Joseph L. Bruno Stadium

All photos of Troy and Joseph L. Bruno Stadium available on Flickr.

My 7th and final new ballpark of the year brought me to the Capital region of New York state to see the Tri-City ValleyCats of the NY-Penn League.  This was 5th ballpark visited in this short-season-A league and my 135th ballpark overall.  My good friend Josh and his family keep moving to different cities with ballparks I've never been to, so it works out pretty nice for me and my ballpark chasing.  When they moved to the Albany area about a year ago, I made sure to check the 2017 ValleyCats schedule as soon as it came out and plan for a visit.  Megan and I had a nice long holiday weekend relaxing with Josh, Kara, and their 2-yr old and newborn, but for purposes of this blog I'll just skip to the ballpark part.

We went to the game on Saturday night, which ended up being the last home game of the season due to a stretch of bad weather this week.  Joseph L. Bruno Stadium opened in 2002 and seats about 4,500 people, a good amount for a short-season league.  The ballpark has been hosting the Tri-City ValleyCats since their move from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and are so named because of the three city area of Troy, Albany, and Schenectady, which are all situated about 3 hours north of NYC along the Hudson River.  The park also hosts Hudson Valley Community College and both teams draw very well.  The ValleyCats have broken their franchise attendance record just about every year since their inception, and it was a near sellout even on a cool gloomy night in September.  We got seats about halfway up the 1st baseline behind the dugout for only $10 apiece.

Even though there was nothing very memorable about this ballpark, I was impressed with the overall size, concessions, and amenities for just a short-season ballpark.  For a league that is about the same schedule length as the Northwoods League, they had a lot to offer, certainly more than I was expecting after my visits to some of the other NY teams in the circuit.  There is a good selection of local beers and at least 3 bar seating areas, one of which was tiki-themed.  They had a spacious kids area and a lot of food offerings, including a wood-fired pizza area with an actual stone pizza oven, which I've never seen at any ballpark.  Megan and I found the pizza stand during a stroll around the concourse kind of tucked away, and I wish it would have been more prominent as it was the star of the park.  The main part of the building had your usual 2nd level with suites and press boxes and gave the park the presence of a larger scale.  A nice architectural touch was a masonry block and glass tower staircase leading up to the 2nd level.  A twin tower is mirrored on the other side and servs as the ticket office, and both together form a nice gateway entry.  I think baseball purists would complain about the extensive netting and between-innings buffoonery, but on the other hand they would appreciate how well-supported the team is and how seriously people take their baseball in New York, even for a parent franchise in the Astros that is halfway across the country.  I got a glimpse into my future as I totally used Josh's young son as bait to get a souvenir ball thrown to us by one of the mascots (I was nice and let him keep it).  I fully intend to exploit this as a father and add to my duffel bag full of game balls.

The ValleyCats defeated the Aberdeen IronBirds 6-1 despite an outrageous effort by Aberdeen starter Zac Lowther.  He gave up only 2 runs over 6 and struck out 12.  Carlos Hiraldo went only 4 frames but allowed one run fewer, and that was all it took for the win.  3 relievers shut the door with a combined 7 strikeouts.  We left after the 7th inning because, well, when a toddler does not nap during the day it is a disaster.  Little Simon was a trooper and certainly paid more attention than I did when I was that age.  We missed a 4-run 8th inning by the home team which included a homerun by Miguelangel Sierra.  One interesting tidbit of the game was that Ryan Ripken started for the IronBirds, who I can only assume is the son or nephew of Cal Ripken, Jr.  Cal and his brother Billy actually own the IronBirds and they are of course an affiliate of the Orioles.  Ryan being drafted by the family franchise is probably a case of nepotism, but he is hitting cleanup for Aberdeen and was a .287 average on the season as of this game, so he is at least holding his own so far.

