I got to Reno early. I was staying at Circus Circus, which is connected to the Eldorado where Tom and I stayed last summer. Hotel rooms were ridiculously cheap. I guess those casinos make their money off of people in other ways. I just relaxed until the game at 6:35. I had to respond to one of my former students asking for help on her AP World History project on the Mauryan Empire. I wouldn't have responded, but this girl is one of my two favorite students ever. She definitely didn't need my help. I've told her that she's smarter than me. Also, I was a history major and I had never even heard of the Mauryan Empire. If she's taking AP World History (a class that didn't exist at Harborfields until I was too old for it), she knows more about the Mauryan Empire than I do. But I googled it and sent her some links. Then I checked out some odds at the sports book and didn't make any bets. Because, you know, if I want to give away money, there are people who need it a lot more than casinos. But the Jets had the worst odds to win the Super Bowl. So that's exciting. Anyway, the game was the Reno Aces against the Fresno Grizzles. One of the first things I saw when I got to the stadium was a helicopter landing on the field. Why? It was carrying the Aces’ mascot. They did all the Opening Day ceremony with the introductions of all the players and coaches. One of the cool things about Triple-A is that you'll definitely recognize some of the names if you're a baseball fan. Yasmany Tomas hit 31 home runs for the Diamndbacks two years ago, but he was starting this game in left field for the Aces (and he hit a home run in this game). The Aces also have Socrates Brito, who has played 58 games in the Majors. As you can imagine, Vin Scully enjoyed that name (check the video below). The Aces are the Diamondbacks’ affiliate and the Grizzles are the Astros’ affiliate. The Grizzles were the Giants’ affiliate for a long time so they still had uniforms that had a very Giants feel to them. The Aces had uniforms that looked like the very silly Diamondbacks uniforms.
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| My view for the game |
It wasn’t much of a game. The Aces led 7-0 after two. I left in the sixth with the Aces up 9-1. I would have stayed for the whole game, but Notre Dame and Michigan were going to the third period in the semifinals of the NCAA hockey tournament tied at 2. I’ll get to that in a minute. But what did I think of Greater Nevada Field? It was very good (attendance was listed at 5,634, but Google says the capacity is 9,013 and it seemed more full than 62.5%). The crowd was good, there was a pretty good selection of food and beer. But there were a few issues. Some of the concession stands had lines that just did not move. And then there was a taco stand out in the outfield that had no line. I probably would have gone to that one if it wasn’t hidden out there (I realized this after I ate). The concessions also need to describe some of the food options. Like there was a hot dog stand that has a few options. They do Vs. Dogs. They’re hot dogs that have a theme related to the city of the opposing team. But there was no indication of what the Vs. Dog for Fresno was. I ended up getting the D-Backs Dog. Again, there was no description. I googled it and I was led to believe it was something more than it was. It ended up just being a hot dog with beans on it. It was fine, but I was looking for something more exciting. Again, I wish I had gone to the taco stand. As for the beer, they needed to spread out the good beer a little more. There was a burger/craft beer stand. It sounded like there were some good options there, but I couldn’t really tell what they were and the lines were way too long. I ended up finding this little stand that had no line around the start of the fifth inning. I got an Occidental Pilsner, which is from Oregon. It was pretty good, but they need more Nevada beer in there.
So anyway, I drank my beer, watched the Aces get out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the sixth giving up only one run, and then walked back to my hotel for the end of the Notre Dame hockey game. I got back with about ten minutes left in the third period. Notre Dame had scored to go up 3-2. I saw Michigan tie it, which wasn’t fun, but it set up the great finish. Notre Dame got the puck deep in their own zone with time for one last rush in regulation. They scored an amazing goal with 5.2 seconds left to win. We vanquished the forces of evil in hockey. Sadly, we lost in the championship game to Minnesota Duluth, but it was still a very good season.
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| I took this picture on the walk back to my hotel. |
The next morning I got breakfast at Hash House A Go Go. Adam went to one of their Las Vegas locations on Man vs. Food. I got the Healthy Start Scramble. It was egg whites with tomatoes, onions, and peppers served with fruit. It was pretty good and I needed to eat something healthy. After that, I went to take the bus to San Francisco. The Reno Greyhound station is one the most depressing buildings I’ve ever been in, and it was an omen of bad things to come. It was cool to be driving through the mountains at a different time of year. It rained throughout the trip, but many of the mountains were still covered in snow. There were good views, but the bus was way too hot and it got to San Francisco about two hours late. I watched some Unsolved Mysteries on Amazon Prime to help me get through that trip.
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| This is not what Adam Richman had on Man vs. Food. |
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| There were some good views, but this was a rough bus ride. |
Anyway, I'll finish with updated minor league/college stadium rankings:
15. Arm & Hammer Park in Trenton
14. Dehler Park in Billings
13. Arvest Ballpark in Springdale
12. Autozone Park in Memphis
11. TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, New Jersey
10. Memorial Stadium in Boise
9. KeySpan Park in Brooklyn
8. Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo
7. Isotopes Park in Albuquerque
6. TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha- It's tough to rank this one because it's known for the College World Series and my expierence was not at all like the College World Series. If I had gone to the College World Series, it's probably higher, maybe even number 1.
5. Daniel S. Frawley Stadium in Wilmington
4. Greater Nevada Field
3. Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park in Charleston
2. Dunkin Donuts Park in Hartford
1. Regions Field in Birmingham
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