Twittered Baseball Roadtrip #4: Atlantic League Two-City Doubleheader Roadtrip

Date: August 12, 2009
Primary Destination: Day trip to Bridgewater, NJ and Newark, NJ

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

Games Attended:

Game 1: Bridgeport Bluefish vs. Somerset Patriots, Aug 12th, 11:05AM, TD Bank Ballpark, Bridgewater, NJ

http://www.ballparkreviews.com/somerset/somerset.htm

http://www.minorleagueballparks.com/comm_nj.html

http://franksballparks.tripod.com/bears.html

Game 2: Lancaster Barnstormers vs. Newark Bears, Aug 12th, 7:05PM, Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, Newark, NJ

http://www.ballparkreviews.com/newarknj/newarknj.htm

http://www.digitalballparks.com/Atlantic/Newark.html

http://franksballparks.tripod.com/pats.html

http://www.minorleagueballparks.com/bear_nj.html

Summary:

The Atlantic League is an independent baseball league with eight teams located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States. All but the Maryland franchise are conveniently located to the metropolitan New York City area and three of the teams, the Somerset Patriots, Newark Bears, and Camden Riversharks, reside in New Jersey. Day trips are possible from the NYC area to attend games at the home stadium of all Atlantic League teams except the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.

I have called this baseball trip the “Atlantic League Two-City Doubleheader Roadtrip.” The trip was done in a single day during which I attended two games at different Atlantic League team locations. The first, a day game, was at the Somerset Patriots stadium TD Bank Ballpark (previously known as Commerce Bank Park) in Bridgewater, NJ and the second game was in the evening at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium in Newark, NJ, the home of the Newark Bears. The departure point for the trip was my home in Wayne, NJ.

Through these games, I saw the four Atlantic League teams identified above play and visited two of the eight stadiums used by the league’s teams. The other four teams in the league and the stadiums where they play are:

• Camden Riversharks, Campbell's Field, Camden, NJ
• Long Island Ducks, Citibank Park, Central Islip, NY
• York Revolution, Sovereign Bank Stadium, York, PA
• Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, Regency Furniture Stadium, Waldorf, MD
  

The stadium where the Bridgeport Bluefish and Lancaster Barnstormers play their home games are the Baseball Park at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, CT and Clipper Magazine Stadium, Lancaster, PA, respectively.

As part of the trip I used twitter to post travel information, such as the stadium addresses, travel distances, and travel times. For each game attended, I sent pregame tweets with the record of the teams, their current standing in the league, and the starting pitchers. This was followed by in-game reports giving the inning-by-inning score and highlights about how the runs were scored. After the game, post-game tweets gave the winning team and final score.

Upon return from the roadtrip, I suggested games and dates for several similar Two-City Doubleheader Roadtrips with tweets to twitter. One trip is to attend games at the home stadiums of the CanAm League’s NJ teams: the Sussex Skyhawks and New Jersey Jackals. The other recommended trip is a mixed League Two-City Doubleheader to attend a day game of the Newark Bears (Atlantic League) and offers three options for the evening game. The evening game can be a home game of the Trenton Thunder (Eastern League), Staten Island Yankees (New York-Penn League), or Lakewood BlueClaws (South Atlantic League). Each of these three destinations is close enough to Newark to permit attendance of two games in the same day.

Twitter Roadtrip Information:
Total number of tweets: 94
Time/Date of 1st Tweet: 12:26 AM Aug 10th
Time/Date of 131st Tweet: 2:49 PM Aug 13th

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

Current Standings of the Teams in the Atlantic League:
http://www.atlanticleague.com/scores-standings.php

Composite Game Schedules for the Atlantic League: http://www.atlanticleague.com/info-schedule.php

Official Websites of the Home Teams:

• Somerset Patriots: http://www.somersetpatriots.com/
• Newark Bears: http://www.newarkbears.com/
  

Home Team Game Schedules:

• Somerset Patriots: http://www.somersetpatriots.com/schedule/09calendar/
• Newark Bears: http://www.newarkbears.com/schedule/games/
  

Official Websites of the Visiting Teams:

