A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

st. louis cardinals

Summer of Baseball: Dwyer Stadium is a throwback for baseball lovers

Throwback.

That’s the best way to describe Dwyer Stadium in Batavia, home of the short-season Single-A Muckdogs of the New York-Penn League.

It’s not that old of a stadium. Well, let me explain that. The stadium structure and such is from the mid-1990s. The playing field is the original from the late 1930s. So the spot has a throwback feel, but still has the feel of a newer minor league park.

Stamped in.

Stamped in.

But the feel is throwback. There’s no walk-in team store (it’s a small concession-style trailer) or luxury boxes and such, but there’s a decent amount of food choices, pretty good beer, and good sightlines throughout the stadium. It didn’t take long to walk along the concourse, which runs behind the grandstand.

There’s not a lot of bells and whistles like in some of the newer stadiums, so it has a baseball feel. Tickets were easy to grab a couple of hours before the game. There wasn’t much of a line to get in.

Oh, and this was opening day for the New York-Penn League!

We sat on the first-base line and had front-row seats. What was nice was sitting next to an old-time season-ticket holder and some other fans who enjoyed the game and were there to watch some baseball. The crowd was small, though, which is normal (Batavia has been last in league attendance in all but one year since 2010), but it was baseball.

Play ball!

Play ball!

Stadiums like these are quickly becoming homes for college wood-bat leagues as teams leave for greener pastures, so it’s nice to hit these stadiums while you still can. Batavia has been rumored to move for years, so who knows if/when it will happen. The reality is, it’s tough to tell what will happen.

But Batavia was a good place to watch a game overall. People were friendly. The food was decent. The spot was nice. Parking was extremely simple and there were ample spots. I wanted to visit this stadium several years ago while they were still an affiliate of the Phillies, but that is no longer the case (they are the Marlins now).

Still, the team maintains its history with all of its affiliates, which was nice to see.

In the end, it was a good spot to watch a game. Though my ratings weren’t super high for some of this spot, it was still nice to see a game here. Ticket prices were average and it was an enjoyable night.

Park Notes:  

Dwyer Stadium
Batavia, NY
Home of the Batavia Muckdogs (Short-season Single-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins)
Visited on: June 20, 2015
Opponent: Auburn Doubledays (Short-season Single-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals)

Ratings (out of 10)

  • Stadium: 6/10
  • Concessions: 6.5/10
  • Parking: 7.5/10
  • Ambiance: 7.5/10
  • Friendliness: 9/10

I am continuing the Summer of Baseball from 2014 and hope to blog about each new stadium I visit in 2015. Ones visited in the past can be viewed linked up in the 2014 version.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

How much is too much?

Will Jimmy Rollins still be running out of here as a member of the Phillies ... or coming back as a hated member of another team?

Let me preface this post by noting that I am happy that Albert Pujols is out of the National League. But that comes from me as a Phillies fan, not me as a baseball fan.

As a Phillies fan — or as a baseball cynic at times — I would have laughed if players like Mariano Rivera or Derek Jeter had left the Yankees over the past few years.

But then there’s the baseball fan in me, which always wins out.

See, this morning, Albert Pujols signed to play with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, leaving behind the St. Louis Cardinals. It’s no secret that I don’t like the Cardinals. I never have.

But the reality is, Albert Pujols has been the face of that franchise. For his 11-year MLB career, it’s the only team he’s ever known. He’s hit 445 homer for that franchise. He’s been a cornerstone. And he’s been one of the best of this generation.

This year was his first true test of the free agent waters.

Over his 11 years with St. Louis, he’s made $104,040,436 (according to Baseball-Reference.com). Pujols was lured by many teams this off-season. The Miami (formerly Florida) Marlins and their hideous new uniforms offered a deal that reportedly could have been worth upwards of $300M over 10 years. The Cardinals were somewhere north of $200M, with a deal ranging from 9-10 years, depending where you read. Apparently the rival Cubs were also sniffing around.

Then came the Angels.

They floated around before spreading their wings and winning the battle with an offer of 10 years and somewhere around $250 or $260 million.

Pujols is going to be 32 years old when the season starts. He’s one of the greatest of this generation. He can hit, he can field and he does a lot of things. And it’s not like he’s not made money.

Even more — he’s a virtual God in St. Louis. So much so, that there’s a statue of him!

Now, he’s gone. He’s flying to a new league. A new team. And leaving behind what could have been one heck of a stories career with one franchise. Unfortunately, that’s the sports business. Take more and move on.

Hunter Pence, who I had the chance to cover in Oneonta when he played the Tigers when he was with the Astros farm club, posted on Twitter this afternoon:

If I’ve already made more than $100M in my career. And, the difference of $60M is the difference between $200M and $260M? AND if I choose the statue and team I’ve known for my entire career?

