Dayton, OH is destroyed.

Friday morning. 7:00am. I hit the road for Dayton, OH. (Amazing how this anti-morning person can get up early when it's for something sweet.) By 2:00pm, I'm at Art's house. By 3:00pm, me Art and Doogie are at our first destination: Chappy's Taproom. 30 taps, and 27 of them craft brew. Nice. Appetizers and Stone Brewing Co.'s Sublime Self-Righteous IPA. A black IPA. Powerful.

Next? To the University of Dayton campus and Dewey's Pizza. The three of us met up with Shelley and the kids and all 7 of us DEVOURED some pizza. The cool thing is Dewey's allows you to split a pizza half-and-half with two different styles. So in total, 6 different pizza styles were killed. Yum.

Then, off to see a Midwest League minor league baseball game: the Dayton Dragons vs. the Lansing Lugnuts. (How great are minor league team names?) Lansing pulls out a 5-1 victory. We got some season tickets from someone that wasn't going, so we had a great spot along the third base line:

Three of us Kappa Psi boys had a great time.

Then....the carnage truly took form. After the game we arrived at The Dublin Pub for some post-game libations. We paid the $5 cover at the door, and upon entering a pretty blond, a "Guinness Girl", approaches us and asks "Guinness 250?" We all think, "$2.50 for a Guinness? That's a good price! Sure! Bring us 3!" Little did we know that it was a special brew: the 250th anniversary Guinness beer. For free. Nice!!!

We sit and listen to the Irish band, Uncle Hamish & the Hooligans. I only know the name because apparently in my fog I purchase two of their CD's. Art and I got some face time with Liam, the bagpiper. They have a bagpiper. And his name is Liam. Kick ass.
Then, it was just blotto all night long. In addition to the pints of Guinness 250, I got the bright idea to order up shots of Jameson's. After all, it's a frigging Irish bar. Ugh. Felt like crap the next morning, but I did manage to down my tried and true "med cocktail" before bedtime to avert a truly nauseating hangover. And it worked! Dayton was successfully destroyed.

Who wants a free XL Winston-Salem Dash t-shirt?

Behold! THIS fine garment could be yours! Went to my 2nd Kinston Indians @ Winston-Salem Warthogs, er, "Dash" game in as many nights. Went into the park with just what I had on me, and left with a fabulous prize. A smashing t-shirt. Sadly, it is sized an XL and when all is said and done would not properly showcase my stunning XXL physique.

Want it?

How'd I get it? I was selected my the mid-inning entertainment guy (due to my Indians garb) to answer trivia questions over the loudspeaker concerning the Major League film trilogy, those wacky comedies about the Cleveland Indians. I got 4 out of 5 correct, my lone mistake from Major League III and something about the South Carolina Buzz or something or another. Frankly, I was the awesomest film ever made, II sucked, and I never did in fact even see III on principle.

Kinston took a 4-0 lead after the top of the 1st inning, and it went all downhill from there. My inside-out rally cap in the 9th got Kinston a run, but in the end it was a 10-5 loss. Ouch.

My newfound followee and souvenir ball donor Ronald Rivas did not play, but did take his turn coaching 1st base during the later innings:


Sat in the same seats as Monday with Jim and Jeannette...the only 3 people seemingly clapping for Kinston. And Jeannette got herself a ball lobbed to us by Kinston's first baseman after an inning. (As I am a complete baseball dork, hollering his name over and over (Ole! Ole! Ole! Ole!) with hands awaiting did the trick.) But in any event, the rains stayed away for another evening of Cleveland Indians minor league baseball. A fun time.

A 2nd pro baseball lobbed to me? REALLY?!?!?!?

Monday, July 27, 2009. Play ball!

One of Cleveland's "L'il Indians" teams came to town for some minor league baseball. This time the High-A Carolina League Kinston Indians were over in Winston-Salem for a series. Monday and Tuesday's games will coincide nicely with my work schedule, as I always circle the dates when Kinston and Lake County and Columbus come around.

The former Winston-Salem Warthogs changed their name to the horrendous Winston-Salem Dash for their new ballpark this year. "Dash"? Yeah. Dash. The thing found in between the Winston and the Salem. Awful.

Anyway, name change for the new ballpark. Except they're playing in the old ballpark. YIKES! It seems there has been some ownership whining about who knows what, so the new ballpark set to open in 2009 stands yet unfinished. UNFINISHED! In July!!! Of the year it was to open!!! And the Warthogs, er, Dash left venerable Ernie Shore Field for their new home....except their new home ain't done. Soooooo.....they apparently struck a deal with Wake Forest University to rent out their old home, which is now known as the Wake Forest Baseball Park.

I'm not sure if the whole pissing match has anything to do with what transpired tonight, but in the 3rd inning I looked around and literally HAND COUNTED all the fans in the seats and made it all the way up to 164.

