Photos: Twittered Baseball Roadtrip #5: 2009 Atlantic League Playoffs

Atlantic League Freedom Division Championship Series: Newark vs. Somerset, Games 1 and 2 at TD Bank Ballpark, Bridgewater, NJ. For more photo, visit:

http://bit.ly/906a4G

Atlantic League Freedom Division Championship Series: Somerset vs. Newark, Game 3 at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, Newark, NJ. For more photo, visit:

http://bit.ly/dx1tic

Atlantic League Championship Series: Southern Maryland Blue Crabs vs Somerset Patriots, Games 1 and 2 at TD Bank Ballpark, Bridgewater, NJ. For more photo, visit:

http://bit.ly/a5OiJ0

Twittered Baseball Roadtrip #5: 2009 Atlantic League Playoffs

Date: September 24, 2009 through October 4, 2009

Primary Destinations: Day trips to Bridgewater, NJ and Newark, NJ

Twitter Address: http://twitter.com/Wtriebel

Games Attended and Tweeted on Twitter Marked with an *:

Freedom Division Championship Series

Game 1*: Newark Bears vs. Somerset Patriots, Sept. 24^th, 7:05PM, TD Bank Ballpark, Bridgewater, NJ

Game 2*: Newark Bears vs. Somerset Patriots, Sept. 25^th, 7:05PM, TD Bank Ballpark, Bridgewater, NJ

Game 3*: Somerset Patriots vs. Newark Bears, Sept. 26^th, 7:05PM, Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, Newark, NJ

Game 4: . Somerset Patriots vs. Newark Bears, Sept 27^th, 1:05PM, Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, Newark, NJ

Atlantic League Championship Series

Game 1*: Southern Maryland Blue Crabs vs. Somerset Patriots, Oct. 1^st, 7:05AM, TD Bank Ballpark, Bridgewater, NJ

Game 2*: Southern Maryland Blue Crabs vs. Somerset Patriots, Oct. 2^nd, 7:05AM, TD Bank Ballpark, Bridgewater, NJ

Game 3: Somerset Patriots vs. Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, Oct. 3^rd, 6:35PM at Regency Furniture Stadium, Waldorf, MD

Game 4: Somerset Patriots vs. Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, Oct. 4^th, 2:05PM at Regency Furniture Stadium, Waldorf, MD

Summary:

This is the second consecutive Twittered Roadtrip to see play of Atlantic League baseball teams. Differing from the last trip, this roadtrip follows play of the leagues 2009 playoffs series. The eight teams of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball are partitioned into two, four team divisions: the Freedom Division and the Liberty Division. The leagues 140 game regular season is split into two 70 game half seasons and the winners of 1^st half and 2^nd half of the season meet in the post season to determine division champion. The winners of the Division Championship Series play each other in an Atlantic League Championship Series.

The first part of the roadtrip attends games of the Freedom Division Championship Series, which is a best-of-five series of games between the Newark Bears and the Somerset Patriots. Actually, the Somerset Patriots won both the first half and second half seasons. Because of this, the leagues playoff rules state that their opponent in the divisional playoff is a “Wild Card” team. The team chosen as the Wild Card representative is the one with the next best full season Won/Loss record. The Newark Bears, with a 2009 full season record of 74W and 66L, qualified as the wild card team for the Freedom Division.

The Freedom Division Championship Series lasted 4 games and was won by the Patriots, managed by major league relief pitcher and 1977 Cy Young award recipient Sparky Lyle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparky_Lyle). The manager of the losing Newark Bears is Tim Raines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Raines), 7 times All-Star and member of the New York Yankees 1996 and 1998 World Series Champion teams. .

I was only able to attend and tweet: travel details, pregame information, in-game play, and post game results for the first three of these games. To attend these games, I made two day trips from my home in Wayne, NJ to the Patriots home stadium, TD Bank Ballpark, Bridgewater, NJ and one to the Bears ballpark, Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, Newark, NJ. I also tweeted post game results for Game 4, the one that I did not attend.

Summary of Freedom Division Series Results: Somerset wins 3 games to 1

Game 1: 9/24/2009

Newark

0 R 2 H 3 E

LP: Williamson

HR: None

Somerset

2 R 3 H 0 E

WP: Magrane, SV: Minix

HR: None

Game 2: 9/25/2009

Newark

0 R 4 H 1 E

LP: Hess

HR: None

Somerset

5 R 3 H 0 E

WP: Kirsten

HR: None

Game 3: 9/26/2009

Somerset

12 R 11 H 1 E

LP: Prinz

HR: Hagen, Ayala

Newark

13 R 17 H 1 E

WP: Thorpe

HR: Jimerson

Game 4: 9/27/2009

Somerset

8 R 9 H 1 E

WP: Adams

HR: Smith

Newark

3 R 9 H 3 E

LP: Santos

HR: Otanez, Hernandez

During the second part of the roadtrip, I attended games of the Atlantic League Championship Series between the Freedom Division Champion Somerset Patriots and the Liberty Division Champion Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. This round of the playoffs is also a best-of-five series with the first two games schedule at the Patriots home stadium in NJ and the last three at the Blue Crabs home, Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, MD. The Blue Crabs are managed by former Boston Red Sox third baseman (1975-1980) and manager (1992-1994) Butch Hobson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butch_Hobson).

