Road Trip:Kinston/Down East

The final leg of the trip came as we drove to Kinston,North Carolina.
When baseball returned to Kinston for the 2017 season,Kinston supplanted Hagerstown as the smallest full season city in the minor leagues and there isn't an easy way to reach it.

Lots of two lane roads and rural driving in order to reach Grainger Stadium,which as soon as you walk in,Grainger brings one place to mind-good ol' Hagerstown Municipal.
Grainger isn't quite as old as the Muni,(1949 to the Muni's 1930),but there are lots of similarities-covered grandstand,lots of backless metal bleachers and a concourse that gives you a view of the back of the grandstand as you wait for food and beverages.
The difference though is the playing surface,which is far superior to Hagerstown in both pleasing to the fan and liked by the players.

Doug wanted to do the visiting Wilmington Blue Rocks,while the Landucci's and I went down the third base line to do the homestanding Down East Wood Ducks,the new name for the new team in town-an affiliate of and owned by the Texas Rangers.
I had finished almost of the Wood Ducks when they visited Frederick,so I had just a few stragglers and we had two Starting Lineups figures for Down East manager Howard Johnson.
Johnson had been a little overwhelmed in Frederick,but in Kinston,there was just two other graphers,so Johnson was very friendly in signing the figures.
I asked him about Frederick and the amount of graphers there and he laughed a bit and said "yeah,there were a lot of them out there".

By this time,the heat and the constant walking on concrete had begun to take its toll on my back,so I wasn't quite perfect,but the others were ready to take off soon as well.
Between some being hungry,some tired and another that had to do the driving home,we didn't stay long at Grainger with the exception of watching a few batters and hitting the small and snug team shop for some souvenirs,although I didn't buy any...

We left the stadium and drove to a favorite of Doug's Kings Barbecue,a few minutes away.
I still wasn't hungry though and I settled for a large drink,although Doug gave me a little bit of the meat that fell off his massive sandwich to try the food.
It was quite good and I wished that I was a little hungry!
The ride home was long,but we had lots of fun,talking sports,graphing and of course the trip itself.

I wouldn't be against a return to Grainger Stadium,it did remind me a lot of Hagerstown-IF Hagerstown spent more money to try to upgrade and maintain the facility in a similar manner as Kinston does!
And I'd like to spend more time there next time,but it made sense to leave all things considered.

Thanks to all my friends for going on the trip with me and all the fun things we did as well as knocking a lot of signatures out.
Looking forward to the next trip in July with stops in Augusta GA,Kannapolis and Winston-Salem NC along with Danville VA!!

Road Trip;Carolina/Zebulon

The road trip continued on day two as we visited the small town of Zebulon,NC to visit the home of the Carolina Mudcats.

After an excellent breakfast at McLean's Old Time Cafe (This meal would be the only thing that I would eat all day) and a waitress that told me she was from Barberton,Ohio (we each agreed that trying to explain to others about Barberton Chicken is a futile exercise unless they have tried it),we moved on and entered Five County Stadium.
Five County Stadium is located in Zebulon,a tiny town,for one reason-Raleigh NC wanted a team and was more than large enough to handle the original Mudcats (AA),but was well within the 50 miles radius that an existing team can block a team to moving within.so the Durham Bulls could block any team from moving to Raleigh,so the trick was finding some place as close to Raleigh as possible without the Bulls being able to block the incoming team-therefore little Zebulon had itself a AA (for 11 years) team and then the High A Carolina League franchise.
The stadium looks like a late 80's-early 90's stadium-lots of concrete and little shade!
The sightlines are good,but you are farther from the field than from newer stadiums.
Still Five County is kept up well and is more than acceptable to watch a game in...

The Mudcats allow graphers to come into the stadium to autograph in far left field (Mudcats) and far right field (Visitors-Winston-Salem Dash on this day),so for a little over two hours,we had the run of the place as the staff prepared the field for the game.
Doug Hopkins and I went to the team store,which the Mudcats graciously opened for us.
I didn't buy much,just two shirts for the ladies at home,but Doug bought plenty.
I walked up a ramp to the upper deck and snapped a picture that included the water tower in the upper left of the photo that was painted like a baseball with the Mudcats written in script.
I was impressed by the way that the Mudcats allowed us to graph and walk around,I wish more teams would allow that.
The only thing is the Mudcats will ask you to leave the stadium 30 minutes before the gates open,which is very reasonable,so that the team knows that everyone in the stadium has a paid admission.
Nothing wrong with that and I'm sure people appreciate the Mudcats friendliness toward their fans.

We worked on Carolina first,mainly because their side was where we came into the stadium and there was a little bit of shade on a hot day from the upper deck.
The heat didn't bother me as much as these huge flies that kept buzzing around and being really annoying.
The left field wall was close enough for us to touch from our position to touch and that gave us an unusual perspective from a stadium viewpoint.
I had gotten all of my major needs from Carolina on the previous day's visit to Buies Creek,but I helped the guys with a few needs and filled in a few stragglers as well.

We weren't sure how much access would be allowed on the visitors side of the stadium and their clubhouse could only be seen from the right field concourse.
We went down a flight of steps and were surprised to have pretty good access as the players for the Dash had to walk across a crushed stone area from a clubhouse that from the outside looked more like an industrial sized garage!

I was able to fill in some Dash (Dashers?) players that I needed such as 2016 Washington number one pick Dane Dunning,who I had talked to in Hagerstown,but my cards were with Derreck, signed three cards for me,Luis Alexander Basabe signed the only card that I had (Chicago obtained Basabe as part of the Chris Sale trade) and we saw former Hagerstown Sun Jake Johansen,who had just been signed by the White Sox,but the player I really needed was catcher Zack Collins on his top 100 card.
Collins was the final top 100 card and obtaining him would give me 8 of 9 top 100 cards for the trip.
However,before Collins came out,it was time to leave the stadium as required by the team.
We had about a half hour to kill,so we tried to stay as cool as possible before broiling!

