MSOE Raiders Stadium

All photos of MSOE Raiders Stadium and Maslowski Park available on Flickr.

It's a waste to not be outside when the mercury touches 60° in March in Wisconsin, so in that spirit, I finally made it to the new MSOE Raiders Stadium yesterday afternoon. It opened in Fall 2019, but due to the early days of the pandemic in 2020, and Megan about to burst with Elliot last year, this was my first opportunity to see it.  This park resides in what I'll graciously refer to as an "eclectic" section of Glendale, Wisconsin, sandwiched amongst an industrial park, a row of auto dealerships, a freight rail line, a rehab center, and a scattering of houses.  Like many of the D-III ballparks I have been to, it is a part of a larger community park - in this case, Maslowski Park, which also boasts a Nicolet High School field, a brand new community events/concessions building, a spacious plaza, and a top-of-the-line children's playground.  I thought that maybe I was in the wrong place when I arrived, as the first thing I heard turning into the parking lot was the all-too-familiar sound of a dad yelling at a child to not run up the slide.  But that sound was quickly followed by the ping of a bat, and I continued forward to boldly park within homerun distance of the left field fence.

For this level of play, it was certainly much more than I was expecting as I got out of my car and approached the field.  It had a feel sort of like a spring training complex on a much smaller scale, where there is a lot of other stuff going on and kids running around playing, and if you turn your head you can just so happen to watch a ballgame 50 feet away.  As I made my way past the screaming children and took my free seat in the front row among the 100 or so fans that were mostly parents, I was quickly grounded that this was in fact D-III ball and not Arizona.  The park features 5 rows of bleachers spanning roughly between the on-deck circles, a gap for entry on each side of that (all behind full-height netting of course) and then stand-alone at-grade dugouts on either side as well.  The dugouts and the press box building behind the bleachers were the only real structures of the "stadium," but as I eluded to earlier, there is a very nice concessions/events building back and to the left of the ballpark, connected by a plaza, all of which serve the greater park itself.  There is a sign that says "no alcohol beyond this point" as you enter the bleachers, so I can only assume that either Glendale is OK with BYOB in their parks, or the concession stand doubles as a beer garden during the year - although the only thing I noticed on tap was root beer from nearby Sprecher.  I was shocked that there was even concessions at all, so I am definitely not complaining about the lack of beer.  They served the standard ballpark fare of sausage, nachos, popcorn, and ice cream, but most of the spectators, myself included, brought their own beverages and snacks.  Overall I would say that the size of the facility and operations, and certainly the level of play were all what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised with how nice everything was and the synergy with the greater park.  It certainly wasn't an afterthought to plop a baseball field among a community park, or vice versa, and it was a nice wholistic experience.  The stadium and the concessions building are both done in the same limestone, cast stone, and phenolic wood siding, with a similar architectural aesthetic, so it was clear they were thought about if not designed at the same time.  Now that I got my token nerdy architect comment out of the way - on to the game.

Between the generally lower level of play and trying to move around to find a decent place to sit, it wasn't the easiest game to watch.  The press box drowns out a big portion of the bleachers in shade - which is probably nice when it's 80° but not in March - so I tried to keep moving with the sun, but the fencing also created a lot of obstructions, so there were very few seats that were actually usable.  Anyways, the fast pace of play did make up for this significantly.  If MLB is looking to increase action and pace of play, they need look no further than D-III ball.  Quick at-bats, no stepping out of the box or off the mound, no long replay reviews, no 3-4 minutes between half-innings - just throwing heat and taking hacks.  In fact, there was one player that stepped out of the box at one point to mentally process a poor umpire call, and he was booed by the other bench and told to get back in the box.  Defense was actually pretty crisp, but there were a combined 25 strikeouts out of 54 possible outs, and there were only 2 combined extra-base hits, so that's a pretty good snapshot of how the game went.  Even though he was tagged with the loss, the MSOE starter Nolan Vincent was the most entertaining player of the game.  The guy looked like a bar-league softball player with a gut and long ratty hair, and couldn't have thrown much higher than 80mph, but he managed 10 Ks in 8 strong innings with only 1 earned run and 91 pitches.  Connor Brinkman, who notched the save for for UW-Oshkosh, was also quite impressive.  He was a lefty with a Lucas Giolito-type short-arm delivery, and a wicked slider.  He struck out 6 in 4 hitless innings.  John Jacob "Jingleheimer" Kalitowski had the lone hit for the Raiders, who was stranded following a leadoff triple in the 6th, and Zach Taylor had the big RBI double for the Titans in the 5th that would be all they needed in the 3-0 victory.