I only attended and tweeted updates for the two NJ games of the Atlantic League Championship Series. The Patriots and Blue Crabs split these games 1 to 1, but Somerset became the league champions for the 5^th time by winning the next two games played in Maryland. I posted game results for Games 3 and 4 on Twitter.

Summary of Atlantic League Championship Series Results: Somerset wins 3 games to1

Game 1: 10/1/2009

Southern Maryland

2 R 5 H 3 E

LP: Grube

HR: None

Somerset

8 R 9 H 0 E

WP: Magrane

HR: None

Game 2: 10/2/2009

Southern Maryland

10 R 12 H 1 E

WP: James

HR: Ramistella, Shanks, Nicolas

Somerset

4 R 7 H 1 E

LP: Kirsten

HR: Nettles

Game 3: 10/3/2009

Somerset

8 R 11 H 2 E

WP: Miller, SV: Minix

HR: Nettles, Anderson

Southern Maryland

6 R 16 H 1 E

LP: Estrada

HR: None

Game 4: 10/4/2009

Somerset

11 R 12 H 0 E

WP: Standridge

HR: Nettles

Southern Maryland

1 R 5 H 2 E

LP: Halama

HR: None

The Atlantic League is a very interesting Independent Baseball League. Its team’s rosters typically include players with extensive major league experience. In fact, this years overall Newark Bears team roster included over forty former major league players. Of these, contracts of fourteen players, including former Yankee Shawn Chacon and former Met Armando Benitez, were purchased by affiliates of major league baseball teams. Some of the major leaguers I saw participating in the Atlantic League 2009 playoff games I saw are the following:

Somerset Patriots:

• Bret Prinz, Pitcher: pitched in over 100 games during seven seasons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bret_Prinz

• Jason Standridge, Pitcher: sparts of 7 seasons at the major league level. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Standridge

• Jeff Nettles, 3^rd base: played shortstop for the New York Yankees Triple-A affiliate Columbus Clippers during our 2001 “Eastern Loop of the Midwest” baseball roadtrip. http://www.somersetpatriots.com/roster/players/index.html?player_id=138

Newark Bears:

• Carl Everett, Outfilder/DH: drafted by Yankees, played three seasons with Mets, selected twice to the American League All-Star team, and member of the 2005 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox team. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Everett

• D’Angelo Jimenez, Shortstop: Debuted for the New York Yankees in 1999. Major league batting average over .260 and with 225 RBIs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Angelo_Jim%C3%A9nez

• Ramiro Mendoza, Pitcher: 54-40 career win/loss record with the Yankees and Red Sox. Four time World Series Champion with the New York Yankees. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramiro_Mendoza

• Scott Williamson, Pitcher: Rookie of the Year with Cincinnati Reds and National League All-Star in 1999. Member of Boston Red Sox World Series Championship team in 2004. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Williamson

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs:

• John Halama, Pitcher: 56W 48L major league record over a nine major league seasons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Halama

• Michael Tucker, Outfielder/DH: Eleven major league season with over 100 home runs and 500 RBIs at the major league level. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Tucker_(baseball)

Twitter Roadtrip Information:

Total number of Tweets: 218

Freedom Division Championship Series:

Number of tweets: 128

Time/Date of 1^st Tweet: 9:02 AM Sep 23rd

Time/Date of 128^th Tweet: l1:16 AM Sep 29th

Atlantic League Championship Series:

Number of tweets: 91

Time/Date of 129^st Tweet: 1:20 AM Sep 29th

Time/Date of 218^th Tweet: 10:58 AM Oct 5th

Roadtrip Planning Resources

The following are the web resources used for planning this "Atlantic League" baseball roadtrip. Official Website of the Atlantic Baseball League: http://www.atlanticleague.com Official Websites of the Teams Somerset Patriots: http://www.somersetpatriots.com/ Newark Bears: http://www.newarkbears.com/ Southern Maryland Blue Crabs: http://www.somdbluecrabs.com