• Bridgeport Bluefish: http://www.bridgeportbluefish.com/
• Lancaster Barnstormers: http://lancasterbarnstormers.com/index.cfm

Twittered Baseball Roadtrip #3: Yankee's Fan Minor League Baseball Roadtrip

Dates: July 17, 2009 through July 19, 2009
Primary Destination: Day trips to Trenton, NJ,
Staten Island, NY, and Moosic, PA

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

Games Attended:

Game 1: Portland Sea Dogs vs. Trenton Thunder, July 17th, 7:05PM, Waterfront Park, Trenton, NJ
Game 2: State College Spikes vs. Staten Island Yankees, July 18th, 7:05PM, Richmond Country Bank Park, Staten Island, NY
Game 3: Gwinnett Braves vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, July 19th, 5:05PM, PNC Field, Moosic, PA

Summary:

A number of the Major League Baseball teams have single-A, double-A, and triple-A minor league affiliate teams in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic States. Many of the New York-Penn, Eastern, and International League teams are conveniently located to the New York, Boston, and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. For this reason, it is possible for fans of some teams, such as the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies, to make day trips to see their minor league teams play at their home stadiums.

I have called this baseball excursion the “Yankee’s Fan Baseball Minor League Roadtrip.” This trip is planned to attend games at the following New York Yankee minor league affiliates:

• Staten Island Yankees, New York-Penn League, Short-season Single-A (A)
• Trenton Thunder, Eastern League, Double-A (AA)
• Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, International League, Triple-A (AAA)
  

Games of these three teams were attended on consecutive days from my home in Wayne, NJ as separate day trips. The drives to the stadiums ranged from approx. 1 hr to see a Staten Island Yankee game in Staten Island, NY to just over 2 hrs to Moosic, PA for the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees game.

To add a summer vacation theme to the roadtrip, I tweeted some family entertainment opportunities and other attractions in NJ and PA that could be used to fill out a day trip. For instance, I have suggested the Adventure Aquarium, Camden, NJ and CamelBeach Water Park at Camelback Mountain Ski Area in PA. These destinations may serve as a good en-route daytime activity to include with an evening Trenton Thunder or Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankee game, respectively.

Similar to the earlier Twittered Baseball Roadtrips, I have tweeted pregame information, such as the record and standing of the home and visiting teams in their league; in-game activity like the inning-by-inning score and highlights, and post-game results: winning team, final score, and winning/losing pitchers.

Along with this Twittered Baseball Roadtrip, I have tweeted recommendations for a Yankee Fan Minor League Roadtip at later dates. In addition, I planned and suggested how Mets, Red Sox, and Phillies fans could do a similar roadtrip to see their affiliated minor league teams. All three of these MLB teams have a minor league affiliate in both the International and Eastern Leagues, but only the Mets and Red Sox also have a team in the New York-Penn League. For example, the Red Sox minor league teams are:

• Pawtucket Red Sox: International League (AAA)
• Portland Sea Dogs: Eastern League (AA)
• Lowell Spinners: New York-Penn League (A)
  

This Red Sox Fan Roadtrip could potentially be done as a series of day trips from the Boston area. However, due to distances between the Mets affiliated minor league teams from the metropolitan New York City area, the Mets Fan Roadtrip would require overnight stays.

As a single-A team for the Phillies Fan Roadtrip, I have chosen the Lakewood BlueClaws, in Lakewood, NJ. The BlueClaws are a member of the South Atlantic League. The three Phillies minor league teams are relatively close to Philadelphia; therefore, this trip could possibly be taken as a series of day trips.

Twitter Roadtrip Information:
Total Number of Tweets: 110
Time/Date of 1st Tweet: 2:43 PM Jul 14th
Time/Date of 110th Tweet: 9:21 AM Jul 20th

Roadtrip Planning Resources:

The web resources used for planning this Yankee’s Fan Baseball Minor League Roadtrip are as follows.

