after the game.
It was very frustrating to all of us and it just made us wonder if sticking around was worth the time spent when you consider the mileage back to the hotel.
The more we talked and the more we chatted about, the less we felt like taking that risk, so we began our drive back to Asheville.
Only it didn't go so well- we wound up getting caught in traffic, road work and miscues of our own to basically three times wind up going in the direction of Winston-Salem- the wrong direction!!
These trips around the interstate ranged from laughable to irritating

After we arrived at the hotel for the final night, I had packing to do and cards to prepare for the final leg of the trip in Pulaski Virginia for the Princeton Rays and super prospect Wander Franco before I could go to bed.
Danville ranks near the top of my favorite Appalachian League parks (I've been to them all after this trip) and I'll always make an effort to squeeze them in on a trip.
Winston-Salem is my favorite Carolina League park overall and despite the issues this time, I'll be back there sometime as well.
The day was long and not always fruitful, but it was still a fun day overall.
I'll likely be writing about the final day early next week as we have a lot coming up to work on over the next few days-Boxing Challenge, PPM, Browns Preview to start and then Ohio State, boxing coverage and then the Browns opener to fill our dance card.

Road Trip;Winston-Salem

Now that I've gotten past the draft talk for now or at least until I have time to do my draft wrap-up. I'm going to try to work on the last road trip.
Part two may be a few days away.

The trip to North Carolina ( and Virginia on the way home) had five games scheduled over three days, but rain loomed ominously in the forecast-large trip destroying amounts of rain.
However, the forecast was not great for Monday and Tuesday, but our first day looked fine, so the start would be a good one.
On this occasion, I was riding with Fred Landucci and we had thrown an audible, a week before the initial trip.
It would cost some cards over the long run, but we did see more games than we would have with the original plan.

Fred and I pretty much drove straight to Winston-Salem and decided through TripAdvisor to try Bad Daddy's Burger Bar.
Bad Daddy's specializes in some unusual burgers with lots of offered toppings.
I had the Magic Mushroom Burger with four various types of mushrooms and swiss cheese along with a creamy white sauce.
It was delicious and Bad Daddy's offers a generous metal bowl of tater tots as my side.
Bad Daddy's has a handful of southern locations, so if you are a burger or sports bar fan, try Bad Daddy's.

We then jumped over to maybe my favorite High A ballpark in Winston-Salem.
I love the ease of autographing, the wide concourses that wrap around the field, the large scoreboard and the various different views from around the stadium.
My only knock on BB&T Ballpark is that there is not a ton of parking (Or maybe I just haven't found it yet) and with Fred's need for handicapped parking, we were located far from the only entrance in center field.
Fortunately, the Dash golf-carted us from the parking area and saved Fred a lot of walking.

The easy graphing area for the visiting team that I had the last time did not happen this time as it is an area to be rented out for parties.
I talked to the staff member in the area and he told me before I went down that the team is fine with graphers in the area when it is not rented, but of course, when rented, it's unavailable.
That's the way it should be (unlike Hagerstown) in where when someone pays for the area, it's hands-off, but if not paid for privately, patrons may use the area.
Different teams, different policies- to each their own.

I moved to the side of the field and did the Salem Red Sox (Fred nabbed a few Dash players for me as he waited for Luis Robert, you remember my post on him?).
Salem doesn't have the high number of huge prospects that the Red Sox usually have because of the many trades of the parent over the last two seasons, but I did get almost all the bigger prospects, except pitcher Tanner Houck, who I didn't see and is known to be a less than willing signer anyway.
The two biggest prospects signed all that I had with 3rd baseman Bobby Dalbec and 2nd sacker Brett Netzer being very gracious.
I added some others and considered it a decent day.
Fred hung around and did get Luis Robert on a baseball.
I didn't need Robert because the Top 100/Bowman set wasn't released until a few days later.
The next time I see Robert, I'll need him.

As I moved towards the concourse to meet Fred, I ran into C.J. Johnson, who formerly worked for the Hagerstown Suns during the Mandalay years.
C.J is now the President of the Dash and judging from my two visits, is doing a terrific job with the Dash organization.
We chatted for a few minutes, talked about Hagerstown's problems with getting a new stadium in dealing with the city council and one member in particular and how it's too bad that it has gotten to this point with the Suns considering what once was with the team.

Fred and I watched for a bit and then moved to our next stop, which was a little under an hour away in Kannapolis NC.
Normally, I would include our trip to Kannapolis with this one as it was the same day, but I'm getting tired and I have a trip soon.
Kannapolis and Fred's big day will wait until the next road trip post....