That's probably it for ballpark visits for the season, other than Miller Park of course.  Hopefully I will have a fun playoff story to share in about a month.

park rankings and statistics:
aesthetics - 5

views from park - 2
view to field - 5
surrounding area - 4
food variety - 7
nachos - 3 (bag of chips)
beer - 9 (local brews, affordable)
vendor price - 8
ticket price - 8
atmosphere - 6
walk to park - 3 (parking situation is pretty weird)
parking price/proximity - 4 (free but an odd walk to stadium)
concourses - 6
team shop - 6

best food - wood-fired pizza
most unique stadium feature - Top of the Hill Bar & Grill
best jumbotron feature - there was a jumbotron but nothing of note occurred on it
best between-inning feature - local legends race (fun fact: apparently Uncle Sam is a real person and is from Troy)

field dimensions - 325/400/325
starters - Zac Lowther (ABD) v. Carlos Hiraldo (TC)
opponent - Aberdeen IronBirds
time of game - 3:02
attendance - 3633
score - 6-1 W
Brewers score that day - 3-2 L

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 09.08:
Brewers 72-68, -5.0, -3.0 WC (3 @ Cubs, 3 v. Pirates, 3 @ Marlins)
Reds 61-80, -16.5, -14.5 WC (4 @ Mets, 3 @ Cardinals, 3 v. Pirates)
Twins 73-67, -11.0, +1.0 WC (4 @ Royals, 2 v. Padres, 4 v. Blue Jays)

2017 GAMES ATTENDED:
Erik - 12 (+31 worked)
Peter - 33

Tour 2009: Richmond County Bank Ballpark

All photos of Guggenheim Museum, Staten Island ferry, and Richmond County Bank Ballpark available on Flickr.

Our productive trip to New York finally came to a close today. It was yet another gorgeous morning as we walked through Central Park to the Guggenheim, our pre-ball activity for the day. The museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and there is a Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit there that we wanted to see. It not only commemorates the Guggenheim itself (Wright's last fully realized work) but a lot of his work, both built and unbuilt, from his early ready-made home days all the way up through his death. It was a great showcase of some of his original graphite sketches, accompanied by some models of Wright's work built by a local Brooklyn firm. A couple hours and a few illegal photographs later, we headed for the #5 train towards the Staten Island ferry.

The passenger ferry runs from Battery Park every half-hour, and is the most convenient way to get to Staten Island, since there are no roads that run there directly from Manhattan. The ride was about 90% tourists just along for the ride, and it seems from eavesdropping on a local that few people take the ferry for much else during the day. After the ride, tourists will just get off and get back in line to head back to Manhattan, never setting foot on Staten Island, and it's a pretty saavy loophole to get to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island for free. Erik and I came ashore about 4:30, and shuffled past the out-of-towners with a handful of people towards the ballpark. The park is right on the harbor and is only a few minutes' walk from the ferry, and we spent about 20 minutes checking out the exterior and a nearby September 11th memorial. Gates opened at 5, but we decided that we needed to go to the bar one more time before the trip was over, so we stopped at a local tap for a few and talked ball with some of the locals.

We got inside the park and were immediately awestruck by the view. On a clear day like today, you can see the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty, and it is incredible. The stadium here was even closer to the ocean than Brooklyn's, and that is reflected in the stadium's sailboat motif at all the entries. Beyond the view though, there really isn't much else that needs to be done architecturally to make it a great park, and the design certainly takes a backseat here to the panorama across the harbor. Of all of the parks we went to this week, this was the oldest at 10 years, but it still seems brand new and is kept up very nice. There isn't a lot in the way of vending options, and I think that there should be some sort of picnic deck in right field to take advantage of the view, but overall I was very surprised and impressed by Richmond County Bank Ballpark. Erik and I both agree that of the four parks we went to this week, that Staten Island Yankees season tickets would be the way to go.

The game tonight was actually a single-gate doubleheader versus the Cyclones, with the first game being a makeup from an Opening Day rainout. They play two 7-inning games for doubleheaders in the minors, so it actually went by pretty fast. It also went by fast because as was the case the night before in Brooklyn, there was not a lot of offense. The Cyclones and Yankees split the doubleheader, with Brooklyn winning the first game 4-0 and losing the second game 3-2. The first game was a messy game by Staten Island in which two of the runs they gave up were unearned, and on only 3 hits. Nick Santomauro and Luis Rivera had RBI for the 'Clones, and Brandon Moore tossed a CG, 8-K shutout, lowering his ERA to 0.62 in the process. The second game was a comeback win for the Yanks. After mustering almost no offense in the first 12 innings of the night, Jimmy Paredes hit a solo homerun in the 6th to pull Staten Island within one, and capped off the victory with a walk-off bases-loaded single by DeAngelo Mack. Our trip literally ended with a bang as post-game fireworks ensued shortly after the game, and we had an excellent view from our seats four rows up from first base. My last official photos taken on the entire trip were the Yankees' three cow mascots watching the fireworks from behind homeplate, and a gorgeous night shot of lower Manhattan on the ferry ride home.