Official Website of the International League:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=l117

Official Website of the Eastern League:
http://eastern.league.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=l113

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

Current Standings of the Teams in the International League:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=l_sta&lid=117&sid=l117

Current Standings of the Teams in the Eastern League:
http://eastern.league.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=l_sta&lid=113&sid=l113

Current Standings of the Teams in the New York-Penn League:
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=l_sta&lid=127&sid=l127

Official Websites of the Home Teams:

• Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees: http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t531
• Staten Island Yankees: http://www.siyanks.com/
• Trenton Thunder: http://www.trentonthunder.com/
  

Home Team Game Schedules:

• Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees: http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/schedule/index.jsp?sid=t531
• Staten Island Yankees: http://www.siyanks.com/schedule/schedule/
• Trenton Thunder: http://www.trentonthunder.com/schedule/zScheduleDisplayYearGameCalendar.asp?pYYYY=2009
  

Official Websites of the Visiting Teams:

• Gwinnett Braves: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t431
• Portland Sea Dogs: http://portland.seadogs.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t546
• State College Spikes: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t1174

Twittered Baseball Roadtrip #2: New York-Penn League and Lake George Roadtrip

Dates: July 5, 2009 through July 8, 2009
Primary Destination: Lake George Village, NY

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

Games Attended:

Game 1: Lowell Spinners vs. Staten Island Yankees, July 5th, 4:00PM, Richmond County Bank Park, Staten Island, NY
Game 2: Brooklyn Cyclones vs. Tri-City Valley Cats, July 6th, 11:00AM, Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, Troy, NY
Game 3: Staten Island Yankees vs. Hudson Valley Renegades, July 8th, 7:00PM, Dutchess Stadium, Wappingers Falls, NY.

Summary:

The New York-Penn league is a short-season, single A baseball league affiliated with Major League Baseball. Most of its teams are located in the Northeast with 10 of its 14 teams residing in the states of New York or Pennsylvania. A few teams are in other states, including Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Vermont. Here are some of the teams in the league:
Staten Island Yankees: affiliated with the New York Yankees
Brooklyn Cyclones: affiliated with the New York Mets
Williamsport Crosscutters: affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies
Lowell Spinners: affiliated with the Boston Red Sox
Aberdeen IronBirds: affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles

During this four day New York-Penn League and Lake George Roadtrip, we attended three baseball games; stayed in the vicinity of Lake George Village, NY for two nights; and had one extra day for vacationing in the Lake George area of the Adirondack Mountains. Lake George is approx. 60 miles from the metro Albany, NY area, which is home to the Houston Astos affiliate of the New York-Penn League: the Tri-City Valley Cats. During this roadtrip, we saw five New York-Penn League teams play: the Staten Island Yankees, Lowell Spinners, Tri-City Valley Cats, Brooklyn Cyclones, and Hudson Valley Renegades.

The first game, Lowell Spinners vs Staten Island Yankees at Staten Island, NY, was attended as a day trip from home in Wayne, NJ. On the other hand, the Valley Cats game was seen en-route to Lake George and the Renegades game as a stop on the return trip to NJ. As part of the twitter stream for the roadtrip, I provided a number of traveling tips, including stadium addresses, travel distances and times, and a potential en-route rest stop.

This roadtrip is an excellent combination vacation/baseball trip for people located in the metropolitan NYC area. The stadiums for the Tri-City Valley Cats and Hudson Valley Renegades are close to the New York Thruway. So the games can be attended without deviating significantly from the route between Northern NJ/NYC and Lake George. I have included tweets that suggest a wide range of lodging options in or around Lake George Village, places to dine out, and a variety of summer family entertainment attractions available in the Lake George Region of the Southern Adirondacks.

As for all Twittered Baseball Roadtrips, I have tweeted pregame information prior to the game, such as the record of the teams, their current standing in the league, and the starting pitchers. As part of the in-game activity, I tweeted the inning by inning score, highlights as runs are scored, and other in-game activity. After the game, post-game tweets give the winning team, final score, and sometime additional information.

