Ray Olmedo hoists the Governors' Cup trophy.

I'd never been to a minor league post-season game before. I always assumed it would be hard to get tickets, or at least more crowded than a regular game.  But last year, someone told me it was the opposite.  The ballparks are usually empty during the post-season, and it's easy to get tickets, even for teams that are usually sold out.

I'd hoped it would be the Bats playing the SWB Yanks on Thursday, September 17, when the Governors' Cup finals came to Scranton.  Alas, the Bats fell to the Bulls in five games.  Turns out, they did better than the Baby Bombers would.

I'd planned to go to Thursday's game because as game 3 of a five-game series, it might be the last.  The SWB Yankees rolled through the regular season and the playoffs, so I thought it was likely they would sweep the Bulls to take the Governors' Cup again. 

Boy, was I wrong.

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The lineups:

BATS

Bolivar LF   
Heisey CF 
Francisco, J
Frazier 2B   
Alonso 1B 
Dorn DH  
Valaika SS   
Ford RF  
Denove C   
Jukich P

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Today's USA Today has a series about how the recession is affecting school sports:

At some schools, budget cuts put sports in danger

Instead of gearing up to run cross country for Grove City High School in Ohio, Andy Bennett is training for a marathon.

It will give the 16-year-old some consolation because sports programs and clubs at his school have been shut down. An hour after the last bell each afternoon, it's lights out at the school.

Bennett and his classmates won't have homecoming, prom or a student government — activities that, like sports, are fixtures in American high schools but no longer exist at Grove City because of a financial crisis.

That's the plight of all students who attend South-Western City Schools, which serves part of Columbus and nearby towns and is Ohio's sixth-largest school district. The district has been in dire financial straits for years and is being squeezed further by the economic downturn. By canceling activities, the district cut $2.5 million in expenses, district spokeswoman Sandy Nekoloff says.

"I thought it was the worst thing in the world," Bennett says of the school board's decision to cancel activities after a proposed property tax hike was rejected by voters in August, the third time it failed.

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JULY 27, 2009: Syracuse, NY:  The Syracuse Chiefs were the Toronto Blue Jays' AAA affiliate for 31 years.  That ended last fall, in the latest round of minor league musical chairs.  I never heard what led to the breakup. Money?  Desire for newer facilities?  I can't imagine the Jays were happy to have to move their AAA team to Las Vegas; it's quite a schlepp to Toronto from there.

I'm kind of surprised the Mets didn't hook up with Syracuse.  It would be closer than Buffalo, where they ended up.  In any case, it was the Nats who ended up with Syracuse.  Local businesses have "Welcome, Nationals" signs posted.  Though the team has a red uniform reminiscent of Washington's, they also still wear a baby blue uni that looks very Jays.  And the Canadian flag still flies over Alliance Bank Stadium.

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JULY 26, 2009: Syracuse, NY: There's a statue of a horse in front of Alliance Bank Stadium.  Looks like one of those horse sculptures they get local artists to paint, then put up around town.  This one is painted with sports gear: footballs, helmets, bats, baseballs, etc.

There were a lot of people tailgating in the parking lot.  Unusual for baseball.  There were tailgaters the day before, too, but I thought it was because there was an "official" tailgate party going on.  There was no such thing on Sunday, but there were people tailgating nonetheless.

The game started at 5pm.  Alliance Bank Stadium is aligned exactly north-south, and the sun is pretty brutal in the afternoons if you're sitting on the first base side.  I decided to sit on the third base side, even though that was the home team's dugout, meaning it was more crowded, and I'd be seeing mostly the backs of the mostly right-handed lineups.

The view from my seat:

(I ended up moving to the first base side after a few innings.  It was just too crowded on the home team's side.  And I got tired of taking pictures of the batters' backs.)

Drew Stubbs, Wes Bankston, and Darnell McDonald warming up before the game.

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JULY 25, 2009: Syracuse, NY - There was a huge crowd before this game. Well, huge for Syracuse, NY. They had a "tailgate party," with food and drink specials sold in the parking lot before the game, some local bands playing, and people signing autographs. There were a lot of older women at this game, and I soon figured out why: the Chiefs had gotten some hunky soap opera star to sign autographs before and during the game.  Many fans missed several innings waiting in line for Mr. Soap Stud.

Me, I was there to see Travis Wood's AAA debut.  He did not disappoint.

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Alliance Bank Stadium is in downtown Syracuse, and is a small, older ballpark.  It's easy to get to.  Parking is $4, which was a bit of a surprise.  Most of the minor league parks I've been to do not charge for parking.

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