The Frederick Keys
Last Friday night, my wife, Helaine, and my son ,Philip, and I went to see The Frederick Keys play the Kinston Indians. Kinston is in eastern North Carolina. That's Philip with "Keyote", the mascot of The Frederick Keys.
I know we have the major league Washington Nationals, but I've always enjoyed minor league baseball.
Maybe it's the effort that the teams make to entertain the fans. The Maryland Dairymaids were on hand giving out coupons for Cabot Cheese and holding a drawing for a bucket of dairy products. These were a bunch of young ladies, I'm guessing in their teens that have some affiliation to either 4H or dairy farming.
On the field there were contests featuring young children in between innings. I love the one where the kids put their foreheads on the bat while it's on the ground and have to circle it 7 times and then run back. There's nothing like watching dizzy elementary school kids trying to race.
And when the game was over, there was a 10 minute fireworks show. Apparently, they do the fireworks thing quite often.
I also met Craig Thompson. He's a Key's fan who was just having some dinner when I walked past him. I met Craig and his family. Nice people. Craig had an even bigger smile on his face a few moments later as he snagged a foul ball as a souvenir.
Another great thing about minor league stadiums is that they are tiny compared to the Major League fields. That means that almost every seat is a good one.
As for the game, the Keys jump out to a 6-1 lead after 6. The starter did a great job. The middle relief was weak because the 9th inning started with a 7-6 lead. So the "closer" comes in and fails to do his job. We go to the bottom of the 9th tied at 7. All the while, we're waiting for the fireworks.
Fortunately, the Keys score one in the bottom of the 9th and win 8-7. What really stinks about this is that the relief pitcher blows the save opportunity, but walks away with the win and the starter gets a no-decision. I never liked this rule.
Walking back to the car after the fireworks show, The Maryland Dairymaids were handing out packages of cheddar cheese. I realized that our family night out featured baseball, fireworks and free cheese. It just doesn't get any better than that.
I know we have the major league Washington Nationals, but I've always enjoyed minor league baseball.
Maybe it's the effort that the teams make to entertain the fans. The Maryland Dairymaids were on hand giving out coupons for Cabot Cheese and holding a drawing for a bucket of dairy products. These were a bunch of young ladies, I'm guessing in their teens that have some affiliation to either 4H or dairy farming.
On the field there were contests featuring young children in between innings. I love the one where the kids put their foreheads on the bat while it's on the ground and have to circle it 7 times and then run back. There's nothing like watching dizzy elementary school kids trying to race.
And when the game was over, there was a 10 minute fireworks show. Apparently, they do the fireworks thing quite often.
I also met Craig Thompson. He's a Key's fan who was just having some dinner when I walked past him. I met Craig and his family. Nice people. Craig had an even bigger smile on his face a few moments later as he snagged a foul ball as a souvenir.
Another great thing about minor league stadiums is that they are tiny compared to the Major League fields. That means that almost every seat is a good one.
As for the game, the Keys jump out to a 6-1 lead after 6. The starter did a great job. The middle relief was weak because the 9th inning started with a 7-6 lead. So the "closer" comes in and fails to do his job. We go to the bottom of the 9th tied at 7. All the while, we're waiting for the fireworks.
Fortunately, the Keys score one in the bottom of the 9th and win 8-7. What really stinks about this is that the relief pitcher blows the save opportunity, but walks away with the win and the starter gets a no-decision. I never liked this rule.
Walking back to the car after the fireworks show, The Maryland Dairymaids were handing out packages of cheddar cheese. I realized that our family night out featured baseball, fireworks and free cheese. It just doesn't get any better than that.
posted by Howard Bernstein, 9 Weather Now at
11:53 AM
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