When we went into the stadium,the employees were giving out sample packets of something called "Bull Frog" which is sun screen of some type.
Considering it's summer time,I'm surprised more teams don't give away similar items before games!
We walked by a former Hagerstown employee and when Derreck tried to say hello,this fellow wouldn't even speak to him!
Sometimes,I wonder about people...

We went straight to the area from before to try to work on more Winston-Salem players including Zach Collins,who we all needed on various items.
As we stood there,a player walked over and asked if we "had anything for me".
I didn't recognize him and said that I didn't,he then showed his glove with #55 stitched on it.
It was White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon,who was there on an unannounced rehab assignment!
Rodon had been through the Carolina League,but not Frederick,so I had never seen him before
Rodon signed a few things for other graphers,but I had nothing for him.
Too bad for me as Rodon did have a 2015 top 100 that was residing back in Hagerstown.
Carlos did talk to us for more than five minutes and told me to send the card to him in Chicago once he returned and he'd sign it.
You never know on these things,but Rodon is reported to be a great signer through the mail,so I'll be willing to give a shot!

As I steamed over a lost opportunity,finally Zack Collins came out and I was lucky to get the top 100 taken care of,so it was a productive stop in Zebulon after all.
Collins isn't exactly what you would call overly friendly or a willing signer,but I cannot complain-I needed one and he signed it,anything else from me would sound ungrateful.
We couldn't stay much longer in Zebulon as Kinston loomed as our final stop an hour away,so we had to move quickly if we were to make that game!
We said goodbye to Derreck and Brandon,who were skipping Kinston as Derreck had to get to work that night and prepared to leave..

Next time,I'll finish the trip with our stop in Kinston NC and Grainger Stadium.
Keep in mind,we'll have the Devils draft pick Friday night and the boxing challenge coming with Ward-Kovalev II on Saturday night...

Road Trip:Durham

The little over an hour drive from Buies Creek to Durham went by quickly and we would arrive in the early portion of the game between the homestanding Bulls (AAA Tampa Bay) and the Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA Boston) to meet Derreck and Brandon.

Durham Bulls Athletic Park is turning 20 this year,but through consistent upkeep and the occasional renovation to keep things fresh,this looks like a ballpark that is no more than a few years old.
Wide concourses and plenty of food choices,the home of the Bulls reminds one of a big league park,which a AAA park should be-a smaller version of a beautiful major league field.

Sorry for the crooked pic,the Kindle is sometimes hard to hold evenly

Entering the stadium with a standing room only ticket as the game was sold out otherwise for a fireworks night,it was a pretty sight walking up the ramp to see the field itself.
The field is one of those that hits you in the face upon arrival and for a 20 year old field is quite amazing.
The famous Bull sign stands tall in left field above a high wall and in right field,there is a large grassy area for lawn seats and a roomy spot down the right field line to eat and drink from one of the many stands.
As noted in the Buies Creek post,I didn't eat,so I'm not sure how the food there was,but there were plenty of choices to choose from.

Since for the most part,I (and Fred too) didn't feel like standing,the two of us with Derreck walked around the park for various pictures and sightlines.
Doug hit the team store,while Michael & Brandon moved around the stadium doing whatever as the game played on.
After that,we sat in the area with tables in right field and watched the remainder of the game from chaired seats.
The heat was starting to get to Fred a bit,so the relaxed setting allowed him to get his bearings a bit along with giving us a seat,which we didn't have otherwise.

After the game,there are many exits,so you don't have the clog of so many parks and we moved to the outside to make our only attempt to graph in Durham.
Derreck,Doug, Brandon and Michael decided to stay in the front of the park and attempt to acquire Pawtucket players,while Fred and I moved to the first base side of the stadium to work on the Bulls.
I had done the Bulls last season in our visit to Syracuse,so I had a few guys already and with AAA,I try to stick to a few targets that I want most rather than do a team set or bring cards for most of the team.
In this case,since I rarely do AAA or Tampa Bay affiliates,I wanted to concentrate on Top 100's-2 from the 2016 set (Blake Snell and Jose DeLeon) and 3 from the new 2017 set (DeLeon,Brett Honeywell and Willy Adames).
I didn't have anything for Casey Gillespie,since I had him sign a card at Syracuse last season,but Fred needed him and Gillespie was far from polite as he stomped by everyone without signing,although as he walked down the street,he did stop once reluctantly before moving away.

The first of the group to come out was Brett Honeywell,who was easy to pick out because of his long hair and cowboy boots,that Fred pointed out that he wore when we saw AA Montgomery last year in Tennessee.
Honeywell was quiet,but nice enough as I added his top 100 to this years set.
Blake Snell was easy to pick out as well because he pitched for my fantasy team before being sent to Durham,so I knew what he looked like.
Snell likes to joke around and mess with you as he signs and was very friendly in chatting while he signed his 2016 100-2 for 2.
Jose DeLeon was the only player that I had two top 100's for and I was hoping to get lucky and have him sign both.
I didn't and chose the 2017 with Tampa over his 2016 with the Dodgers because I saw him with the Rays organization.
Derreck and Brandon are said to be returning to Durham in a few weeks and hopefully,they can get the other DeLeon for me.
Willy Adames was the final 100 and due to help from my traders,I only needed the new one after the 15 and 16 were done in the past.
Adames came out with three other players and started walking,by the time that I realized that it was him,he was halfway down the street-the race was on and for a fat guy and when motivated (remember Chance Sisco?) I can move,so I managed to run Adames down,get him to sign on the move and finish the night strong!
4 for 4 in players,4 for 5 in top 100's,which is an excellent batting average for AAA.
Combined with the three from the Carolina Mudcats,the total for the day was 7 of 8 in cards,7 of 7 in players-Not bad.