As you've probably figured out from reading this, Division III ball in a cold weather state certainly isn't the most glamorous.  However, I still highly recommend an MSOE game as a way to enjoy an uncharacteristically warm March day, for anybody looking for something free and fun to do with your kids, or simply a way to get your baseball fix in before the Brewers get started.  Speaking of which, Home Opener is on April 14th - Milwaukee Day!  Megan and I got our tickets and we can't wait!

park rankings and statistics: 

aesthetics - 8

views from park - 2 (a big hill, but probably a decent view when leaves are on the trees)

view to field - 3 (close but many obstructed views)

surrounding area - 1 (industrial park, suburban)

food variety - 6 (low variety, but bonus points for having food at all)

nachos - 3

beer - n/a

vendor price - 9

ticket price - 10 (free)

atmosphere - 2 (horrible PA music)

walk to park - 5

parking price/proximity - 10 (adjacent lot fo' free)

concourses - 6 (nice plaza but no real concourse)

team shop - n/a

best food - Sprecher Root Beer on tap

most unique stadium feature - adjacent playground and concessions/event building

best jumbotron feature - n/a (only an inning tally board)

best between-inning feature - the fact that between innings was remarkably fast

field dimensions - 320/395/315

starters - Harry Orth (UWO) v. Nolan Vincent (MSOE)

opponent - University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans

time of game - 2:12

attendance - 200

score - 3-0 L

Brewers score that day - 6-3 W

OPENING SERIES:

Brewers 0-0; 4 @ Cubs, 3 @ Orioles, 4 v. Cardinals

Twins 0-0; 4 v. Mariners, 2 v. Dodgers, 4 @ Red Sox

2022 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 1

Baseball is Back!

Yesterday afternoon, the MLBPA voted 26-12 to accept the terms of MLB's latest collective bargaining agreement, and later that same day it was ratified unanimously by the owners, thus ending the 2nd longest work stoppage in baseball history at 99 days.  It was a long, ugly, and I would argue entirely preventable process, and with pending rule changes and an international draft this saga certainly isn't over, but let's not overthink the most important part of this glorious day - BASEBALL IS BACK!!!

Many better writers than I who do this for a living have already dissected this far better than I could ever regurgitate, so I suggest you follow Jeff Passan or Buster Olney for further details.  There is a lot of rhetoric out there on who came out on top of these negotiations, and even the pundits disagree, but the one thing I will say is that this is about as fair of an agreement that anybody could have hoped for.  And by that I mean - yes the owners still came out on top, but that was expected, so any small victories by the players should be considered a win.  I'll outline the nuts-and-bolts of what is included in the new 5-year CBA here:

• Minimum player salary increases from $570,000 to $700,000, and increases by $20,000 annually until this agreement expires after the 2026 season.
• Competitive Balance Tax (essentially baseball's version of a salary cap, sometimes known as the "luxury tax") increases from $210M to $230M, and increases to $244M by the end of the agreement, as well as increased "penalties" for going over certain thresholds as it is not a hard cap.
• Postseason expands from 10 to 12 teams, eliminating the Game 163 tiebreakers and Wild Card single-elimination games in favor of a true "wild card round" similar to football.  The #1 and #2 seeds in each league would get a bye and the #3 thru 6 seeds would battle in best-of-3 series.
• Creation of a $50M pre-arbitration bonus pool that would be divided amongst the top 100 players, as determined by a yet-to-be-formed committee.  This was a big win by the players in an attempt to get younger players paid earlier in their careers.  This is something completely new that has never existed and owners were vehemently against at the start of negotiations.
• Number of options limited to 5 per player per season.  Previously a player could be optioned essentially an infinite number of times in any option year.
• Universal DH in both leagues
• Increased slot value in MLB Draft
• Creation of a draft lottery similar to the NBA.  The 18 non-playoff teams will go into a lottery for a chance to win one of the top 6 picks.
• Contracts for all arbitration-eligible players will be guaranteed.  While baseball is widely known to have free agent contracts be 100% guaranteed, previously arbitration-eligible players could be non-tendered at any time and not paid.
• Any player that finishes in the top 2 of ROY voting will accrue a full year of service time eligibility regardless of when they were called up
• Still on the table for ongoing negotiations:
• International Draft, which will be tied to the removal of draft pick compensation for free agents signing with another team
• Enlarging bases for safety reasons
• Modifying shifts or banning altogether
• Pitch clocks