Road Trip:Winston-Salem

The final day of our trip would see Mike Oravec and I hit two more stadiums,stop by to see two more and able to graph four more teams as we worked our way home.

The start of the day came early as Mike and I sat around and spent the early morning talking with the Parrish family.
It was so enjoyable that I almost didn't want to leave,but all things must come to an end.
Thanks to the Parrishes for allowing me to come into their home and treating me so well...

Mike and I decided to start our trip with a stop in Burlington NC and a stop at Burlington Athletic Park,home of the Burlington Royals of the Appalachian League.
Mike wanted to check on jerseys for sale,while I liked adding a ballpark to the " been there,but not for a game list",but more importantly scout the place out for my visit to Burlington for a game in August.

Mike bought a game used jersey for both himself and a friend of his that lives elsewhere.
Me? I passed.I await the day that I can squeeze into a jersey like that again,but we aren't there yet.
I took some pictures in Burlington,but I'll save them for the trip review next month,but I do have a idea of just what park BAP reminds me of and I'll wager that you'll never guess in a middle years just what park came to mind!
We left BAP with a specific eatery in mind as the Parrish's highly recommended Hursey's BBQ in Wilmington.
Mike is a big BBQ fan and particularly of the Carolina style as he attended college in North Carolina.
I ordered the 4 piece white meal of their "Broasted Chicken" which brags of "95% less grease" than the standard fried chicken because it is prepared inside a pressure cooker.
It came with 2 breasts and the option to replace the two wings with two legs.
I did so and then gave them to Mike along with the breaded hush puppies instead for his cole slaw.
Swapping food like baseball cards is always fun and satisfying to both when you move items that aren't your bag for ones more to your liking.
Alas the slaw was more sweet than tart sadly for me,although it was passable.
Cole Slaw varies from place to place and it is very subjective to what's good and what's not.
Anyway,I liked Hursey's and I'll bet the "Rib Man' Fred Landucci will want to give it shot in August!

We left next to drive to Greensboro and the plan was to check out the ACC's Hall of Champions.
Sadly when we arrived,we discovered that it was only open on Thursday,Friday and the weekend.
Too bad for me,I would have really liked to have re-lived my old passion for ACC basketball.
Since they were closed.we drove a few miles to Greensboro's stadium,the home of the SAL's Grasshoppers.
Long time readers might remember that ten years ago in my previous visit,I hadn't been impressed by the Hoppers customer service and lousy autographing stadium on my trip there with Ryan and Battlin' Bob.
I hadn't known that Greensboro had a morning game and had I known,I might have pushed to give Greensboro another chance and Mike had never been there.
Mike wanted to see about some programs and the game was over,so we went to the team shop to see about his programs and the door was locked-despite it being 3;00 and the door noted that the shop was "open until four on gamedays".
We were groaned at as "Brooke" went to look reluctantly and I stepped into the concourse for a picture or two.
I was told they are "cleaning" and "it's been a long day".I did get one picture,but ten years later,Greensboro still ranks low on my list.

There were graphers by the bus as the Lakewood Blue Claws were making their only visit to Greensboro all year and their graphers were out and about.
If you remember reading about my trip to Norfolk in May,you might remember my story about a particular grapher and his boorish behavior toward me and Derreck as well as toward White Sox prospect Yoan Moncada.
Well,as we walked by,this "gentleman" was graphing Lakewood,I gritted my teeth and walked by,all the while grumbling to Mike that if he showed up in Winston-Salem,he was going to hear about it.
Fortunately for him,he didn't go to the game in Winston-Salem.

We drove to Winston-Salem to continue to run out the clock and we stopped by a bakery there named Dewey's to get some treats for Mike's mom (I'm far from a huge sweets eater),a McDonald's to keep hydrated (it was really hot) and we were across the street from the original Krispy Kreme (they are coming to Hagerstown soon,I hear) as part of a few stops,but the stop I really wanted to make was at Ernie Shore Field.
On the trip ten years ago,we stopped by Ernie Shore and the Wake Forest football stadium next door,Groves Stadium to take a look around and snap some pictures.
Back then,the Dash played there and were named the Warthogs,but the time was running out there as the new stadium was being built.
Today.Wake Forest owns Ernie Shore Field for their men's baseball team and the field is named after David Couch,who was the top donor for a renovation.
The outside looked pretty similar,but looking through the gates (we didn't get in unlike ten years ago),it's clear that the school has put major money into the stadium with new turf (My guess is artificial),a new scoreboard and upgraded seating.
It's amazing how colleges get money to improve places with the drop of the hat,yet pro teams (minor league) often have to fight for every nickel.
Next door at Groves,that name is history too as it's now BB&T (along with everything in Winston-Salem) Field.

