A Day In the Minors

We're slowly building up to the major-league debut of the Odyssey, so we'll take a symbolic step tonight and check out a minor-league game. MinorLeagueBaseball.com has schedules for all the teams in the Western PA/Eastern OH area; the best candidate for a home game tonight are the beloved Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the New York-Penn League.

According to the team website, a Scrapper is

1) An individual who fights, wrangles and battles; 2) a bulldog that battles to victory on a daily basis; see: Mahoning Valley.

The Scrappers play at Cafaro Field (behind the Eastwood Mall). Tonight's opponents are the Batavia Muckdogs, and it's apparently NASCAR night. Hope tickets are available.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Mahoning Valley (which, I suspect, is most of us), it's in eastern Ohio, about halfway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. The team plays in the city of Niles, whose website has been dormant for over a year. So for fun we must go to the nearby city of Warren, home of the National Packard Museum and birthplace of Nirvana/Foo Fighters rock star Dave Grohl.

Day 2: Cooperstown to Niles
Mileage Today: 437.1
Niles Weather: 89°, sunny
States: New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio
Route Traveled: Rt. 28 south to Oneonta, I-88 and I-81 southwest to Binghamton, Rt. 17 west to Erie, I-90 west to Ashtabula, Rt. 11 south to Niles.

If Dave Grohl isn't enough to satisfy your musical fix, this route also passes through Jamestown, NY, home of 10,000 Maniacs. Plus Cafaro Field hosts Bad Company and Kansas on Thursday. It's all part of my rock and roll fantasy.

Posted by michaelf at July 15, 2002 11:51 PM