A lot to digest here, but again I will reiterate that the players definitely made some unexpected strides here, a FULL SEASON of baseball is back - and hopefully this means Erik and I can go on a trip this year!  It will be interesting to see how fans of a sport already waning in popularity responds to this.  Over 5,000 opening day Brewers tickets sold out in less than 10 minutes this afternoon, so at least in Milwaukee I am guessing this will not affect attendance one bit.

Tour 2022

Praying for baseball to start is not how I wanted to kick off the blog in 2022, but here we are.  Today should have been Pitchers & Catchers Report Day, one of the most joyous days on the calendar, but instead we are in the midst of what is now the 2nd longest work stoppage in MLB history, behind only the 1994-95 strike.  I was optimistic that it would not come to this, my thought process being that baseball as a sport could not stomach a 3rd consecutive financially strenuous season following the 2020-21 seasons severely impacted by COVID-19.  A sport that is already waning in popularity with major structural issues to solve couldn't possibly be dumb enough to self-inflict a wound from which it may never recover, right?   It should speak volumes to my indifference and confidence level that I'm actually wearing a hockey jersey as a I write this.  Even moreso than the PED crisis have I ever been this disgusted and ashamed by the greed and incompetence in the sport I love.  Or rather, the people that hold the sport in the balance.  I am exactly the type of fan that baseball can not afford to lose and I am praying that both sides can see the damage they are doing to the sport with this lockout, and for now all I can do right now is what I do every year around this time, particularly the last 2 years - cautiously prepare for the summer.

That being said, it should come as no shock that Erik and I are going to do all that we can to make a 3rd attempt at going to the new Rangers stadium.  If there is a "nice" part of the lockout is that we really even haven't begun to plan a trip other than take note of the dates the Rangers are home - which at this pace is soon to change anyways.  It's kept me from getting my hopes up from the other elephant still always lurking in the room - the pandemic.  If there was no lockout and if you asked us today, I'm sure we would feel comfortable with an April trip.  But who knows if Omicron was even the last variant.  This might just be a trip we throw together last minute and hope it works out.  I do feel more confident this year than last that we will be seeing ball of some kind - for Christ sake, Erik has not been to a ballgame in almost 3 years at this point, the poor guy!  We've discussed the AFL and Cape Cod League as safer backup options both in terms of sparse attendance, and trips that would be unaffected by the lockout.

And speaking of ballgames not affected by the lockout, I also feel pretty confident that I will be notching my 150th ballpark this year.  There is a new team starting up in nearby Oconomowoc that I'll for sure be getting to, and I am going to Michigan with my daughter this July for our 2nd annual Daddy-Daughter ball trip.  As a family we've got two years worth of pandemic-cancelled travel that we're making up for this year, and I can only pray that MLB will be a part of that.

Brewers Disappoint in Playoffs

The 2021 Brewers went into the postseason with high hopes of a legitimate World Series run, but instead continued a disturbing (or comforting, depending on how you look at it) trend that dates all the way back to their first franchise postseason appearance in 1981.  In that season and every postseason appearance thereafter - 1982, 2008, 2011, 2018, 2019, 2020, and this year - the Brewers have been ousted by a team that made it all the way to the World Series, with 6 of those 8 teams actually winning it.  The Brewers lost 3 games to 1 to the world champion Atlanta Braves in the NLDS in what amounted to a dismal hitting performance.  While it is true that pitching and defense wins championships - something that the Brewers had in spades this year - you do still have to score some runs.  Scoring 6 runs in 4 games and getting shut out in 2 of them isn't going to get it done.  The Crew managed to get the bats hot enough from the day they traded for Willy Adames in May and well into September to make it all the way from 29th in the league in hitting into the top 10, but in the last few weeks of the season, a team-wide slump reared its ugly head and that unfortunately carried into the postseason.  Many people will make a big deal out of the fact that the Brewers clinched a postseason spot so early that they essentially had nothing to play for the last couple weeks of the season, and while that is true, I personally don't see that having any relation to their poor hitting down the stretch.  I think that we overachieved offensively for a large part of the season, and in the end, having a sub-par Yelich once again and notably missing the bats of the retired Ryan Braun and marooned Keston Hiura proved to be too much to overcome.  Baseball is a unique sport in that the best team on paper or in the standings is never a lock to win.  Any given team can win on any given day in a long season, and the playoffs are all about who goes in hot and who goes in cold, and the 2021 postseason was a perfect example of that with the Brewers flopping and the team with the worst record in the playoff field going all the way.