Photos: Traditional Baseball Roadtrip #2: California Coast MLB Roadtrip

For more photos from San Francisco, visit:
http://bit.ly/bNSlRR

For more photos from Los Angeles, visit:
http://bit.ly/bvDtgh

For more photos from San Diego, visit:
http://bit.ly/9u5Tp1

For more photos from Anaheim, visit:
http://bit.ly/bnUIke

Traditional Baseball Roadtrip #5: Mid-Atlantic States-Part 2: The Washington-Pittsburgh Long Weekend

Date: May 9, 2008 through May 11, 2008
Primary Destinations: MLB Cities of Washington and Pittsburgh

Games Attended:
Game 1: Florida Marlins vs. Washington Nationals, May 9th, 7:35PM EDT, Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
Game 2: Atlanta Braves vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, May 10th, 7:05PM EDT, PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
Game 3: Atlanta Braves vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, May 11th, 1:35PM EDT, PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Roadtrip Summary:

Our first Mid-Atlantic States roadtrip took us to see the Washington Nationals at their old home stadium, RFK Memorial Park, and the Philadelphia Phillies at their new stadium Citizens Bank Park. For this baseball trip, we decided to return to Washington D.C. to see the Nationals play at their new stadium Nationals Park and then travel back to Philadelphia to catch a flight to Pittsburgh to attend Pirates games. We planned two games in Pittsburgh because it is the only Mid-Atlantic States team location that is quite a long drive for us and we did not anticipate returning. I have titled this three game road trip the “Mid-Atlantic States-Part 2: The Washington-Pittsburgh Long Weekend.”

My brother Bob and I chose the Philadelphia departure for our flight to Pittsburgh because of the opportunity to get a lower price airfare and so that our drive upon return would be shorter. Philadelphia is located on our route between Northern New Jersey and Washington, D.C. Our drive home from Philadelphia (upon return from Pittsburg) was about one-half the distance as compared with Baltimore/Washington International Airport. After this trip was complete, we had seen all of the Major League Baseball teams located in the Mid-Atlantic Region play at their home stadiums, except the Baltimore Orioles.

After the National’s game, we traveled back about two-thirds of the way to the airport in Philadelphia and stayed over night at a town in Maryland that left us only a short trip in the morning to the airport. Our early morning flight got us to Pittsburgh by mid-morning. Convenient public transportation-the Airport Flyer (Route28X) Bus Service-is available from the airport to downtown Pittsburgh. We chose to stay at the Hilton Hotel, which is located just a short walk from PNC Park.

This was a pure baseball roadtrip with no additional time spent in Washington or Philadelphia and in Pittsburgh. Our non-baseball activities were limited to eating at restaurants and sight seeing around the stadium. We found PNC Park to be a very interesting stadium with an attractive setting on the north bank of the Allegheny River. The views from behind home plate and the third base line overlook the skyline of the city and the river

The Roberto Clemente Bridge that crosses the Allegheny River to the stadium entrance was closed to traffic prior to game time and turned the area into a pedestrian mall for fans to congregate before the game. Around the stadium, there are a number of statues for Pirate greats, such as Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell. An outdoor museum (within the stadium) offers information on other Pirate stars and all time favorites, including Bill Mazeroski and Andy Van Slyke.

Pittsburgh is famous for being located at the confluence of three great rivers: the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. The city of Pittsburgh sits between the south shore of the Allegheny River and Northern shore of the Monongahela Rivers at the spot where they flow together to form the Ohio River. From either Point State Park, which is within walking distance of the PNC Park, or Mt. Washington, which on located on the south shore of the Ohio River, you can view the creation of the Ohio River from the joining of these two tributaries.

Listed in the “Suggestions for Additional Roadtrip Attractions” are a number of interesting sites and attractions in the city of Pittsburgh. Finally, a number of other baseball teams that are conveniently located on the route between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. are identified in the section titled “Some Suggested Alternatives” and websites links for them are given in the “Roadtrip Planning Resources” section. This information may be used to add a vacation flavor to the baseball roadtrip or extend the duration of the trip by seeing more games.

MLB Final Scores and Box Scores

Game 1: Final Score: FLA 5 WSN 4 Box Score:

:http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WAS/WAS200805110.shtml

Game 2: Final Score: PIT 5 ATL 2 Box Score

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT200805100.shtml

Game 3: Final Score: ATL 0 PIT 0 Rain out

Travel Method, Route, and Distances:

May 9th

• Drive: 236 mi to Washington D.C.
• Drive: 100 mi to town in northern Maryland

May 10th

• Drive: 29 mi to Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA
• Fly: Philadelphia International Airport to Pittsburgh International Airport, Pittsburgh, PA
• Bus: Airport Flyer (Route 28X) $2.75 fare airport to downtown
  

