The Baseball Trip 2024

 Day 14 -  Monday June 17

The day started with breakfast at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Galion, Ohio.

Me: "Everybody in this town is so friendly."

Random Observation from Randy:  "Yeah, well, they don't really know us."

Well,, this is a drive home , so nothing's happening, nothing to see here. Through Ohio and the width of Indiana. Corn fields and soybeans, Winnebagos and windfarms.

But there are a few odds and ends that I'll add because I forgot them along the way.

• Randy grabbed a foul ball at a minor league game. It ricocheted from above and behind us and he happened to be pointing at something in the outfield. The ball struck him in the back of his hand as it was on a path straight for the head of this little kid in front of him. He picked up the ball and slapped it into the kid's mitt! The kid and his parents were crazy overjoyed.

         Random Observation from Randy: "I need a picture of the kid holding the ball or no one will ever             believe me." Mom agreed, but he had to wear his cap over his face. Internet safety, you know.

• The Cincinnati Reds have Thirsty Thursdays every week. You can get a box seat down the first base line for $34.00 plus a ten dollar voucher at the concession stands! Randy also found $34.00 seats at the Nationals game on Stub Hub, but of course with an extra ten dollar fee,

• There were three teenage boys in front of us at one of the minor league games acting like ass-hats, slapping each other with water bottles and jumping around like idiots. I know I just retired, but I jumped back into teacher mode when I couldn't take it any more. "Hey, drug addicts, sit down and shut up."

Favorite Town Names:     Bippus, IN

                                            Disko, IN

                                            Toto, IN

Favorite Signs:  It's almost parade season - get your shirt now!

Over-sized Objects - 0

Confederate Flags - 1

Things we cannot hang around for: Marvel Park Fish Fry.

So, here's the recap:

3000+miles

   States:   Illinois. 

                Indiana

                Kentucky

                West Virginia

                Virginia

                Maryland

                Delaware

                New Jersey

                New York

                Connecticut

                Pennsylvania

                Ohio

2 - Major League Baseball games

8 - Minor League Baseball games

Over-sized-Objects - 11

Confederate Flags - 5

There you have it : The Baseball Trip 2024!

                

                

            

 The Baseball Trip 2024

Day 13 - Sunday June 16

Today we stopped for breakfast at the Four Corners Cafe in Eden, New York. The Four Corners is one of those restaurants with a train running around overhead.

After breakfast, we headed to East Lake, Ohio for a High-A minor league game between the Great Lakes Captains and the Fort Wayne, Indiana Tin Caps. The Captains are an A Ball affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, and the Tin Caps belong to the San Diego Padres.

The Captains jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the Tin Caps scratched and clawed back to tie it in the 8th inning, including a two-run homer. The game went into extra innings, and the Tin Caps scored twice. The Captains had no answer in the bottom of the tenth and lost a heart-breaker.

As an aside, the Tin Caps name is an homage to Johnny Appleseed, who, as legend would have it, wore a tin pot on his head as a hat.

Some photos from Classic Park:

The parking lot is across the highway from the ball field. You have to cross on the bridge to get to the park.

Front gate.

Center field scoreboard.

Right field stands.

Down the third base line.

Left field.

Skipper, the Captains' mascot.

Favorite Town Names:  Eden, NY (I admire their optimism.)

                                         Busti, NY

Favorite Signs:    Planet of the Vapes

                             (Amish) Buggy for sale - like new!

                             Old Johnnycakes Road

Things we cannot hang around for:    Hamburg Sesquicentennial Celebration Days

Over-sized Objects = 0

Confederate Flags - 1

Next: Home.

 The Baseball Trip 2024

 Day 12 - Saturday June 15

We are on our way to Buffalo, New York to see the Buffalo Bisons vs. the Worcester Red Sox. But first, breakfast at Terry's diner.

More chrome and glass!

Down the counter.

The Bisons are the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, and Worcester, well, you know who they are affiliated with.

By the way, the plural of bison is bison. It's not Bisons.

The Bisons lost a tough one, 4-2. A few pictures:

Front gate, Sahlen Park.

Right field stands.

Center field scoreboard.

Expressway behind fight field.

Behind home plate.

Left field.

Down the third base line.

Native American Night at the ballpark.

Favorite Town Name:    Tonkhammock, PA

Favorite Signs:        Fresh oil and chips

                                 Junk and Disorderly Antiques

                                 Laps of Love

Random Observation from Randy: "Laps of Love. Must be some sort of charity race. At first I thought it was a gentlemen's club."

Things we cannot hang around for:    Allentown, PA Gun Show

Things we did not expect to see:    A dj spinning rap tunes on the front porch of a funeral home.

                                                          A giant inflatable Frosty the Snowman on someone's 2nd story balcony.

Over-sized objects: 1- giant waiter

Confederate flags - 1

Next: East Lake, Ohio and the Great Lakes Captains.

The Baseball Trip 2024

Day 11 - Friday June 14

First, breakfast at Maddie's:

Today is not as jam-packed as yesterday. As a matter of fact, it was mostly travel. We left Hartford (and the Yard Goats) and - against our better judgement - drove back into Long Island. The reason: we wanted to visit Aqueduct Race Course before it closed.

Here are a few pix:

Front entrance.

Paddock area.

Tote board.

I bet a couple of races, but nothin' doing.