The ride back to the hotel was about an hour and we were welcomed with a really bad room in Dunn NC at their Quality Inn.
I never had a bad room with the Choice Hotel chains,but this one was bad and looked like Choice bought a lower level facility (think Super 8 or Econolodge) and just slapped the Quality Inn name on it.
The room had 1970's decor,which wouldn't have been bad,had it not come with 70's bed linen complete with cigarette holes.

On the overall,I liked Durham.
Nice park,graphing pretty good for AAA and Derreck ranked it at the top of his AAA list above Nashville,which we both really liked from last year.
I'd rank it as competitive with Nashville and Columbus,but my gold standard for AAA parks is still Louisville as my top choice.

Good run and a great time,but two more parks and stops ahead,so stay tuned for the next stop in Zebulon,NC for the Carolina Mudcats (cleaning up stragglers) and the Winston-Salem Dash.

Road Trip:Buies Creek

The latest road trip features several people,several towns,several ballparks and lots of fun.
I'll be splitting each stop into a different post over the next few days,but they might not be consecutive as I have a lot of inbox buildup and one never knows when news breaks...

The first stop was Buies Creek NC,a small town that makes Hagerstown look like Washington DC and best known for being the home of Campbell University,one of the smaller Division I athletic schools in the country.
We left around nine in the morning and arrived at Campbell early in the afternoon with only a stop at Ralph's BBQ,a buffet filled with Southern BBQ (a North Carolina specialty) and other local delicious items.
Ralph's was a excellent stop and if in the area,Ralph's should be on your radar-make sure you use the house sauce,a vinegar sauce with some peppery taste tossed in....
The Landucci's (Fred and Michael) along with Doug Hopkins were in one car with another car with Derreck Chupak and Brandon Diehl skipping Buies Creek and another person as well.
We would meet up with that party in Durham later in the day in part two of our recap.

Jim Perry Stadium was named after the former pitcher,who won 215 games in the bigs,won the 1970 Cy Young award along with being the older brother of Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry.
The stadium holds just 1,000 people,which I would guess makes it the smallest stadium in professional baseball,but it was the best stadium available for the Carolina League,which expanded by two teams for the 2017 season and one of them was awarded to Fayetteville,NC,which is building a new stadium for the team.
The problem was that Fayetteville didn't have a facility good enough to play in for two years.
Enter Campbell and Buies Creek with Jim Perry Stadium and in return for the Houston Astros installing new artificial turf and a state of the art scoreboard,the two year deal was struck.
This situation made Buies Creek one of my two "Must Have's" to check off my stadium list with a later trip to Augusta GA,who are in their last year in their current stadium.

We arrived around 3ish for a 6 PM game (better early than late) and we were greeted by a team employee,who welcomed us and allowed us to go and look around the stadium.
I was impressed by the tiny,yet immaculate park and when looking at the new turf,you could actually see the "steam" coming off the turf on a humid,yet not beyond what I would guess as normal humidity for the area.
Very few teams in the minors use turf anymore (the only one that I know of currently using turf are the West Virginia Black Bears,Short Season Pittsburgh),but it makes sense for college teams that have to play games in late February and into March/April and need to get games in that just couldn't be played on a natural surface.
We watched BP and got a few players to sign that came out very early,but mainly just enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of Buies Creek.
There were a few small table with umbrellas and we sat watching the field,enjoying the scenery and company.
Prices on food and drink were super low compared to other places and the other guys took advantage of that fact.
Me? I'm still cutting back,so I took it as easy as possible (actually,I wouldn't eat after Ralph's until the next morning's breakfast),but the prices were right,if you needed a bite or a swig to beat the heat.

The team being such a temporary tenant didn't add a team store,they just used a small trailer for various souvenirs (it brought to mind Pulaski Va and last years visit!) and we did buy a team set.
I hadn't planned on buying one since Buies Creek had already made their one visit this season to Frederick,but since we could work on it while there and it was the first ever team set,I decided to work on one,despite the top prospect in the Astros system,outfielder Kyle Tucker having just been promoted to AA Corpus Christi,a few days before.
Tucker,a powerhitting outfielder,was one of the more impressive prospects that I've seen so far this season and will likely be the Astros most asked about young player as the trade deadline nears and the Astros begin to scan the market for potential upgrades for a playoff run.
Doug Hopkins did almost all of the work on the Astros,although I did call some numbers out to him.
The Astros had far less access than the visiting team,so we had to be much faster in figuring out who was who when they walked by.

As much as I wanted to work on Buies Creek,the visiting Carolina Mudcats (High A Milwaukee) were more important to me.
The Carolina League had once had the best schedule in baseball as you could count on the teams like clockwork-they came to town in order three times and then the season ended.
But as often happens in business,someone decided to fix what wasn't broken and ruined the whole thing.
Carolina hit Frederick twice in the first month and then would not return,so the recent release of the top 100's put all the pressure on me to knock the three players on Carolina out on this trip.
Corey Ray was easy as he's one of the nicest players I've met in years and he signed after finishing batting practice.
Ison Diaz doesn't seem to like signing as much,but he did sign his top 100 and another card.
Diaz hates when his name is mispronounced "I-Son" rather than the correct "E-Son",so I made sure I got that part correct.
Trent Clark was the final Top 100 player to get and I didn't think I was going to get him as when I asked he stepped into the dugout.
I began to shuffle cards and evaluate how best to get another shot,when Michael,who was right beside the dugout,shouted to me "Give me your cards,he's coming back".
Clark was indeed coming back,but there were a few kids in front of me,so I handed the cards off to Michael,who was able to get them to Clark for the signature.