This team will be in an interesting position going into the offseason as they do have a glaring problem to fix in their offense, but not necessarily a lot of holes to fill to fix that problem.  By and large, the Brewers will be returning a sizeable chunk of their 40-man roster, barring any trades or releases.  The only notable positional player that will most certainly not be back is mid-season acquisition Eduardo Escobar.  Manny Pina's contract is also up, but he is likely 3rd in line for catching duties now behind incoming Mario Feliciano, so they may choose to let him walk especially with Luke Maile also on the roster.  The question becomes where to plug in bats, and the answer on the surface is simply that the bats we have need to be better, or at least more consistent.  I don't think it's a stretch to say that even a league-average Keston Hiura and a Christian Yelich that remotely approached his 2018-19 form would have accounted for another 5-7 wins and would have dramatically changed the outlook of the NLDS.  Lorenzo Cain was hurt for much of the year and is also entering his age 36 season.  Omar Narvaez started hot and made the All-Star team but cooled considerably after the break.  Jackie Bradley was never more than a superb defender and contributed next to nothing offensively.  A lot of the stat lines at the end of the year may look decent, but this team also still struck out a ton, which speaks more to our offensive strategy as a whole.  The firing of hitting coach Andy Haines could be a precursor to a change in approach next season.  It will be interesting to say the least on how this team spends its money this offseason, particularly with a lot of our arbitration-eligible players due substantial raises.  The biggest potential move is something I have been clamoring for for 2 years - trading Josh Hader while his value is high.  He could net 2-3 blue chip prospects who are ready to play in the big leagues, and it is getting to the point where it does not make sense to pay a reliever that much money with our payroll.  I could also see a scenario where we pick up Avisail Garcia's option and then trade him to free up salary space, but it would be hard for Brewers fans to stomach losing our best hitter from this season.  I don't envy the job that David Stearns and Matt Arnold have to do this year, particularly with the looming CBA expiration, but one thing the past 5 years has taught us is to trust in the process and know that they will make every attempt to be competitive.

As we wrap up the 2021 season, although it wasn't the ending Brewers fans hoped for, I reflect on it with gratitude.  I don't take for granted that we've made the playoffs 4 straight years and I'm very proud of this organization for that and to call myself a fan.  I'm very surprised and humbled that I was able to make it to 10 ballgames this year when 8 months ago it was looking more like zero.  I'm very grateful I got to see Erik this year and go on a ball trip.  But mostly, I am happy that my family and I continue to navigate this pandemic safely, and I'm excited for what 2022 will bring, including hopefully a trip to the new Rangers ballpark that will be 3 years in the making.

FINAL 2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 10

2021 MLB Postseason

Wisconsin sports fans have been pretty spoiled to have a football team that is expected to complete for the playoffs every year for past 3 decades or so.  I never thought there would be a time in my life when I could say the same about the Brewers, but I think they might be approaching that territory.  The Crew secured a postseason spot for the 4th consecutive season, and have now been competitive every year under David Stearns and Craig Counsell after their first full season.  Here is a fun bar trivia fact that I guarantee nobody outside of Milwaukee will get correct: the Brewers are 2nd only to the Dodgers in total wins in the NL over the past 5 seasons with 395.  Unlike some past years when I was just happy with making the playoffs or maybe just getting out of the first round, this year I legitimately think the Brewers have a chance to win it all, and I'm super pumped for the postseason!

