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Borrego Springs, CA

Saturday, October 20, 2012

♪ ♫ “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”♫ ♪

My mission for today was to visit the North Carolina Baseball Museum.  I plugged the address of the museum into Jack-in-the-Box, and I was off.  It was only about four or five miles away.  I easily found Fleming Stadium, but I sure was having trouble finding the museum.

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The stadium was located in a residential area, and as I drove around looking for the museum I was happy to see this sign.  I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant, but I hoped it would calm me down.  Eventually I just pulled into a vacant grassy lot where quite a few cars seemed to be parked. 

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Finally, I walked through the open fence to the ball field, and asked where the museum was located.  I found out there were four games going on today at the stadium, and got some directions.

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The museum is right on the left outfield line of the stadium, but there is no sign on the back side of the building that faces the street.  Seeing as I was the only visitor, the volunteer gave me a very detailed tour.  There is a charge for this museum, but the price for old farts is just $1.00, so I was good to go.  Somehow the gentleman surmised that I wasn’t from the area by my accent.  Accent??  I’ve always thought I didn’t have an accent.  I think it’s folks from North Carolina that have an accent!  Winking smile

Have you ever seen the movie “Bull Durham” starring Kevin Costner?   Well if you have, the scene where they sneak into the ball field to turn the water sprinklers on to soak the field so the next day’s game will be cancelled was filmed at Fleming Stadium.  This volunteer was just a wealth of knowledge about North Carolina and baseball.

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Now I’m not a big fan of professional baseball and I wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy this museum.  So instead of just randomly gazing at all those display cabinets of memorabilia, I asked if any players from North Carolina played for the Chicago Cubs.  That put this guide on a mission to point out at least eight NC men that had played for the Cubs.  As we moved along, he continued to tell me lots of interesting things about the players.  This guy really knew his stuff!

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Then it was on to room number two of the museum.  I really have no interest in college ball, so half of that room just blurred past me.  I did find two displays very interesting though.  The first was on the Girl’s Professional Baseball League that was active in the 1940’s.  (remember “A League of their Own”?)  The other was on the Black Baseball League (I believe they were called the Negro League at that time)  that existed before the integration of the sport.  The person depicted on the right of the bottom left painting was “Peanut” Johnson; a black young lady that played as a pitcher in the men’s Negro League.

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For a person who doesn’t follow professional sports, this museum was just the right size for me.  I enjoyed my visit, appreciated the knowledge of my guide, and even got a chance to play that antique baseball game pictured in the lower right.  It involved hitting a marble with a little wooden bat something like a non-electric pin ball machine.  It was hard, and I flied out!

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It was just my good luck that a ball game was about to begin as I finished my tour of the museum.  Many famous baseball players have played at the historic Fleming Stadium such as Ted Williams.  (even I’ve heard of him)  I asked if I could just take a few photos of the field without having to pay to watch the games, and was told to go ahead and take my time.  Open-mouthed smile  I always wondered what it would be like to have a seat behind home base.

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I did find a seat close to the action and watched the first half of the first inning of a game.  The players are from different NC area fall teams, and these young men looked to be about 16 or 17 years of age.

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Now I find watching this kind of baseball game most exciting and enjoyable.  You don’t have all those delays found in professional sports, and the kids have lots of talent and give their all.  I was sucked right in and was clapping away as the pitcher caught a line drive for the last out.  I really could have sat there all afternoon, but I had other things to see and do. 

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Remember that Traffic Calming Sign?  Well what that really means down here is a series of speed humps (not bumps) to slow traffic down around the stadium.  I, being the goody two shoes that I am, proceeded very slowly to find my way back to the rig…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

21 comments:

  1. Sounds like a fun day. Hope you got some Cracker Jack. The Negro League Hall of Fame is in Kansas City. I'd be happy going around the US and seeing all the baseball museums. I'll have to remember this one, thanks for sharing.

