Dick Barrie's
Baseball Website

My June 2001 USA Trip

During June 2001, I took myself on a baseball odyssey, travelling 1,600 miles along the highways and byways of America, chasing a dream of seeing and learning as much as I could about their Great National Pastime.

While fuller descriptions and greater insight will come in other articles, let me briefly pack you into the passenger seat of my rented red Plymouth Neon, and take you out to the old ball-game!

First port of call was on the Potomac Cannons, plying their humble (Single A, Carolina League) trade at Woodbridge, VA - about half-an-hour south of Washington DC. A little park set within a larger sports facility. No great crowd (about 350) on the night I called - despite beer at a dollar a beaker! The visitors were Lynchburg Hillcats - I would also see the Cannons play at Lynchburg the following week, but that's getting ahead of myself. Total enthusiasm from the locals for their Cannons, who are run as professionally as any higher part of the Cardinals' organisation. From local radio broadcaster Scott Lauer's professionalism, to the enthusiasm of super-fans I met such as Lamar Boone, Jeffrey Guide and the incredibly-chatty Dusty Rhoads, this is a happy place to check out the lowest of lower-league baseball.Well worth a trip, if you find yourself in the area! I took a photo of team mascot "Big Shot" cuddling pretty Pippa Bolling, the club's PR manager.

Next night, I was further north, at Hagerstown, MD. This town was an important Civil War crossroads, but all I remember was rain, getting a funny orange hat (free!) at the turnstiles - and spending the evening in the local Borders shop after the cancellation. Thus I missed learning more about the Hagerstown Suns or Wilmington Waves, although I did look around the park before splashing off. Hagerstown play in the South Atlantic League, which is again single A classification. Still, I got a hat……

Back south for the next game (over the magnificent Chesapeake Bay Bridge) for Saturday night in Salisbury, MD, watching the Delmarva Shorebirds (also SAL material) take on the Asheville Tourists. This was a good 'un! The Shorebirds are part of the Baltimore organisation, and really know how to entertain, as well as compete on the field. I spent time with young Ryan Murray, who handles the club's PR - and very well he does it! The little club's efforts (they delightfully boast their games as "Minor League Baseball with Major League Fun") pulled out a huge (8,501) crowd - the biggest I encountered on my travels, apart from the two MLB games I took in later - and from the first pitch to the last firework, the house was rocking! Salisbury is a little (?) off the main drag as far as tourism goes, but anyone with a car, and a day to spare in the Bay area, will enjoy what goes on at the Arthur W Perdue Stadium. Indeed, even if there isn't a game on, or if you're there during daytime, the stadium also houses the Eastern Shore Baseball Museum, where nearly 100 years of history, including many artifacts relative to Jimmy Foxx, who came from the area, are on display. Very interesting.

The following (Sunday) afternoon found me at Richmond, VA - bigger town, bigger stadium, and AAA action. The Diamond is a massive park, fairly new, well-equipped, and home to the Richmond Braves (obviously, an Atlanta affiliate, although the practice of naming all lower-level teams with the same nickname as the Big Club appears to be - thankfully - falling out of fashion) who were up against the powerful Ottawa Lynx. Apart from an away win, this also required two National Anthems prior to the game - and don't the American nation observe that ritual well? A lesson, I suspect, for a few older countries. On a hot, mostly sunny afternoon, with a large (7,500-odd) family audience, this could almost have been Major League stuff. I watched some of the game from the Media Room (OK, the press box) learning a great deal of background under the guidance of the very knowledgeable Todd Feagans. Good grub in the media area, too - useful for a hungry travelling Scotsman!

Next night found me deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, back in the Carolina League and at the delightful, pre-war Merritt Hutchinson Stadium in Lynchburg, VA. This was a reunion with the visiting Potomac Cannons for me, and a chance to hear the broadcasting voice of Matt Provence - now why isn't he up in the Show? He's got a great voice for radio! Unlike me - I've got a great face for radio! The Lynchburg Hillcats maybe didn't have the biggest crowd I saw - it was just over a thousand - but the people were so happy, just watching the game. Indeed, why shouldn't they have been? Deep in the hills, warm evening, train whistles howling and moaning through the valley, people enjoying themselves - this was just about as good as it gets! On the field, it was the Cannons who prevailed however - Lynchburg's equipment manager having apparently issued his side with metal gloves on the night I called.

Moving regretfully east again (via a three-hour traffic jam on the Washington Beltway, just to hammer the point home) I left the Blue Ridge, and Shenandoah Valley for some big-city bustle at Bowie, MD. This town is virtually a Washington suburb, and the local side (the Bowie Baysox) are another - this time Double-A grade - affiliate of the Orioles. The match was in the Eastern League, against Binghampton Mets. Although the traffic had ensured my being both hot and late on arrival, broadcaster Dave Collins and his associates made me more than welcome, saw me fed and watered before I wandered out onto the concourse to savour the family atmosphere - not once, at any minor-league game I attended, was there even a whiff of poor behaviour from anyone, anywhere in the stadium - and enjoy the match.

Another day, another ball-park. Except the next one was bigger. Much bigger. Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium - complete with bronze statue of Connie Mack, waving his scorecard, outside - was clearly of greater stuff than anywhere I had previously gone on this trip! I parked my car there in the morning, and walked around the City of Brotherly Love - plenty to see, including the steps Rocky ran up and down, and the Liberty Bell (both seemed to have cracks in 'em) - until tea-time. Back at the stadium, I met a total fruitcake named Johnny Brazer, a PR man the Phillies have designated (yes, really!) their "Director of Fun and Games" - what a great job! John explained that a (a) it was a full moon that evening, (b) the Phillies have a pitcher called Randy Wolf and (c) Randy has attracted a troupe of guys who dance in the bleachers, wearing werewolf masks, when he pitches - well, it was only natural for John to invite the Wolf Pack onto the field as part of his "Full Moon Night" promotion! Every kid (maybe adults, too) got a plastic werewolf mask as they came through the turnstiles, and the lads in the Wolf Pack - joined by the Philly Phanatic (a sort of furry bird, very funny) - danced on the field before and during the game! As "an honoured guest from Scotland" (he once got drunk in Edinburgh, and has fond memories of our country) Johnny Brazer insisted I come down to the field during batting practice to watch the fun. Me, I was too busy watching and listening to guys such as Mike Piazza, and Mets' coach Mookie Wilson (close enough to touch!) to be much use to the eminently-likeable Wolf Pack guys, most of whom seemed to be brothers and/or cousins, and - apart from the masks and exhibitionist dancing on the dugout roof -- quite respectable citizens! Loved being down on the field, and soaking up the whole BP scenario, though. Noticed a massive Japanese presence in the press areas - clearly, when one of their lads is in action, it is big enough news back home to send in all the troops! The game was great - real MLB stuff, and the Phillies won well in front of 32,703 good people - which was their second-best attendance of the year so far. Well, if Johnny Brazen keeps up his Fun and Games, and the Phillies keep hitting the ball out of the park, I'd say there could be a lot more big crowds to come at the Veterans Stadium.

Early the next day, before moving on to Wilmington, DE (which is a funny state, sort of squeezed in, between Maryland and Pennsylvania as an afterthought) I was in Aberdeen, MD, visiting the Ripken Family Museum. Although primarily devoted to Cal Jr, this is actually a tribute to his late father and brother Billy, too. Nice wee place, understated in that it hardly advertises itself, but well worth seeking out if in the Baltimore area. Tell them Dick sent you!

My final minor-league game of the trip took me to see the Wilmington Blue Rocks play Kinston Indians at Judy Johnson Field (named after a Negro League great, complete with the almost-obligatory bronze statue of Judy outside). This is an excellent surburban setting, right beside a major motorway (I.95) and at the heart of a huge new shopping complex. Met the owner (Matt Minker) as well as media officials Steve Lenox and the exceptionally-helpful Kenin Linton. The Blue Rocks are the furthest-northern team in the Carolina League, and pulled in a really-impressive 5,938 to see the show. A sunny evening was blessed by an excellent game, with lots of good between-innings japes and wheezes ensuring that even the youngest fan always had something worth looking at. A nice place, and a nice way, to end the minor-league section of my little tour.

Then, next day, it really was "saving the best 'til last" - for me, ever since I read Earl Weaver's book, found out about the Robinsons and learned of Cal Jr's streak, I've been a bit of a Baltimore man. I even wore my Oriole jacket to be pictured with Reba McEntire a couple of years ago! So I was there bright and early, parking my car at Camden Yards before noon, and surveying the already-open attractions on Eutaw Street. After an afternoon checking out the Inner Harbour sights, I was back - again to be invited onto the field at BP. This time I was sitting in the (deserted) Orioles' dug-out when manager Mike Hargrove sat down beside me! We weren't alone to long, as forty or more journalists packed in around us to hear Mike's views on life and the game ahead. Again, being right there at batting practice meant I was able to watch my heroes, such as Cal Jr and Brady Anderson strut their stuff close up, as well as listen to pearls of wisdom from coach Eddie Murray. Heaven, I was in heaven…. After the game against the Expos (won by rookie Oriole pitcher Josh Towers with his first shut-out -- well done, that lad!) there were fireworks galore for a crowd of over 40,000. Mike Hargrove was kind enough to say good-night, and wish me a safe flight home.

I looked around the beautiful new-old stadium, and thought: "If you build it, they will come".

Which is as good a way to end my little travelogue as any. When I place other aspects of my journey in other media, I'll put the news in this site someplace. Meanwhile, thanks (among all the others who helped so much) to Potomac's Pippa, Mike P at Lynchburg, young Ryan at Delmarva, Johnny B in Philly and Bill Stetka (plus Mike Hargrove) at Baltimore. It was a trip I can, indeed will, never forget - why don't you try a similar jaunt sometime? Drop me an e-mail if you want any advice…….