Excluding the Brewers and Covid, there have been a lot of other memorable storylines of the 2021 season.  The early hubbub was the ball tackiness issue which I touched on a few months ago.  Pitch spin rates were at an all-time high and MLB came down hard by banning literally all foreign substances outside of rosin.  The fact that we have not heard much about this since the first few weeks of the ban means that either pitches have adjusted and made a lot of stink over nothing, or more likely, they found some way around the system.  This will be an interesting issue leading into the CBA negotiations this winter.  Shohei Ohtani put up a historic season the likes of which we may never see again - 9 wins, 3.18 ERA, and a 10.8 K/9 rate on the mound, and 46 homers and 100 RBI with the bat.  If he doesn't run away with the MVP then there is something horribly wrong.  Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Marcus Semien broke homerun records for a historically prolific Blue Jays offense.  On the other side of the coin, the Mariners somehow won 90 games despite a -51 run differential.  Sadly, neither of those two teams made the playoffs.  We had 3 100-win teams (two in the same division!) and 4 100-loss teams which I'm sure has rarely if ever been done in the same season, and just further emphasizes a disparity in team salary that needs to also get addressed in the CBA.  Max Scherzer also became just the 19th pitcher ever to record 3,000 career strikeouts and further cemented his hall-of-fame candidacy, and has a good chance of joining Rick Sutcliffe as the only pitcher to win the Cy Young Award after being traded midseason.

This year was not one of my better ones on the predictions front, but if the Brewers win it all I won't really care.

PLAYOFFS START 10/5/21
NL Wild Card - #4 Dodgers v. #5 Cardinals
NLDS - #1 Giants v. WC Winner
#2 Brewers v. #3 Braves

AL Wild Card - #4 Red Sox v. #5 Yankees
ALDS - #1 Rays v. WC Winner
#2 Astros v. #3 White Sox

World Series Prediction: Brewers defeat Rays in 7
Rooting for:  Brewers v. White Sox

Preseason Predictions
#1 Dodgers
#2 Brewers
#3 Mets
#4 Padres
#5 Braves

#1 Yankees
#2 White Sox
#3 Athletics
#4 Blue Jays
#5 Angels

Padres defeat Yankees in 6

FINAL STANDINGS AND SERIES:

Brewers 95-67, 1st NL Central; NLDS v. Braves

Twins 73-89, last NL Central; eliminated

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 9

Tour 2021: Return to Cooperstown

All photos of Lake George, Cooperstown, and National Baseball Hall of Fame available on Flickr.

This past week, Erik and I got together in person for the first time since the pandemic started, and for our first "ball trip" in over 2 years.  I say "ball trip" in quotations because this was certainly a first (and hopefully last) for one of our trips - we didn't actually go to a ballgame, or any sort of sporting event for that matter.  We made the last-minute and gut-wrenching decision to delay our planned Texas trip once more.  Being in a large crowd during the surge of the Delta variant in an area with one of the highest growing Covid case volumes in the country just seemed like too much of a risk.  And I'll admit that going to one of the reddest states in the country where we were more likely to be surrounded by unmasked and/or unvaccinated folks also played a huge factor in our decision.  I felt particularly bad for Erik since he has not been to a ballgame anywhere since 2019.  But as difficult and disappointing as it was, looking back I know that we made the right choice, and we had a hell of a time at our pinch-hit trip - Cooperstown!  We were not going to go a whole other year without seeing each other, so we made the trek to upstate New York instead for 4 nights.

