My colleagues at Stadium Journey hold a meetup every summer and this year saw them attending a variety of games in the D.C. area. This was fortuitous for me as I had two Atlantic League ballparks still to see and both are within an hour of the nation's capital. So I combined those with one of the meetup games to make a nice weekend with three new ballparks. The first was Regency Furniture Stadium, home of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.
Located in Waldorf about an hour south of Washington, the stadium is surrounded by a large parking lot, which is free as it should be at this level. All tickets are $15 though seats are technically reserved but with this big a stadium, you can pretty much find a place to sit.
The shot below gives a better look at this. I think these seats would be fun for foul ball hunters.
The stadium structure includes a second level for suites, as most smaller ballparks do these days.
Continuing around the concourse, there are several points of interest. First is the starting lineup board. The York Revolution (not the plural as shown below) boasted former Oriole David Washington, who I had seen a few times before in this league.
The most unique feature is a game where you can try to grab a jersey, similar to the arcade claw games that reward you with a stuffed animal. I did not see anyone trying this though I was tempted.
There is an impressive playground in the right field corner and I know that if I had brought my daughter, the majority of my time would have been spent here. Fortunately for me (and unfortunately for her), I was solo on this visit.
You can walk around the outfield and take a picture of the entire stadium, something I always like to do.
You can walk around the outfield and take a picture of the entire stadium, something I always like to do.
There is a small water area with bumper boats. When I saw this, I somewhat regretted not bringing my daughter. Because old men are not allowed to do these activities on their own.
There is a manual scoreboard in the left field fence, blue of course. Above the seats is a party area that was closed due to a private event. The life of a solo sports traveler is always being turned away at the door of these parties.
Continuing around the concourse, there are several points of interest. First is the starting lineup board. The York Revolution (not the plural as shown below) boasted former Oriole David Washington, who I had seen a few times before in this league.
Standings are also on display along with upcoming events. I did not plan well, missing the Beer and Wings event on July 11th.
The most unique feature is a game where you can try to grab a jersey, similar to the arcade claw games that reward you with a stuffed animal. I did not see anyone trying this though I was tempted.
There are poles with past Blue Crab stars, including Daryl Thompson, who was an Expos draftee in 2003 and was then traded from the Washington Nationals in 2006. He appeared with the Reds for 3 starts in 2008 and a relief appearance in 2011, and is still playing for the Blue Crabs while also being their pitching coach. At the time of writing, his record is 2-10 with a 6.60 ERA, so maybe it is time to hang them up, at least as a player.
There was a booth with $3 beers, but it was not staffed for about 30 minutes before the game. 'The beers were there just waiting to be poured, but no pourer was nearby. We talk about a low-trust society but nobody stole any beers. Again, I resisted the temptation.
A final picture looking back from the right field corner while I waited for the beer guy to show up.
There was a booth with $3 beers, but it was not staffed for about 30 minutes before the game. 'The beers were there just waiting to be poured, but no pourer was nearby. We talk about a low-trust society but nobody stole any beers. Again, I resisted the temptation.
A final picture looking back from the right field corner while I waited for the beer guy to show up.
He eventually did and I enjoyed a cheap beer as well as a pretty good baseball game.
The Game
York started Ethan Lindow, a Phillies 5th-round pick from 2017 who topped out at AA last year, while the Blue Crabs countered with Garrett Martin, who pitched at D3 Marian College and was in his first year in the league after appearances in the Pioneer and United Shore leagues.
York started Ethan Lindow, a Phillies 5th-round pick from 2017 who topped out at AA last year, while the Blue Crabs countered with Garrett Martin, who pitched at D3 Marian College and was in his first year in the league after appearances in the Pioneer and United Shore leagues.
After a quick top of the first, Josh Broughton led off for SOMD and fouled a ball off his foot that rolled to third, where it was picked up and tossed to first for the out. Oops, the umpire missed the foul off the foot and Broughton got very upset, getting tossed to add insult to injury. Ignoring the distraction, Michael Wielansky followed with a double and scored on a single from Miles Williams to give the Blue Crabs the early lead and Martin was solid, yielding just two singles and a walk through five. But a triple from York's Ciaran Devenney started the sixth and Rudy Martin Jr. scored him with a single to tie the game.
Cody Thompson relieved Martin in the 7th and gave up back-to-back doubles followed by a wild pitch and sac fly and it was 3-1 York. Lindow remained in the game and Aaron Hill (not the ex-Blue Jay, but a former UConn player) homered to get the Blue Crabs back within one. Nelvin Correa came in to shut down the rally and York added some insurance in the 8th when Martin Jr. doubled, stole third, and scored on a single.
The Revolution bullpen was solid with 3 no-hit innings to preserve the win for Lindow, with the final 4-2. The manual scoreboard operator peers out from the top of the 7th inning, thus ruining the linescore.
Notes
This was the start of a three-week roadtrip with my family, and I did not update the blog during that time, so the posts are released about three weeks after the game.
Best,
Sean
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