I choose loyalty.

But I’m also not Albert Pujols. One reason this is good for him is so when he gets to the back end of this contract, he can DH in the American League. It might keep him fresher and good for longer.

But loyalty speaks a ton in my mind. To know I could look at my career and see but one team on that list — I would be more than willing to keep the statue and leave the $60M on the table.

After all, that would still mean I’ve made more than $300M in my career.

How much is too much?

That brings me to the point of this post. Jimmy Rollins.

Rollins, as many of you know, is the long-time shortstop for the Phillies. His face has been the centerpiece of this franchise for many years. Drafted in 1996 by the Phils, his entire 12-year MLB career has been spent manning shortstop for the Phils. He won the MVP in 2007 and help the Phillies win their second World Series in franchise history in 2008.

And through it all, he’s been a Phillie.

His last contract was extremely team-friendly. He showed some loyalty. And he wants it in return now that he’s a free agent at age 33 (which he just turned).

To be fair, the past few years he hasn’t been Jimmy of old. He’s had some injuries. His numbers aren’t where they used to be. But he’s still one of the top defensive shortstops in the game and when he’s on, the team goes as he goes. He is a Philadelphia Phillie.

Rollins wants a 5-year deal. Even I realize that a deal like that might be hard to stomach. Not getting it doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t still be here in five years. But, it locks them into a high-range of pay for that time period. The Phillies seem to want to offer him three years at a pretty decent pay raise.

According to Baseball-Reference, Rollins has made $53,780,000 during his career. No matter what, for the next 3-4 years, he’ll be looking at a good chunk of change. Probably upward of $11-14M per year, if the contract works well enough.

But he wants five years.

That has made it difficult for the Phillies to get him signed quickly. Although the front office brass has said over and over that signing Rollins is a priority, it’s been slow going.

This week at the winter meetings, several things came out. The Brewers were in on him. It sounded like a two-team race. Then it was reported Rollins and the Phillies had agreed to terms of a contract.

But hold that thought…

No terms were agreed to, but it was getting close. Or, maybe not.

This morning on Twitter, Shane Victorino sent out a congrats to Pujols and offered something else:

Soon after, Rollins replied:

Rollins and Pujols share the same agent, so it makes sense that Rollins was kind of waiting while the agent worked on Pujols, who is, by far, the catch of the off-season.

But now that Pujols is signed…

See, the Cardinals have some money they can spend. And they need a shortstop. Does Jimmy Rollins go? Do the Cardinals offer him what he seeks? Earlier in the off-season, some reports showed Cardinals people saying there isn’t a match there.

And, in the end, what does Rollins want?

I know, personally, if he shows up in another uniform next year, it will make me ill. It’s my hope that somehow, the Phillies and Rollins come to an agreement and find middle ground to agree upon. The reality is, Rollins means more to this franchise than he could to another — and vice versa. Rollins is the Jeter of Philly. The Yanks and Jeter finally found a way to get it done last year.

Hopefully the same can be done here.

Because in this day and age, it really is refreshing to see someone stay with a team for their career. In this economy, too, it’s hard for us common Joes to realize fighting over a few extra million. With so many people unemployed in this economy, it’s even harder to cheer for someone who makes a ton of money if they can’t show loyalty as well.

Truthfully, in the end, how much money really is too much?

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Baseball = Best. Sport. Ever.

The postseason is here! Let's go Phillies!

I love baseball.

For those who know me, that statement probably isn’t shocking.

But for those of you who doubt just how amazing baseball is, you obviously didn’t watch the last night of the regular season last night. What a night for baseball. So many games that meant something. The Braves trying to beat the Phillies to stay in the National League wild-card race. The Cardinals looking to beat the Astros to also stay in the wild-card chase.

In the American League, you had the Red Sox looking to not have an epic collapse and playing the Orioles hoping for the wild card in the American League. And the Rays were playing the Yankees, also hoping to stay in the wild-card chase.

Even beyond the big four games, there was still excitement as the Brewers/Diamondbacks and Tigers/Rangers were playing in games that would decide the second seed in each league, thus claiming home-field advantage for one of those teams. There were four more games that meant something.

Wow!

Further, the Red Sox and Braves were each looking to avoid epic collapses. Boston led the AL wild-card race by nine games on Sept. 1 and, on that same date, the Braves were up in the NL wild card by 8 1/2 games.

Yikes!

With the beauty of the MLB package on the computer, games all over on TV and everything else, I kept up the best I could. But what a night! Twitter. Facebook. Instant messaging. Everything.

I’ve never had that much fun bouncing around to games in any other sport. And outside of wanting the Phillies to win their 102nd game, I had nothing vested in the games going on.

