I lost my Johnstown Mill Rats virginity last night, partial celebration of the passage of Donald Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill earlier in the day.
It was my first time taking in a Mill Rats baseball game. The weather was perfect. There would be postgame fireworks. The granddaughters were up for that, and of course ballpark concessions, if not necessarily the baseball game that was part of the package.
These days, I’m not big into watching sports in-person. I’m spoiled by decades of getting paid to attend, which also meant getting into games free of charge, often being wined and dined while there in press lounges, having a nice comfortable press box seat with no one kneeing one’s back or standing in front, or needing to move to allow others past at inopportune times.
It is much easier now that I’m retired to sprawl on the recliner, consume drinks and food from the home kitchen, and switch to another event if the current game is uncompetitive or otherwise disinteresting.
All that having been said, the Mill Rats game reminded me of the attraction of live events. I’m glad I went and more imporantly, the grandkids were thrilled, too.
It was well-done on many fronts, even if the baseball was a bit error-prone.
The crowd at Point Stadium reportedly was in excess of 4,500, a monumental turnout for one of these games. I know, I’ve driven past when games were being played in front of a crowd that was more like just friends and family. I’ve read of crowds for home games in the three-figure range.
But on this July 3rd evening, the place was crowded. Anecdotal reports tell me the place was papered with giveaway tickets and that I’m one of the few who actually paid for my family to get into the game. But it was a modest $5 a head so $20, no big deal.
For that $20 investment, not to mention the $15 my son spent on the obligatory trip to the concession stand to mollify the kids, it was hours of the sort of entertainment that explains why I love living in the area.
There was all manner of between-inning entertainment, from water balloon tossing to a taco race in which the apparent winner face-planted maybe 20 feet short of the finish line.
The center-field video board had constant entertainment.
The members of the crowd were well-behaved.
The Milton Mill Rat mascot strolled the stands and we got a picture of him (it?) with the girls. The youngest granddaughter recounted how Milton doesn’t like to have its tail pulled and once lost its nose during fan interaction. How she gleaned all this from a brief interraction baffled me.
Later, it was explained to me that Milton had visited her elementary school in the past and had provided the background then.
The game was starting to lag in later innings and the kids were getting impatient, but Johnstown’s relief pitcher got the job done and preserved a 5-4 win.
The fireworks were unexpectedly good. I’ve seen better, but I’ve also seen a lot worse. There was a flurry that I mistook for a grand finale. But, no, it was just a highlight of a show that probably ran 10 minutes after that.
I spent the night chatting with a long-time acquaintance from the sports world.
It was a great night.
Alas, as these things go in Johnstown, there is potential discord in our baseball future.
The Mill Rats won the first half of their Prospect League and so already have qualified for the playoffs. The way it was explained to me, if they win a preliminary round or two in those playoffs, the potential is present for the league playoffs to run into AAABA week, and produce a conflict for use of Point Stadium.
That is one thorny problem, the sort our local leadership has not shown the ability to resolve amicably.
Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that.
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