Day 1

Where are you off to today?

I'm waking up early to drive to Richmond, Virginia. Yesterday was nice, but it just felt like going to a baseball game. Today feels like more of an adventure. The game is not until 6, but I'm going to make a day of it in Richmond.

Tell me about Richmond

It's the capital of Virginia, and it's only about a two hour drive on a Saturday morning (though it's much longer than that during the week). With a population of over 200,000, Richmond is the largest city I'll visit.

What can you do there?

The first thing I did was get lunch.

I went to the Capitol Waffle Shop, in downtown Richmond. Here is my order -- the country breakfast waffle.

Overall, very tasty. Downtown Richmond is mostly a ghost town on Saturday morning; the waffle shop was just about the only place doing any business.

The Capitol Waffle Shop is so named because of its close proximity to...

Virginia's Capitol, which looks exactly how you expect. I walked around the grounds -- they have several monuments, some of which I'll attach below. I wanted to go into the Capitol, as the sign outside the door said it was open for tours. However, neither me nor this grandfather-grandson combo that was also there could find the visitor entrance or confirm that was actually open. So I didn't do that.

After leaving the capitol, I drove over to Maymont, which is an old Victorian house/garden/park/wildlife area in town. There's lots to do there, but they have bears, and that's mostly why I was there. I started the house tour, which was fine, but my biggest takeaway was this lady's bed. Apparently, if you were unfathomably rich one hundred years ago, you were allowed to sleep in a swan.

However, as soon as I left the house, it was very apparent that it was going to rain very soon. Instead of immediately going toward the bears, I opted to wait out the rain in my car.

Friends, I never saw any bears.

The rain did not lessen for hours and, as much as I did want to see the bears, it was not worth getting drenched. Instead, I took a nap in the car, and when I realized I wasn't going to have any outside fun, drove to the Virginia Museum of Fine Art. I hadn't planned on going there but it was indoors.

As it turns out, the VMFA is one of the best art museums I've been to. They have an impressive and eclectic collection. I was only there for one hour (the hour before they closed), and I saw contemporary art, cubist art, photorealism, impressionism, a room full of paintings of horses, Ancient Egyptian art and artifacts, Mesoamerican art and artifacts, African art, and some other things that I'm not remembering.

Here are the two paintings I remember most (you can click on the links to see pictures of them):

"Jester on Horseback" by Pablo Picasso. The few colors really pop on this one. It's also pretty big, which you can't tell from this picture.

"Tropical Landscape - An American Indian Struggling with a Gorilla" by Henri Rousseau. You don't see this every day.

Anyway, the VMFA is a fantastic art museum that deserves your time if you're ever in Richmond. But let's talk about baseball.

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Who are the Richmond Flying Squirrels?

The Flying Squirrels are the AA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. After the Richmond Braves moved to Gwinnett, Georgia in 2008 (after being in Richmond since 1966), the Giants moved their Eastern League club from Norwich, Connecticut to Richmond for the 2010 season. They have played at The Diamond in every year of their existence.

Why are they called the Flying Squirrels?

The Richmond Times-Dispatch held a name-the-team contest. Flying Squirrels won out over Flatheads, Rhinos, and Rock Hoppers. The good people of Richmond made the correct choice.

Who are they playing?

The Akron RubberDucks. You'll learn more about them a little later.

Is the stadium nice?

The Diamond looks like it could crumble to the ground at any moment. I parked right behind the outfield wall so I couldn't get a great picture of the exterior, but here's a recent one I found online.

Yeah. Here's what the stands look like from the inside.

It's a huge eyesore. The stadium it reminds me of most is Birmingham's Legion Field -- a concrete behemoth that has (hopefully) seen better days. At least Legion Field has the excuse of being 100 years old. The Diamond is from the eighties.

Not only is it ugly, The Diamond doesn't meet baseline requirements for Minor League Baseball. Specifically, it doesn't have a big enough visitor's clubhouse or a designated space for female staffers. The city has approved plans for a new stadium to be completed in 2026, but these requirements will go into full effect in 2025. They have not received a compliance waiver from the MLB, so it's a huge mess for the city

All that said, the Flying Squirrels do what they can. There's a really nice video board in the outfield. The organization does a fantastic of job of in-game entertainment. (Interestingly, they never refer to the stadium as The Diamond during the game. The whole experience of being at a Squirrels game takes place in Funnville, which was a little too abstract for me). And they always pull good crowds; in fact, the Squirrels routinely have the highest average attendance in Double-A baseball. Last year, they averaged 6,160 people per game, almost 2,000 more than anyone else in the Southwest Division of the Eastern League. The excitement around the team makes their antiquated eyesore of a stadium feel even more out of place.

What do they have to eat there?