Before we returned to the hallowed grounds of the Hall of Fame, we spent a couple of days in beautiful Lake George, NY.  Having been to Cooperstown on The Tour and knowing there was not an entire weekend of things to do there nor any decent lodging, Erik made the wonderful suggestion of staying in the Adirondack region of New York, which was only about a 2-hour drive from Cooperstown, and a 3-hour drive from his house in New Hampshire.  Erik picked me up at the Albany airport on Wednesday night and we spent our first night not unlike the first night of most of our trips - tying one on watching ball.  The only difference was this time was a couple of packs of craft beer in our cottage watching several screens, rather than enjoying a frosty Miller Lite from the bleachers.  Our cottage was a part of the Sundowner Resort right on Canada Street, the main thoroughfare of Lake George.  It had a kitchenette, fridge, patio with grill, and just about everything we needed to relax for a few days - most importantly, we each had our own bathroom.  The next day was a pretty relaxing day taking advantage of the resort amenities of hot tub, beachfront deck, and kayaks, and spent a lot of the day on the water.  We walked a good portion of the town on foot and found it to be eerily similar to Wisconsin Dells.  Not much was open on a Thursday afternoon, so after a flight at a local brewery, we just had a nice night in playing some games.  Friday was our busiest day and personally my favorite day of the trip.  We started the day with a drive to the other side of the lake to hike up Pilot Knob Mountain.  I call it a mountain, I'm not really sure if it is or not, but it was over 1,000 vertical feet and I am by no means a hiker, so to me it was pretty difficult.  Outside of the Brewers 10K I ran a few times, this was by far the most difficult physical activity I can ever remember doing, but for the views we got from the top and within, it was well worth it.  After the hike, we toured the lake on a 100+ year old steamboat called the Mohican.  Among other things, I learned that the lake was about 32 miles long and 3 miles wide at its center point, and the western edge was once referred to as "Millionaire's Row" for all of the wealthy Manhattanites and famous elites that had summer homes up there.  Even today it is still scattered with gargantuan homes, breathtaking resorts, and quite a few islands within the lake that are privately owned and of course populated with mansions.  We spent our 2-1/2 hour ride debating over a few drinks which islands we would want to buy, and how cool it would be to camp on one of them if we ever returned.  Following the boat ride, we quickly crushed some dinner back at the cottage and had our one late night out of the trip at a bar called Duffy's.  They had a couple of great music acts, cheap beer, and entertaining locals, just a few of the reliable ingredients in a fun E & P night out.

Saturday was the big day - Cooperstown.  It was a treacherous 100-mile drive that was almost entirely on windy, hilly, and narrow, shoulder-less back-county roads.  On numerous occasions cresting a hill or making a turn, my heart leapt out of my chest wondering if we were going to skirt off the road, and that is no commentary on Erik's driving but rather the sheer remoteness of Cooperstown.  You have to be really dedicated to baseball and to finding this town for the effort it takes to get there - the phrase "in the middle of nowhere" gets thrown out very casually sometimes, but it was true in every sense of the word in this case.  Once you arrive, knowing how you got there simply just adds to the mystique and aura of the place, almost like it is suspended in time.  The entire town is baseball-everything and even still has the old batting cages by Doubleday Field that Erik and I remember embarrassing ourselves at in 2007.  There were a couple new distilleries and breweries in town just like there are in every corner of America these days, but for the most part every other detail is exactly like I remembered it.  We arrived at the museum around 11:30 just as the rain started to fall and headed inside.

Just like in Cooperstown itself, not much on the inside has changed either aside from all of the Covid precautions.  You are advised upon entering to walk up to the 2nd floor and start your tour in the museum portion of the building.  This floor is dedicated almost entirely to the history of the game, starting from the early 19th century all the way through the current year.  It is mostly split up into decades or eras arranged chronologically, featuring exhibits on how the rules or equipment might have looked during that period, as well as artifacts and blurbs on famous players from those times, and plenty of photos and multimedia displays as well.  There was an entire section on the Latin influence and emergence in the game that I did not recall from 2007.  There was also a lot more video and interactive media displays then obviously existed 14 years ago.  Babe Ruth still had an entire section dedicated solely to him and his effect on the game, as well as a "new" Hank Aaron section.  From the 2nd floor you then ascend to the 3rd floor of the museum.  Up here, the exhibits begin with a history of the baseball park, which Erik and I certainly found to be one of the more interesting sections given all the ballpark chasing we do.  There was even a display case featuring a "30 Stadium Tour" shirt like Erik and I still have, and we grumbled as to why we were not in the Hall.  Generally, the American ballpark can be split into 5 eras: the original wood frame structures of the late 19th century (Polo Grounds, Borchert Field), the steel and concrete classical parks of the next 50 years or so that people most associate with baseball (Ebbets Field, Tiger Stadium, original Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, etc.), the multi-purpose "donuts" of the 1960s and 70s (Veterans, Riverfront, RFK, etc.), the retro boom of the 1990s and 2000s, and then whatever you want to call the "modern era" of ballparks today.  After this was my favorite section that outlined every major record in baseball and displayed artifacts from them - Ichiro's most single-season hits of 262, Bonds' career homerun record, Pete Rose's hit to break Ty Cobb's record, and many more.  The last chunk of the museum portion of the building has a locker dedicated to all 30 teams, which is nice because it gives an opportunity for every fan to connect to the museum on a personal level.  These lockers constantly cycle through recently game-used items of significance - for instance, the Brewers locker has a pair of Christian Yelich's shoes from one of his cycles in his 2018 MVP season.  There was also a locker dedicated to each of the newest member of the HOF inducted this year - Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, and Ted Simmons.  

