Day 5

Oct 2, 2023
7 min read

Day 5, Game 5. What's today's location?

Erie, Pennsylvania.

In the far northwest corner of Pennsylvania, equidistant between Ohio and New York, lies the city of Erie. With just below 100,000 people, Erie is the fifth-largest city in the state. With its waterfront location next to Lake Erie, Erie initially made its mark in fishing and shipbuilding.

What can you do there?

I'm pretty proud of how much of the United States I've seen. I've traveled all over the South, seen a lot of the Midwest, been to most of the major cities on the West Coast, and have greatly enhanced my Northeastern travel recently. There's a lot I haven't seen (namely the Rockies and much of the West), but I've been to quite a bit for a kid from Moody. However, I've been missing something for a long time.

I've never seen a Great Lake. Fortunately, they've got one of those in Erie.

After the relatively short drive from Akron (just around two hours), I went straight to Presque Isle State Park. Presque Isle is a little peninsula sticking out of Pennsylvania and into Lake Erie. At one of the bends in the peninsula is the Presque Isle Lighthouse.

The Lighthouse was built in 1873 and has seventy-eight winding steps going to the top. Here's what it looks like at the top:

They're right, the lake is pretty great.

It gets cold in Erie (with about 100 inches of snow per year), and the guide at the top informed me that about 80% of the water becomes ice in the winter, which must be quite the sight to see. Also, there are around 600 shipwrecks in Lake Erie, which seems like a lot, right?

I walked down to the beach after the lighthouse. Most of Presque Isle's beaches are closed for the season but the one right by the lighthouse was still open (though not crowded, as the high is 65 degrees). The sand's really rocky, which can't be great for bare feet, but here's another picture.

I still had some time before I could check into my hotel, so I walked along the Eastern side of the peninsula (facing the city) for an hour or so before sitting on a bench to write some of the words you're reading. Really, it was a marvelous way to spend an afternoon.

Is it baseball time now?

It's baseball time.

Who are the Erie SeaWolves?

The SeaWolves are the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. The club initially formed as the Welland (Ontario) Pirates in 1989. In 1995 (a good year), they moved across Lake Erie and became known as the Erie SeaWolves. Originally, they were part of the short-season Single-A New York-Penn League, but their attendance so outweighed their competition they were called up to Double-A and the Eastern League in 1999. They've been with the Tigers organization since 2001.

Why are they called the SeaWolves?

They're near Lake Erie, and that's kind of like a sea.

They also used to be part of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and, according to Merriam-Webster, "seawolf" is a historic synonym for "pirate."

Who are they playing?

The Richmond Flying Squirrels, who I saw earlier.

Is the stadium nice?

UPMC Park feels really small. The capacity is 6,000, smallest in the whole Eastern League, but that's not really what I mean. It's all smushed into half a city-block, making the field dimensions smaller than league average. None of this is bad, per se, and it means getting around the stadium is easy, but it is noticeable. It's been Erie's home since 1995, and that feels about right.

What do they have to eat there?

During the game -- on the big screen -- they showed an advertisement for a local restaurant that makes pepperoni balls. They mentioned the pepperoni balls were sold at one of the concession stands at UPMC, and that sounded like an easy choice for me. But, I looked all over for those pepperoni balls and never found them.

Instead, I got a burrito bowl, which isn't specific to Erie, but I do think it's the first time I've seen that at a baseball concession stand.

I got all the ingredients they had: beef, rice, beans, queso, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, and cheese, and as I list it out, that was probably too much. It didn't rock my world, but it was basically what I expected. I'd place it somewhere between "alright" and "pretty good." I was a little bummed that I couldn't find the pepperoni balls.

Miscellaneous Notes

My hotel was in downtown Erie, just a fifteen or twenty minute walk from the stadium. Before the game, I set out walking toward UPMC Park, and after about ten minutes was surprised that I didn't see anything resembling a ballpark. At this point I looked at the road signs and realized that I was (of course) walking in the wrong direction and had to go all they way back across the city. Fortunately I had left early and still arrived at the park before first pitch.
I must say -- I'm tired. I've seen a lot of baseball and driven a lot of miles, and I'm just not as excited for this one. But it would be dumb if I came all the way to Erie and didn't see the SeaWolves, so here I am.
Some minor league teams are really intertwined with their major league club. The Bowie Baysox mimic the color scheme and jersey style of the Baltimore Orioles, because most of their fans are also Orioles fans. It's similar for the Akron RubberDucks; while they don't necessarily copy the Guardians style, there are as many attendees in Cleveland apparel as Akron.
On the other hand, no one in Richmond is a San Francisco Giants fan, they're Squirrels fans. The Giants are on the other side of the country, so there's no point in trying to force a tie with the Major League club.
The SeaWolves clearly mimic the Pittsburgh Pirates. Their logo...