For this Twittered Baseball Roadtrip, I outlined and tweeted information for a number of similar roadtips. They are designed for Yankee and Red Sox fans to see the Staten Island Yankees or Lowell Spinners, respectively, play away games against two other New York-Penn League teams on consecutive days. The dates and locations of the games were selected to enable them to be part of a vacation trip to the Lake George area of the Adirondacks. Lake George Village is centrally located to the stadiums where the Tri-City Valley Cats and Vermont Lake Monsters play.

Twitter Roadtrip Information:
Total Number of Tweets: 139
Time/Date of 1st Tweet: 12:02 PM Jul 3rd
Time/Date of 139st Tweet: 7:31 PM Jul 9th

Roadtrip Planning Resources:

The following are the web resources used for planning this NY-Penn League Baseball Roadtrip.

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

Current Standings of the Teams in the New York-Penn League:
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=l_sta&lid=127&sid=l127

Official Websites of the Home Teams:

• Staten Island Yankees: http://www.siyanks.com/
• Tri-City Valley Cats: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t577
• Hudson Valley Renegades: http://www.hvrenegades.com/
  

Home Team Game Schedules:

• Staten Island Yankees: http://www.siyanks.com/schedule/schedule/
• Tri-City Valley Cats: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/schedule/index.jsp?sid=t577&m=06&y=2009
• Hudson Valley Renegades: http://www.hvrenegades.com/schedule/
  

Official Websites of the Visiting Teams:

• Lowell Spinners: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t558
• Brooklyn Cyclones: http://www.brooklyncyclones.com/

Twittered Baseball Roadtrip #1: Canadian American (CanAm) League and Beantown Roadtrip

Dates: June 24, 2009 through June 26, 2009
Primary Destination: Boston, MA

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

Games Attended:

Game 1: Brockton Rox vs. Worcester Tornadoes, June 24th, 7:05PM, Fitton Field, Worcester MA

Game 2: American Defenders of New Hampshire vs. Brockton Rox, June 25th, 6:35PM, Campanelli Stadium, Brockton MA

Game 3: Worcester Tornadoes vs. New Jersey Jackals, June 26th, 7:05PM, Yogi Berra Stadium, Little Falls NJ

Summary:

The Canadian American Association of Profession Baseball is an independent league with six teams located in the United States and Canada. The league was formed in October 2004 with the first season on play in 2005. Five of the six teams are located in the US, with two teams in New Jersey, two in Massachusetts, and one in Maryland. The sixth franchise is in Canada and resides in Quebec City, Ontario. The leagues is also known as the CanAm Baseball League.

This CanAm Baseball League and Beantown Roadtrip is three days in duration with a two-night stay in the Boston, MA area. During the trip two games were attended in the metropolitan Boston area and a third game was attended upon return to my home in New Jersey. Three of the six CanAm league stadiums (Fitton Field, Worcester MA, Campanelli Stadium, Brockton MA, and Yogi Berra Stadium, Little Falls NJ) were visited and four of the six teams (Brockton Rox, Worcester Tornadoes, American Defenders of New Hampshire, and New Jersey Jackals) participated in the games. The other two CanAm league teams are the Sussex Skyhawks, who play their home games at Skylands Park, Augusta, NJ and the Quebec Les Capitales who's home field is Le Stade de Québec in Quebec City, Ontario, CA. Finally, the American Defenders of New Hampshire play there home games at Holman Stadium in Nashua, New Hampshire.

The departure point for the trip is Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, NJ. As part of the twitter stream for the roadtrip, I have provided a number of traveling trips, including stadium addresses, alternate directions, travel distances and times, a potential in-route eating stop (Rein’s NY Deli), and a number of suggestions for arranging lodging.

Even though no time was set aside for an extended stay in Boston, this is a perfect baseball roadtrip to be incorporated into a family excursion to visit Boston. For this reason, I have tweeted information for an in-route stop at Old Sturbridge Village in MA and a wide variety of Family Entertainment and Attraction options available in the city of Boston, MA.

The twitter for each of the games attended includes pregame tweets with the record of the teams, their current standing in the league, and the starting pitchers. During the game, tweets announce the inning by inning score, highlights as runs are score, and other in-game activity such as pitching changes. At the end of the game, post-game tweets give the winning team, final score, and additional information like the winning and loosing pitchers.