164. In the seats.

Now I'm sure the church group that had a Monday night outing were all seated in the white picnic tent in left field...all thousands of them. Because surely there were more than 164 fans there to see a ballgame.

And another thing possibly tied to the pissing match, almost all of the food kiosks and vendors were closed. Boarded up. HUH???? One spot to get food. One. Good thing I nabbed my two hot dogs early....wouldn't want to wait in that long line of 164 people if we all decided to get food at the same time!

$9 gets you behind the dugout. The guy at the ticket window saw my Cleveland Indians jersey and rightfully surmised, "behind the Kinston dugout?" Why yes, good sir. Take my $9 and get me behind the visitors!

The Indians lost 3-2. A rally in the 9th fell short as 2 men on were wiped out with a game-ending double play. But I found a new friend. A new player to watch and follow during his hopefully successful career: the lanky shortstop pictured here, Ronald Rivas.

"Why Ronald Rivas?" you may ask? Before the top of the 9th, upon leaving the field and entering the dugout, he tosses me the game-used baseball. NICE!!!! 38 years and not one foul ball or game-used ball, and all of a sudden I get a Washington Nationals foul tip from Ryan Zimmerman in June, and then a Kinston Indians inning ending ball lobbed to me in July by Ronald Rivas. All in one summer. Wow.

This game used ball business may seem silly to you, but dammit if this doesn't help lift the spirits after all the shit of the past year or two!!!!

Busy 4th of July weekend

My 3-day weekend off was a indeed busy one. "Columbus Chris" / "The Other Chris" / "C-Mar" paid a visit to NC from the cooler northern climes of Dublin, OH. Our docket was a busy one.

Thursday night after he arrived we went downtown and hit up Natty Greene's for a late dinner. Thirsty Thursday so it was PACKED. Ran into fellow beer nerds Jeff, Turtle, and Dale while there. C-Mar is in NC now, so the BBQ sandwich was ordered up. Good stuff.

Friday morning, we got up and went on the Beer Hunt to end all beer hunts to satiate the central Ohio beer club the HobSnobbery crew. Harris Teeter at Friendly Center for some (hell, I mean ALL) Natty Greene's varieties and some local BBQ sauce. Then it was 1950's era Bestway grocery on Walker Ave. If you're local and love craft beer and you haven't been, you NEED to go. Seriously. Next was Total Wine & More for some Saranac pop ("soda") and other single bottles. Then finally late at night it was Sam's in Durham to round out the NC offerings. City Beverage in Winston-Salem was left off the itinerary due to automobile spatial needs (we seriously bought THAT much), monetary requirements, and frankly we got quite a hefty NC haul without that gem of a store 30 minutes to the west. Whew. Can't wait to hear about the huge ass tasting that will occur with the southern brews in Columbus.

Friday night in the midst of the beer shopping, we took in a game in Durham. First, we hit up the Mellow Mushroom in the American Tobacco Complex for some pretzels, pizza, and Lagunitas IPA. Delicious. We had no tickets for the game. We tried online earlier in the day, but their server was down to buy lawn seats for the Charlotte Knights @ Durham Bulls game, the only seats left for this busy fireworks-entailed pre-holiday game. So we walk up to the ticket booth and I ask for best available, fully expecting to just buy lawn seats and then stand and roam the park. "Well, we have lawn seats, and....an unsold suite tonight for $25 each."

Um, what?

So, to fully entertain my guest, we sat in a suite. Great views, even with zero chance of a foul ball. Sweet. The only downer was I specifically asked if we'd be able to see the fireworks OK. We were assured, but when it came down to it, we saw the bottom third of the higher explosions. Crap. Still, we saw two Bulls home runs, so the Bull lit up and smoked. Plus, the Bulls won, so the victory resulted in more famous Bull animatronics.

The Bull responds to a home run:

Saturday morning, on July 4th, we visited Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, our very own federal national park within the city commemorating the events of March 15, 1781. Happily, there were cars EVERYWHERE. A busy day for the history buffs. We took the driving audio tour (I shockingly own the tour CD already) and hit up all 8 stops on this Independence Day.

A great tour. Plenty of photos. C-Mar was hoping for a Civil War site, but Revolutionary War was all I could offer locally. Nevertheless he enjoyed it. Granted not as much as I did, but I'm a colonial history geek that way.

And this video below gives me the shivers every time I watch it. Too, too cool!

After Guilford Courthouse, it was time for more minor league baseball. The Cleveland Indians Low-A South Atlantic League team, the Lake County Captains, were in town to combat the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the point of C-Mar's visit. I always try to catch Cleveland's minor league teams when they come around here (and they do quite often), and to have Lake County play here on July 4th made it all the sweeter. The Gallers and Kimberly came over to meet me and C-Mar for a cookout: ribs on the grill, corn on the grill, potato salad, beans, the works. Good eatin' before the game!

