Day 2
- Sep 25, 2023
- 6 min read
Where are you today?
Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Altoona is the smallest city I'll visit this week. The population is about 44,000, but it's pretty far out without much near it, so it feels smaller than that. Per Wikipedia, Altoona had over 80,000 in the 1930s, but has been on a steady decline since.
Altoona's a railroad town (more on that in a minute), in the shadow of Brush Mountain. If you go any further west, you're in the Allegheny Mountains.
What can you do there?
Actually, this is an early game, and I have a long drive ahead of me. So if you don't mind, we're gonna go straight into baseball.
Who are the Altoona Curve?
The Curve are the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1998, Major League Baseball added the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks, which opened two new spots in Double-A baseball. Altoona won the bid for the final slot over Springfield, Massachusetts. They have been part of the Pirates' organization for their entire existence
Why are the called the Curve?
The team is named for the Horseshoe Curve, just outside city limits. I don't know enough about trains or engineering to fully describe the importance of the Curve, but it effectively connected Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and the rest of the west via train. The Horseshoe Curve is a gradual incline in a horseshoe shape that allows trains to get over the summit of the Alleghenies. The Horseshoe Curve is still used by trains today and is a popular destination for train aficionados. Here's a picture:
I guess there's also a play on words with curveballs. Baseball.
Wait, what's that? They're going by a different name today? An alternate identity? What is it?
Stop.
They're called what?
Why are they called the Allegheny Yinzers?
"Yinz" is a second-person plural pronoun used by people in western Pennsylvania. From what I can tell, "Yinzers" live between the Pennsylvania Alleghenies and the border with West Virginia, which notably includes Pittsburgh (and Altoona, though just barely). Yinz is used like y'all, but only in a very specific region.
And, as mentioned previously, we are right on the cusp of the Allegheny portion of the Appalachian Mountain Range.
Who are they playing?
The Harrisburg Senators, who we'll talk more about later.
Is the stadium nice?
The stadium is super nice.
The Curve (no, Yinzers) have played in Peoples Natural Gas Field since their formation in the late Nineties. This shocked me, as the stadium feels much newer than that. They must have done an incredible job keeping up with it over the last twenty-five years. If you're in the upper deck (like I was), it can take a minute to reach the concessions and bathrooms, but that's really the only flaw I found.
Yep, that's a rollercoaster. Past the outfield, there's a small amusement park, which includes the Skyliner. This rollercoaster looks a little rickety, but people were riding it throughout the game.
What do they have to eat there?
Most of the concession stands in Peoples Natural Gas Field have your regular baseball game items. The Kunzler Grill in left field has a bit more variety, including something called the Curve Burger.
The Curve Burger is fairly simple; it's a big, thick beef patty grilled with two slices of American cheese and it has a fancy bun. But it's really good -- way better than you're average concession cheeseburger (more filling too). Thus far, this is clearly the top food item.
Also, in doing research for the Curve Burger, I found this video of the team's general manager, who has seemingly never cooked before, making one. Enjoy.
Miscellaneous Notes
It's John Gochnaur day at the ballpark. Gochnaur was a professional baseball player in the early 1900s from Altoona, so he's someone to be proud of, right? John Gochnaur is considered the worst baseball player of all time. In almost 1,000 career at bats, he never hit a home run and, in 1903, he committed a record 98 errors in the field. To commemorate the hometown (anti-) hero, the Curve (Yinzers) dedicated the day to him.
Altoona's operations production is really good. They have a whole pregame show on their big screen and they do a swell job of keeping spectators engaged.
Speaking of -- the guy doing all the in-game promotions wasn't just a college-aged hype man, he was the team's director of marketing. He was a good at his job -- much better than most. But when you're in hype man mode, it's hard to take it down a notch. So when he was introducing a high schooler with cancer, our guy excitedly read his script, "Jesse was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma!" This made me audibly laugh. Fortunately, no one was around me.
Another band today! The national anthem was played by Saint Francis University's marching band. SFU is in nearby Loretto.
During an inning break in the middle of the game, there was a mascot of race of three meatballs, sponsored by a local Italian restaurant. One meatball wore a chef's hat, one had pasta on its head, and the third had a baseball cap that kind of looked like a tomato. Apparently all three were tied for the most wins this season, so when they reached the finish line, they joined hands and crossed together so they could all go out on top, which is an abomination.
