What do you do when a summer usually selling beer has not come to
pass?
Sure, there’s always the teaching thing. I like teaching in the
summer - the students are more relaxed, the crybabies usually don’t
bother, and since my wife has to work, there’s less likelihood of my
getting into trouble with so much free time.
But since I designed the
summer schedule around the beer schedule, long before events conspired
to terminate that inevitability, I found that I had gaps of time where
I didn’t have anything to do.
Meanwhile, my 2005 partner in crime, Matt Baker, also had time on
his hands. Having just finished his BCIT broadcasting program, he was
mired in the tedium that is the resume-and-interview process. With the
Canadians going in the very capable direction of Rob Fai, he also had
no Nat agenda this summer; he too was aching for something to scratch
his baseball itch.
To quote "Animal House": This is ridiculous. What are we going to do? Road trip.
When to go was fairly straightforward. Thanks to both the baseball
schedule and my connivance, I managed to have the August long weekend
off, with two days before and after as a cushion.
Where to go was
trickier: we could do the NWL, but we’d already done that unpaid in previous seasons (Hi, webcast audience!). The
PCL only has Portland and Tacoma in close vicinity; I’m not spending a
week in Seattle just watching the Mariners.
Every other league - the
Cal League or the Pioneer League - requires at least 12 hours to get
to. Luckily, there’s this thing called "the internet" which, despite
having an ungodly amount of pornography and gambling opportunities, had
ready access to all baseball schedules, making planning a breeze. A
brief look made the decision easy - head to Cali, check out the A’s
and the farm system, and see who we could run into along the way.
The plan: (Home team on left)
August 1: Portland* v. Nashville – 7:05
August 2: Sacramento* v. New Orleans - $1 Feast – 7:05
August 3: Stockton v. Rancho Cucamonga –Lunch Box Night– 7:05
August 4: Oakland v. LA Angels – 12:55 – A’s belt buckle
August 5: Oakland v. LA Angels – 12:55
Sacramento* v. Memphis – 6:05 – US Bank Kids Day
August 6: Tacoma v. Nashville – 7:05
August 7: Everett* v. Tri-City – 12:05 – Golf Umbrella (1st 1000)
All that was left was to get underway. God bless the 90 cent dollar!
DAY ONE: Wednesday August 1 2007 - Portland Beavers vs Nashville Sounds (AAA)
Picked up Matt at 9:30. The border lineup was about an hour, but
we shaved that to 15 minutes by hitting the duty-free. I had to get a
case of beer for the Portland media guy in thanks for the McCray Bobblefence he sent me last year.
The drive to Portland was
non-eventful, although we did stick our fingers out the window at Mile
62, where the bus broke down two years ago. As we pulled into the
Portland Courtyard hotel - thank you Mom for the $39 vouchers - Matt
was as excited as an 18-year-old on a ‘guaranteed’ date.
- and if you are staying in the downtown core, it is free from the
hotels to the stadium. No driving = more beer.
The stadium itself is a marvel. Built in the 1930s, it was
condemned by the time the Portland Rockies moved to Tri-City and became
the Dust Devils. It was rebuilt with a loan from the City, and was
enough to attract the Albuquerque Dukes. [At one time, Portland had
delusions of landing the Expos.]
It’s a very nice place to watch a game
(now), and has lots of subtle nuances to make attending enjoyable,
particularly the fact that the field is below street-level, so a
homerun to left has to go up and out to the street. As well, they have
given the outfield nice neon touches and, of course, dedicated
right-centre to former C Rodney McCray.
Sadly, in this corporate world, little things that used to be the
old Beavers are gone. Gone is the mounted Jantzen diving lady along the
left field fence. Despite Portland’s micro brew status, a shockingly
small amount of said product is available; what is, is $2.50 above the
usual macro brew fare.
Also, the booster club no longer sports their
euphemistically delightful "I have Beaver fever" shirts.
do it. Key was a fielding error in the 9th, which allowed the leadoff
Beaver to get on. It was one of those ‘Well, that’ll cost them the
game’ kind of plays, where you can see the three players converging on
the fly ball, and smell their hesitation as to who’s going to claim it.
After that, small ball brought the man around, and the game was won for
the home team.
playing second. I talked to him after the game, and he remembered the
series and (vaguely) the beer guys.
Afterwards, Matt and I found a bar called "the Bullpen" and hung
out until midnight. They have Beaver fever.
Overall, a successful first
day.
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