What a blast we had! This trip definitely changed my view of New York quite a bit. It's still a little bit too hectic and expensive for my taste, but I enjoyed myself much more than the other times I've been there. Uptown Manhattan was a great place to stay for a week and I look forward to hopefully making it back this way someday. Seven days, seven games, five boroughs, 66 innings, 68 dogs!

park stats and rankings:
aesthetics - 4
views from park - 10 (Manhattan/Statue of Liberty)
view to field - 9 (sun directly in face for first few innings)
surrounding area - 3 (ocean nearby, but nothing going on in Staten island)
food variety - 3
nachos - 2 (decent, but more of a taco salad than 'chos)
beer - 8 (great price and size, moderate variety)
vendor price - 7
ticket price - 5 ($12 is steep for short-season A ball)
atmosphere - 4
walk to park - 10 (Staten Island ferry)
parking proximity - n/a (free ferry)
concourses - 8 (wide, great view)
team shop - 6

best food - italian ice
most unique stadium feature - the view
best jumbotron feature - Scooter, Red, and Huck the Cow mascot introductions
best between-inning feature - Huck the Magician defies gravity

field dimensions - 322/390/318
starters - Brandon Moore (BRK) v. Arodys Vizcaino (SI); James Fuller v. Michael Solbach
opponent - Brooklyn Cyclones
time of game - 1:45; 1:50
attendance - 7171 (total)
score - 4-0 L, 3-2 W
Brewers score that day - 12-8 L

FIRST HALF STANDINGS & UPCOMING SERIES:
Brewers 45-43, -2.5 (4 @ Reds)
Reds 42-45, -5.0 (4 v. Brewers)
Twins 45-44, -4.0 (3 @ Rangers)

RACE FOR 2009 "MOST GAMES ATTENDED" TITLE:
Erik - 34 (+13 worked)
Peter - 41

Tour 2009: KeySpan Park

All photos of Brooklyn Bridge, Coney Island day 2, and Keyspan Park available on Flickr.

Thursday brought Erik and I into the minor league leg of our trip, as we will be taking in a couple of New York-Penn League games before we head home. The big, fancy new ballparks were great, but Erik and I jumped at the opportunity to see the Cyclones and the Staten Island Yankees while we were out here, because nothing beats minor league baseball.

Before the game, we did some sightseeing around Brooklyn. We decided to ride the #2 express train to City Hall around noon and walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn across the Brooklyn Bridge. It's certainly not the biggest, or longest, or first suspension bridge ever built, which doesn't really fit with our M.O., but it's definitely the most beautiful in my mind. Walking the mile to Brooklyn, we had a great view of the financial district in lower Manhattan, the Manhattan Bridge, Governor's Island, and the Statue of Liberty. Arriving on the Brooklyn side, we walked past the Watchtower building, which is the Jehovas' Witness publication headquarters, and Walt Whitman Park before stopping to eat at a local diner. After lunch, we then took a couple more trains back to Coney Island to cross another tour staple off the list - swim in nearby river/lake/ocean. In this case, it was the Atlantic ocean, off the southern tip of Brooklyn, and naturally we picked the coldest and cloudiest day so far of the trip to go swimming. We waded around chest-deep for about ten minutes before succombing to the cold water and putting warm clothes back on. After "swimming," we concluded our pre-ball activities with another stop at Nathan's for a dog and some 42-oz souvenir brews. It was the first chance we've really had to just to sit for a couple hours and relax on the trip, and it was great.

After working up a good buzz, we walked the couple blocks down the boardwalk to KeySpan Park, the home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, the short-season A affiliate of the Mets since 2001. From the outside it looked to be nothing special apart from a couple plaques and statues, but the inside provided one of the better ballpark views we've seen. The ballpark is a stone's throw from the beach we were at earlier, and you can see the Atlantic unobstructed from the concourse, as well as the Cyclone coaster and the rest of Coney Island. The decor around the park is meant to play off the Coney Island motif, with overhangs mimicing the style and color of the boardwalk's, carnival-style multi-colored flourescent lighting above the concourse and on the light towers, and a cardboard construction of a rollercoaster attached to the scoreboard to add some unique flare. The seating setup there is your standard minor-league design, with a seating bowl, a small section of outfield bleachers, and some suites and press boxes in a 2nd deck behind home plate.