With the most important cards finished,we had to prepare for the run to Durham to meet up with Derreck and Brandon,so we watched an inning or so before the "run TO the Bulls",but I wish we could have spent more time in Buies Creek.
Perhaps we can make a run there next year in the Astros final season there and be able to settle in and enjoy a game.
I liked the cozy park and small community that much and I'm hoping that maybe Buies Creek could land an Appalachian League team down the road for their community as a payback for their help and cooperation in a time of need for the minors.
Thanks to the Astros and their terrific team of employees for extending kindness and help for our visit.
When you consider the work involved for any temporary and imperfect situation,their employees are doing a great job in making things go so smoothly.

Next road trip stop will be our time in Durham,which is the plan unless something breaks in the Ohio State search for a new basketball coach or I decide to clean the overflowing inbox!

Road Trip-Bristol and Bluefield

The trip concluded in Bluefield WV/VA with Fred and Michael Landucci with a stop at Bowen Field.

However as is often the case on these trips,half the fun is in getting there and that was the case on this day for sure.

We left our hotel in Johnson City and began to trip to Bluefield,but of course there was lunch to be considered and on this one,we deferred to Fred and his choice was the Mad Greek in Bristol,Tennessee.
Michael and I found this amusing because the Johnson City Mad Greek was literally a walk across our hotel parking lot as we realized when we left the hotel.

I have to be honest-I wasn't really looking forward to the Mad Greek.
I'm not really an aficionado of Greek food,but most of the trip,I had some say in food and it was Fred's turn and time for your writer to be a good sport.
Well,your writer was wrong-extremely so as Fred was correct as the Mad Greek was tremendous!
Our waitress,Kristen was terrific and shared some answers that we had to some questions about the area.
I ordered myself a small pizza and the greatest thing about the Mad Greek is that they do something that no other pizza place that I have ever seen do-They charge for the pizza and toppings are unlimited!
In other words-a ten topping pizza costs the same as a cheese pizza! I love it!!
A very good pizza and when we return to Bristol next year,I hope we stop at the Mad Greek again.

One of Michael's questions was about Yee Haw beer,which he had developed a taste for and he wanted to bring some home,so we needed a supermarket and we found one in Food City.
We took some photos for the upcoming "Battle of Bristol" between Tennessee and Virginia Tech as the place was decorated for the game a month in advance.
Michael bought a six pack of bottles of the four various Yee Haw's (pilsner,ale,dunkel and eighty)

and reports that all were good,but he would rate the pilsner as his least favorite and we left,but here's the funny part.
When we parked the car,we parked right by a "Rock Star" van and Fred said when we left that I should take a picture of it-however when I looked at it,it looked deserted and nothing like a vehicle used for beverages.
After turning the Kindle on for the picture,I noticed a wi-fi from "FBI Surveillance" and a guy peeping out of the van.
Needless to say,no picture and we left to avoid answering questions about we took pictures of a van!
We passed a countdown clock for the game and the speedway itself.
When I was a NASCAR fan,Bristol was my favorite track and I loved the two races held there.
I've been by it twice and I hope to go inside sometime on a future visit....

Fred and Michael bought hats at every stop on the trip and wanted to add a Bristol Pirates hat to their collection,so we pulled up to Boyce Cox Field and as we saw locked gates,we turned and began walk back to the car when a voice asked "what do you want in there"? When I replied these gentlemen wanted to buy some hats,the response was "I believe I can help with that".
It turned out that our host was Bristol GM Mahlon Luttrell and he was happy to allow us to take a tour of the field and Fred and Michael got their hats with Fred getting a very cool green one with the Appalachian League logo on it as well.
I wish it would have fit me as I really liked it.
We talked to Mr.Luttrell for a bit and mentioned that we were going to Bluefield and Mr.Luttrell called the GM at Bluefield and mentioned that we were on our way there.

We arrived at Bluefield,which literally has the West Virginia/Virginia state line that runs through the field, and we were allowed into the facility early by the GM,who as noted had been tipped off about arrival, to watch batting practice.
There was only one problem,we were not allowed to ask for autographs,which was a bit of a pain,but not as bad as you would think.
However,before we started that,we tried to get some of the Pulaski Yankees getting off the bus and Fred's opinion of Blake Rutherford changed.
Players got off the bus and when it seemed like most were off the bus,Fred asked what looked to be Rutherford,if Blake was still on the bus or if he was Blake.
The response was that Rutherford was still on the bus.
Fred was dismayed to find out that the only few (four or five) players that walked off the bus were Hispanic and the player that told him that Rutherford was on the bus,was in fact Rutherford.
Fred's stance on Rutherford,so high just two nights earlier was now pretty low...

It was very neat being the only people in Bowen Field and watching batting practice and the autograph ban was not a issue-mainly because I have never been to a park with worse access than Bluefield.
I mean there is just nowhere to go for anyone.
If you are coming to Bluefield for autographs-be ready to use the parking lot because you just aren't going to have a chance inside the park.
This saddened me because Tim Raines was in town with Bluefield and I didn't have him on my Score sets.
Tough luck for me,despite some help by the assistant GM,who tried his best to help.

Bowen Field reminded me a lot of the Muni with another covered grandstand with backed seats.
Those seats comprise the vast majority of the seating area,so,if you don't like sitting behind the plate,you might not care for Bowen Field.
The view beyond the outfield was filled with trees and provided a beautiful and natural Batter's Eye.
Bluefield made a team set (which not all Appy teams do),but I didn't buy one as the Blue Jays don't hit our circuit until AA (Harrisburg or Altoona) and with the access being what it is,I decided to pass...

