Old Bay, American history, crab cakes, and oh yeah, some baseball

The last two weekends have been interesting, taking me to see two of the Baltimore Orioles affiliates, the Bowie Baysox and the Frederick Keys. I've had the chance to sample food and drink flavored in Old Bay, visited some famous gravesites, and even catch a little bit of baseball in two cozy little parks! So we can mix this history and baseball lesson in with the "who is that stadium/team named for" series!

Old Bay sausages??

Yes, you read that right, sausages flavored with Old Bay. Who knew?? This delightful treat was found at Bowie Baysox park in Bowie, MD, home of the AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. It's actually a perfect combination, since Old Bay is manufactured in Baltimore. They play their home games at Prince George's Stadium, located of course in Prince George's county. PG county was formed in 1696 and named for Prince George of Denmark, husband of Anne, Queen of Great Britain, and the brother of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway. The stadium itself isn't much to speak of, but even in 1994 when it was opened, they thought to have open concourses so you can see the game while waiting in line for your Old Bay sausage! Capacity is about 10,000. Like most minor league games I've gone to, the fans were great! Even made friends with the folks around me who seemed to be long time Baysox fans. Of course the kids got to run the bases after the game, which was a neat effect in the billowing smoke leftover from the evening fireworks!

Star Spangled Banner and baseball

Guess you have to pen a famous song to get a baseball team named after you! The Frederick Keys are named after none other than Francis Scott Key, who is buried literally across the street in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Frederick, MD. In fact, they Keys (the family, not the team) have a family section where his

parents and family are interned as well. It's a nice drive through history at this cemetery, which dates back to 1852. Also at Mt. Olivet is a monument for unknown Confederate soldiers, as well as an entire row of Confederate graves. Included are the original markers, and directly behind them are newer headstones. I am not here to advocate the Confederacy. Rather, like it or not, the Civil War is a significant part of our history, and we need to remember where we came from to help us keep going to where we need to be. It was quite moving.

Harry Grove Stadium is directly across from Mt. Olivet. It's a very cute 5,000 seat stadium, and not a bad seat in the house! The Keys are the high A affiliate of the Orioles. The only thing less prominent than the use of Oriole Orange in the stadium is the abundance of Flying Dog beer and porches. Flying Dog started in Aspen, CO and moved to Frederick in 2006. One of their more famous slogans is "Good Beer, No Shit" and I can say, after enjoying a flight before the game at the brewery, and a beer at the ballpark, I have to agree! Bringing it full circle, Flying Dog has a summer brew called Dead Rise Old Bay Summer Ale. I have to say, I could smell the Old Bay even before I tasted it. A perfect combination with the crab cake sandwich, which Maryland is also famous for!

The stadium is named for Harry Grove, who was one of the founders of the Frederick Hustlers, a professional team that existed between 1915 and 1930. The Frederick Hustlers played in the Blue Ridge League, a Class D minor league, which included such powerhouses as the Martinsburg Champs (later the Blue Sox), Hagerstown Blues (later the Hubs), Hanover Hornets (later the Raiders), Gettysburg Patriots, Waynesboro Red Birds, and the Chambersburg Maroons, among others. The Hustlers won the league championship in 1915 and 1921. The league played from 1915 through 1930, although the 1919 season was suspended in 1919 due to the first world war.

What's in a name?

So after a few year hiatus, I have decided to resurrect my baseball blog. It’s a silly little blog about mostly baseball, with some random stories about growing up. But rather than focus on WAR, OPS, and DIPS, I’m focusing more on just regular fans going to the games. Nothing wrong with sabermetrics. In fact, I am a proud member of SABR: Society for American Baseball Research. But there are already tons of blogs and websites dedicated to that. But what is it like to walk into a park for the very first time? Who were these stadiums named after? What’s the grub like? What’s the relationship between Tony Packo’s and the Toledo Mud Hens? Maybe a piece on umpiring at rec league games, a thankless job! 

I plan on taking in a number of minor league games this year. Every so often I’ll post a story about how fun minor league games can be. They aren’t lying: real baseball, real close!

With that said, let’s get on with it!

As Jerry Seinfeld once said, “Who are these people?” 

Ever walk into a stadium and wonder who it was named for and what did THEY do that you didn’t do to get a stadium named after them? Some can be pretty obvious, as explained by Eric Idle in in the famous documentary “The Rutles: All You Need is Cash,” when the Rutles played a sold out Che Stadium in New York: “Che Stadium: named after the Cuban Guerilla leader Che Stadium.” If you want to go down a rabbit hole, watch here for a glorious shot of Che Stadium, starting at 4:30

But I digress. In the coming days, weeks, months, we will explore the likes of McKechnie Field, Al Lopez Stadium, Al Lang Field, Jack Russell Stadium, McCarver Stadium, to name a few. Some you know by name, some you wish you had never seen on TV!

McKechnie Field, Bradenton, FL

McKechnie (pronounced Mc-Kecknie) Field is the spring home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the season home of the Bradenton Marauders. It’s the oldest of the parks that I mentioned above still standing, built in 1923. True, it’s been renovated a number of times, most recently in 2013, and capacity is listed at just over 8500. However, the night the above photograph was taken (March 18, 2015), a new stadium record of 9018 was announced!

Bill McKechnie was a Pittsburgh native, former Bradenton resident, and a Hall of Fame manager. He was the first NL manager to win pennants with three different teams - the

Pittsburgh Pirates (1925), St. Louis Cardinals (1928) and Cincinnati Reds (1939-40). McKechnie was born on Saturday, August 7, 1886, in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. McKechnie was 21 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 8, 1907, with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He spent a total of 21 seasons in the bigs as a player/coach/manager. He bounced around for 11 years with the Pirates, Boston Braves, Yankees, Giants, Reds, and wrapped up his playing days with the Pirates. His lifetime batting average was .251, but had a very respectful career fielding percentage of .954 playing primarily third base and second base. Note that the HOF bio has him at .952, but I tend to go with the respected Baseball Almanac stats which have him at .954. He began his managerial career in 1922, and was a big league manager through 1945, then remained on as a coach until 1946. His 1,892 career victories ranked fourth in major league history when he ended his managing career in 1946, and trailed only John McGraw's NL total of 2,669 in league history. He was nicknamed "Deacon" because he sang in his church choir and generally lived a quiet life. He was elected to the HOF in 1962, and passed away in 1965 at age 79 in Bradenton, FL.

McKechnie field was originally named City Park. The field was later renamed Ninth Street Park and then Braves Field. It was named McKechnie Field in 1962.