While planning my summer trip back east, I made a point of checking to see if the Gwinnett Braves (Atlanta's top farm team) would be playing in Buffalo or Rochester while I was in Western New York. It turned out they were in the latter city for four games last week. I was mostly interested in catching a game pitched by Tommy Hanson, the Braves top prospect, who has been blowing away hitters at every stop as he progressed to the major leagues. So last Monday, I counted uot the days, and compared it to the Gwinnett rotation and determined that Hanson's next start would be on Friday night in Rochester, the last of a four-game set. My friend Jeff agreed to tag along, and I was looking forward to it all week. Then, on Wednesday, the Braves made headlines across the country by cutting long-time star Tom Glavine and calling up Hanso to pitch for the big-league team. Needless to say I was quite disappointed, but Jeff and I decided to go to Rochester anyway as planned, and I'm sure glad we did.
The game turned out to be an extremely entertaining back-and-forth affair with lots of offense and some bizarre plays. Our seats, looking almost straight down the third base line were perfect for catching all the action, and although there didn't seem to be any real prospects on either team's roster (Maybe Jordan Schafer of the Braves), they put on a good show. Also, it was Little League Night at the stadium, so it was pretty crowded, especially with youngsters wearing their team uniforms. With the Red Wings trailing late, the team in the section next to wear we were sitting all turned their hats inside out into rally caps, but it didn't work (I hope that wasn't too disillusioning to the kids).
Frontier Field in Rochester was built around the same time as Camden Yards (Jeff and I debated on exactly when that was), and has a similar retro feel to it. In the picture at the top of this post, you can see the Kodak Building looming over the stadium in the upper left, and there's a train track beyond the right field fence; when trains go by and blow their whistle, you'd almost imagine you were back in the thirties or forties. They also have good food there-- I particularly enjoyed my Chicken French sandwich (sauteed in a lemony cream sauce). A great time at the old (well, not so old, but feeling that way) ballpark.
While planning my summer trip back east, I made a point of checking to see if the Gwinnett Braves (Atlanta's top farm team) would be playing in Buffalo or Rochester while I was in Western New York. It turned out they were in the latter city for four games last week. I was mostly interested in catching a game pitched by Tommy Hanson, the Braves top prospect, who has been blowing away hitters at every stop as he progressed to the major leagues. So last Monday, I counted uot the days, and compared it to the Gwinnett rotation and determined that Hanson's next start would be on Friday night in Rochester, the last of a four-game set. My friend Jeff agreed to tag along, and I was looking forward to it all week. Then, on Wednesday, the Braves made headlines across the country by cutting long-time star Tom Glavine and calling up Hanso to pitch for the big-league team. Needless to say I was quite disappointed, but Jeff and I decided to go to Rochester anyway as planned, and I'm sure glad we did. 
The game turned out to be an extremely entertaining back-and-forth affair with lots of offense and some bizarre plays. Our seats, looking almost straight down the third base line were perfect for catching all the action, and although there didn't seem to be any real prospects on either team's roster (Maybe Jordan Schafer of the Braves), they put on a good show. Also, it was Little League Night at the stadium, so it was pretty crowded, especially with youngsters wearing their team uniforms. With the Red Wings trailing late, the team in the section next to wear we were sitting all turned their hats inside out into rally caps, but it didn't work (I hope that wasn't too disillusioning to the kids).
Frontier Field in Rochester was built around the same time as Camden Yards (Jeff and I debated on exactly when that was), and has a similar retro feel to it. In the picture at the top of this post, you can see the Kodak Building looming over the stadium in the upper left, and there's a train track beyond the right field fence; when trains go by and blow their whistle, you'd almost imagine you were back in the thirties or forties. They also have good food there-- I particularly enjoyed my Chicken French sandwich (sauteed in a lemony cream sauce). A great time at the old (well, not so old, but feeling that way) ballpark.
No comments:
Post a Comment