Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Squibbler through the Middle
Searchie, is Wahconah Park, (Pittsfield of course, is most famous for it's sun delay. Let me explain... you may not have ever realized this, but most baseball stadiums (in some way), face towards the east. They almost never face the west. Why? ... the answer is simple), where ol' Bob played?
You're so right about that band. They must have been unbelievable. Down here in Blue Rocks country, Bob, unfortunately, did not show up. We're Single A. Way down in the minors. Even Bob would only slip down low so far.
Oh, yeah, and why build a ballpark with the homeplate facing west?
Well, this site gives a very good explanation.
p.s. Searchie, this commenting from afar (i.e., from a distant satellite in the Blogosphere) is bizarre. I know. I know. Cuts down on the quackerie. But, still.....
Addendum: While I'm talking about ballparks, one of my all time favorites (and no longer used for minor league baseball) was DuffY Field in Watertown, NY. Watertown, just 20 miles or so from the St. Lawrence River in upsate NY, is one of those hard luck towns where manufacturing has slowly pulled out of town. Frederick Exley, author of the excellent "A Fan's Notes" is from this area; you can taste the depressive airs of Watertown in his book. I was working on short assignment up here in the mid 1980's and went to Duffy Field to catch the single A farm team for the Pittsburgh Pirates play. Like most minor league teams, inning give-aways were common. The usual free meals or movie tickets. Then, one night, when the air was sufferering the first chills of autumn, tire chains were handed out as grand prizes. That and tickets for towing, specifically from the ditches of the treachorous side-roads.
Tire chains. Can't get more specific and local than that.
I loved watching games at this field. The sky was so different up north. Fat clouds rushed by like birds racing south for the winter. Folks had their baseball hats pulled down tight; some even had a hand on their head just in case. Even in late summer, the wind gusted an occassional chill up your shirtsleeves, warning you of the early winter always insisting on pushing its way into town.
Tire chains. Packed in the trunk next to the pile of blankets and ball pein hammer (to hit the starter on those truly freezing days).
You're so right about that band. They must have been unbelievable. Down here in Blue Rocks country, Bob, unfortunately, did not show up. We're Single A. Way down in the minors. Even Bob would only slip down low so far.
Oh, yeah, and why build a ballpark with the homeplate facing west?
Well, this site gives a very good explanation.
p.s. Searchie, this commenting from afar (i.e., from a distant satellite in the Blogosphere) is bizarre. I know. I know. Cuts down on the quackerie. But, still.....
Addendum: While I'm talking about ballparks, one of my all time favorites (and no longer used for minor league baseball) was DuffY Field in Watertown, NY. Watertown, just 20 miles or so from the St. Lawrence River in upsate NY, is one of those hard luck towns where manufacturing has slowly pulled out of town. Frederick Exley, author of the excellent "A Fan's Notes" is from this area; you can taste the depressive airs of Watertown in his book. I was working on short assignment up here in the mid 1980's and went to Duffy Field to catch the single A farm team for the Pittsburgh Pirates play. Like most minor league teams, inning give-aways were common. The usual free meals or movie tickets. Then, one night, when the air was sufferering the first chills of autumn, tire chains were handed out as grand prizes. That and tickets for towing, specifically from the ditches of the treachorous side-roads.
Tire chains. Can't get more specific and local than that.
I loved watching games at this field. The sky was so different up north. Fat clouds rushed by like birds racing south for the winter. Folks had their baseball hats pulled down tight; some even had a hand on their head just in case. Even in late summer, the wind gusted an occassional chill up your shirtsleeves, warning you of the early winter always insisting on pushing its way into town.
Tire chains. Packed in the trunk next to the pile of blankets and ball pein hammer (to hit the starter on those truly freezing days).
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