...and jerseys...

appear to be clear homages to the Pirates, at least to me. But the SeaWolves aren't an affiliate of the Pirates, and they haven't been for over twenty years! But they aren't out here looking like the Detroit Tigers, which I find a little strange. They've even done a whole style rebrand since leaving the Pirates, and they look even more like them. Why rep an opponent? Are people around here Pirates fans? I don't know.

This feels like an older crowd. Part of it is the same as yesterday -- it's a school night -- but there are not many people my age here. You're either a little kid or old enough to be a grandparent.
Well, it was an older crowd everywhere except directly behind me, where there was a birthday party for an eleven-year-old. These kids were doing nothing wrong, they were just being eleven years old. But eleven-year-olds can be noisy, and when you aren't anticipating being around a bunch of eleven-year-olds, it can be okay to move seats so you aren't around eleven-year-olds anymore.
As you can see below, the left field wall is a hockey arena, where the Erie Otters (a junior league team) play.

Game Notes

Richmond: 37-26, 1st in ELSW, 3 games over Bowie

Erie: 36-27, 2nd in ELSW (1 GB)

As you can tell, this is an important series, though maybe not as important as it seems. Double-A ball splits its season into two halves; the winner of the first half of the season gets a playoff berth, as does the second half winner. The SeaWolves won the first half, so they're in regardless of what happens this series. Therefore, the Flying Squirrels just need to finish in second place. With only five games remaining, a three game lead over the Baysox has Richmond in a good place.

RIC starting pitcher: Nick Zwack ERI starting pitcher: Trevin Michael

Top 1st: The game does not start well for Trevin Michael. He gives up a walk, allows a stolen base, throws a wild pitch, and walks another before Richmond's Brady Whalen hits a 2-run double to take an early lead. Michael gets two outs, but allows a third walk, and is pulled after 0.2 innings. RJ Petit replaces him and gets out of the inning, but the SeaWolves already trail 2-0.

Top 2nd: Richmond's Brandon Martorano smashes a hard hit ball to the left field wall. Leftfielder Ben Malgeri makes the most impressive throw I've seen all week and throws the runner out at 2nd. Richmond does not score in the inning.

Bot 2nd: Erie's Julio Rodriguez blasts a 3-run home well past centerfield. It's a whole different game now -- the SeaWolves lead 3-2.

Top 4th: Flying Squirrel Ismael Munguia ekes out a 2-out RBI double. We're tied 3-3.

Top 7th: I haven't written anything in a long time but nothing interesting has happened.

Bot 7th: The Seawolves get men on 2nd and 3rd bases, but can't bring them around to score. It's still 3-3.

Top 8th: Richmond's Victor Bericoto hits a liner in between center and right. Hayden Cantrelle and Brady Whalen both come around to score, as the Squirrels take a 5-3 lead.

Top 9th: Brandon Martorano takes a power swing that sends the ball over the hockey arena. Richmond's now ahead 6-3 with just a half-inning remaining.

Bot 9th: It's just not Erie's day. They go out 1-2-3 and lose 6-3.

Win: Spencer Bivens

Loss: Andrew Magno

Player of the Game: Spencer Bivens: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 6 K

I walked to the stadium, which means I had to walk back to the hotel. And this is fine -- yes, I'm walking at night in an unfamiliar city, but the sidewalks are well-lit and there are plenty of cars on the road. There isn't anything to scare me.

Except in one spot.

I have to go under this bridge. The bridge has no lights other than headlights from passing cars. I'm walking along the right side, but over on the left side, I can see... something. I can't tell what it is.

As I get closer to the end of the bridge, I'm finally close enough to see that it's something large, white, and fluffy. I don't really want to see a dead dog or anything so I put my head down and shuffle forward.

But my curiosity gets the best of me. As I am parallel with the thing, I look over at it.

With aid from a car headlight, I see a plush sheep. It's just a stuffed animal, probably two or three feet tall. But here's the thing -- its head is gone. It's clearly been either cut off or ripped off, and there's stuffing pouring out all over the sidewalk. That's... that's weird, right? That's not what you expect to see on the side of the road. I don't know why this sheep is under this bridge, and I certainly don't know where the head has gone.

I guess that's what I get for going to eerie Pennsylvania.

Click HERE for Day 6, in which Will drives through Pennsylvania, drives through Pennsylvania, drives through Pennsylvania, and drives through Pennsylvania. Oh yeah, and sees his final baseball game.