Tincaps Celebrate Victory

Watching the Tincaps play last Friday night was the perfect date. This was our first trip to Parkview Field to view the semi-pro baseball team. The stadium which opened last year is first rate, we had a good time for a reasonable price and the Tincaps pulled one out in the bottom of the ninth for a 9 to 8 victory.

When we left Angola I asked Bruce if he would mind leaving early if I became bored, I am not a huge baseball fan but I enjoyed playing in my younger days. That was not necessary, the time flew by and keeping my interest was easy. Wondering through the food just deciding what to eat took at least a inning, the libations were equally tempting. Settling on a blueberry vodka concoction might not have been the best choice but they hooked me with the $2 price. Bruce munched a giant Philly steak sandwich that he smothered with A1 sauce at the suggestion of the grill master, he nodded his head with each bite which translates into yum, yum. Seeing apple dumplings for sale rather surprised me, I got the Johnny Appleseed connection but did not expect to be gobbling one at a ball game. Sweet potato fries sometime around the seventh inning with an ice cold draft really hit the spot, food and beverages were varied, plentiful and fairly priced.

The game itself was fun, the Caps (named for Johnny Appleseed who wore his cooking pot as a hat while planting apple trees in the Midwest) were down 3 zip in the first inning, sometime during one of our food runs Peoria scored 4 on a bases loaded home run. We lost track of the pitching changes after the Caps put in the fourth pitcher but things slowly improved and Ft. Wayne scored a run here and there. Next thing you know it is the top of the ninth, score tied 8 up and the Caps knock off Peoria three up, three down. Caps turn to bat, first batter gets a hit, next batter pops out and the third man does the job with hit to center field, Caps win by one a very exciting finish.

We chose a game that started at 7:05 which gave us the opportunity to see the park in day and night. Having grown up in Fort Wayne it was nice to see the city skyline in the background, the new Marriott Courtyard hotel overlooks the field with bleachers for game viewing and the stadium provides lots of kid friendly activities. Goofy games of musical chairs, hamster balls with people racing in them and a sandwich building contest filled the brief moments between innings and kept the youngsters entertained. The splash pad inside the park has gotten lots of use with the extra hot summer we are having and the rock climbing wall has the little ones lined up.

Two thumbs up for the for the Tincaps and Parkview Field. The celebratory fireworks were awesome.