The bad part about being so close to the ocean was that there was a cold, howling wind blowing in all night, which was part of the reason the game ended in a 1-0, 16-inning loss for the Cyclones. It was a pitcher's duel in every sense of the word, as very few balls were hit out of the infield, and only about a half-dozen combined runners advanced into scoring position. Before Mike Lynn lost the game in the 16th on a basehit to right-center by Arthur Bonevacia, a total of 8 pitchers from both teams combined for 24 strikeouts over 15 1/2 scoreless innings. We continuously moved around to keep warm and try to maximize our opportunities for catching foul balls. After our 4th marathon game in 5 days, we had another dog at Nathan's next door since the concession stands all closed in the 9th, and we took another long subway ride home for the night. Tomorrow we our spending our last full day in New York in its fifth and final borough, Staten Island.

park stats and rankings:
aesthetics - 6 (pretty nice on the inside)
views from park - 8 (Atlantic Ocean, Coney Island)
view to field - 10
surrounding area - 7 (beach, Coney Island)
food variety - 3 (mostly dogs)
nachos - 4 (standard)
beer - 4 (pretty pricy for A-ball, only 3 kinds)
vendor price - 5
ticket price - 4 ($12 for seats half-way up 3B line)
atmosphere - 3 (scoreless tie through 15 doesn't help this category)
walk to park - 9
parking proximity - n/a (subway $2.25)
concourses - 6 (good view out)
team shop - 9 (two stories)

best food - corn dog
most unique stadium feature - scoreboard
best jumbotron feature - Tom Hanks/League of their Own, Leslie Nielsen/Naked Gun strikeout videos
best between-inning feature - Nathan's hot dog race

field dimensions - 315/412/325
starters - Kenny Moreland (ABD) v. Darin Gorski (BRK)
opponent - Aberdeen Ironbirds
time of game - 3:58
attendance - 5041
score - 1-0 L
Brewers score that day - 5-1 L

Tour 2008: Ripken Stadium

Photos of Washington Day 3 and Ripken Stadium available on Flickr.

After arriving late last night, we got a bit of much needed rest this morning then headed in to downtown DC. We met up with my friend Kelly and had lunch while I tried to decide what to do with the next four months of my life, since watching ball all summer isn't going to cut it this year. After lunch we walked down the mall towards the Washington Monument. We passed by the Newseum where outside they had displayed newspaper front pages from several different countries and all 50 states. Intrigued, we wanted to look around inside for a bit. We thought the Newseum would be free like most of the other museums in DC but when we found out it cost $20 to get in, we promptly left. We finished our walk down the mall but when we arrived at the monument we found that it was sold out for the day.

We got back on the metro and headed back to Alexandria. After transfer subway lines three times we arrived at the end of the yellow line and hopped on the bus that took us from the apartment to the metro in the morning. Unfortunately for us, the bus we take runs on a loop. Now, there are both clockwise and counterclockwise loops. So, our ride back to the apartment could have been 20 minutes. But, we got on the wrong loop and took a drive through scenic northern Virginia and past Mt. Vernon before arriving at the apartment an hour and 10 minutes after we left the metro station. If you're scoring at home, that's an E-Us.

Then we jumped in the car and headed towards Aberdeen. We hit a few traffic jams along the way but nothing too major and we made it to the game about a half hour before the game started. The Aberdeen Ironbirds are the short season A ball affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles and the team is owned by Cal Ripken Jr. Ripken Stadium is beautiful and is also used as the home of the Cal Ripken League World Series. The Ironbirds have sold out every game in their history and there is now a waiting list for season tickets. We were pretty excited for tonight's game because we had All-You-Can-Eat seats right behind home plate. And they did not disappoint.

