Both the Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones have at least one "camp day" a season, both teams are in the "short-season A" Penn-NY league, the season starting in June (after draft picks have been signed or not signed) and ending in September. These "camp day" games start at 11 AM, convenient for not only campers but those of us who have to pick up children from daycare. We missed the Cyclones game (it was on a brutally hot day) this year but went to see the Staten Island Yankees on Aug. 13. Getting there is a pleasurable trip: the subway to the pleasant Staten Island Ferry ride to the short walk to the stadium. We asked for seats in the shade and got them, with a beautiful view of the field from the third-base side, as well as the lovely view of the blue sky and the bay, with large and small ships passing by. The game was well-played, with only two errors, though the Yankees were obviously slightly less skilled than their opponents, the league-leading Williamsport Crosscutters. The skill level was relatively high, overall, though I am happy to say there were no homeruns hit (readers of this blog know I do not like homeruns and would rather they be considered outs, or at least the equivalent of foul balls), with the Crosscutters better at advancing runners and stealing bases, winning 7-4.
Especially because this was camp day I did not mind the entertainment between innings, sack races and so on, and the musically-challenged cheerleaders. What I and my companions, Susan and Gideon, did not like was the constant playing of loud music, mostly hip-hop. I like to discuss the game between innings but this becomes impossible without trying to shout over the music. One can't even discuss the game between batters during an inning because even then music is blasting! My own take on this is that more and more people are made uncomfortable by silence and that there are many people at ballparks who know little about the subtleties of the game. For this I partly blame steroids and the celebration of the homerun; even now highlights of the game emphasize easily understood homeruns over sacrifice bunts, stolen bases, and hit-and-run plays (all nearly extinct at this point) and hitting for average. I always keep score at a game, but these days I see few others who are doing so. I am thankful that at least one does not hear the radio broadcast of games these days at stadiums, at least not since the invention of the Walkman. I remember going to games at Dodger Stadium in the 80's when at least every other person had Vin Scully on their loud boom box (I know, at least it wasn't John Sterling!).
All in all, however, it was a gorgeous day to see a ball game, watching the white ball against the green grass and the blue sky. Food and water were much cheaper than at major league parks and tickets were only $10 for good seats, even if one can't sit up high enough to somewhat escape the loudspeakers, as one can at Citifield. I wonder, incidentally, how many people who see the Staten Island Yankees know why the mascot is called Scooter the Holy Cow. Scooter was the nickname for great Yankee shortstop Phil Rizzuto, who played from 1941 to 1956 and was a Yankee announcer from 1957 to 1997 (he died in 2007 at the age of 89). One of his favorite phrases when announcing games was "holy cow."
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