Southwest University Park, El Paso (AAA #1 - we travel for the adventure)

Our first game was an adventure, in oh so many ways.

I always say that I travel for the adventure, and try to enjoy the absurdities that come along, rather than get frustrated by them. The first time we took our children to Europe, we tried to instill that in them as we prepared for the trip. Our first flight was delayed enough that before we'd even boarded it, we knew that we'd missed our trans-Atlantic flight, so that we were going to get to our destination at least hours, if not a full day, later than expected. As I was try to get all the bookings re-organized, my older son, asked, "Are we having an adventure yet?"

We drove into El Paso under mostly sunny skies, but it started clouding up, and the wind started kicking up as game time approached. It was sprinkling a little as we got to the park, with winds that NOAA reported as 37 mph gusting to 55. Meanwhile, Kerry had forgotten that, unlike our home stadium, most parks don't allow outside food, making her sunflower seeds contraband. Luckily, the stadium is very close to the hotel, so she walked back, and I went on in. The rain hit just as she got to the hotel, so she waited it out there, but it was quite a storm, particularly coupled with those winds. 


 

I thought there was a chance we'd get some rain someplace during the trip (which is why I had a waterproof windbreaker along) - I didn't think it would be in El Paso. But they had a tarp over the infield during the rain (held down with sandbags along the sides and riding mowers at the corners, a good move, considering the wind), and the humidity was low enough that once the storm blew over, things dried pretty fast. The game started just over an hour late, and there weren't any plays where it was obvious that the field was wet. And Kerry got back to the stadium, dry, without peanuts, long before the first pitch.

The game was an adventure, too. The Oklahoma City Dodgers are in first place in the five-team division the teams play in by a large margin, and the El Paso Chihuahuas are in last. In light of that, I didn't expect the Chihuahuas to win 15-5. Actually, the game wasn't as close as the score sounds, because the Dodgers had a home run with two outs in the 9th inning.

The Chihuahuas hit well (15 hits is always good), but the Dodgers played poorly. 

The Dodgers committed one error (on a ball that should have been a double-play), leading to a four-run inning.

The Dodgers' various pitchers walked seven batters and hit one.

The Dodgers gave up three stolen bases, one on a pitch, one on a pickoff, and one where a runner went from second to third before the pitcher noticed. 

The Dodgers gave up an inside-the-park home run when two outfielders raced to the wall for a ball that bounced off the top of the wall and went between them. Inside-the-park home runs are rare and exciting, but, as in this case, usually involve at least one fielder making a serious mistake. In this case, the one who didn't try for the leaping catch should have stayed back far enough that if the ball wasn't caught, he'd get it on one or two bounces, rather than chasing it back toward the infield. 

With such a propensity for ugly plays, how can they be winning two-thirds of their games?

Southwest University Park is a typical, maybe even stereotypical, Triple-A ballpark, but that's not a bad thing. It seats 7500, with some lawn seating, and room for bleachers for a couple of thousand more people. It's built downtown (on the site of a former City Hall, which was demolished to build it, despite at least one lawsuit). It's relatively new, in its 10th season.

We're going to try to stay at hotels close to the stadiums where we'll be going to games. We won't usually get this close. This view is from the window at the end of the hallway, about 20 feet from our room.

The view from the stadium isn't as good as this view of the stadium. It's mostly a skyline of some moderately tall buildings in downtown El Paso, including the nine-story hotel we're staying in, and the mountains are barely visible. However, when the sunset reflects off the glass-and-metal side of one of the other buildings, it is worth seeing.



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