Please Note: Photos can be found in a slide show on the main site and then ultimately on the Baseball sub-site.
Quentin and I attended this Connecticut Tigers game simply to see the Brooklyn Cyclones. For whatever reason (Maybe because it's short season?) the Tigers only host the Cyclones once this season and it was a Wednesday/Thursday/Friday series so we had to take in the Friday game. The Cyclones lost the first two games so I didn't know what their mood would be like as far as signing autographs and everything because I had purchased a Cyclones logo baseball from their online store prior to this game to try and get it signed by anyone and everyone.
When we got to Dodd Stadium there were already a lot of people and cars there and we showed up a little bit before the parking lot was scheduled to open (Though it was already open). We waited and then made our way inside to get a free program, roster sheet for the night and a magnet schedule as well. We went into the Gear Shop and pretty much everything Quentin saw he wanted because his love of MLB teams likely goes Mets, Cubs, Tigers. The Tigers had a player- Josh Lester- set up in the gear shop to sign autographs and likely take pictures I suppose. The first two items we purchased from the Gear Shop were a mini-helmet because it was only $1 and then we wouldn't have to get one with ice cream in it later and a plush toy of C.T. the mascot. Quentin had Josh Lester sign his C.T. plush which was pretty fun.
As we went down to the visitors dugout to wait for autographs there were already people there waiting as well. The game was scheduled to start at 7:05 pm and at 6:30 the Tigers dugout was full of players and yet only two Cyclones had been seen. Quentin was getting restless and kept saying he wanted to go home so we left the dugout area so that I could explain to him we weren't going to go home already because the game hadn't even started yet. I told him we'd go sit in our seats but before that we stopped for a drink. I asked Quentin if he wanted a hot dog as well and so we got the hot dog/pretzel/iced tea deal again and after Quentin had some food he seemed to be in a better mood.
Tonight was also somehow country music night at Dodd Stadium which meant we had to hear country music throughout the game. It was rather unfortunate but they seemed to give away a lot of tickets for a Brad Paisley (I think?) concert the following night though I believe it was in Hartford. We could have certainly done without the country music aspect of this game.
While there seemed to be decent scoring in the two previous games, this one seemed to be shut down by the pitching. The Cyclones managed to get two runs on the board and that was really the end of the game right there because the Tigers mounted enough of a comeback to put one run up and that was it. It was an interesting game because it was a lot about trying to do something and then nothing happening. The Cyclones, though, seemed to be under the impression that since they had the lead all they had to do was maintain it and they did just that.
Before the end of the game we were back at the Gear Shop where we got a team logo baseball and Quentin got a patch of C.T.'s face. As the game got closer to the end it felt like the Tigers wouldn't be making their comeback so I kept asking Quentin if he wanted to leave and he kept saying that he wanted to stay for the fireworks and so we did. I decided that since we didn't get any autographs before the game we could stay after the game and maybe the Cyclones would be in better spirits because they won. This worked out rather well as everybody signed for us and our logo ball became rather full. (Quentin even got a photo with Gene Cone)
After this game, the Cyclones headed back to their home in Brooklyn and it was announced that Jose Reyes was signed by the Mets (again) and he made a start for them on Saturday, less than 24 hours after we saw this team. You could put this in a positive light for sure, but as far as I'm concerned I'm glad that it happened the day *after* we saw the Cyclones because if Jose Reyes came to Dodd Stadium there would have been even more people there, more people wanting autographs and that's just not something I would want to have to deal with. We were also planning on going to see the Cyclones at their home stadium this season but as long as Jose Reyes is there we likely won't. Not because of anything against him personally (Though I believe he's past his prime and his time on the Rockies proved that) but simply because it could be more chaotic than it needs to be.
I have ideas of wanting to see every team in certain leagues (The Atlantic League, the NECBL, etc.) but with the Cyclones it's just nice because it's another form of the Mets that I've seen. We've already discussed going to Florida one day to see the St. Lucie Mets. Apparently, there is also a Columbia Fireflies team. And then it'd be to Vegas one day as well as Savannah. But yes, traveling around finding minor league versions of the Mets is never a bad thing and there will come a day when we go see the Tigers just to see the Tigers and get them to sign a logo baseball, but this night was about the Cyclones.
No comments:
Post a Comment