I don't want to give you the idea that Michael was imbibing, he collects liquor and works in the industry, so that has a huge interest to him.
Me? Not so much, but I can always read in the parking lot!
As always, I send suggestions for food stops to Fred and he picks from the list.
Well, usually as this time, he vacillated from the list and selected Nick's in Johnson City on his own.
Michael and I agreed to say fine and our time at Nick's was great!
All thirty seconds of it as we pulled in to the parking lot without any cars, a for lease sign in the window and trash in the lot-Other than that-Nick's was terrific!
We left Nick's, looked at the area and a chastened Fred told us to pick, Michael and I were both intrigued by Mellow Mushroom, which looked to be a psychedelic pizza chain that I've seen in a few different places, but never tried.
We all shared a large pizza and I thought it was pretty good, I'd return and we decided to not order an appetizer or side so that we could have dessert at Cootie Brown's, which is right up the street from Mellow Mushroom.
A quick jaunt and Key Lime Pie later, we were off to nearby Kingsport and more liquor stores for Michael, but we did visit the campus of East Tennessee State University, where Michael and Fred each bought a hat from the Buccaneer bookstore.
Arriving in Kingsport, the third of the East Tennessee "Tri-Cities" area, I was somewhat excited.
The visit to Hunter Wright Field completed the ten team league, which meant I had visited every park in the league and even though I did not have a lot of cards, they were important ones.
The opponent for the homestanding Mets were the Bristol Pirates and both teams shared the same building for their clubhouse.
The problem was the length of the building that made it impossible to get from one end to the other if you saw someone you needed from the far side.
That meant that I decided to do the Mets and their first rounder Jarred Kelenic and that meant a very short time to react as it was just a few steps to a walkway that led to the field.
As you can see in the picture of Hunter Wright Field, the tarp was rolling out, the storm clouds were rolling in and I had to snap a picture of the field quickly.
Shortly, after I took this picture the rain fell- hard!
The field does have a small overhang that some fans could get out of the rain, but you could tell that this game was in jeopardy.
Hunter Wright is built on a slanted lot, the water tends to drain from one area to another and then pool there. Does that remind you of a place I know well?
A few of the Mets came out to check the field and one of the first was Mark Vientos, who was very nice in signing a few of his 2017 Bowman's.
Kelenic came out to just four graphers (three of which were me, Michael and Fred).
I had just two cards as I was getting one for someone else for Kelenic and I was third in line.
I watched him sign just one for the first person and then Michael, who asked if he could sign another ball.
Kelenic said no, so I didn't bother to ask him for a second card, he signed one and handed the other back unsigned.
It wasn't anything to be mad about, he could have signed none, but Kelenic might be an even tougher sign next year in the SAL when he sees even more graphers.
The game was delayed and we decided to move on to Tennessee and the Smokies for their game against the Jackson Generals.
As we traveled, we discovered that the game in Kingsport had been canceled, but in Kodak (an hour away) all was well and the game was on.
Arriving at Tennessee, we met up with my buddy and Southern League connection Corey White.
Corey does yeoman work for me (and some time for my buddies too) in that AA league and his help is always appreciated.
I brought some of Corey's cards that I had gotten signed for him (still some on the way buddy!) along and he gave me mine with lots of great stuff with several top 100's for my sets.
Big additions were Eloy Jimenez (that had to be tough), Dylan Cease, Dane Dunning ( On a green 100!) and Bryce Wilson among others.
Thanks so much to Corey for all of his help!
We ate inside the stadium at a "real" restaurant in the Smoky Mountain Brewery Bullpen during the game.
We were getting a little hungry and with the late hour of return to Asheville (a little over an hour away), I figured I should have something healthier and not too heavy.
I selected their house salad which added lots of meats and bacon, but plenty of veggies too (No tomato of course).
Ballpark food can get old and mundane (except Akron, which always has unique offerings), so a place that can serve a good dinner is a must stop and Corey's recommendation was dead on!
The only player that I brought cards for Jackson was Arizona pitching prospect Jon DuPlantier, who I had a top 100, Midwest top prospect and Midwest All-Star card for.
I would have been happy with the 100 and we did wait a while for the hurler outside after the game as DuPlantier charted the game from the Smokies press box.
However, the Diamondback prospect was very nice, signed all three cards and signed several minutes for everyone waiting for him-Success!
After saying goodbye to Corey, the drive back to Asheville awaited and I didn't get to actually sleep until 2 in the morning after preparing cards and lists for the next day and a 6 AM car ride to Danville Va.
It didn't work that way exactly, but that tale will wait until next time.
Part three wil wait a few days as we have the OSU preview, the PPM debut and then the recap tomorrow of the Buckeye opener vs Oregon State.
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