Derreck Chupak arose from the land of the missing to travel on this trip and we hadn't seen much of each other during this season (which stunningly to me is over halfway completed ), so it was going to be fun catching up.
I worked the Thursday night into Friday (as did Derreck ) and we didn't bother to go to bed as we left shortly after getting home from work.
Both of us knew that it would be a long day, but when you work the night shift, you realize that more often than not, no sleep can be better than a little sleep.
The weather was hot, as it would be for all three days, with heat indexes at each stadium over 100 degrees.
We went what I call the "back way" to Columbus, which allows me to miss the current cash grab that goes by the name of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
The alternate route isn't that much slower going to Columbus than the turnpike, but there is a difference in time between the two when you go to more northern towns in Ohio than Columbus.
The issue with the alternate route (and it's even worse taking this route for a portion of the trip to Charleston WV) is that you really have to plan ahead if you are planning to eat.
There just aren't an abundance of places and you have to try to project down the road when you think you'll be ready to eat.
Fortunately, I've been able to remember where to stop and where not to and I remembered a Quaker Steak and Lube, which is a usual stop on trips whenever I can find them (and if I haven't eaten already) was on the way.
Derreck stopped there and ate and I was able to adroitly tick Derreck off on the subject of tips.
Derreck doesn't believe in tipping, so I picked up the full tab and had him add the tip.
This drove him up the wall and sent him grumbling good-naturedly throughout the trip about "having to pay a tip"!
We cruised into Columbus for my return to Huntington Park with the Columbus Clippers (Indians) hosting the Indianapolis Indians (Pirates).
The last time that I had been inside the stadium was in 2010 (although the GPS sent me there in 2016 when Ryan and I were looking for the remains of Cooper Stadium), so it had been quite a while.
Huntington Park hadn't really changed other than a very minor change in the scoreboard, but I still liked the layout of the stadium.
My only minor quibble with Huntington is the lack of a wraparound concourse in the outfield.
Newer stadiums are often designed to ease the traffic flow and Huntington stops in centerfield, which tends to clog foot traffic in the shaded concourse, which runs from first to third base behind the plate.
In other words, if you are located on one side of the field, you have to walk entirely around the facility rather than move across the outfield.
All the outfield seating in Huntington Park is in the left field area, with the exception of some standing room space in the right field vicinity and when the sun goes down in Columbus, if seated in the outfield-you are looking directly into the sun.
This can give you a very nice picture but can make it very difficult to follow the game, so keep that in mind for a potential visit.
The Clippers allows fans to enter the stadium 90 minutes before game time instead of the more standard 60 minutes and this allowed extra time to hit the team store along with seeing some batting practice.
I wish more teams would do this. Fans love it and the team makes more money with fans inside the door than they will standing outside the gate in the heat-especially on hot days like this.
Derreck was gracious enough to grab me an International League baseball that an Indianapolis player had hammered over the left field wall.
Being in the stadium early allowed me to hopefully have a chance to grab Indians shortstop Kevin Newman on his Top 100.
I didn't bring a lot of cards for Indianapolis as I remembered that you could only do one team or the other in Columbus, so I kept it light.
I asked Newman to sign and he said that he would sign after he stretched before the game in about an hour.
I've never quite understood that in similar situations as I was alone and the time that it took to give an explanation, Newman could have signed the card and be finished with me, but everyone has their manner of doing things.
Derreck and I moved to the other side of the stadium and I saw a small sign in the concourse, which would be easily ignored unless you fell into it.
Which of course, I almost did (not literally) and mentioned to Derreck about the free bobblehead.
Since he is a bobblehead guy, this made him very excited and interested, yet quizzical about what the catch was for the giveaway.
After all, how often do you truly receive something for nothing?
Well, it was next to nothing as Ballpark Digest was doing their annual fan voting for best ballpark at the different levels and Huntington Park was in the semi-finals.
The cost of the bobble was voting for their stadium and proving it to them (showing your mobile device) and you were handed a bobble.
Derreck was given a Corey Kluber for his trouble and he asked if I was going to vote.
I wasn't going to bother, but I thought about it and a Francisco Lindor would have been a keeper, but I planned on giving it to Derreck if I was given anyone else.
As Mike Oravec is fond of saying "One hand helps the other" and in this hobby, I've helped friends with stuff and I've been helped, so I like to do things when I can.
After I voted and handed Derreck a Carlos Santana bobble, he expressed his gratitude and asked what he could do for me- "Could you get Kevin Newman on the other side for me?"
He was happy to help and that enabled me to try for the two Columbus top 100's (2018 Francisco Mejia and 2017 Bradley Zimmer) and work on the Clippers team set.
I don't buy very many AAA team sets, but I always buy Columbus, Indianapolis, and Sacramento.
I don't usually wind up with many signed cards from them, but I always like having them around.
Alas, the Clippers weren't a success as I never saw Bradley Zimmer at all, Francisco Mejia wasn't in the original starting lineup before being inserted suddenly ten minutes before game time (He had very little time to get loosened up, so I understood his lack of interest) and in the end, I was able to get just one team set card signed- pitcher Ben Taylor.
Derreck came through with Kevin Newman (as well as pitching prospect Nick Kingham, now back with the Pirates) though, so I still consider the night a success!
We watched some of the game, but with our seats being in the dreaded left field seats directly in the path of the sun and the heat pounding down on us. we discussed whether we were doing postgame or not.
If we weren't, then discretion should be the better part of valor and we should head on up the road.
Another inning of heat later and we tossed in the towel for the hour plus drive to Ashland.
My wonderful "Aunt" Gayle (she's not my blood aunt, but I look at her as such- sue me!) allowed Derreck and I to stay at her home while she was away in San Antonio, so we checked in there after ordering dinner at Donna D's, yes the same Donna D's I usually eat at when in town.
Derreck was especially anxious to try this after hearing my raves throughout the years and after hearing similar questions about Quaker Steak before we stopped there (Thank goodness, it was a hit). I was a little concerned about Donna D's living up to the hype.
Donna D's didn't help themselves when we arrived back to pick up our pizza's and Derreck's hadn't been prepared and the resulting wait wasn't exactly welcomed.
Luckily for me, when Derreck eventually was given his pizza, he thought it was delicious and I breathed yet another sigh of relief of an arrow that was dodged.
It wasn't too much longer before we were ready for bed as Derreck fell asleep a little before I trudged off to Gayle's spare room to turn the lights out and drift off to sleep as a podcast droned on in the background to help me sleep.
The trip was off to a good start and the new day awaited with a trip to a place that I've been by often in my life but had never actually seen up close and the Akron Rubber Duck for another bobblehead with a classic story for the archives!
No comments:
Post a Comment