To Reading and Back

This week's trip was to Reading, Pennsylvania to see the Double-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. Surprisingly, Reading is only 2 hours from our house, but the route includes going through windy roads in the countryside. The ride there was scenic through small towns and even passing the town home to Herr's Potato Chips (which we had later at the ballpark).

I arrived at First Energy Stadium with low expectations because of the pictures I saw online. The ballpark totally surprised me. The ballpark has a lot of history it was built 47 years ago! The concourses were small and not built to accommodate 8,000 people. The stadium was packed! We had seats down the 3rd base line. The seats do not fold up, which proves difficult for people from the center seats to get out. The seats also did not have cupholders. I would recommend aisle seats if you ever go to a game.

It was the first game of a doubleheader and we decided to only stay for the first game, because we didn't want to be on windy roads at midnight. We walked over to a food court area in right field and were stunned to find stands made out of wood and walking area in between with tables to eat. It was a cool area. Also, a party area in right field was sponsored by a pool company so, there was a pool and hot tub overlooking the field.

There were adequate party areas that could easily helped bring a sell out crowd to over 8,000. We then found seats behind the Reading Phillies dugout and hung out there, while we eat our ice cream. Overall, the stadium has great history and character but it needs some overhaul. Also, the stadium is in a Reading suburb.

The trip was great marking one of our last unexpected explorations!

Andrew

Week Seven: Baseballtown!

After a two-day, six-stop trip last week, this week's plan was much simplier - a late afternoon drive to Reading, Pennsylvania to see the first game of a doubleheader between the Reading Phillies and the Trenton Thunder.

We knew it would be a trip filled with tradition. First, the Phillies have been in Reading for 40 years. Only Bluefield has had a team in the same place with the same affiliation for a longertime. Second, the team plays in FirstEnergy Stadium, which is a new name, but an classic park. Built in 1951, it's the oldest park in the Eastern League by 36 years. And, third, Reading has adopted the nickname of baseballtown to describe the great role that baseball plays in one of Pennsylvania's largest blue-collar towns.

When we arrived, we found just what we expected - an older stadium with plenty of charm, despite narrow concourses and insufficient adjacent parking. Located in an industrial area, people were walking in from everywhere for the game. The stadium lacked the shiny team store, new concession stands and suites that we've seen in other parks.

We also saw enhancements to the park, including a heated pool just outside the right field line. For $25 per person, you can enter the Pool Pavilion, enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet, sit at tiered picnic tables to watch the game and have your kids enjoy the pool. Very original and very nice!

The Reading Phillies had also incorporated the all-you-can-eat plan into two other seating areas. They added a replica train crossing lights above the outfield fence, which are supposed to turn on when runners are on base. I did not see them on, but they did shoot fireworks from that area whenever the home team scored!

We found passion - a nice crowd of 8,508 enjoyed the doubleheader. Capacity for the stadium appears to be just shy of 10,000. The Phillies have led the Eastern League in attendance in seven of the past eight years. There were plenty of minor league baseball thrills, including a visit from the Tooth Fairy (yes, I was surprised she was real, too) to clean off the bases between innings and a wild hot dog vendor tossing hot dogs into the crowd. As usual, we did not come close to winning in baseball bingo!

The stadium had a carnival-like atmosphere, which made up for the age of the facility. Once word of advice is to ask for aisle seats. The stadium is made up of structured seats that do not retract when you stand up, so moving down the aisle becomes an art.

And the game, well the home team won! Trailing 5-1 entering the bottom of the sixth (in the seven inning game as a doubleheader), Reading scored two runs in the sixth on back to back home runs to cut the lead to 5-3. After a three-up, three down seventh for Trenton, Reading opened the seventh with three straight singles to load the bases. A double play ball produced one run. Michael Spindale then tied the game with a single. The two batters that hit the back to back homers in the sixth came up. This time, Tagg Bozied (former San Francisco Don) and Kevin Maher (former Indiana Hoosier) hit back to back singles, with Spindale scoring the game winner on Maher's hit into left field.

We joined a good number of the fans that chose to go home happy after the win. Good thing - Trenton won the nightcap, 12-2. It was a good visit to baseballtown!

Mike

Double Dipper!

The Lehigh Valley/Scranton trip was the most anticipated trip of the summer. When originally planning trips, I knew I wanted to see the presumed best minor league ballpark, Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, PA. I found a way to make the most of this expedition by including a game at PNC Field in Scranton. What are the odds that the two teams would have games on the same day at 11AM and at 7pm?

We left early in the morning on Thursday to arrive at the stadium about 20 minutes before the game. The stadium was magnificent and has all the right reason to be called the best ballpark in the minors. The only con was the location of the stadium. The stadium was built in a parking lot of a major industrial park in the industrial part of Allentown. The pros far outweigh the cons.

The game went smoothly and ended around 2pm. It finished in 11 innings. Iron Pigs lost 2-1 to the Durham Bulls. We then drove the Lehigh University in Bethlehem and took a tour. It was the biggest tour group I have ever experienced. There were at least 40 prospective students with their parents, and they chose between 6 tour guides. Lehigh had great architecture in the building which were on average at least 60 years old. They built a new environmental science building that is LEED certified gold! The cons were few but included the fact that all athletic facilities including the football stadium is off campus and they shuttle students to games, and the fact that a freshman in their 2nd semester can join Greek life. Also, students can move off campus when they are only a sophomore.

The 1 and 30 minute drive to Scranton was through the beautiful Pocono mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania. We arrived at the stadium early and had a sit-down dinner in the restaurant overlooking the stadium. PNC field is a 21 year-old facility that was built at the end of the big-stadium era. Thus, the stadium has close to 20,000 seats, which were not even close to being filled that night. The concourses were small, but the stadium did face some beautifully carved rock that appeared when the stadium was built.

The game was much more exciting than the previous with the final score 7-1 in favor of the SWB Yankees. The attendance was just over 3,000 and we went home empty handed despite our many attempts to catch a ball.

We woke up early so we could drive into downtown Scranton for a look. The University of Scranton is on a cliff overlooking the residential part of the city and farther out the Pocono mountains. A friend at the aquarium is attending the Jesuit college, so I thought I might check it out. The campus was sprawled over a couple blocks and they are in the process of building a new 5 floor science center that will open in 2011. Scranton is a little run down, but pretty much the typical blue-collar city.

Next was the tour at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. The college has a beautiful location overlooking the town of Easton and the Pocono mountains. Set in the quiet, residential part of Easton, Lafayette has a lot to offer. Unlike Lehigh, Lafayette has modern, sleek buildings, a unique campus layout, and the football stadium and basketball arena on campus. I enjoyed the visit very much and Lafayette moved up to slot number 2 for the colleges that I have tour (behind Allegheny).

Even though we had seen a lot of college campuses, one more was on our list to explore. Muhlenberg College is a small community of 1800 students on a large city block in downtown Allentown. The campus was small and didn't have much to offer. That completed our college tours for this trip and we headed home.

Our trip was fine and uninterrupted until we were within 20 miles of home. A piece of my Dad's car kept falling off and we stopped over 9 times on the way home to set it back in place. That put our ride home over 2 hours and 45 minutes much longer than anticipated.

Overall, the trip was excited and exactly what I wanted it to be. It was a great unexpected exploration!

Andrew