Iceman Celebration Day 2016 - Doubleday Field

 

There was a little league game about to start and I have to imagine that the only people in attendance were friends and family (with the exception of myself of course). I didn't care that it was just a bunch of kids playing on the field and not grown men; I just love the game of baseball in any form. There was a chill in the air (it was still early May) but that didn't stop me from feeling like it was baseball season. Maybe it was just this town that gave me the feels. Maybe I was just ready for this. Maybe I don't know what it was. But I do know that I liked this feeling and I was glad that I was having it at this moment. Because I wouldn't have asked for anything more right now.

 

The Baseball Hall of Fame is only open until 5pm in the offseason, so I eventually had to leave that hallowed place and figure out what else to do with my time here. When I arrived into town yesterday I did stop by Doubleday Field to briefly check it out. Since this was on my way back to the Mohican Motel, I decided to check it out again. A baseball game was just ending (people can rent out this field for softball or baseball for several hundred dollars) so I wandered around to check the place out. Although it can seat up to 10,000 people (which is about the size of Maryvale Baseball Park, spring training home to the Milwaukee Brewers in Phoenix), it feels very small and intimate. Almost like something out of the past. Built in 1920 and expanded in 1924 and 1939, it hosted an annual Hall of Fame game from 1940 to 2008, which was an exhibition game between 2 Major League teams during the Summer months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I climbed up the stairs behind home plate and I tried so hard to take a picture of me and the field, but either I was too dark or the field was too white. So I have no choice but to post both pictures so that you can see what I was going for. If only there was some form of modern technology that allowed me to combine the two into one picture. Wait... there is? But I have to learn how to use it? Pass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a souvenir shop and batting cage in the parking lot of Doubleday Field. In April, Bill LaMacchia (owner of Mark Travel, which is the company I work for) got the chance to take batting practice on the field at Miller Park in August. He gave this chance to me. Knowing that I needed to spruce up on my baseball skills, I took a couple of rounds in the batting cage and quickly realized that I wasn't ready for the real thing. But that didn't stop me from taking a few swings to make myself feel less afraid of the task in front of me. I missed more than I hit today, so that didn't give me a lot of confidence for the future. But at that time I still had enough time to prepare for the real thing. Or so I thought...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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