The Baltimore Orioles always play "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" by John Denver during the seventh-inning stretch. This is strange, as no one mistakes Baltimore for being in the country. Altoona does this as well, but it makes more sense here.
I haven't taken pictures of mascots at the other games, but Altoona has my favorite so far. This is Al Tuna:
The Altoona Curve are the only baseball team I know of that has their own theme song. Not a fight song, not a chant, but an official theme song they play after runs. It's... well, it's something. I'll attach a video. Please, please listen to this because I find it absolutely indescribable.
There are so many questions -- too many to note here. But doggone it, it's catchy.
Game Notes
Harrisburg: 25-36, 6th in ELSW (11 GB)
Altoona: 27-32, 4th in ELSW (8 GB). Both teams are eliminated from playoff contention.
HBG SP: DJ Herz ALT SP: Jackson Wolf
Top 1st: Dylan Crews leads off for the Senators. In July, Crews was named NCAA Player of the Year while at LSU. Here he is in Double-A Eastern League baseball. He flew out to leftfield. (Crews' teammate, Paul Skenes [the number one pick in the MLB Draft] plays for Altoona, but it's not his day to pitch.)
Bot 1st: The inning ends on a double steal attempt -- good play by Harrisburg catcher Wilmer Perez.
Bot 2nd: Altoona's Jace Bowen hits a triple to centerfield for the game's first hit.
Bot 2nd: Connor Scott drives Bowen in the next AB, giving the Curve/Yinzers a 1-0 lead. They have a chance for more but strike out with runners on the corners for the third out.
Top 3rd: Wilmer Perez hits a two-run homerun for the Senators, giving Harrisburg the lead.
Bot 3rd: Altoona's Carter Bins hits an RBI single past third base, and Jace Bowen has an RBI fielder's choice. Altoona retakes the lead, 3-2, and we have a great game going.
Bot 4th: Mike Jarvis steals two bases for the Yinzers (Curve?), but can't score.
Top 5th: Harrisburg's Robert Hassell gets an RBI single with two outs and ties the game, 3-3.
Bot 5th: Jace Bowen smacks a ball deep into left, but it's just barely foul. Altoona can't take the lead.
Top 6th: Donovan Casey's ball just misses the right fielder's glove, and he drives in one runner with a double. It's 4-3 Senators.
Bot 6th: Connor Scott tries to steal home after a passed ball, but gets caught. Harrisburg reliever Malvin Pena gets himself out of a sticky situation, as the Senators still lead 4-3.
Bot 7th: With two outs, Matt Fraizer advances to first on a dropped third strike. He then steals 2nd, and takes home plate after a Carter Bins RBI single. It's tied again, 4-4.
Top 8th: There's a promotion where if a specific Senator strikes out, everyone in the stands gets a free Big Mac. Donovan Casey was the marked man today, and in the 8th, he struck out (though got to 1st on another dropped third strike). Shortly after the game, Google Maps called the Altoona McDonald's "busier than usual."
Bot 8th: The Curvezers get a runner on 3rd base, but they can't score, and we enter the 9th knotted at 4.
Bot 9th: Joe Perez leads off the inning for Altoona and gets a hit. He then advances to 2nd on a passed ball (poor catching overall today) and 3rd on a Matt Fraizer flyout. Carter Bins takes the plate and hits a 1-0 fly ball to center field that no one has a chance at. Perez goes home and the Yinzers win on a walkoff. In celebration, they play their song over the PA. Everybody loves Curve baseball.
Win: Oliver Garcia
Loss: Joel Peguero
Player of the Game: Carter Bins: 3-5, 3 RBI, 1 2B
What did you do after the game?
Since this was a 1:00 game, I got out just before 4. Frankly, there isn't much to do in Altoona on a Sunday evening, so I just went to my hotel and parked there for the night. I checked into the Altoona Grand Hotel, which is... not all that grand. I got a disappointing fettucine alfredo at the hotel restaurant, and got in bed early.
While flipping the TV channels, I saw Psycho was playing on Turner Classic Movies. This is a good movie, but it may be the absolute worst movie to watch in a hotel, so I turned the TV off.
Click HERE to read about Day 3, in which Will eats "pizza," sees some dinosaurs, crosses into Ohio, and doesn't watch any baseball.
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