Week Six: Two Stadium Visits in One Day!

Ever since I gave Andrew the task of planning our weekly trips, he's been excited about this one! Through thorough research (the only kind he does!), he found a single-day, two-stadium doubleheader.

We started the day with the drive to Coca-Cola Park to see the 11 a.m. opening pitch between the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs and the Durham Bulls. Durham has long been the idolized minor league baseball program, but let me tell you - Lehigh Valley is doing it right! The early start time on a Thursday allowed the sales staff to reach out to local day camps. They had about 40 groups with thousands of day campers in the stadium. In fact, the game was a 10,000-seat sell out. And it was not all campers. There were families and adult groups and lots of fun. From a marketing standpoint, this visit was a home run for the variety of quality concessions items, to the obvious community support from the large number of signs, to the activation of sponsorships through every aspect of the game (sponsorship of the national anthem, for example) to the endorsed use of the "pig" mascot. Andrew had identified this park as the best in minor league baseball. Although we did not like the location as well as many of the downtown parks, the atmosphere and stadium were both top notch. It was a great visit. It was easy to see why since the team debuted in 2008, they have won ball park of the year (Baseball Digest), organization of the year (baseball digest), business of the year (Lehigh Valley Chamber) and LV Tourism Award (LV Convention Bureau).

Since we had a doubleheader on our schedule, the baseball gods sent us an extra inning game for the opener! In this "Year of the Pitcher," it was a quick moving game, with only eight base hits between the two teams entering the bottom of the ninth with hometown hero John Mayberry hit a solo home run to tie the game at 1. The only Durham run came in the sixth with Angel Chavez slapped the first hit of the game off of starter Brian Mazone, then moved to third on back-to-back well placed bunt singles. He scored on a fielder's choice, then Mazone got out of the jam. The Ironpig fans left disappointed, however, as Durham rallied for the game winner in the 11th inning when J.J. Furmaniak (the Ehrlich Pest Control player of the game) hit a double to score Desmond Jennings.

After the game, we raced over to Lehigh University for Andrew's fifth college visit. We both enjoyed walking (and climbing the stairs) on the very traditional campus with great buildings. We had a fun tour guide and learned a great deal about the campus.

After a quick pizza stop in downtown Bethelehem, we headed to Scranton to go from one of the newest minor league programs to one of the oldest. The organization in Scranton has been around since the stadium (now PNC Field) opened in 1989, but Scranton and Wilkes Barre are credited with having some of the first organized amateur clubs in the 1860's. Since 2007, the SWB team has been affiliated with the Yankees after 17 years as the top Phillies affiliate when the team was known as the Red Barons.

We started our visit with a nice dinner in Bo Brothers, a restaurant in the park with a view of the field down the right field line. However, the park shows its age with a smaller concourse and an outdated video board. Other than the restaurant, the concessions offerings were basic (although we did enjoy the traditional ice cream in the batter's helmet!). (If you look closely at the pictures, you will see evidence that Andrew had ice cream products at both stadiums!) At SWB, the connection with the community and the stadium atmosphere paled in comparison to Lehigh Valley. The announced attendance was 3,778 in the 10,900 seat venue (which seemed much bigger!). The next morning, the local newspaper ran a front page story about the community's effort to update the stadium to keep the team in town. After our visit, it sounded like an appropriate discussion. Despite the comparisons to Lehigh Valley, we did enjoy our trip to Scranton and our unexpected exploration of two parks in one day!

The Yankees were hosting the Norfolk Tides and the Orioles' top minor league team played much like the varsity - pitching was ineffective, allowing seven runs on 12 hits, while the offense did not score a run until the ninth. It was a 7-1 Yankee win.

We stuck around after the game and had the chance to catch up with former Ohio State outfielder Matt Angle, who is playing for the Tide. During his season in Aberdeen, he stayed with one of Andrew's best friends. Angle, who hit the ball well, but went 1-5, including the last out of the game, was kind enough to spend a few minutes chatting before jumping on the bus. He's hitting .273 and leads the team with 18 stolen bases.

Just to complete the trip, we stayed in Scranton and took auto tours of the University of Scranton and Muhlenberg College, as well as a traditional visit to Lafayette College. We enjoyed the visit to Lafayette more than that we thought we would. It was Andrew's sixth college visit and I think he's starting to get a good idea of what he will look for in a college. Now, if we can just find the right high school for him!

That wraps up a long, two-day, two-stadium, four-college trip for us. Check back next week for Week 7!

Mike