The Hangar

There wasn't much of a lag time between baseball games the past two days. After getting home from Anaheim after midnight, I was off to Lancaster the following afternoon. The funny thing is, I don't mind it, and the exhaustion I have is perfectly acceptable to me. I'm exploring Southern California, seeing new ballparks, and chronicling some incredible adventures.

Lancaster is the largest metropolitan area in the Antelope Valley about 45 miles north of Los Angeles. To get there from here in the Inland Empire requires weaving through the desert on a two-lane highway going through some pretty desolate places. For being a metro area of 200,000 people, I got the feeling that this was another out-of-the-way park in the middle of nowhere. Surprisingly, the Metrolink does go to Lancaster, and I even investigated using it to go to the game. The schedule, unfortunately, isn't very conducive to Baseball Road Trips.

After about 90 minutes on the road, I finally got to the Lancaster ballpark, The Hangar. Adorned with a replica F-15 decked out in NASA colors, you are immediately reminded that the ballpark is literally a stone's throw away from Edwards Air Force Base, hence the home team's name of the Jethawks. What blew me away when I first entered the park was that it is literally an exact carbon copy of San Manuel Stadium here in San Bernardino. I'm not kidding. Right down to the layout in the bathrooms, it is a carbon copy.

However, the one neat thing the Jethawks did was work with the local craft brewery to have a real legitimate beer garden along the baseline. Being that it was a Thirsty Thursday, these gardens were hopping like mad. The Garden was cordoned off with attractive barriers and had garden-type seating within those confines. You could barely see the game because the majority of the Garden was recessed behind the main grandstand, but the clientele that is in that Garden usually isn't watching the game. They also had tv's set up within the Garden showing the Soccer game and some MLB action. This is something I'd like to see put in by the 66ers at the park, especially for the Thursday-Saturday games. Hangar 24 Brewery is getting pretty big out here, and maybe they can partner with the 66ers in the future for something similar.

Outside of the park, there is a very unique natural element to the game here. The wind constantly blows  out to right field. As a result, the ball flies out of here like no other park I've been to. Sure, Coors Field and Security Service Field in Denver and Colorado Springs have the altitude, but here you could actually see a fly ball catch a gust of wind and just be propelled like a glider. All four of the home runs were absolute moon shots that probably haven't even landed yet. Because of this quirk, games here are apparently offensive shoot-outs, which does make for some wild endings.

Lancaster had an 8-6 lead over Lake Elsinore going into the ninth inning. The Storm got a lead-off homer to start the inning, and scored the tying run later in the frame on a single, error, and a double. The bottom of the inning saw an 11-pitch at-bat end in a walk-off RBI double for the Jethawks as they beat the Storm 9-8. It was one of the more wild games I've seen this season.

So, now to preview this weekend:

Rancho Cucamonga @ Inland Empire
It's Josh Hamilton Bobblehead Night for the 66ers tomorrow night. One word: Sweet.

St. Louis @ LA Dodgers
Sunday sees me taking the train into LA with my bike. I'm going to do my downtown ride before hoofing it up the big hill to Dodger Stadium.

I'm looking forward to seeing Clayton Kershaw pitch for the Dodgers. He has been absolutely lights-out for the team, including throwing a no-hitter last week. His no-hitter is being described as one of the best games ever pitched considering how he walked nobody, struck out 15, and the only blemish was a throwing error by Hanley Ramirez. Kershaw right now is in the midst of a 22 innings scoreless streak.

It is Friday, so with no baseball games schedules, I plan on catching up on some reading on my patio and trying to relax from what has been a whirlwind last seven days. It all starts back up tomorrow, though, and the Week of Baseball really will heat up.

Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)