We took our seats and immediately headed to the buffet line. It was a nice little spread featuring beef fajitas and quesadillas. The only draw back was that it cost extra if you wanted a beer. The game began and the starting pitcher for the Ironbirds was very Rick Vaughn-esque. In two innings of work he struck out six batters and walked three while giving up a run on a single and an error. At the end of two, with the score tied one-one, the rain hit. Once again, we were just barely under the overhang of the roof and we were able to stick it out for a little while. Then the wind shifted and the rain started blowing right in our faces, so we took shelter with a few beers on the main concourse. The rain lasted for about a half hour and then the grounds crew took another half hour to get the field ready for play again. Once the game got underway, both bullpens took over and put up zeros until the bottom of the 7th. The Ironbirds put together a three-run rally and went on to win the game 4-1.

We got back in the car and hit the road for DC, singing along with the Beach Boys all the way home. Tomorrow, sadly, it's back home to Milwaukee. A special and heartfelt thanks for Phil and Frank for letting us stay at their apartments, and particularly to Phil for driving us around Sunday and Monday.

park stats and rankings:
aesthetics - 7 (just about the best youll find for a short-season A stadium)
views from park - 3
view to field - 10 (all-you-can-eat seats are right behind home plate)
surrounding area - 2 (players' Courtyard Marriott in parking lot)
food variety - n/a (didnt really investigate this, we had the buffet)
nachos - n/a (see previous answer)
beer - 7 (low variety, mostly Bud products, but good price)
vendor price - n/a
ticket price - 10 (buffet + excellent seat for $31)
atmosphere - 5 (good for A-ball, but it cleared out after the rain delay)
walk to park - 2
parking price/proximity - 10 (adjacent lot for free)
concourses - 5
team shop - 10 (excellent variety and prices)

best food - buffet
most unique stadium feature - LCF dimension displayed in Ripken family number (3-7-8)
best jumbotron feature - Chick-fil-A cow cheerleaders
best between-inning feature - kids wear oversized wind breakers and catch baseballs in them

field dimensions - 330/404/330
starters - Luke Greinke (SI) v. Chris Salberg (ABD)
opponent - Staten Island Yankees
time of game - 2:25 (1:11 delay)
attendance - 6,470
score - 4-1 W

Brewers score that day - 4-1 W

Day 14: Dutchess County Stadium

All photos of Dutchess County Stadium available on Flickr.

Erik and I left our hostel shortly after 10 this morning to hit the road for Frank's house in Rhinebeck, New York, which is between Albany and Poughkeepse (which I'm sure I spelled incorrectly). Even though Toronto has been my favorite city thus far, it was good to be back in the comforts of our home country, where people still hate the dollar coin and say "about" instead of "a-boot," which never gets old by the way - hilarious every time you hear it. It took us awhile to get back over the bridge to America, but we got to spend a few minutes admiring the Falls and got no hassle from the border patrol at all. Eight hours later and 400 miles later, we arrived in exurban New York.

The redeeming factor on what was supposed to be our off day was that after spending all day on the road, we discovered that Frank had four free seats to the local minor league club, the Hudson Valley Renegades, a short-season class-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. We didn't quite make first pitch due to the fact that we had to wind down county roads for 45 minutes, but it was a good experience overall. The stadium is a quaint little place set in a wooded area near Marist University, and the game was like any minor league one - lots of between-inning entertainment, a jovial mascot, and lots of fan enthusiasm. The game was a blowout, with the Renegades pounding on the Oneonta Tigers 8-0. Despite the fact that we are now exhausted after a long day on the road, we were glad we took this little excursion, that now brings our "unplanned ballgame total" to two already. Tomorrow it's off to historic Yankee Stadium and I can't wait!

park stats and rankings:
aesthetics - 4
views from park - 3 (only some trees and a prison nearby)
view to field - 8 (of course its good, its the minors)
surrounding area - 2 (rural)
food variety - 4
nachos - 6
beer - 6
vendor price - 9
ticket price - 10
atmosphere - 7
walk to park - 3
parking price/proximity - 3 (you should never have to pay nor walk for minor league parking)
concourses - 5
team shop - 7

best food - hot dog
most unique stadium feature - we were very surprised that they had a jumbotron...
best jumbotron feature - Frank got our names put on the jumbotron at the game
best between-inning feature - Crabs race

field dimensions - 325/400/325
starters -Sendy Vazquez (ONE) v. Doug Waechter (HUD)
opponent - Oneonta Tigers
time of game - 2:29
attendance - 4500
score - 8-0 W
Brewers score that day - 5-4 L