We left Bluefield for a pretty bad meal at the Princeton Applebees and we had over five hours to hit Hagerstown,which meant over six for Fred and Michael to get home.
It was a terrific trip and thanks to Michael and Fred for doing the trip with me...
We are already making plans to try to hit the other five Appy Parks
(Kingsport,Bristol,Greeneville,Danville and Burlington) for next season if the schedule bounces right...

Wrapping up the trip with my favorites with all things considered.
I liked them in this order: Pulaski,Johnson City,Princeton,Elizabethton and Bluefield...

Thanks for reading and I'll be back tonight with a planned podcast....

Road Trip:Elizabethton

The Appalachian league road trip continues on a jaunt to Elizabethton,
Tennessee,home of the Twins.

We arrived at Elizabethton early and saw the ticket prices 4.00 and 3.00 with an extra dollar off for seniors and kids.
Those might be the lowest in the game and at minimum the lowest I've ever seen.

Michael and I waited for the ticket booth to open and discovered that the booth doesn't open until just a few minutes before the gates do and the tickets are basically a fellow sitting at a table putting stubs in a bucket.

Not much at Elizabethton has changed since my previous visit other than the flag background that Ryan and Bob surfed in front of has been painted over.
The standings of the league are still on the outfield wall (I'd love to see more teams do that) and the parking lot is still close to the gate (although no players making out in cars this time).

The graphing can be tough here,but there is a small area that players can step out into and sign if they wish,so you really are dependent on the players wanting to sign.
I didn't need a lot of guys,but the Landucci's were there for the Twins number one pick Alex Kirilloff,who I had nothing for.
Kirilloff was very nice and signed baseballs for Fred and Michael,so that part was a success.

Elizabethton might have the oldest crowd that I've ever seen.
The Appalachian League generally has crowds that are older,but this seemed older even for the Appy league.
Elizabethton is reported to be on the ropes as far as keeping the Twins in town.
Joe O'Brien Field could use some upgrades and the city says it could be a million dollars or a little more to bring things up to standard.
The Twins offered to pay a third of the cost,but after the town drug their feet a bit,reneged on their offer.
I'd hate to see the town lose their team and a loss of the team hurts the league too as a nine team league means someone is off all the time.

We didn't watch much at Elizabethton as we drove 90 minutes to Sevierville so that Michael could do the Montgomery Biscuits,the AA affiliate of Tampa Bay,Michael's favorite team.
I didn't bring anything for the Biscuits,so I watched the game and watched the post-game graphing from a distance.

The postgame was going to feature a stop at Ktystal-the delightful home of those little burgers that are the southern version of White Castle,
I was so close to getting some and because some bum hit Michael up for money while he added gas to the car,he wanted to get away,which I didn't blame him for.
That meant we were going to have a hard time finding a place to eat and we settled for a mediocre meal at a Perkins in Johnson City,where I got nachos with tomatoes (bleech) after asking for no tomatoes.
This may sound like a small thing and I can handle taking tomato slices off items,but these were in small bits and impossible to remove.
There is no food that I despise more than the tomato...

Back to the hotel before one more day.
The final installment will see two towns,a great meal,lots of beer bought,a park that covers two states and missing Tim Raines....

Road Trip:Johnson City

The Appalachian league tour continues with a trip to Johnson City for an eleven AM morning game featuring the Burlington Royals vs the homestanding Cardinals in a battle between the two division leaders in the league.

I was pulled out of bed early in the morning (6 AM) with a paper for checkout-This was annoying because we weren't checking out until the following morning.
Not a great start to the day and it really was just a dumb mistake on the part of the hotel.

I had been to Johnson City before on the trip with Ryan and Battlin' Bob and the first thing that you noticed from the previous visit was the absence of the hill in right field.
The hill was so large (much larger than the left field incline at the Muni) that it was the main feature of the playing field-Now,unless you knew ahead of time,one would never know that hill ever existed...

This was one of those wonderful kids days,but school had already returned in Johnson City and the kids were pretty well behaved as they were entertained by a police officers show that featured attack dogs.
Those are usually fun to watch with the dog attacking the poor guy in the padded suit!

I liked the grandstand at Johnson City,but that's where most of the kids were,so we avoided that area,although we did stop long enough to get a picture and stop at their small walkup team shop to get the lovely Cherie a shirt from the Cardinals.
I try to get the ladies shirts from my various travels and Cherie had Johnson City on the top of her list.
As we walked around the stadium,we stumbled upon a local favorite drink-Dr.Enuf.
I had never heard of Dr.Enuf and Fred treated all of us to a bottle of this concoction.
It was OK,nothing that I would buy cases to bring home,but something that I wouldn't be against trying on a area return.
I'd say it tasted like a Sprite and Mountain Dew mix...

We finally sat under an umbrella down the left field line in their version of a beer garden.
Normally,I would avoid those areas like the plague,but on a morning game,it was basically abandoned,so it was a good fit on this day.
Johnson City has zero access for the visiting teams for autographs,but you can get some players down the line for the home Cardinals.
Johnson City did not make a team set this season,so I only had cards for one player-Bryce Denton,the Cardinals second rounder in 2015.
Denton was very nice in signing and chatted a bit about the Appy league and how the travel usually worked.
Wish I could say the same for pitching coach Cale Johnson,who blew Fred off with one card and no other graphers around.
I guess in the Appy league,one way to look at it is that you are seldom asked,so people just are caught off guard.
I wouldn't agree,but that could be one way of looking at it.

Fred and I watched the game,while Michael took advantage of the beer proximity to sample the local beers.
I know how Michael feels as I like to do that with local drinks (like Dr,Enuf) and sometimes potato chips,so when Michael sampled Cardinal red ale (a beer sold only at the park) and Yee Haw-I knew where he was coming from.
Michael would then disappear to meet Miss Johnson City,but I'll keep that story and the involvement of Doug Hopkins private.