Because, to be truthful, the Phillies had no chance to play the Braves in the first round of the playoffs, so if they got the Cardinals, Diamondbacks or Brewers — none of them were going to be easy!

Personally, I was hoping for play-in games today. Oh well.

Anyway, back to the games.

The Braves were swept away in this series and had a lead on the Phils. Alas, they couldn’t hold it as their vaunted bullpen got very shaky. The score was tied, 3-3, after nine and the Phils won in 13 innings.

The Braves knew they had to win. The Cardinals had thumped the Astros, 8-0, and had ended quite a bit earlier, despite starting an hour later.

It’s not as if Atlanta didn’t have chances. Michael Bourn, who led baseball in stolen bases, was thrown out trying to swipe third. He was safe at first, but the tag was held on him and he came off the bag and was out.

The Braves also had Dan Uggla get hosed at home when Hunter Pence through a pea to the plate to get him. (Good throw, let’s go eat!)

The Phils finished the regular season with a team-record 102 wins. Now the eye is on the big prize -- a World Series championship.

With all the changes and attempts to win, the Philles got into position to win in the 13th. With runners at the corners and two outs, the Braves chose to pitch to Pence. He nubbed one through the right side to score the go-ahead run. (Good hit, let’s go eat!)

Why pitch to Pence with Michael Martinez on deck? We’ll never know.

Then, David Herndon came on and somehow got the save, eliminating the Braves. The camera shots of Atlanta in the dugout were priceless. Crazy.

My favorite was a post-game interview with Uggla, who noted that “it wasn’t in the cards for them.” I’m sure he never meant it that way, but it’s funny he used that phrase.

Switch over to the American League (which I was trying to watch during the Phillies game with picture-in-picture on the TV). The Red Sox had opened a 3-2 lead and seemed to have settled into a good roll. They got into a rain delay that lasted more than an hour though.

The Rays looks dead on arrival as they got down, 7-0.

And then it happened.

The Rays scored six in the eighth, highlighted by a three-run home run by Evan Longoria.

That all came after the cameras showed many Rays fans leaving in the seventh. Reason 124,357 why you NEVER leave a baseball game.

Then, with two outs and two strikes on pinch-hitter Dan Johnson, he poked a home run down the right-field line, tying it up.

Free baseball!

Meanwhile, in Baltimore, the Orioles and Red Sox slowly battled to an end. It ended with a blown save and loss to Jonathan Papelbon. He gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, Nolan Reimold hit a double to score Kyle Hudson and tie it at 3.

After a coaching visit to the mound, Robert Andino singled to lead, scoring Reimold. The hit sunk fast and Carl Crawford slid to weakly attempt the grab. It bounced once and his throw home wasn’t on target. I wonder if he would have had a better chance if he let it drop and took a chance that way? The Orioles might have held Reimold. Who knows.

The Red Sox had some really bad running in the game as Marco Scutaro was thrown out at the plate and David Ortiz was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single to a double. Silly.

Three minutes later…

Longoria came up with one out in the bottom of the 12th and faced Scott Proctor.

On the sixth pitch, with a 2-2 count, Longoria hit a line-drive home run to left field, giving the Rays an 8-7 victory, a remarkable comeback (in the standings and in the game) and eliminated the Red Sox. Just like that.

It really was an incredible night in sports.

Better than any other sport.

One quick point — this is a good reason why baseball doesn’t need to add any more wild cards. If there were one or two more per league, these games wouldn’t have meant anything and, for the most part, most of September wouldn’t have meant anything. Leave things alone. One wild card is fine. It’s not worth messing things up. The game is fine, let it be.

This place should be rocking when the Cardinals visit the Phillies on Saturday!

Back to Wednesday night — if this is a preview of the playoffs, we’re in for a wild ride.

In the end, the Phillies won game No. 102, setting a franchise record. Charlie Manuel won his 646th game to become the winningest manager in team history. All that is nice. But the as Charlie said after the game — it’s nice, but there’s still work to do. The goal is a World Series championship.

Now it’s time for the Phils to shift it into gear. Eleven wins, boys, for a chance to have a parade down Broad Street again. It’s time for the aces to show why they are there. Get it done!

In the end, instead of trying to dig up my best Jack Buck, I’ll just allow you to hit play and hear his call when Kirk Gibson hit his memorable home run in the World Series. This pretty much sums up how I felt watching everything unfold tonight …


Image of Jack Buck don’t believe what I just saw!

***

Reminder! Contest going on! I am holding a contests this week. It runs from Sept. 25- to 12:01 a.m. Oct. 2. You can see all the details on the contest post. Enter for your chance to win!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!