This past weekend’s quick trip put my forecasting and baseball scheduling skills to the test. The looming questions were: “Will it get rained out?” and “When will the makeups be?”. I had Friday Evening and Saturday free…needing to be back home Sunday Morning. The trip was to see baseball in State College, PA (new ballpark) and Altoona (return visit). They’re 45 minutes apart and the original set-up was to see the Altoona Curve at 6:00 PM Friday, then Penn State Baseball at 2:00 PM Saturday. Watching in the lead-up as a meteorologist, the Friday game was looking dicey and I didn’t want to waste a hotel room, so my hope was that if weather screwed things up…I could pull off both games Saturday by working around duel doubleheaders (which involved guessing what time they would be). Through Friday Morning, I was watching radar like a hawk and nowcasting the situation. Finally, at Noon I decided…we’re going for it! Quickly I packed up and left the sunny skies of Jersey for the increasing cloudy Interstate 80 west. It wasn’t long until I hit the first shower, which was ok as I thought most of the activity would be north. As I started the turn southwestward along I-99, rain continued on and off. Then came the heavy stuff, right around State College and this was the type of rain that would cancel a game since it was before play got started. Sure enough, it lead to the postponement of Penn State’s game. My hopes were fading fast on the short ride to Altoona as the minutes ticked down on the GPS. Then the skies gradually brightened, the rain quickly shut off and by the time I passed Tyrone, PA about 15 minutes out, the pavement was dry! Altoona avoided it all, which was 60% forecasting (south would be better than north) and 40% luck (there was stuff around). Even better was that the game was part of a doubleheader because of Wednesday’s rain…so it started an hour early at 5 PM. Thus, an earlier end and I got to my hotel right as my Sabres were beginning Game 6 against Boston. Their win capped a day where the Sporting Gods were on my side and the Penn State cancellation meant that game got moved to Noon and an earlier departure back home the next day.
OK, on to the stadiums. Altoona’s Fart Field…oh, I’m sorry: Peoples Natural Gas Field. This place has one of my favorite baseball stadium designs. It features an upper-deck and a great outfield view of nearby hills and a wooden roller coaster, even if the shuttered ride is becoming more decrepit by the day. The stadium was built in 1999 and bucked the cookie-cutter trend of single seating bowl extended seating down the line with suites over a concourse. Here, there are two concourses for each level and they’re well-designed. I fear we won’t see any more new unique ballparks coming as the trend is similar but the bowl is bookended and interspersed with group/club seating and there isn’t any toying with the baseline template. My first visit here came in 2008 and I wanted a fresh look and review since I’ve refined my rankings/process in the 20 years since. The crowd was small on this day given the threatening weather and cool temperatures, but the Curve did bring in a legit 4,790 for their first playoff game in awhile last season. The re-ranking puts Altoona at 72.5 and that’s still first in the Eastern League. My completion of the circuit is no longer complete since Richmond opened a new ballpark. That’s a place I’ll get into 3-5 years as I wait for the new smell to wear off.
Medlar Field at Lubrano Park put me in an interesting conundrum. When I review a stadium, the primary review is for the main tenant. In the past, I believed that to be the minor league team. As college baseball has gained popularity, along with more of a following from myself, I’ve changed my tune on that. Especially, where these stadiums were built on-campus. In 2014, I saw the Eugene Emeralds (Northwest League) at PK Park and it was clear during that visit that it was the University of Oregon’s ballpark and the Ems were a secondary tenant. Now, the Emeralds are in trouble and looking to leave. Here at Penn State, they certainly do not have the prestige in college baseball like the Ducks program does, but it’s a similar deal. They shared the ballpark with the State College Spikes and when they were in the NY-Penn League, that was the highlight. Now there’s a fight between the two and the future is murky (man, Penn State frequently finds ways for them to be hated). In the meantime, the Nittany Lions have their Big Ten season each year here in the shadows of Beaver Stadium. Even though I’ve been to State College several times, I haven’t seen much of campus and I came early to see places like Old Main and the Nittany Lion shrine.
Going to a game is a good deal as it is free for all. That’s common with college baseball teams in the Northeast, but surprising when you consider the quality of ballpark and that you’re not just attending in a small bleacher place. Penn State is also big on doing Dollar Dog Night, usually reserved for the Midweek games. They bring decent draws into the park as fans load up. In fact, an average of 5,274 wieners are consumed each time the school runs the promo, which in and of itself is remarkable that they have that many to cook on hand. The Bucknell game this year featured 9,319 hot dogs and an attendance of 4,082. It’s actually helping to drive popularity in the program. Because they had a few of these days cancelled due to weather, the Lions decided to make Saturday a Dollar Dog Day. The Hot Dogs may look bland, but they had decent flavor and I enjoyed a nice cheap lunch. No, I didn’t partake in the 9 in 9 challenge. Only the parking ($10 day of game / $5 in advance) prevents this from being the best deal in all of sports. The ballpark has an excellent setting as it has an undeterred view of Mount Nittany. The rest of the stadium design is the cookie-cutter-ness I described above. Rows were exceptionally wide, to the point that you didn’t even need to stand-up to let somebody through. It was not pleasant at all for baseball with temps in the upper 40s and an overcast sky, however a limited wind kept things tolerable with appropriate clothes. A light shower risk threatened throughout, but we missed those here as well. The early doubleheader start kept the attendance lower at the start as it took a little while for more fans and a good chunk of students to come on in. It actually wasn’t a bad crowd considering all the circumstances, including a rather terrible Lions record. Their last NCAA Tournament appearance was 2000. There were also more students than what I saw at Virginia and Southern Miss as several of them clustered around the Gopher dugout to lead some heckling. Medlar Field has the makings of becoming a distinct home field advantage if the team is playing for something late in the season and as the weather gets nicer.
Stadium and Arena Visits 