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  2. I think he meant...the lack of accent. That is what they tell us when we are in Texas.
    I love “Bull Durham." Never knew it was filmed there. Of course, I guess I never thought about where it was filmed.
    I would have loved that Museum. I love baseball. Glad you had a great guide to make your visit more enjoyable.

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  3. I'm not much of a baseball fan (my brother loves it) but this looks like a museum I would like. Especially with a knowledgeable guide.

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  4. I've never heard of a "calming area".... glad you explained it as I had a lot of other visions run though my head. I did see "Bull Durham" years ago... we were on a plane flying back from Europe and I was so nervous about flying I can't remember a darn thing about it except the name.... I've never been a fan of ANY sport .... my Dad would probably disown me if he were still alive... but I think I'd enjoy going through this museum. Looks like you're having a good road trip... very nice!

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  5. Peanuts, popcorn and Cracker Jacks....she doesn't care if she never gets back........Take Judy out to the ball game!

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  6. I was surprised to hear that a scene from Bull Durham was shot there. I always thought the whole movie was shot in Durham at the Durham Bulls Ballpark. That's another vaccinating park to visit...the "old" park, not the new. The new is beautiful but the history is in the old.

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  7. Looked like a fun museum to visit at a pretty good price too.

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  8. great tour of the baseball museum!..thanks for sharing all the pictures!!

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  9. Nice! Looks like you enjoyed your day. Nothing like a little baseball fix in October!

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  10. Cool! This brought back memories of my days with the El Paso Diablos during 1981-1983. They were a AA farm club of the Milwaukee Brewers back then and I was Office Manager. What a fun job that was! I can verify that there were "incidents" such as the one you described in the "Bull Durham." We had "Trivia Man" who would mingle through the audience wearing a silly hat with a flashing light on it, asking spectators trivia questions between innings. Well . . . during one game, we snuck a horse in and he rode it around the field during 7th inning stretch! Hahaha! The boss didn't know about it beforehand, except around lunchtime asked, "What's that horse trailer doing here?" Our collective response . . . "Horse trailer? What horse trailer?" Bwahaha! Lordy, I could write a book . . . Thanks for the post!

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  11. Like you, I am not a professional sports fan either, but if someone were to drag me to a live sporting event I might be inclined to enjoy myself a bit. Two key words there were, 'might be':))

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  12. For not being a sports fan, I think you were very open minded to put this on your agenda and it seems you had a very good time. I'm not a sports fan either and can't imagine I would have gone here. You are a good role model for me.

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  13. Seems like that guide had to know a LOT more than we have to know. But I guess it doesn't seem like much to him since he has the passion. The guide at the Chinese museum was pretty much the same way. Volunteered for a month of leading tours and being able to answer any questions.

    And you just added another example of life can be fun and interesting wherever you find yourself.

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  14. I'm certainly NOT a baseball fan (football is my personal fav'), but any kind of history fascinates me...I did so love the movie "A League of Their Own"...Every sport has it's own unique history and I do love HISTORY!!

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  15. Another great adventure, sure must have "calmed" you down. I'm not a big sports fan either, but I agree, the local games are much more interesting. The kids seem to put their hearts into the game more so than the high paid pros.

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  16. Speed humps and traffic calmers?? those signs are almost as different as the ones we found in Europe! Too funny. I haven't been a real baseball fan since the Dodgers first came to LA when I was in high school. That was fun back then. Then I had a guy who worked for me who was a Red Sox fan from Boston and another who was a Giants fan from San Fran, so they got me back up to speed a bit. Still not sure if I would go to a baseball museum, so thanks for the vicarious visit.

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  17. College football is my guilty pleasure, but I did go to a few women's softball games at the University and found it very pleasant to sit in the sun and watch the action.

    Maybe the rather odd wording on the traffic signs is just part of their southern accent!!

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  18. Among the bloggers that my wife's site links to, you are one of my favorites. You seem quite open to various activities and interests, including traffic signs.

    Reading about your visit to the BB museum while listening to my Giants lead the Cardinals in game 6 of their National League Championship Series, was a special synergy. Thank you.

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