A little late but... Game 29 at... Harbor Park

Part of the reason for my blogging absence over the weekend was work related travel - but the pleasure of this trip was that it took me to Norfolk, Virginia , home of the New York Mets AAA affiliate Norfolk Tides.

At short notice I was able to get fantastic seats on the third base side, right behind the visitor dugout, although I had to pay an inflated price of... $10!

It really is a nice park - relatively new (1993), but in the retro style made popular by Camden Yards, with brick facade and steel beams, and a capacity in excess of 12,000. On Sunday I would have to say the experience was tainted slightly by the heat and humidity, but the friendliness of the crowd ("You have a sweet accent" was the best pick up line I heard all day!) and the helpfulness of the ushers (I was voluntarily offered a seat in the shade by a proactive usher who saw me sheltering / sweltering underneath the stands) more than made up for that. The pre-game perception that I had, that AAA games were a family friendly fan experience, was definitely backed up by my experiences in Norfolk - every half inning was used to get kids involved (the best of which saw a two foot tall child being raced round the bases by this!) and to give 'stuff' away to the crowd.

In the end, the home team won, ten run innings tend to do that for you, but it was a nice game, a nice day at the ballpark, and a nice way to spend an afternoon before a night at the "office".