My picture there last time was of the top of the entry way with the Deacon logo,which also is replaced-this time by the generic WF.
It's too bad that you have to sell history to get things finished,but it is the way of the world.
I've always been a passionate Big 10 football fan,but I have great memories of ACC football from the days when the ACC was more along the lines of the Group of Five in football.
I would love to make an September or October trip some year to Groves (nee BB&T) or Raleigh's Carter-Finley Stadium (or whatever NC State has sold its name to) and see a live game.

After that,it was off to BB&T Ballpark,the home of the Winston-Salem Dash.
We entered the park through the outfield entrance and while you wait,you look up at the imposing scoreboard-I'm not saying that the scoreboard is the largest I've ever seen,but from the angle,it sure seems that way!
When you walk into BB&T Ballpark,you are immediately hit by the design of the place-Very wide concourses,plenty of concessions and room to breathe makes BB&T Ballpark very user friendly and a park that would make the most claustrophobic person happy.

Mike went to graph the home Dash,while I went down to a small tucked away corner to do the visiting Carolina Mudcats.
I got a few for myself from the Carolina League All-Star set and was happy to get some top 100's signed for Kendall Morris,but it came with maybe the worst interaction that I have all year with a player.
I'm not going to name the player because it's possible that he just had a bad day,but he was downright rude and I was the only person that needed him.
These things happen.

Walking down the steps to the field,I saw a familiar face that to my surprise recognized me with a smile and a handshake in CJ Johnson.
CJ was a Suns employee back in the early years of the blog during the Will Smith era,so I must say I was mildly surprised when he welcomed me to Winston-Salem because I wasn't shy about criticizing the team in those years.

I learned something from that-Be careful what you wish for or in this case write.
I was often critical of Will Smith at that time and most of that was fair on reflection (in my opinion anyway),but I learned that the grass isn't always greener elsewhere as we've seen since Mandalay sold the team.
CJ was always one of the good guys back then and didn't beat up on me too badly when I was critical.
It was nice seeing him and I wish I had more time to catch up with him...

We watched a few innings and reluctantly left since if we were going to make it to Danville,there was a time deadline.
Let me say this about BB&T Ballpark-I loved it!
It wasn't an overtly urban park like Akron for example,but it seemed to have enough of a taste of their community that it wasn't more than a cookie cutter park either.
I've been to every park in the Carolina League (Myrtle Beach,I have been inside and looked around,but not for a game) and I would rank Winston-Salem at the top.
Beautiful place and I definitely have Winston-Salem listed as a place that I would love to return to often through the years.

Back tomorrow with the final leg of the trip-the last few hours with the Danville Braves unless something important breaks...

Day 3- Greensboro

Before I start on Day 3, allow me to clean up one missing thing from Day 2 that I started to mention and one that I did not.
The reason that I mentioned Wade Townsend would be heading back to the clubhouse quickly was because he was thrown from the premises for arguing the second pitch of the game.
A Catfish hit a long ball to left that was called foul brought a argument from the Columbus dugout,most notably from Townsend.
Townsend was kicked out of the game,not to be seen until the 4th inning,as Wade carried 3 of the largest sandwiches I have ever seen to the clubhouse where he remained.
The other was Ryan's near punch-out with Conrad Crawdad.
Ryan is not the most patient person in the world with mascots as it is,but after taking 3 "shots" to the head from Conrad he was near retaliation.
However Conrad crawled away and all violence was avoided!.
Conrad was all riled up as the woman sitting in front of us had a strong resemblance to Jenny McCarthy and the lady must have known it,as she did the whole McCarthy shtick from the laugh to the voice to similar face making etc.
After 5 minutes of this over the top stuff,the guy in the suit likely was kinda hyped up.