After Michael (and Doug) got their pictures signed,we decided to leave the game since the heat was in full force and the game was 7-0 Burlington and went to lunch before returning to our hotel for some regeneration time before our evening.
We selected the top place on TripAdvisor in the Firehouse. 
The Firehouse is supposedly inside a former Firehouse (hence the name) and specializes in barbecue.
When you travel south,the barbecue places should be at least stopped at once and with all of us in the mood for it,it was an easy call.

I ordered the three of us some nachos to snack on  and they were quite good.
I don't recall what Fred and Michael ordered,but I had the pulled chicken with fries and I found them to be very good.
I liked the atmosphere,which was homey enough without the cramped feel that so many of these places tend to have.
The facility was quite large,so that was a considerable help.
If you are in the Johnson City area,you could do far worse than the Firehouse,if you are a barbecue fan,,

We then went back to the hotel for a few hours before our next trip to Elizabethton-home of the Twins and what would prove to be an added bonus for Michael.
That will be the next installment of the series....

Road Trip:Pulaski

 The Appalachian League road trip continued as we left Princeton and drove roughly an hour to Pulaski Virginia to see the Greeneville Astros take on the Pulaski Yankees.

It had been NINE years since I last saw Calfee Park and as I wrote about the Williamsport trip,much had changed in the interim.
My running buddies were different,but so was Calfee as well.
Calfee had been a well maintained,but still aging facility when we last visited,but the park that was waiting for us this time was quite a treat.

When I last visited the Toronto Blue Jays had just left Pulaski,leaving the town without a team.
The Seattle Mariners came in for some seasons,but decided to leave at the end of 2014.
Since teams in the Appy league are owned by their big league affiliates and the markets being so small,every time that a team leaves,there is great concern about the team continuing to survive.
Fortunately,the biggest dog in the yard would come to the league and Pulaski's rescue as the New York Yankees took over the franchise and began to not only run the team,but pour money into not just Calfee Park,but the city as well...
The Yankees helped install a new scoreboard complete with new video board,expanded and improved seating and backed seats in the general admission areas to go with work on the field.
Plus the Yankees are renovating a hotel so that their players can have an on campus feel for players getting their feet wet in organized baseball.
The Yankees are modernizing an older park and yet maintaining the cozy feel of an older facility.
Tip your hat to the Yankees because they have done a tremendous job!

When you drive to Calfee,you drive through what appears to be a forest for miles and as I told Michael (driving),you'll be tempted to think you are nowhere near a park before suddenly,it will appear and hit you in the face without expecting it.
Arriving at Calfee showed more improvements as the behind the plate seating as also improved and even though the Yankees do not have a formal team shop,they do have several NASCAR like trailers to sell team items and it's a pretty impressive amount of stuff.
I didn't do the Pulaski team set there,even though I bought one for the 2017 season,but I decided to work on the visiting Astros with their bright orange jerseys and hats.
The main target was former Astro star Cesar Cedeno,who had been reported to be a grumpy signer.
I asked Cedeno to sign a few cards and he motioned me nearer to the dugout,where I had to put each card perfectly through the screen to get them to fit.
I talked to him briefly about Doug Hopkins and the RC Cola can with the slurpee cups that I had in the car and got this response "I got all that stuff already".
I told him I'd see him after the game with the can and cups and that he could have a cup.
"I think you'll have a hard time finding me".

I was able to get a few other Astros most notably Jonathan Arauz on a Elite,but my favorite was coach Wladimir Sutil.
Sutil made me think of how long I have been doing this as when I was starting this hobby,Wladimir Sutil was a hot prospect with the Astros organization as a shortstop,but his bat didn't carry with him at higher levels.
I talked to Wladimir about his days in Hagerstown and he talked about how long it was ago and we laughed.
Even longer to an old man like me!
And then there was right fielder Luis Payano,who signed one card,but before that offered his hand to Fred and I to shake and thanked for us for asking!
Only in the lower leagues does stuff like that happen!!!

The game itself was neat as we were given excellent seats by the Yankees and enjoyed the game from the front row!
After the Astros win,I went to the Pulaski side in an attempt to get Yankee first rounder Blake Rutherford.
Michael and Fred had got him before the game,but I just missed him.
Rutherford had been taken out of the game with a hamstring pull and was already in the clubhouse to treat the pull that would keep him out of the lineup for two weeks,so I didn't get him then.
Meanwhile,Michael and Fred were with Mr.Cedeno with a few more cards for me and more importantly-Doug's can and cups.
Cedeno first told Fred "I already signed for you",but Fred corrected him that it was actually me and got the cards knocked out.
Michael was next and Cedeno said "you want me to sign all those" and the reply of yes,brought a reply of "Can i have one of these?".
Michael said "of course" and the followup has already caught as a soundbite for us "I'm going to take this home and drink my cocktails out of it tonight."
Hilarious....

Pulaski allows graphers to stay in the park near the front exit and we waited for Blake Rutherford,who finally arrived and talked with us for about five minutes.
Nice guy and Blake signed everything we had along with the only other grapher that we saw...

After a great day of graphing,we were off for a two hour ride to our hotel in Johnson City,Tennessee to end one day and prepare for another!

The next stop in this series will be the afternoon in Johnson City!!!

Road Trip-Williamsport (times two)

I realize I promised a return to the Appalachian league,but I decided to combine my two road trips to Williamsport PA into one since I was there last night...
For the purposes of this post-there will be some things that might blur together between the trips and they might not be as detailed as usual..

