Upstate New York

Saturday, July 26, 2008 - Sunday, July 27, 2008

I'm just going to title this travelogue entry 'Upstate New York'. With Jill working in Cooperstown, we've covered our fair share of the upstate wedge that exists between Route 88 and Route 90, but this weekend encompassed that and then some so it deserves its own listing.

We started out at around 3:00 on Saturday morning, loading up Sara and Andrew in the car for the ride to Stewart International Airport in Newburgh and their flight back to Atlanta. They had spent the month with us in Binghamton (and Cooperstown) and now it was time for them to head back. More than likely, this would be the last time they flew out of Stewart, since AirTran is pulling out of that location by September of 2008.

Afterwards, Jill and I made our way towards Cooperstown (affectionately known as 'home 2'). The drive took us up Route 87 and across the top of the Catskills, both routes that neither of us had ever been on before. Scooting across the top of the Catskills renewed our belief that one of the most beautiful and scenic areas in the US to drive through and by is this area of Upstate New York.

We stopped in Cobleskill to grab a quick bite to eat (I've blocked the name of the diner from my memory, but it was attached to the motel across from the Dunkin Donuts). Then it was off to 'home 2'. We arrived there and crashed for a while - getting up at 2:00 and doing the driving we already had takes a bit of a toll on ones body!

This weekend was Hall of Fame Induction weekend in Cooperstown, and as a part of the weekend long celebration two teams from the NY-Penn league play a regular season game at Doubleday Field. This year, the Oneonta Tigers played the Tri-City Valley Cats. The game is free of charge, and a good addition to the overall weekend.

Jill and I grabbed a sandwich and some fruit salad at Danny's on Main Street, and then found a nice spot on the third base side at Doubleday to eat our lunch and watch some baseball. The pitcher for Tri-City had a no hitter going through five innings, and at this point Jill and I headed out (we had other things planned for the weekend as well!).

With the huge influx of baseball fans to Cooperstown, many of the 'locals' get outta dodge for the weekend, and one venue they head to is the Great American Irish Festival, held at the Herkimer County Fairgrounds in Frankfurt, New York. This was our first time going to the festival, but it quickly became a 'mainstay' on our schedule for years to come. Three stages are set up for music (Contemporary, Traditional, and Regional) offering a wide range of musical talents. We spent most of our time in the Contemporary tent, watching Barleyjuice and the Glengarry Bhoys. We also visited the beer tents a few times, with the new Saranac Irish Red Ale being my new favorite. Hopefully it will find its way into stores, but at the time of the festival the plan was only to serve it there. The Elders were to have performed at the end of the night, but severe weather in the area (which we ran into and dealt with on our way back to Cooperstown) cancelled their Saturday night act.

On Sunday, we packed up home 2 and headed back to the Irish Festival. Same as the night before, we spent a good majority of time in the Contemporary tent, finally being able to see the Elders and then part of the set by Enter the Haggis. Figuring on getting out before the masses, we left before their set was finished.

For dinner on Sunday night, we drove over the Washington Mills and ate at Piggy Pat's BBQ. We had passed by here previously on our way to hockey or New Hartford to shop or something like that and had wanted to try it. Very good BBQ, although the restaurant itself was a bit cold! We drove back to Binghamton after dinner.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - On Saturday, July 26 the Tri-City ValleyCats visited the Oneonta Tigers at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y. during the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. Tall left-handed starter David Duncan took the ball for the ValleyCats and tossed five perfect innings en route to a 5-2 victory in the historic ballpark.

The Oneonta Tigers sent Trevor Feeney to the mound to oppose Duncan and the ValleyCats. The 'Cats jumped on Feeney in the second inning with a 1-0 lead when Reinaldo Pestana doubled in a run. Duncan breezed through five innings, facing 15 batters eliminating each. Michael Diaz belted his second home run of the season in the sixth inning to provide the 'Cats a 4-0 cushion. Danny Mezaros came on in relief in the sixth inning, allowing two hits and fanning two in two innings of work. Kyle Godfrey and Ashton Mowdy closed it out for the ValleyCats securing the 5-2 win.

On Sunday, the Baseball Hall of Fame will induct Goose Gossage into the shrine of baseball legends. Gossage will follow up his induction by speaking at the New York-Penn League All-Star Game Luncheon on Tuesday, August 19 at the Desmond Hotel in Albany, N.Y.

Tri-City
Player AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
Shuck CF 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .287
Diaz 2B 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 .277
Disher 1B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .338
Castro DH 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .229
Gaston RF 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .180
Jackson 3B 3 2 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 .267
Pestana C 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 .172
Williams LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .179
Ramirez, Ro SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
Duncan P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Meszaros P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Godfrey P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Mowdy P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

BATTING
2B: Pestana (1, Feeney), Jackson (3, Feeney).
HR: Diaz (2, 6th inning off Gil, L, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Shuck; Diaz 4; Gaston; Jackson 3; Pestana 2.
RBI: Pestana (4), Jackson 2 (7), Diaz (9).
2-out RBI: Pestana; Jackson 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Williams; Pestana 2.
GIDP: Diaz.
Team LOB: 5.

FIELDING
DP: (Ramirez, Ro-Diaz-Disher).

Oneonta
Player AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
Guez CF 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .237
Wyatt SS 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .264
Parrott LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .238
Pounds 3B 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .258
Flores DH 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .222
Lamont a- PH-DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .241
Nowlin 1B 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .233
Ramirez 1B 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .198
Weber C 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .122
Gosse 2B 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .264
Harryman 2B 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 .190
White RF 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .230
Arlet b- PH-RF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .192
Feeney P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Gil, L P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Perdomo P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Oliveros P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

BATTING
2B: Gosse (6, Meszaros).
HR: Harryman (2, 8th inning off Godfrey, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Wyatt 2; Gosse 2; Harryman 4.
RBI: Harryman (5), Wyatt (3).
2-out RBI: Wyatt.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Guez; Ramirez.
GIDP: Ramirez.
Team LOB: 4.

BASERUNNING
SB: Guez (11, 2nd base off Godfrey/Pestana).

FIELDING
E: Wyatt (4, throw), Harryman (4, fielding).
PB: Weber (2).
DP: 2 (Gosse-Wyatt, Wyatt-Gosse-Nowlin).

a-Walked for Flores in the 7th. b-Flied out for White in the 8th.

Tri-City
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Duncan (W, 2-3) 5.0 0 0 0 0 4 0 4.31
Meszaros 2.0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0.00
Godfrey 1.0 2 2 2 0 0 1 9.69
Mowdy (S, 1) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3.91

Oneonta
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Feeney (L, 1-3) 5.0 5 3 2 0 4 0 4.50
Gil, L 1.0 1 1 1 2 0 1 1.50
Perdomo 1.2 0 1 0 3 2 0 0.00
Oliveros 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.93

HBP: Guez (by Godfrey).
Ground outs-fly outs: Duncan 7-4, Meszaros 0-4, Godfrey 2-1, Mowdy 2-0, Feeney 5-5, Gil, L 0-2, Perdomo 0-3, Oliveros 3-1.
Batters faced: Duncan 15, Meszaros 9, Godfrey 6, Mowdy 3, Feeney 19, Gil, L 5, Perdomo 9, Oliveros 4.
Inherited runners-scored: Oliveros 3-0.
Umpires: HP: Shaylor Smith. 1B: Tim Eastman. 2B: . 3B: .
Weather: 90 degrees, sunny.
Wind: 8 mph, Varies.
T: 2:24.
Att: 4,129

Total Mileage: 469 Miles

Total Miles Travelled:
139,715 Miles!