The first stop was Binghamton, where we were able to catch two B-Mets (Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets) games at NYSEG Stadium, one on Sunday night and the other on Monday afternoon. Both games were against the Akron Aeros (Cleveland Indians), the team with the best overall record in the Eastern League. The Aeros showed why they have that record, as they won both games, 14-5 and 4-2. The Aeros seemed to out-hit, out-pitch, and out-field the B-Mets, which just about says it all.
The Aeros are in the Southern Division of the Eastern League, so they are not direct rivals of "our" Portland Sea Dogs, but the B-Mets are in the Northern Division, so we really didn't mind the outcome of the games. We liked the park and had a great time.
Sunday night's game featured Mascot Mania, with several local mascots joining the B-Mets' usual trio of Buddy, Bingo and Ballwinkle (with J & C at right). We at DITR love mascots, so we enjoyed all of the wacky antics. Throw in a great post-game fireworks show and it's hard to argue with their claim that they're The Greatest Show on Dirt!
Monday was Super Splash Day, which was not a bad thing for a hot afternoon game. As is usually the case at weekday baseball games
wherever you go, plenty of campers were in attendance. They had a great time being splashed and soaked by the mascots and staff.A fun touch was altering the B-Mets players' photos on the video board to give them a tropical/beach look. At left you can see how slugger Nick Evans looked. The Mets front office must think he looks really good these days, as they called Evans up to the big team the next day!
Before the game started, we had a chance to catch up with Buddy the Bee (below), whom we had met at
last year's Eastern League All-Star game. We asked if he was going to this year's game. When he nodded in the affirmative, we told him we'd see him there!Since this was an early game, we had plenty of time to drive down to Oneonta and take in an Oneonta Tigers game at Damaschke Field. The team (the short-season Single-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) took on the State College Spikes (Pittsburgh Pirates) in a New York-Penn League match-up. Below are the Spikes during their p
re-game warm-ups.We've seen a fair amount of NY-Penn action courtesy of the Lowell Spinners at LaLacheur Park in Lowell, Mass., but had never been to another ballpark in that league before (although we have been to a few Single-A games in the Midwest League). Things are very busy at a Spinners game and we had heard that the O-Tigers were pretty "old school," so we figured the experiences would be different, despite the teams being in the same league.
The teams may be in the same league, but as far as their parks go, they may as well be from different planets! Nothing is the same. LaLacheur Park is a modern venue with a big video board in the middle of a university in a city, whereas Damaschke Field is an older facility with just the scoreboard in the above picture in a small town. There's something to be said for both and we're glad to be able to experience the different atmospheres.
The Tigers wound up winning the game, 4-1, in a rather crisply played game.
Oneonta is not far from Cooperstown, so a trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame was on the agenda for the next morning before we headed home to Jenny, the official mascot of DITR.
We've been to the Hall of Fame a number of times, but not since 2005. At that time, the HOF featured items from the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox. The current World Series display features items from the 2007 champions (see photo at right). That would also be your Boston Red Sox!
Anyone who's ever been to the Hall of Fame knows that there are so many artifacts from so many eras that it will boggle your mind. Any baseball fan who's never been needs to go the first opportunity they get.
So, another fun road trip. Where will we go next?
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