Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Greenville's not a bad Drive

Observations from Greenville, S.C.


Greenville didn’t disappoint in our final stop of the season in the South Atlantic League. It was the third-hottest game of our summer tour - Savannah was 97 degrees and Charleston 92 in early July - but you expect that. We were just glad the rain held off.

Highlights:

We parked for free on the other side of Falls Park and walked through it. This is a must. The waterfalls are just breath-taking for a downtown setting. There is a free shuttle for before and after the game, but ride it on the way back, at night. Walk through the park (be careful on the first set of stone steps, though!).

The story is that the Drive are so-named because of the nearby BMW plant. It may be the weakest name of the league.

There seemed to be even more youngsters at this game than any other we saw all season, especially for a night game. There was an infant race between innings to promote a local college that was pretty embarrassing, but sitting on the left-field grass provided lots of kid-watching excitement the rest of the game.

The grass seating brought another a big chuckle when a loud song stopped unexpectedly between innings and a nearby fan was in the middle of blurting out, “Let’s go home and smoke a blunt!”

The Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum across the street is open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.on Saturdays.

The field is built to the same specs as Fenway Park, though the Green Monster is seven feet shorter to allow condo owners to see the field. Those owners on terraces in center field got to scrap for a home run ball.

Drive Carolinas Connections

Pitcher Ty Buttrey, Providence High
Pitcher Jamie Callahan, Dillon (S.C.) High

0 comments: