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Watching ball in historic Hagerstown
Municipal Hagerstown Municipal Stadium is one of the three oldest Minor League ballparks in the United States. The stadium opened on May 8th, 1930. Since then, the stadium has undergone two major renovations ( the first coming in 1981 to get the old place ready for its return to professional baseball after an 11 year hiatus, and then again in 1995 to improve the stadium's seating and amenities) to reflect it current configuration. One thing I noticed this year was the new box office. Apparently, they have replaced the original, which was made of beautifully cut stone. In fact, the only part of the stadium which is original is probably the playing field itself. Over the years the field has played host to teams in the Class D Blue Ridge League, Class B Interstate League, the Piedmont League, Class A Carolina League, Double A Eastern League and the Single A South Atlantic League. Teams have been named the Hubs, Owls, Packets and now Suns. Along the way, the team has been affiliated with the Detroit Tigers, Boston Braves, Washington Senators, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants and now the New York Mets. The Suns won the Carolina League pennant in their inaugural year. Along the way, Willie Mays played his first professional game here. Billy Ripken and Steve Finley worked their way to the majors through here. Joe Charboneau played on this field while he tried to make a comeback and Jim Palmer stopped off on a rehab assignment in 1883 on his way to the World Series. I was in the stadium one night for one of those starts and, after seeing Palmer give up home run after home run, wondered if he would make it back to Memorial Stadium. The Negro Leagues made stops here as well. When the Suns returned to the Carolina League in 1981, their mascot was the aptly named Scuffy Duck. Dressed in a ragged, green duck costume, Scuffy made his entrance to the stadium before games dressed in a denim jacket, floppy hat and usually carrying a gym bag. He was a no frills mascot. I remember one night watching him have a fight on the field with a ball boy. What started as good natured kidding turned serious for a few moments and eventually Scuffy prevailed, leaving the ball boy with a small cut over his right eye. The fans loved it. The Suns have also hosted one of the most unique promotions ever seen in minor league baseball when, in 2003, they gave away an all expenses paid funeral to the fan that had the most unique idea of how he or she wanted to be buried. Two years ago, I saw a woman with no front teeth throw out the first pitch. In years past, the fans have been know for their drunken rowdiness, stacking their empty beer cups beside themselves while questioning every call the umpire made and jeering the visiting teams mercilessly. When I visited Hagerstown in 2004, I watched a drunken fan try to pull the new mascot's head off! Woolie Bee retreated in horror; Scuffy Duck would have left that fellow on his butt! When they built it, I thought the beer garden in left field was a good idea; it gave all the drunken fans a place to congregate amongst themselves! For whatever reason, when I went to Friday night’s game, the fans behaved themselves wonderfully. After years of having problems with their electronic scoreboard, the Suns replaced the old board with a wooden, hand-operated one. The scoreboard used to be manned by a cowboy who danced between innings to country and western music. This year, the scoreboard tender is a swami who performs a dance in the seventh inning, performing to the old Ray Stevens song, “King Tut”…..born in Arizona (hopefully near a baseball field) moved to Babylonia! Friday night’s game was the first and last visit this season for the Ashville Tourists, the Low A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The Tourists came to town featuring 2004 first rounder Chris Nelson and Eric Young, Jr., son of former the former big leaguer bearing his name. Nelson fell to the Rockies in the '04 draft when Orioles owner Peter Angelos barged into the Orioles draft room minutes before they were going to make Nelson their #1 pick to insist the team instead take a college pitcher. Tony DeMacio and his team paid heed to their boss and selected Wade Townsend, who went on to decline the Orioles bonus offer only to re-enter the draft in 2005 and sign for a lesser amount with the Devil Rays. Some agent he had! Townsend suffered a ligament tear in his pitching elbow early that season and had to undergo Tommy John surgery. This year he is continuing his rehab. Meanwhile, Nelson is playing his second season with the Low A Tourists. Nelson is a talented five tool player who has improved at the plate in his second tour through the league. Hitting out of the three hole in the Ashville lineup, Nelson is batting .262. After watching him in the field, he looks like he could definitely play the position in the majors. The Suns trotted out their own top prospect in the person of Fernando Martinez, who started the game in center and led off for the home team. Martinez knows how to work the count and get on base. He walked twice during the game, and in addition, he covers a lot of ground in center and appears to be a top notch defender. The Suns roster also includes Mets pitching prospects Jon Niese and 17-year-old phenom Deolis Guerra. Guerra and Martinez represent a total investment of $2.1 million in signing bonus money for the Mets. Standing 6-5 and weighing in at 200 plus pounds, Guerra is a real presence on the field. The game featured a showdown between two right handed pitchers: Bob Parnell for the Suns and Alan Johnson for the visitors. The Tourists jumped on Parnell early in the game, scoring four runs in the second inning after the Suns opened the scoring by putting two on the board in their half of the first inning. Martinez led off the Suns scoring drive by taking a lead off walk, advancing to second on Will Vogl's single and then scoring when Jesus Gamero drove him in with a base hit of his own. Vogl moved to third when Johnson unleashed a wild pitch and scored when Leivi Ventura grounded into a sacrifice double play. The Suns' bats were silent for the rest of the game, awakening for their last run in their half of the ninth inning when they had a chance to tie the game. Parnell lasted only three innings and was a victim of his lack of control and wild pitches. In addition, he made an errant pick off throw which resulted in another run. Parnell was relieved by German Marte, who shut down the Tourists. Meanwhile, after having problems in the first inning, Johnson settled down and held the Suns in check for six more innings, allowing only four more runners, two via walks. Nelson finished the game by going 2 for 4 and made several nice plays in the field. Young, Jr. went 1-3 and walked once. His lone hit was a long double. Martinez was 0 for 3, but walked twice and scored one of the Hagerstown runs. He is hitting .314. Marte pitched five innings of stellar relief, walking none and striking out six. Johnson’s final line was seven innings pitched, with four walks and three strikeouts. He was helped tremendously by his defense. I wish I had gone back Saturday night; Guerra went 5.2 innings and struck out 6. I would have loved to see him work! --- John
Kazlo |