The Squirrels game didn't have any Richmond-specific eats (I don't even know what that would be) so I tried to find something a little different from the standard ballpark fare. They didn't have anything terribly experimental, but there was a whole stand for Philly cheesesteaks, and I thought I couldn't go wrong there. Just a simple set of high-floor ingredients. Here's what my cheesesteak looked like:

You may be asking, "Will, where's the cheese?" That's a great question. If you look very closely (you may need to zoom in), you may spot some individual sprinklings of shredded cheese. Not the classic Cheez Whiz, not provolone slices, but something you get in a bag at Walmart. There was no cheese evident in the flavor either, which (you may have also noticed) was overwhelmingly dominated by green pepper slices. They weren't bad in the slightest, but there were entire mouthfuls that were just bread and peppers, and that's not really what I thought I'd signed up for. It was less of a Philly cheesesteak and more of a Richmond pepperbread. I would still eat it 365 days in a row before I ever have another crab dog.

Miscellaneous Notes

• This was my view for the game:

What's that? Let's zoom in.

Yep, the game started in a rain delay. It was supposed to begin at 6:05, but was delayed until 7:05. It had been raining all day (preventing me from seeing bears) but it didn't rain at all after 7, so this game did actually finish.

• During the rain delay, a local high school band performed! I assumed they were just going to do their halftime show, but they played seven songs. They were a bit too far away to hear them well, but I recognized "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5, "Feel It Still," by Fitz & the Tantrums, and "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond.

• In addition to my disappointing cheesesteak, I got "squirrely fries," assuming that was some new creation. It's just curly fries.

• Remember how I mentioned Richmond has the best average attendance in Double-A baseball? 9,320 people came to this game. It was a rainy day! Bad baseball weather! But they still had more people than some Nationals games I've been to.

• About thirty people threw out "first pitches," one after another. People with birthdays, corporate partners, season ticket holders, etc. If you are twenty-fifth in line, you are no longer throwing a first pitch. They shouldn't call it that.

• It was ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation night at The Diamond. After the fourth inning, a bunch of childhood cancer survivors walked around the field, high-fived all the players, and touched home plate. It was a touching moment that was somewhat degraded by the chorus of "Don't Stop Believin'" looping over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

• After the fifth inning, there a mascot race of different mixed nuts. I didn't write it down, so I don't remember which nut won. I'm sorry.

• I think there's something inherently funny about grown adults chanting "Let's go Squirrels!"

Game Notes

Akron: 27-32, 5th place in the SW (9 GB)

Richmond: 36-25, 1st place in the SW. They are in a tight battle with Erie and Bowie for the second-half division title.

AKR starting pitcher: Juan Zapata RIC starting pitcher: Hayden Birdsong

Bot 1st: Richmond's Israel Munguia hits a leadoff home run. The Flying Squirrels lead 1-0.

Bot 1st: After 2 consecutive Squirrel singles, Andy Thomas hits a deep line drive to bring in the baserunners. Richmond now leads 3-0.

Top 2nd: The RubberDucks get an infield single. a walk, and a deep fly ball, but can't bring anyone to home plate in the inning.

Top 3rd: I went to fill my water bottle and missed an Akron home run. It's 3-1, Richmond.

Bot 4th: Logan Wyatt scores from third base on an E5, it's now Richmond 4, Akron 1.

Top 5th: Akron's Bryce Ball gives the RubberDucks some life with a two-run homerun, cutting the lead to 1.

Top 7th: Akron flirts with scoring, but Richmond shortstop Will Wilson makes an impressive L6-3 double play to get out of the inning.

Top 8th: Bryce Ball does it again -- he hit his second homerun (this time a solo shot) to tie the game at 4.

Bot 8th: Andy Thomas hits another deep ball. This one brings Cesar Idrogo in from third base. The Flying Squirrels retake the lead, 5-4.

Bot 8th: After Thomas' RBI, Akron reliever Trey Benton makes some hard-to-watch miscues. An easy missed throw to second and a pitch clock walk load the bases for the Squirrels, but he gets out of it and gives his team a chance down by just 1.

Top 9th: They can't take advantage. A popout ends it, and the Squirrels win, 5-4. There's fireworks afterwards, but I need to get on the road.

Win: Tyler Myrick

Loss: Trey Benton

Player of the Game: Andy Thomas - 2-4, 1 2B, 3 RBI

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Two things about the drive home:

• All week, I had been planning schemes to simultaneously watch this game and the Alabama-Texas football game, which was on at the same time. But when I got to the game, it just felt right to put my whole attention toward the Flying Squirrels game. I assumed I'd listen to the end of the football game while driving away from the stadium, but as an Alabama fan, it turns out I did not want to do that. I listened to music instead.

• My next game is in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The halfway point between Richmond and Altoona just happens to be Washington, DC. So I did a road trip rarity: I slept at home.

Click here to move onto DAY 2, in which Will drives into the mountains, learns about baseball's worst player, finds out what a yinzer is, and learns a new song.