Portland
was the third stop on what I hope will become an annual event--the Paul and
Michelle July 4th weekend trip to minor league ballparks. It's possible we
won't be able to afford to go to new stadiums every year, as by the end
of this year, I'll have all of the Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia
stadiums crossed off my list. But who can come up with a better July 4th
tradition than baseball...minor league baseball? It's American,
kids and adults
And we could certainly do
worse than to visit Portland again. I was extremely impressed with the
setting of the ballpark. Field level is significantly below street level,
so from throughout the stadium, when any fan looks out past left field, it's The MAXX trains and the Beaver
mascot are only a tiny part of what gives this fine ballpark local color.
A good chunk of that local color is supplied by Timber Jim, the de facto human
mascot for the Beavers and A-League soccer's Portland Timbers. Timber Jim
is a bona-fide lumberjack. If you don't believe me, just check out how he
clambers up the giant log/pole
Speaking of detracting from
the game, this is the first game since my early youth where I have done the wave
during the game. I know, I know, disappointing. But I think you'll
understand when I say why. I attended this game with Michelle the
Girlfriend and a whole gaggle of her college buddies (and their spouses and
kids). They don't know me terribly well yet, so as they did the wave, I
was explaining to them that "I don't do the wave." Matt, one of
Michelle's best friends, was trying to talk me into doing the wave. I, of
course, remained adamant. Michelle knows how passionate I am about the
wave. But she made a tragic mistake. She cavalierly--and, as she
soon The other thing I'll remember from this game, besides forever losing Michelle's trust in my integrity, was teaching a woman in the group to score. She was given a scorebook for a recent birthday, and it was suggested that I help her through the game. No problem...it's very nice to help somebody out, and I love both scoring and teaching. But my...it wasn't scoring this woman didn't understand, it was baseball. Case in point: after a double play, I started to explain to her where to mark each of the outs. "Here's how you mark the
double play," I told her. She gave me a blank look, so I
continued: "A double play. That was a double play."
Still nothing. Finally, both confused and astonished, she responded: "They can do that????" It's not so much my efforts to teach her how to score that interest me...it's the whole notion of the situation that I'm interested in. Why would somebody who didn't understand baseball happily receive a scorebook as a gift? To be honest, even though she wasn't yet a proficient scorer at the end of the day, I admired her a good deal. I sure wouldn't try to score cricket or bridge. At this writing, it looks like the Montreal Expos have next to no chance of moving to Portland. I admit I wish they would--not so much for the possibility of a new NL team down the road in a new stadium, but because it'd be fun to see major league baseball in this cozy, interesting venue. No sweat: I'll have to settle for the quite pleasant alternative of a few minor league trips down I-5 to catch the Beavers at the very enjoyable PGE Park, where I'll sit with Michelle and not do the wave. Unless somebody meets my price. UPDATE JULY 2006: On a hot June afternoon at PGE Park, I had the pleasure of encountering Cass Sapir, who is doing something singularly wonderful. He is going to 180 ballparks in 180 days...driving them. I must admit, there's a part of me that finds that appealing (about 40%), although there's a part of me that finds it insane (about 60%). But Cass isn't just hanging out and watching the ballgame. He's hitting the aisles in each ballpark selling raffle tickets to raise money for the Jimmy Fund (a group fighting childhood cancer). What a good guy...he's working his tail off and sacrificing baseball viewing to help out kids.
He's got a website. Go there. Enjoy. Donate.
BALLPARK SCORE:
BASEBALL STUFF I'VE SEEN HERE: A pitchers' duel. Portland's Chris Oxspring (who really should have been a mattress salesman...excuse me, I mean an attress salesman) gets the best of it, pitching seven innings of four-hit ball. Edmonton's Josh Karp is the hard-luck loser, pitching very well besides a three-run homer to the Beavers' Jon Knott. Portland's Mike Thompson takes a no-hitter into the sixth in a marvelous pitchers' duel with Tucson's Shawn Estes (on a rehab assignment). He loses it on a solo home run by Keoni De Renne, and three runs in the ninth seal it for Tucson. In 2007, Royce Huffman has a killer Father's Day afternoon against Salt Lake, going 4-for-4 with a double, a home run, 3 RBIs, and a stolen base. Next stadium (chronologically) Back to minor league stadiums page Written July 2004. Updated July 2007. |
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love it, and you get to see a fireworks show safer than what
your crazy Uncle John puts together with marginally-legal explosives he spirits
in over the state line. If you do the weekend right and are willing to
drive a little, you can get two fireworks shows (
easy to see city life go by. Portland's light-rail MAXX train goes past
the fence out there, and better still, people who want to watch the game for
free can do so easily by walking up to the fence between the sidewalk and the
left-field pavilion. It's not that bad a view, actually, as these pictures
should show.
beyond the right-center field wall and watches
several innings of the game from there. Also, check out how he repels down
from a beam to dangle in front of fans and lead cheers from midair. He's
an excellent asset to the team--not really detracting from the game, but very
much adding to the experience.
learned, too hastily--said to Matt: "I'll give you a hundred
dollars if you get him to do the wave." Matt didn't miss a beat
before he turned to me: "Paul, I'll give you fifty bucks if you do
the wave." Hey, we all have our price--fifty bucks is significant
money to a teacher--and it's not like doing the wave is a crime. So when
the wave rolled by next time, I stood up, shouted, and did the best wave I've
ever done. Alas, Michelle was very disappointed in my lack of
morals. I hope I didn't cause long-term damage to the relationship.
How much money would YOU take for doing the wave once? I bet it's less
than fifty bucks. Fifty bucks which, by the way, both Matt and I are still
waiting for. Michelle--hurry up. We're charging interest.
"They got both the runner and batter out."
Now she's looking a little panicked behind her cluelessness. "You
know, a double play. Two outs on one play."
