Kram’s Korner – Thoughts on the Opening Homestand

So I thought I’d share a few thoughts about the six opening games of Season IV: The Season of Winning. Except, two of the games were rained out. And, I showed up late for one of them. Also, I left early once. But, the winning has been equal to the losing, and here I am to comment on two games plus parts of two others.

I’m happy, as always, with the stadium and the staff. It’s good to see the ushers and the folks from the section. There are some new faces, and some in different seats, but in all it felt comfortable. It felt good. It felt like the opening theme from Cheers.

Things I liked during the opening series:

1. Bypass lane. Worked very well. Twice. And Lefty33, I’ll be happy to pay the $.99 from now on without complaining.

2. Biergarten. This was a wonderful idea. I also like the additional non-beer adult beverages. I’m trying to decide if I want to collect a whole set of those mugs. My wife says ‘no,’ but that never stopped me before.

3. Hats. There’s a nice selection of New Era caps in the store right now. I only bought one so far, but I can’t stop thinking about them.

4. 32 oz beer. The popularity is unmistakable. These need to be more widely available.

5. Philly Pretzels! The kids are hooked. Again. Worth the walk.

6. The iPhone App. I needed a new phone anyway, and when my old Blackberry wouldn’t load the Bypass App, well, it was a logical choice. The ‘Pigs app is great. As Dan pointed out, it has almost everything that I asked for in my technology suggestion box. The next, logical, addition is to incorporate ticketing and/or season ticket account management better. Just scan the code from my phone, right?

7. I told you: Diggity is a cheater.

8. The go-karts are cool. I wonder if they are remote controlled somehow to regulate winning and losing—or if it’s a real race.

9. The Twitter contest. Good idea last night with tweeting your seat location for $10 added ticket value. That’s the kind of thing I was thinking of in my su ggestions.

10. The Blast Burger. Very nicely done. A little messy, but I knew what I was getting into.

Things I didn’t like about the opening series (I’m not complaining, just providing balance):

1. I miss the Roast Beef. I know Arby’s is in trouble financially, so we need to come up with another stadium-wide promotion where folks can chant and I can have the possibility of getting free food. Really. People love it. OK, I love it. I love free food. There. I said it.

2. I don’t have the bartenders trained yet. Now that they serve bar food at the FMO Painting bar, the wait time has increased.

(BTW, here’s a funny exchange from Sunday: Me: “I’d like a Cabernet and a Sprite. Also, could you please put the wine in a larger cup than usual?” Bartender: “Oh, are you going to mix them?” Me: “GOOD GOD NO! Sorry. I mean, I’d like to be able to carry the wine without spilling it.”)

3. The Porking Spaces. It’s just too goofy, and I can’t stop thinking of inappropriate jokes to make. Plus, I have enough trouble parking as it is.

4. The Blue lot. I prefer the LSI lower lot and had my parking and exit strategy perfected. So far, my egress from the blue lot has been less than efficient. I’m still working on it, though.

5. If it’s true that the pretzel burger is gone, then that is too bad. I liked it on the third base side so that I could eat whilst the kids pester the players for autographs.

6. Twitter. OK, be careful what you ask for, right? I don’t need fourteen different people to tell me that the centerfielder just dropped the ball. I saw it myself. What I want is an explanation as to why. Or, a snarky comment. Or, inside information about players who lack depth perception. Or, a free Butterfinger candy bar from Wawa next inning if an opposing player drops the ball. You know, that kind of thing.

7. Can a guy get a beer vendor in the stands periodically? Perhaps he’ll be up when the weather gets nicer. Until then, I’m thinking of ordering beer with my Bypass app so that I don’t have to wait for the bartenders to make drinks which require 5 different steps for people who don’t care about the fact that there’s a baseball game going on outside–or for them to fetch chicken wings from the kitchen. I’m parched over here. I really don’t want to start ordering beer two or three at a time. I might, though. I’ve got a driver this year.

The Team:
The play on the field has been a bit sloppy, but that works two ways. I still like this team, and I love the manager. I also like that the lineup has been in flux a bit for the first few games. It’s a nice change from the static lineup card that Hup would turn in all season long. It might be time to get some of these guys settled in to a spot, though—at least until the roster starts turning over. Here’s my suggested lineup for the Rochester series (three games):

1. Thompson CF
2. Young RF
3. Belliard 3B
4. Larish 1B
5. Moss DH
6. Sullivan LF
7. Barfield 2B
8. Kratz C
9. Frandsen SS

I want Young and Belliard batting in the first inning, regardless. I know Ryno wants multiple guys who can run at the top, but the running doesn’t do any good without the hitting. It won’t happen, as Young and Belliard seem to be the only two who don’t move. Whatever. And I would hope that Delwyn wouldn’t get upset at me for moving him out of cleanup—especially since he’s my wife’s favorite player this year. But I think he and Belliard can hold their own on the bases, based on what I’ve seen so far. The above lineup should be able to run and hit all the way through. Disclaimer: I didn’t take into account Right or Left or Switch batting.

Hat’s off to the pitchers; they’ve certainly done well enough to be undefeated at this juncture. Hope it can continue. We didn’t get to see Feierabend, but he had a nice start for the ML team in the spring, so I’ve got my hopes up.

I’m really looking forward to the Yankees series starting on Monday. I expect to do better with my attendance; I should be at all 5 games in 4 days, weather permitting (or even if not, perhaps).

Kiddos get the bobble vans for Monday’s doubleheader.
I’ll stop over after work on Tuesday, and get a new hat for my trouble.
My wife works late on Wednesday, so it’s Boy’s Night Out.
Thursday I’m hosting a mini-group of friends from Philadelphia. We’ll be tailgating when the lots open, then sitting in section 108.

Here’s to more WINNING!

Kram’s Korner is a guest post to the Horn & Bell blog offering a perspective “From the Club Level”