THE ROAD TO "THE SHOW"

We visited Pulaski, a small Virginia town about 30 minutes from Hillsville, to watch the Pulaski Mariners play an Appalachian League game.   The drive through town on our way to the ballpark was somewhat depressing.  Pulaski isn't doing well financially in today's economy.  There was a decent crowd at the ballpark, perhaps because of the ticket price of $5 for general admission.

The Appalachian League is one of three Rookie leagues sponsored by major league teams.  Paul has been to a game in Elmyra, NY (NY/Penn League) and Paul and Ann have both been to Idaho Falls (Pioneer League) several times to watch games.  The vast majority of these players were playing either high school or college baseball this spring until being drafted by major league teams in June.

A nice summer evening, so we headed to the closest ballpark to Hillsville.

The ballpark in Pulaski is known as Historic Calfee Park.  It is the 9th oldest minor league stadium and was last renovated in 1999.  There was a small sign which said, "The road to the show" on the side of the grandstand.   

The major leagues have often been revered as "The Show", the goal of every player who signs a professional baseball contract.  "The Show" comes from the travel experience when you compare major league team travel to that of minor leagues.  Major league teams travel by specially designed chartered jets with lots of leg room, deluxe chartered buses (always 2 buses for a traveling party of about 45) from the airport to the hotel and again to the stadium, and stay in five-star hotels.  Daily per diem for meals, cabs, and incidentals is nearly $200 per day.  In the minor leagues, teams travel by one chartered bus from city to city and teams stay in 2 or 3-star hotels, the kind without restaurants.  Per diem for minor league players is about $40 a day.

From the view from our seats below, it looks like most any other older minor league park with a city park beyond the left field wall, 338 feet from home plate.       

Right field at Calfee Park is unique.  The 20 ft. high fence is only 301 feet from home plate.  There is a road beyond the fence with some houses along the road.  

There are family boxes along the first base line that are set up like open air suites.  There are several rows of chairs with a round table in the back of each box.  The names of each family were on a sign along the walkway.

Along the third base side, the box seats end near the on-deck circle.  The original covered grandstand with bleacher seats extends down to the end of the infield.  The press box is the tan structure on the left with the sign "rooms" which is actually "restrooms" pointing down and to the left.

It was military night so they put up some cheap plastic bunting along the rails.  You can also see the grass is not well taken care of.  After only 4 weeks into the season, the grass on the right side of home plate is very worn.

People watching was good as well.  Many of the fans seemed to know one another, which makes sense being in a real small town whose residents probably have lived here all their lives.

It is always good to see a baseball game, especially one played with wooden bats.  Even though we didn't know any of the players, we still had an enjoyable time.