Doug Hopkins was with me on both trips,but Bill Cover and Derreck Chupak were with me for the first visit with the Landucci pairing of Fred and Michael traveling with Doug and I last night.
It had been ten years since I visited Bowman Field-so long ago that the Crosscutters were a Pirates affiliate,Ryan was still living at home and this blog was months away from being started.

On the 1st trip,we suffered through rain (most of the day),humidity and pretty nasty staff (a young man named Aaron),while the 2nd trip was much better (We only saw Aaron once) as far as staff goes.
We had great meals on both trips in different styles.
The Kast Hotel literally is a early 20th century building that brings to mind the old television shows depicting the time period.
Doug ordered a plate of nachos that had to be seen to be believed size wise and he was fortunate that he didn't order anything else!
The rest of us ordered burgers and were pretty pleased,
The term "retro" is used pretty loosely anymore when it comes to themes and I wouldn't call the Kast Hotel retro,it is just an old place that serves pretty good food-If in the area,give it a try.

Same goes for trip two as I looked on TripAdvisor and selected three choices for everyone else to choose from.
The selection was the Sticky Elbow and despite the less than classy name,was more of an upscale restaurant.
Fred and I shared an order of nachos and a chicken dish that had pulled chicken with buffalo sauce and celery slaw inside a flatbread that was then tempura fried.
Delicious!
The nachos were awesome and again more than enough for everyone to jump in.
I'm not sure if Fred and I could have gotten this finished without help from Doug and Michael!
Two different types of place with two different ways of doing things,but if you go to a Cutters game-try one of them,I think you'll enjoy it...

Bowman Field has changed since my last visit as they have installed a party deck down the left field line and are installing improvements down the right field line which removed some of the seating area.
Those should be ready for 2017,but it severely limited the autographing for the home Crosscutters.
Bill and I (we didn't try on trip 2) had some good luck from outside the stadium and putting cards through the fence since the Cutter locker room is right beside the entry gate.
However,inside-the same area is cut off,an usher chased everyone away from near the field (which is vital since the dugouts at Bowman are VERY far from home plate and were generally rude.
The folks at the gate on the second trip were much nicer with the ticket manager there instead of Aaron.
Visitors access is much better,although we were told by a local fan that it too will be curtailed next season with more work.
Doug and Derreck did very well with the Auburn Doubledays (Washington) and the day two group did well with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (Cleveland).
Auburn was knocking out much of the team set and the same with Mahoning Valley with the big score being former first overall pick Brady Aiken on his top 100 among three other cards.
We missed on the other Scrapper prospect as Juan Hillman started the game,but I think we got most of the rest of the team-so I thought this was a very nice graphing night.

Trip one ended in a rainout,so that story ends here,but trip two saw a wonderful late summer night with a small breeze once the sun went down.
Michael was treated with a local beer (Genesee) that saw him make the bitter beer face (remember those commercials from long ago?


The facility is roughly the same age as the Hagerstown Muni (2 yrs older) and shares the sizable covered grandstand look as well.
Most of the seats in Bowman Field are under the roof and have a one piece back that runs the length of the row rather than the individual seats of the Muni.
It was a much quieter and older crowd than most places and the "star" was someone named "Mad Chad",who had a routine based on juggling oddball items like chainsaws and doing a lot of screaming.
Mad Chad didn't do much for us.

The company was good and the day was long,but trip two was a success.
I like Williamsport and Bowman Field to watch a game and I'd come back to see how the autographing is affected by the upcoming changes in the future.
Thanks to everyone from both trips for having me and allowing me to have fun and see another ballpark...

I may be without internet at work tonight,but my intent is to try to work on a post for Pulaski and maybe a podcast since I will have plenty of time....

Podcast:Chasing Cardboard in the Appalachian League with Fred and Michael Landucci

After a vacation hiatus-The podcast returns with my Appalachian League trip with Fred and Michael Landucci.
There are occasional audio blips on this episode.

Road Trip-Charleston

Our latest road trip saw my friends Fred and Michael Landucci travel with me to Charleston, West Virginia for a visit to the Appalachian Power Park and the homestanding West Virginia Power.

I have never been to the park, but I had been near it twice in the last two months, first on my trip to Bowling Green with Derreck Chupak and Kendall Morris and then last month with Ryan on the way to Louisville.
This was a two day, one night trip because the Landucci's were kind enough to wait to leave until nine AM when I got off work, and then I had to work again the following evening, so the time away was going to be short.

The best part of the trip down was some of the places that you see on the way through West Virginia.
I wrote about some of these on the other trips, but just seeing names such as Flatwoods, Big Chimney, Jane Lew, Mink Shoals, my future daughter in law's native Weston, and the always first in our hearts-Big Otter made myself and the Landucci's laugh at some of these towns.
I mean, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to consider how these towns came to have their names a century or more ago...

We pulled into Flatwoods for gas and where we came up with a new "friend".
Those of you that read about the trip with Derreck and Kendall might remember the interaction with "Denzl" on the same exit at a Sunoco and despite the different gas stations, we would find another unique character that I'll refer to for a long time to come.
As Fred pumped, Michael and I entered the store and as Michael paid, I asked "How far we were to Big Otter"?
This would become a running gag, but this time this was a legitimate question as I knew we had not seen it yet and I was wondering when it would pop up.
The cashier turned to a person named Les and asked him how far Big Otter was away.
Les then responded with "Big Otter? and then about 90 seconds of not a damn thing that Michael or myself could understand.
This had to be heard to believed (or mildly understood) and unless you saw it or heard Les, it simply is not being done justice.
Suffice it to say that Michael and I will be talking about Les for years!