Following the museum portion of the building, we were 3 hours into our day at this point and needed a break for lunch.  We got our hand stamped and had perhaps the best meal of the trip, a hoagie from an Italian deli down the street.  We returned to walk through the actual Hall of Fame portion of the building on the main floor and raided the team store up until doors closed at 5pm.  We concentrated on the men who have been inducted since we last visited in 2007, but we of course walked through the whole thing just for old times' sake.  It's super interesting to see how players and even the wording on the plaques have changed over the past 85 years of the Hall of Fame, starting with the original class of Mathewson, Wagner, Cobb, Ruth, and Walter Johnson in 1936.  It's a beautifully designed space that feels sacred the moment you set foot inside (as it should), with an almost cathedral-like feel, both in terms of materials of marble and wood, as well as the height and purposeful use of skylights above.  It is the kind of space where you are quiet out of respect without even being asked, again much like a cathedral.  I spent a good hour or two in this space, deep in my own thoughts and honored to be in the presence of such greatness again for a short while.

Following our full day in downtown Cooperstown, we were unfortunately denied a shot at redemption at the batting cages because of the rain, so we stopped at Ommegang Brewery on the way back to Lake George.  It's a beautifully picturesque brewery on acres of rolling hills and pristine landscape - so beautiful in fact that a couple of weddings were going on there -  that is very befitting of the area and a must-stop for anybody passing through.  We ended our time in Lake George on Sunday with one more leisurely stroll along the lake, and I spent some time with my friend Josh who happens to live in Albany before flying home Sunday evening.  It certainly wasn't the trip we planned, but what in these past couple of years has gone to plan for anybody?  We made the most of it and were happy to see each other and enjoy the trip for what it was - a relaxing time to catch up, watch and talk about ball, imbibe in way too many beers, and already start discussing next year's trip.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 9/20/21:

Brewers 91-59, +10.5, clinched playoff spot; 4 v. Cardinals, 3 v. Mets, 3 @ Cardinals, 3 @ Dodgers

Twins 65-85, -20.0, eliminated; 2 @ Cubs, 4 v. Blue Jays, 3 v. Tigers, 3 @ Royals

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 8

More Than Baseball

My post today is more of a plug than it is any original thought.  I regularly listen to the Baseball American podcast, which I will honestly say is super dense and boring for the most part, unless you are the most devout of baseball fan.  But it is also one of the few podcasts that covers prospects and the minor leagues in great detail and BA has an industry-wide reputation as the best at what they do, so in terms of content it is great.  They had a guest on a couple of weeks ago, Jeremy Wolf, who founded More Than Baseball, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting minor league players and advocating for their rights and proper living conditions.  

I was made a little bit aware of what sort of hurdles these players have to jump to make a living during the MiLB contraction last year, and I've always known that they do not make very much money, but this podcast and organization really bring these things to light to the casual fan that may not know that much about it.  Unless a player has some sort of signing bonus or major league contract they are playing on with the 40-man roster, most minor leaguers make well below poverty wages, on average under $15,000 per year.  On top of that, they have to supply basically everything except transportation to games - housing, equipment, some meals, etc.  They also do not get paid during spring training or "extended spring," which explains the push for MLB teams to essentially replace Rookie level ball with the AZ and FL summer camp leagues.  For years I've used the cop-out of "I'm not going to feel sorry for somebody that plays a game for a living," but I had no idea that the situation was that bad.  This issue will certainly be at the forefront of the players' union negotiations with the upcoming CBA , and if it's not something is majorly wrong.

UPDATE: Given the dramatic rise of Covid-19 cases due to the Delta variant and the general lawlessness in Texas, Erik and I have made the difficult decision that our pending Tour 2021 trip to the new Rangers ballpark this week will have to once again be postponed.  Instead, we have decided to return to Cooperstown!  Read all about our trip next week.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 9/13/21:

Brewers 89-55, +14.0, magic number 5; 2 @ Tigers, 3 v. Cubs

Twins 63-80, -19.0, -17.0 WC; 1 @ Yankees, 3 v. Indians, 3 @ Blue Jays

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 8