May 11th

• Bus: Airport Flyer (Route 28X) $2.75 fare downtown to airport
• Fly: Pittsburgh International Airport, Pittsburgh, PA to Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA
• Drive: 107 mi to Wayne, NJ
  

Approx. Total Drive Miles: 472 mi

En-route Attractions Visited:

• None

Suggestions for Additional Roadtrip Attractions:

1. Guide for Self-Guided Walking Tour of Downtown Pittsburgh http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06121/689535-37.stm
   
2. The Strip District, Pittsburgh, PA http://www.neighborsinthestrip.com/thestrip/thestrip.html (a) Primanti Brothers Restaurant, 46 18th St. Pittsburgh, PA 15222 http://www.primantibrothers.com/ (b) DeLuca’s Restaurant, 2015 Penn Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15222 http://www.allmenus.com/pa/pittsburgh/275793-delucas-restaurant/menu/
3. Brew Pubs and Microbreweries of Pittsburgh http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/beer/tp/microbreweries.htm
4. Point State Park: View the Confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/Parks/point.aspx
5. Mt. Washington Overlook and Inclines http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/neighborhoods/p/mt_washington.htm (a) Duquesne Incline http://incline.pghfree.net/, http://www.portauthority.org/PAAC/CustomerInfo/Inclines/tabid/119/Default.aspx (b) Monangahela Incline http://www.portauthority.org/PAAC/CustomerInfo/Inclines/tabid/119/Default.aspx
6. Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Cruise aboard the Gateway Clipper Fleet’s Riverboat http://www.gatewayclipper.com/cruises.asp
7. Guided Tour of PNC Park Home of the Pittsburgh Pirates http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/pit/ballpark/tours.jsp
8. Walk up Guided Tour of Heinz Stadium Home the Pittsburgh Steelers http://www.steelers.com/tickets-and-stadium/heinz-stadium-tours.html
9. Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/sportsMuseum.aspx
10. The National Aviary http://www.aviary.org/noflash.html
11. The Andy Warhol Museum http://www.warhol.org/
12. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens http://phipps.conservatory.org/

Roadtrip Planning Tips:

1. Attend two games at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The stadium is very interesting and offers very nice views of the Pittsburgh Skyline and Allegheny River.
   
2. If possible, do not have a car while staying in Pittsburgh. A convenient public bus service, the Airport Flyer (Route28X), is available for airport to downtown transportation. http://www.portauthority.org/PAAC/tabid/241/default.aspx
3. Stay in downtown Pittsburgh at a hotel that is walking distance of PNC Park.
   

Some Suggested Alternatives:

1. Expand the duration of the roadtrip by adding one or more extra days with an overnight stay and see additional baseball games by teams that play in towns/cities on the route between Washington D.C. and Philadelphia.
2. See a home game played by either the Philadelphia Phillies or Baltimore Orioles.
3. Attend a game at a stadium of an Affiliated Minor League Team. Two teams conveniently located just off this route are: (a) Wilmington Blue Rocks, Frawley Stadium, Wilmington, DE, Carolina League, Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals (b) Aberdeen IronBirds, Ripken Stadium, Aberdeen, MD, New York-Penn League, Class A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles
4. Visit the home stadium and see a game played by an Independent Baseball League Team, such as the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, Regency Furniture Stadium, Waldorf-St. Charles, MD.
   

Roadtrip Planning Resources:

The following are the web resources used for planning “Mid-Atlantic States-Part 2: The Washington-Pittsburgh Long Weekend" MLB roadtrip:

Official Website of the Major League Baseball: http://mlb.mlb.com

• Click on “Team Sites” and then click on the appropriate AL or NL home team, for instance, “Pittsburgh Pirates” to get to a specific team’s website.
• On the specific team’s website click on “Schedule” and view the “Regular Season” schedule.
• Link to View Addresses of the Stadiums for each MLB Teams: http://mlb.mlb.com/team/

  
  

Official Website of the Carolina League:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/schedule/index.jsp?sid=l122

• Click on one of the “Logos” listed across the top to choose a team in the league, for instance, “Wilmington Blue Rocks” to get to their specific website.
• On the specific team’s website click on “Schedule” and view the “Regular Season” schedule.
• Click on “Ballpark Info” to view information about the home stadium.
• Determine the name of the stadium.
• Identify the address of the stadium (if the address is not given Google the name of the stadium).
  

Official Website of the New York-Penn League:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/schedule/index.jsp?sid=l127

• Select the appropriate team to transfer to its website, for instance, the “Aberdeen Ironbirds.”
• View the home games on the season schedule.
• Identify the name of the stadium and its address.

Official Website of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs: http://www.somdbluecrabs.com/index.cfm