After that, we headed to Buffalo, NY,  but stopped for the night in Scranton, PA.

Favorite Town Names:   Orange, CT

                                          Armonk, NY

Favorite Signs:   Connecticut Dept. of Veterans Affairs/Dinosaur State Park

                             First and Last Tavern

Over-sized Objects - 1 giant Mr. Shane (proprietor of Mr. Shane's Steak House).

Confederate Flags - 0

Random Observation from Randy: "There's an Amish buggy...and there's another one. Must be rush hour."

Next: Buffalo, NY

 The Baseball Trip 2024

 Day 10 - Thursday June 13

Today is loaded with adventure. I have so many highlights and pictures that I have to write today's blog in chapters.

Random Observation from Randy: "Let's get going! I'm searching for truth, justice, and the American way."

Chapter 1: Breakfast

Of course we start with breakfast at the Airport Diner. The diner (and our hotel) are located Near MacArthur Airport at Islip, Long Island. Here are a couple of shots, exterior and interior:

More chrome and glass,

Afterwards, we stopped a bit for some coffee at Aldo's Coffee Company. Here's a view of the bay behind their shop:

Aldo's coffee grinder:

Chapter 2: The Long Island Ferry

The Baseball Trip is not complete without a ferry crossing. The Cross Sound Ferry Company owns and operates the MV John H. (MV = Marine Vehicle.)

The John H. takes us across the Long Island Sound from the eastern most point of Long Island to New London, Connecticut. Here are myriad pictures from the ride:

Chapter 3: Fort Trumbull

We visited Fort Trumbull and its history museum soon after the ferry docked in New London. Here is a brief origin story according to Wikipedia:

In 1775, Governor Jonathan Trumbull recommended building a fortification at the port of New    London to protect the Connecticut government's seat. The fort was built on a rocky point of land  near the mouth of the Thames River on Long Island Sound; it was completed in 1777 and named for Governor Trumbull, who served from 1769 to 1784. It was attacked in 1781 during the American Revolutionary War and was captured by British forces under the command  of Benedict Arnold.^[3]

Some photos:

The Museum

Approaching the front entrance.

Rear of the fort.

Open area inside the fort.

Replica of cannons used in the fort.

Ramrodding the barrel.

Chapter 4: The Hartford Yard Goats.

We left New London and headed for Hartford to see the AA minor league match between The Yard Goats and the Akron Rubber Ducks. I kid you not. The Yard Goats are the AA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The Rubber Ducks belong to the Cleveland Guardians.

The Ducks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second on two solo home runs. The score stayed that way until the bottom of the eighth when the Goats hit a three run homer to take the lead. That lead held up in the ninth for a 3-2 Yard Goats win. The Goats had only two hits until that homer.

Some photos at Dunkin Park:

Front gate.

Left field scoreboard.

Stretching before the game.

Stands along the first base line.

Left and center fields.

Favorite Sign:    Leaving Brooklyn - Fuhgeddaboudit

Favorite Town Names:    Baphank, NY

                                        Rokonkoma, NY

Over-sized objects:      1-giant strawberry

                                     1- giant corn cob

                                     1- giant Popeye the Sailor Man

Confederate Flags: 0

Things we cannot hang around for:    Strawberry Festival

                                                                Classic car Show

                                                                Free Art Exhibit

                                                                Fathers' Day festival

I don't know all the cities names, but they were all on Long Island. They probably all end in 'tauk'.

Random Observation from Randy: "I wasn't going to leave the maid a tip, but then I realized it isn't her fault that this place sucks."

Next: Back to Long Island for horse racing at Aqueduct.

 The Baseball Trip 2024

  Day 9 - Wednesday June 12

The day starts with breakfast at the Mug Rack in Jackson New Jersey. I had the blueberry pancakes. I haven't had blueberry pancakes in 35 years.

After breakfast, we headed toward the Jersey Shore. First stop was Monmouth Park, just to take a look. There was no racing today, but we took a stroll around the grounds because we haven't visited that track before.

This is what an empty racetrack looks like.

Next up: Asbury Park (we did not see Bruce) and Perth Amboy. According to Wikipedia, Amboy mutated from the original Native American name of Ompoge: "The land, which was called "Ompoge" by the indigenous people, gradually changed its name to "Emboyle", then "Amboyle". When the city was incorporated in 1683, settlers began to call the land "Ambo" or "Amboy Point", and finally "Amboy." The name means "place resembling a bowl."

So there you have it.

Drawbridge is up.

We took the bridge over to Staten Island and the the Verrazano-Narrows bridge to Brooklyn, We eventually ended up on Long Island. It took us over 4 hours to get to our hotel. Traffic is incredibly congested on this damn island. Our destination was Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Islip, home of the Long Island Ducks. The Ducks are an Independent League team. Their foes tonight are the York Revolution. The Revolution (without Prince) took a 1-0 lead in the first, but surrendered 3 to the home team in the 3rd. The game was back and forth, but the Revolution hung on for a 9-6 win.

A few pix from the ballpark:

East Gate entrance.

Right field from behind home plate.

Left field video board.

Favorite town Names:    Patchogue, NY

Favorite Sign:     If you're not barefoot, you're overdressed.

Over-sized Objects - 0

Confederate Flags - 0

Next: Hartford, Connecticut and the Hartford Yard Goats!