The halfway point
We've made it this far in the off-season, and the anticipation will begin to build from here.
I don’t know how many of my Knothole readers are fans of minor league baseball (as opposed to baseball in general or a specific major league team) but this particular writer is a season ticket holder for the Delmarva Shorebirds, and has been off and on (mostly on) for the last 15 years or so. Becuase the minor league season is shorter - now consisting of 132 scheduled games at the A-ball level we play in - it means our off-season begins in early September and runs through early April. (The change made by MiLB to a Tuesday-Sunday schedule for the 2021 season and beyond along with post-pandemic tinkering now mean we start about the same time in April but go later into September than we used to, as the regular season once ended on Labor Day.)
Many years ago I did the math and generally the midpoint of the offseason falls right about on Christmas Day. (It makes sense because the halfway point of the season falls right around the first day of summer.) So this is the point where we get through the holidays and the jonesin’ for a live game begins to intensify. And to make it even more so this particular off-season, the other day in my e-mail I received a pair of links: one to the Shorebirds promotions schedule for 2023 and the other telling me which games my tickets are pre-set for. Come next month I’ll be sitting down with my ticket rep and rearranging things as I have particular days and dates I prefer to attend. I know they kept one of my favorite promotions from last year, Tyler’s Amazing Balancing Act, and it will be right off the top this season on the first Friday night. Of course, there’s also Scrapple Night, which my wife and I have made into a date night. Add in Captain America, the bobbleheads and other giveaways, and the fireworks nights (I usually only do one or two of those a season) and they have a pretty full schedule.
There’s just something about driving by an empty baseball stadium that I find depressing, particularly in the winter. In the case of the Shorebirds, it means all their fence billboards are down for the next few months to keep them out of the elements so you can see through to the field for the most part. I know they spend the downtime working on stadium maintenance, which these days is a bit of a relief from the offseasons they spent a few years ago redoing the field from the ground down, building the concourse, and renovating the home clubhouse. Some of these things were required to keep up with evolving standards for minor league parks, while the concourse and other stadium improvements were solely for the fan experience.
I had occasion to stop by the stadium a few weeks ago when I attended a football-themed season ticket holder party so I know the park is in its winter state and will be until sometime in February when the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore begins its home schedule there, overlapping with the Shorebirds once their season starts until wrapping the college season up in mid-May. I try to make at least one UMES game a season on a pleasant March afternoon to help with the jonesin’.
One thing I like about the 2023 Shorebirds schedule is that it almost immediately rectifies a wrong from the last two seasons as we finally tangle with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, who have managed not to be scheduled against us at all since they were the Intimidators back in 2019. (We were the last team they played under that identity.) Unfortunately, the Carolina League managed to double my displeasure by omitting Fayetteville and Myrtle Beach entirely from our agenda and giving us only a roadtrip to Columbia for the second straight year. (In fact, the Fireflies haven’t been here since the Tebowmania days of 2017.) We get out of going to Georgia, though, as Augusta isn’t on our road itinerary (nor is Kannapolis.) With only six weekly series against the Southern Division, is it that hard to play them all and alternate sites on a yearly basis? (For example: Augusta, Charleston, Kannapolis at home one year with Columbia, Fayetteville, Myrtle Beach coming here the next while we go to the cities we played at home the previous season.)
Before I wrap things up for the year - I’m taking a break from The Knothole next week and will return January 5 - I’ll lay out a couple things for the Hot Stove time. I have worked on my crystal ball and will once again take a stab at trying to predict each team’s records for next season. In fact, I’ve polished it up so much (and now have a season of stability with the new minor league system behind us) that I’ll try and predict the 25 Shorebirds on the opening day roster once spring training gets underway. (Karl Haller will love me for that.) Also, if I can make it (depending on the date) I might attend my first ever Shorebirds Hot Stove banquet and give you my thoughts on it.
I’ll also fill in the next few weeks with whatever baseball history interests me. You’ll just have to be surprised.
So I wish my Knothole readers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Keep that hot stove warm!