On the Road: A Long Day’s Journey Into Night in Myrtle Beach
To see all my posts from my May 10 visit to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, click HERE. To see all of my posts from my May 2016 Carolinas Road Trip, click HERE. To see all of my “On the Road” posts, click HERE. If interested in seeing posts covering a visit to a particular team, search for that team’s name in the blog search bar (it’s to your right).
I’m used to arriving at the ballpark before the game begins, but more than seven hours before the game begins? This was my situation when I visited the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
At the request of the team, I showed up at TicketReturn.com Field in the late morning so that I could get the “full Myrtle Beach experience.” Pelicans staffers (and best buds) Hunter Horenstein and Jeffrey Draluck were my designated tour guides, and over the course of the afternoon, we did everything from touch horseshoe crabs to play putt-putt to fly in helicopters. These intrepid adventures in rapid-fire tourism have been documented in an MiLB.com article, which touches on the Pelicans and their unique situation of operating a Minor League team within a vacation-based market.
Hunter and Jeffrey, my dino-riding Myrtle Beach tour guides.
By the time Hunter, Jeffrey and I made it back to the ballpark, I was exhausted and just about ready to call it a day. But the day had just begun! We entered the ballpark through the backdoor, which gave us the chance to check out the team locker rooms. The Pelicans are in their second season of Cubs affiliation, and this relationship is made readily apparent throughout the entirety of the players’ domain.
Even the bathroom stalls are Cubs-branded. Use the stall on the left if you need to “drop a Maddux.”
The Cubs have assigned a nutritionist to work with the Pelicans players on-site. Therefore, healthy “shot” options are always at the ready.
The clubhouse was empty because the players were warming up out on the field.
What’s up, Jeffrey Baez?
The Pelicans were established in 1999, operating first as a Braves affiliate (1999-2010) before transitioning to the Rangers (2011-2014) and, now, the Cubs. In that time quite a few players have traveled the “Road to the Show.”
One such player was Mike Hessman, who slugged 23 home runs for the Pelicans in their inaugural ’99 campaign. Hessman went on to hit 433 homers in the Minors, the most of all time. If I have a reason to mention him, however gratuitous, I will.
With the gates open and game time approaching, I returned to the out-of-doors. It was a pleasant evening, if a bit overcast.
In the dugout, I did my first-ever “Facebook Live” interview with Pelicans broadcaster Scott Kornberg.
It was then time to deliver a ceremonial first pitch. For good luck, I had my ball autographed by Splash.
Splash’s John Hancock increased my confidence that my imminent offering would be straight and true.
.@Pelicanbaseball Splash autographed my first pitch ball. Now I know it’ll be a strike. pic.twitter.com/yDXBq0tA6F
— Benjamin Hill (@bensbiz) May 10, 2016
And, of course, it was.
@bensbiz w perfect delivery 4 @Pelicanbaseball – He’s thrown more 1st pitches than anyone in the country last 5 yrs pic.twitter.com/Orc9N9CJ16
— Andy Milovich (@ARMilovich) May 11, 2016
You’ll just have to take my word for it.
Your daily first pitch update, @pelicansbaseball https://t.co/v2XXWZlHCq
— Benjamin Hill (@bensbiz) May 10, 2016
You’ll also have to take my word for it that there will be plenty more blog posts to come from Myrtle Beach. And by “plenty,” I mean “two.” Stay tuned.
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benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
instagram.com/thebensbiz
OMG, Splash is awesome!!!! And I do find it a little ironic that the stadium is named for the website I buy MiLB tickets on…
-Mike