So we make our way the 10 minutes to the park and enjoy another good minor league game. And to top it off, C-Mar catches his FIRST FOUL BALL! I got my first 2 weeks prior, and he gets his on July 4th of all days! COOL! A good time, a Captains victory, and more fireworks.

It was GREAT to have a guest. We had a really good time. And in between all the running around and the baseball and the beer shopping and the battlefield, we managed to watch a BOATLOAD of Family Guy episodes on DVD. We're both Family Guy junkies.

Truly an awesome weekend.

And one final photo, at Tannenbaum Park, the start of your Guilford Courthouse tour, Hoskins Farm includes an item that is held dear to the heart. The farmer whose open fields were near the first line of defense by General Greene's troops actually grew hops. Nice!

Two nights of AAA baseball: the Columbus Clippers @ the Durham Bulls

Thursday and Friday nights began my yearly excursions to NC minor league baseball parks to watch Cleveland's Little Indians play local teams. I always get such a kick out of seeing Lake County, formerly Buffalo but now Columbus, and Kinston come around for some ballgames. These past two nights saw the AAA Columbus Clippers come to Durham and play the Bulls. Thursday night was a 6-3 Clippers loss, but Friday they came roaring back and spanked the Bulls 14-1. In fact, outfielder Matt LaPorta, acquired in the CC Sabathia trade, was called up to Cleveland immediately after Friday night's game. Cool.

Minor league games are a LOT of fun, and NC has a boatload of teams to choose from. Tickets are insanely cheap, and it gets my fix on because hey, it's professional baseball! It's fun to follow the Indians minor league kids as they work their way up the ladder. It's interesting to see who makes it, which "can't miss" propsects do in fact "miss", and just experience baseball in what I think is a more "pure" form. Anyway, some photos. First from Thursday night and my $8 seats:

And then from Friday and my $10 seats, with some pretty cool postgame fireworks included!

Baseball America honors Greensboro

From an email I received this morning:

Baseball America Recognizes Grasshoppers with Bob Freitas Award

Greensboro, N.C. - The Greensboro Grasshoppers franchise has been recognized for its outstanding 2008 season and continued contribution to the Piedmont Triad and Minor League Baseball by being selected as the winner of Baseball America’s 2008 Bob Freitas Award for the Single-A level. The award was announced in the most recent Baseball America publication.

The Freitas Awards, in honor of longtime minor league ambassador Bob Freitas, are awarded to franchises that show sustained excellence in the business of Minor League Baseball.

Key contributing award elements consist of attendance, long-term consistency and commitment to the community. No franchise can win the Freitas Award until it has been in operation for at least five years.

“The Bob Freitas Award is one of the most prestigious awards in Minor League Baseball and we are honored and humbled to have been selected,” said Grasshoppers President and General Manager Donald Moore.

“It is a tribute to the tremendous support we have received from the community and our dedication to making NewBridge Bank Park an outstanding venue.”

In 2008 the Grasshoppers played host to a successful South Atlantic League All-Star game, drawing a crowd of 8,367 fans. The Grasshoppers finished the 2008 season with an attendance of 440,787 and have welcomed over 1,715,000 fans to NewBridge Bank Park, drawing over 400,000 fans in each of its first four years at the new downtown ballpark.

"Two of the most important things we try to honor with our Freitas Awards are franchise stability and commitment to the community,” said Editor and Chief of Baseball America Will Lingo.

"Greensboro made the best of its situation in War Memorial Stadium, which was one of the oldest ballparks in professional baseball. Opening the new ballpark not only energized the franchise but also the community and they have become one of the best draws in the minors.

"It was a great opportunity for us to recognize a franchise that has been a steady presence for almost three decades, yet has taken a quantum leap forward in the last few years.”

Moore will proudly accept the Baseball America Bob Freitas Award, South Atlantic League Club Merit Award and General Manager of the Year Award during a luncheon at the Baseball Winter Meetings next week in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Grasshoppers have welcomed over 1,715,000 fans to NewBridge Bank Park, drawing over 400,000 fans in each of its first four years at the new downtown ballpark. The team is the proud recipient of both the South Atlantic League’s Club Merit Award and the General Manager of the Year Award for the past four years.

Season tickets and advertising packages are now on sale for the 2009 season. For more information, please contact the Grasshoppers office at 336.268.BALL or visit www.gsohoppers.com.

Over 400,000 fans a year the first four years in the new park? Nifty.

Bull Durham at 20.

"Hit bull, win steak."

It's 1988, the summer before senior year in high school, and Bull Durham hits the silver screen. And to this day remains on of Chris's all-time favorites.

South Atlantic League All-Star game

Greensboro was host for the 2008 Class-A South Atlantic League All-Star game last night. The first time the city has hosted it since 1990. The SAL's largest ballpark hosted fine young propects for an evening of competition.

The Northern Division won in a whopping 13-4 shellacking.

A beautiful night for baseball. Sadly, Chris had to work 2p-10p.

The story here.