The Return of Playoff Baseball

My home in Pawtucket.[/caption]Today was every bit the lazy day I expected it to be. I mean, based on my limited research, it didn’t look like there was an abundance of things to do in Pawtucket. But I was okay with that. My morning officially started by taking advantage of the continental breakfast offered at the hotel. The selection was what you would expect from a Quality Inn continental breakfast and so I did what I could to get the most value from it.

With breakfast taken care of, I returned to my room where I managed to get some work done on the computer and some route planning for my upcoming rides. I went out for a bit in the afternoon – pretty much to confirm that there wasn’t much to see or do. This included cycling over to McCoy Stadium to buy my ticket for tonight’s game. I wasn’t anticipating a sellout so getting my ticket in advance wasn’t necessary but I just wanted to check out the stadium.

The pleasant surprise of the day came when I discovered that Pawtucket has a Wendy’s – and therefore a chocolate Frosty soon made its way onto the day’s sparse agenda.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty leisurely as I put in time before the game. First pitch was scheduled for 7:05pm. I decided to walk over to the stadium as it was only 1.6 km away. I was actually expecting a bit bigger crowd than they had considering it was playoff baseball and the second last home game of the season. That said, I absolutely love the atmosphere of minor league baseball. By 6:50pm, I had taken my seat in the second row above the visitor’s dugout. I say “above” the dugout because, unlike many other stadiums, there are actually seats on top of the dugouts.

With tonight’s game being the first game of the championship series, all the players were introduced and lined up along their respective baselines. The national anthem was next, followed by the area little league champions making the announcement to get the game started, “Play ball!”.

I have to say I got chills (in a good way) when the players took the field with John Fogerty’s Centerfield echoing through the stadium. I felt like I was watching a live version of Bull Durham – especially since Pawtucket’s opponent in this series is the Durham Bulls.

The game itself was a low-scoring affair with the home team managing to hold on for 3-2 win. It was a very nice night for a ballgame even though it did start to feel cool later in the evening. Generally speaking it was a well played game although, despite the low score, it still took nearly three hours to play. But it was a good three hours and I’m definitely glad that I took the time to stop in Pawtucket. Too bad the season will be over by the time I get down to Durham.