Twitter Roadtrip Information:

Total Number of Tweets: 131
Time/Date of 1st Tweet: 9:49 AM June 21st
Time/Date of 131st Tweet: 7:04 AM June 28th

Roadtrip Planning Resources:

The following are the web resources used for planning this "CanAm League" baseball roadtrip.

Official Website of the CanAm Baseball League: http://www.canamleague.com/

Current Standings of the Teams in the CanAm League: http://www.canamleague.com/standings.php

Official Websites of the Home Teams:

• Worcester Tornadoes: http://www.worcestertornadoes.com/
• Brockton Rox: http://www.brocktonrox.com/
• New Jersey Jackals: http://www.jackals.com/home.asp

Home Team Game Schedules:

• Worcester Tornadoes: http://www.worcestertornadoes.com/tickets/schedule
• Brockton Rox: http://www.brocktonrox.com/schedule/schedule
  
• New Jersey Jackals:http://www.jackals.com/schedule.asp

Official Websites of the Visiting Teams:

• American Defenders of New Hampshire: http://www.americandefenders.us/

What is a Twittered Baseball Roadtrip

The roadtrips that I have twittered are 1-day, 2-days, or 3-days long. During the trip, baseball games are attended at multiple destinations. In general, the intent is to see a game each day, but in some cases there has been a day off between games to accommodate other activities. Moreover, on some one day trips I attend two games: a game at one destination in the afternoon and a second at another location in the evening. Some multi-day trips include an overnight stay at the primary destination; but others are done as a series of day trips.

The plan for the roadtrip is announced via tweets on twitter prior to departure; in-game tweets track the action of the game (end of inning scores, game highlights, and post game results). After the trip is complete, I post recommendations for similar roadtrips on twitter.

Some of the longer roadtrips are intended to include time set aside for vacation. For this type of roadtrip, I tweet lodging information, travel tips, and information about additional entertainment/recreation opportunities.

Layout of a Typical Blog Posting for a Twittered Baseball Roadtrip:

Twittered Baseball Roadtrip (Number): (Name)
Dates: (Departure date) (Return Date)
Primary Destination: (City, State)

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

Games Attended:

Game 1: (Visiting team) vs (Home team) (Date) (Time) (Stadium) (Location) (Website-link)
Game 2: (Visiting team) vs (Home team) (Date) (Time) (Stadium) (Location) (Website-link)
Game 3: (Visiting team) vs (Home team) (Date) (Time) (Stadium) (Location) (Website-link)

Summary:

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Twitter Roadtrip Information:

Total Number of Tweets: (xxx)
Time/Date of 1st Tweet: (xxx) (xxx)
Time/Date of Last Tweet: (xxx) (xxx)

Roadtrip Planning Resources:

A listing of the web resources used for planning the twittered baseball roadtrip.

• Official Website of the Baseball League(s): (League) (Website-link)
• Current Standings of the Teams in the League(s): (League) (Website-link)
• Official Website of the Home Team(s): (Team) (Website-link)
• Home Team(s) Game Schedule: (Team) (Website-link)
• Official Website of the Visiting Team(s): (Team) (Website-link)
  

Roadtrip Information Posted on Twitter:

1. Overview of the baseball roadtrip including:

• Game(s) to be attended.
• Address of the stadium(s) (for use in MapQuest or a GPS).
• Website-link to information and photos of the stadium(s).
• Route details and travel tips, such as distances, travel times, alternate directions, and places to eat.
  

2. Information about additional family entertainment/recreation along the route and/or in the vicinity of to the primary destination.

3. Information about lodging that is conveniently located to the primary destination, ballpark(s), and/or places with family entertainment/recreation.

4. Game summary including:

• Pregame updates: team records, standings, and starting pitchers.
• In-game updates: inning by inning scores, highlights about how runs scored, pitching changes, etc.
• Post game updates: winning team, final score, and winning/losing pitchers.
  

5. Recommendation for taking a similar trip including:

• Home and visiting teams.
• Game dates and times.
• Address of stadiums.