Upon a early rise for the drive to Greensboro,we left Hickory and since we were doing well on time,decided to look for the campus bookstore of Wake Forest university in Winston-Salem.
All though my ACC allegiance has always been to Maryland,when Wake Forest hired the recently departed Skip Prosser to lead the basketball program,Wake immediately zoomed up my list and I wanted to see if I could pick up some Wake gear.
We did have a strict time constraint to get to Greensboro though,so time was limited.
After two unsuccessful times around the small,yet beautiful campus,we asked a maintenance worker on directions to Ernie Shore Field.
Ernie Shore is the home of the Carolina Leagues Winston-Salem Warthogs and thought it would be an easy picture stop.
It not only was not hard to find,it is next door to Wake Forest's Groves Stadium home to the Football Deacons.
So we were able to get some pictures of the renovations that Wake is doing to Groves Stadium as well.
To get to the Stadium from WFU,you need to turn left on Tim Duncan drive,which I was sure to get Ryan to take a pic of the street sign.
The Employees there ranked right up there with the most friendly that we got to meet and when two of the field staff said that Ernie Shore "was a dump",the 3 of us were in a race to spit out "This is a dump?You have never been to Hagerstown"!!
I think Battlin Bob won that race,too bad we didnt have Jim Cornette with us for that!
After some more talk and a stop at the team shop for a team set that we will hopefully get signed when the Warthogs visit Frederick on Labor Day weekend,we were on our way.
I thought Ernie Shore Field was kinda charming and it will be a 2008 stop,as Winston-Salem is building a downtown stadium for the Warthogs that opens in 2009.
Wake Forest is buying the field for one dollar from the city.
Bargain buy for the Deacs!

Getting from Winston-Salem to Greensboro was quite easy,but upon paying 5 dollars to park,the Hoppers didn't get off to a good start with me.
I am sure we could have found a cheaper lot,but this one was right across the street from First Horizon Park,where we were rewarded with a 30 min wait to buy tickets even though their sign suggested the ticket office should have been open from the time we arrived.
I had been tipped off by fans that had been to FHP before about the security there and that they were vigilant to say the least.
They checked my briefcase on the way,which is never a problem and we were off to try to get as many Rome Braves as possible.
The home Grasshoppers were leaving to come to Hagerstown after the game,so we decided to ignore them altogether and work on them in Hagerstown.
Both teams come down a tunnel and enter the field that you have little access to.
You are to the side and up from the players,so this is a tough place for sure.
With Rome having no numbers on the front of their jerseys,the players were hard to identify,but Battlin Bob stood over the tunnel entrance and flashed the numbers down.
This was helpful and effective as much as it could be.
All and all,we got a few,but not as many as we would have liked,but we were warned about Greensboro before we tried.

Honestly,this would not have been a stop if it was not an afternoon game on our getaway day,so whatever we got was a bonus.
The park itself is gorgeous and terrific to watch,the problem on this day was the heat and with very little to protect you from the Sun,we threw in the towel quickly and decided to stop in Danville Virginia for a shot at Dan Daniel Field and the Appy Leagues Danville Braves.
The map showed that Danville was right on the way between Greensboro and Lynchburg.
A look at Miss Babe Ruth,a Lab puppy that is the bat dog at certain points of the game in action was pretty neat.
A cute dog and well trained too,although Battlin Bob said she took a leak on the field in pre-game.
I missed that one,but I will take his word for it.


A few days back,I talked to Greensboro 1st baseman,Logan Morrison about Miss Babe and he told me the money she brings in.......
Wow,Hagerstown should try the dog gimmick out.
Miss Babe Ruth wears a green vest with a local sponsor and the sponsor pays 20 grand a year to be on the vest!
Plus the sponsor on her dog house pays another 30,000 for that!
Add in her merchandise sales and this is a big money maker for the team.
So,here is an easy one to our Suns employee readers,try this instead of Plunger night!
But the promised security staff had one more gasp.
As Ryan went into the team store for a Hoppers shirt, I got my keys out as Battlin Bob and I stood by the exit waiting for Ryan,so we could go.
The Guard,hollered "hey You" twice and then a 3rd time,Finally I asked "me?".
Yeah,me....the guard had seen a Swiss army kit on my key ring and asked if it was a knife.
Well,yeah I guess in the same way that it is also a can opener and toothpick.
He asked about taking it,I refused by saying "My son is in the team shop,when he comes out we are leaving,I will stand here,so there is no trouble".
He agreed and said "next time don't bring it".
No problem.

In closing ,Greensboro is a more urban setting than any of the places that we visited and the stadium is dazzling,but take our advice-go to a night game if you can!
The autograph side is underwhelming,keep that in mind if you are a collector.
So,I would put Greensboro in the same section as Altoona-Great park to watch a game,not very good for autographs.

Until next time when we finish up in Lynchburg

Photo Credits-Ryan Heimberger