We cruised down to the Charleston Capital hotel to check-in.
It was being renovated, so lots of paint and spackle around, so a trip here in a year would feel totally different.
I took a nap of a little under two hours in order to get some rest to be ready for the game.
I was tired after not going to bed from work, so just that little bit was enough to get me through the evening.
We then traveled to the Bluegrass Kitchen, which had been recommended to us by Rusty, who works for the same company as Ryan and lives in the area.
The kitchen is located in a building that dates back to the '20s and has artwork all around the place by local artists.
Bluegrass touts itself as one of those "local ingredients, locally grown" type places and we were one of the few there at the time (a little after 4) to order.
Just we sat down, the sky opened and began to pour rain in a heavy thunderstorm.
Michael's cellphone showed a heavy storm cell going through, but clear otherwise, so if the field at APP could survive that onslaught, we'd likely be in good shape.
Because of the outside conditions and the older building (think large older windows) the lighting radically changed and took a dark, dank look that I thought complimented the place.
The one thing that I didn't like was the menu selection as because we were there at four, we had very few choices because of their conversion from lunch to dinner.
The waitress gave what was listed as their "Betwixt" menu, which wasn't filled with choices, Fred and I chose the meatloaf sandwich that came with mashed potatoes on the sandwich, while Michael went with the chicken sandwich and the more important sampling of various beers.
The meatloaf was good as it didn't have an abundance of tomato sauce as some meatloaf does and the mashed potatoes on top (no gravy) gave it an interesting texture.

We finally made it to the park- there is a parking garage across the street from one entrance and another lot located with a Family Dollar that was even closer to an entrance-we took the latter and got our tickets.
The ticket person asked me where I would like to be seated as a courtesy.
We asked for (and received) tickets near the Toastman, the Power's superfan so that Fred and Michael could get the Toastman experience,if they were annoyed,we could always move.
It never ceases to amaze me how I am treated like royalty at most places that I go to and using the same pass at my own home park, I get consistently treated like something Posey dragged in...

The autographing is pretty easy at APP as both teams come out of the clubhouse under the concourse in right field, so they have to walk right by you, and in the event of rain, they have a covered area to sign in.
I was able to get most of the Augusta Greenjackets (Giants) finished and Ke'Bryan Hayes of the Power signed all three cards (Including his top 100).
I had so much for Augusta that since I was not familiar with the setup in Charleston and the Power hitting Hagerstown in a few weeks, I left West Virginia cards other than Hayes at home.
If I ever go there again, I'll bring cards for both teams...

The concessions are very reasonable with a pre-game, buy one get one free for beer being a Michael staple.
I enjoyed the frozen lemonades and Michael was thrilled to find out that the Power does not stop selling beer until the game ends.
Most places end their beer sales in the seventh inning-not so in Charleston. Michael exclaimed as he ran to the stand "I LOVE THIS PLACE"!!
Sitting with the Toastman was quite fun with all the things that Rod Blackstone does.
I found his stuff much more entertaining on this trip than I did when he made his visit to Hagerstown a few years back.
This time I found him hilarious-he is organized, comes with mounds of stats (I even helped him with a few), and manages to get into the heads of the opposition, which is why he does it!

The game itself was a record-setter for me.
West Virginia's first batter tripled, scored on the next batter's sacrifice fly, and would only have one more hit for the remainder of the game against Augusta's Michael Connolly.
Connolly would go without offensive support from the Greenjackets and lost 1-0 with a complete game.
Connolly's performance was an 86 on Bill James' game score for starting pitchers and erased the name of Darren Byrd after nine years from the R.S.record book from SAL games I have scored.
That means the name of Michael Connolly will travel around in the book until broken.
We waited outside for the few Greenjackets that we missed, especially Connolly and we were the only people there.
Connolly was on his cell and I pointed to the cards and asked silently if it was OK.
Connolly told his caller that he would call them back shortly, signed my cards, and talked about the game "That's baseball" for a few minutes.
I'm not sure how far Michael Connolly is going to go,(at 24, he's older for the league) but he's earned a fan in me.
The game was played in a blazing 1;47, which is good in any league, but especially in the South Atlantic League.
Neither team made an error and neither team walked a batter-it is amazing how fast the game can be played when that happens!!!
If you want to graph or just watch a game,I recommend seeing the Power very highly!

Back at the hotel and Miguelito was feeling no pain!
As we waited for an average tasting pizza, Miguelito complained to the front desk guy and most memorably decided to do his best Hulk Hogan impersonation as Fred implored him not to tear his shirt off!!
After pizza, it was time for bed and I really liked my room.
King size bed, nice size room, and decent TV as I watched boxing on FS1 as I wound down from a hectic day.

Up at 7 because we wanted to get home because I had to work, we attempted to have breakfast from another Ryan suggestion, but parking was difficult, so we planned on rolling further down the road for breakfast, but we decided to suck it up and do lunch in Morgantown-home of the Mountaineers.
The planned stop was a place called the Dirty Bird, but that was closed for the summer.
We asked a local for a suggestion on the downtown strip and Jameson's got the nod until we discovered that they weren't opening for another half-hour, so we tried Gibbie's next door.
We were the only people in the place and the boneless wings were good, but not especially hot.
Not bad, but I wouldn't go out of my way for them.

The other trip home highlight?
A return to Flatwoods for you guessed it-Denzl and sure enough, he was in!!
Of course,I had to ask how far from Big Otter we were and he gave the exact dialect that I would expect in an explanation that went way too far for a place straight down the road.
The Landucci's got quite the laugh out of Denzl!

I returned home and pretty much went straight to bed to rest for work, but I had a great time with Fred and Michael and we just might make another trip before the season ends.
Thanks for having me and I'm looking forward to more memories.
I still have the Buddy Ryan tribute to do and a Tim Duncan post with the retirement of my favorite player to work on!