The Baseball Trip 2019

Day 5, Wednesday, July 17

The plan was simple: Grab a motel room in Tinton Falls, NJ, stay 2 nights. First day, travel to Staten Island and watch the Staten Island Yankees. Next day, Back to Staten Island, take the ferry to Manhattan, see the Jackie Robinson Museum. Later, travel to Little Falls to see The New Jersey Jackals.Then, back to the motel.

Sounded good until all hell broke loose. During the third inning of the Yankee game, a mighty storm blew up. Gale force winds, sheets of rain. The game was suspended until Thursday. The wind was so bad, the grounds crew couldn't keep the tarp down on the infield with their sandbags. They had to put the landscaping tractors on it:

Luckily,  I took a few pictures of the ballpark -  before the storm:

 Right field.

 Center field scoreboard.

 Home plate from left field. These are all beginning to look the same.

 Manhattan skyline across the bay.


And this is how you get your popcorn. You pay your money and you are given a bucket. Self-serve. As I was taking this picture, an usher asked me if everything was all right. I told her I had never seen such a thing. Is it just me?

Staten Island outside the ballpark. By the way, the ballpark is called Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George. The Yankees are a class A short-season affiliate of, well, you know. They were up against the Vermont Lake Monsters, an affiliate of the Oakland A's. The game was pretty sloppy; infielders were kicking the ball around with regularity.

But the stuff really hit the fan after they suspended the game. They knew what was coming behind the original surge, and it was heavy-duty. I couldn't see two feet in front of my windshield and had to pull over in the parking lot at a NAPA Auto Parts store. All of a sudden, 11 police vehicles flew by. I counted. Streets were flooded, emergency alerts were buzzing on our phones, flash flood warnings in your area. No shirt, Sherlock, I'm sitting in one. Our normal exit to get off the highway was blocked by a service truck. It took us about two hours to get back to the motel. Check out this video I took while sitting. Wait for the police car at the end.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1Hw5avEjRT82xzV27

Favorite signs: Cheesequake State Park (look it up).
                          Museum of Sex
                          Beer Island
                          Bait-Tackle-Ice-Model Railroads

Things we cannot stick around for: Food Truck Festival, Staten Island

Random observation from Randy: I tried oat milk once. It tasted like cereal.

No counting items today.

Next- part 2 of the simple plan goes awry: Manhattan and Little Falls, NJ