A 60-minute tour of Boston

It would be a lie to say it was the last thing on my mind.

I already knew late last month that I would be connecting through Boston on my flight from Long Beach to Richmond late Monday into Tuesday morning. As the day approached, I thought it was too bad I only had about an hour and 15 minutes to change planes; had it been four hours or so I might try to get pictures of the Massachusetts State House since I did not see it the last time I was in Boston in 2001.

Little did I know that when Christina took me to Long Beach Airport on Monday night that I would, in fact, get that four hour layover, and that approximately nine hours later I would be freezing my rear end off on the Boston Common.

It all started when the flight from Long Beach to Boston was delayed an hour because the crew was coming in on a delayed flight from San Francisco. This inconvenienced people who were headed to Dulles, since it was their plane, as well as the Boston-bound passengers. Our plane was sitting at the gate the whole time, but there was nobody to fly it or serve beer.

At first, the delay was only expected to be a half an hour, so the jetBlue people said I should still be able to make my connection to the 6:30 a.m. flight. I was offered an opportunity to rebook already at that point, but I figured there would be another flight to Richmond by lunchtime, and the lady said if I did not make the morning flight they would take care of me there.

We landed in Boston at 6:15 a.m., so things did not look so good. When the pilot was unable to find an open gate, that made things worse. When he finally got to a gate, the jetway was stuck (it WAS 9 degrees at the time) so that further delayed matters. Still, they were giving out gate information, and reassured the folks who were heading to Fort Lauderdale that their flight was being held, so I hoped I would be similarly lucky.

Getting to the gate was a bit of an ordeal of fast-walking with occasional bursts of speed, weighed down by a backpack that contained my laptop and Christmas presents and further encumbered by my camera bag. But I kept going, because if they held the Fort Lauderdale flight then maybe, just maybe, mine would still be there.

Obviously the story would end right there if the plane had not already begun taxiing toward the runway. In fact, the sign at the gate even gave "taxiing" as the flight's status. So there I stood, at 6:35 a.m., with no place to go for four hours. I called my Mom to tell her not to bother coming to the airport until 12:30 p.m. and then I thought about my next move. After all, I could probably go SOMEWHERE as long as I was back at the airport by 9 a.m..

Luckily, Christina and I discussed this possibility on Monday night, and she had enough time to look up some of  the specifics before my flight left Long Beach. It was basically this: Take the free Silver Line bus from Logan Airport through the Ted Williams Tunnel to South Station, then take the Red Line two stops toward Alewich. It was then an 8-minute walk, according to the MTA, but as it turns out you can already see the statehouse when you exit the station on the Boston Common.

It had warmed up to 12 degrees and I had on clothes more appropriate for 40 or 50, but I gutted it out. I walked across the Common, got my photos of the statehouse (that's No. 33 on the list now), then took more photos of a live-shot Channel 25 was doing on the other side of the street.

When I pulled up Foursquare to check in, the statehouse was nowhere to be found on the list, but near the top was the Bull and Finch, whose exterior was used for Cheers (the bar) on "Cheers" (the show). Since it was only five or six blocks away, I figured I should go down there and get some photos as well.

Soon after that, I realized that "HEY IT'S 12 DEGREES," and maybe I need to get back on the T and return to the airport. I was probably outside for an hour in that temperature, but I seem no worse for the wear. I'm sure the feeling in my fingers will come back by they time I'm done with this blog post.

Back at the airport, the security lines were not too bad (at least by Logan's standards). They were bringing a couple of kegs through and one of the supervisors kiddingly asked the guy in front of me if they belonged to him. After they both chuckled, I said, "Actually, they're mine," and all three of us enjoyed the joke.

My new ticket said the flight was leaving from Gate 28, but when I walked past Gate 26 it had apparently been moved there. Five minutes later they decided we should go to Gate 33. JetBlue was nice enough to give me a voucher for breakfast or lunch, so I stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts stand for a sandwich, a doughnut and a coffee (eat your heart out, Los Angeles).

The flight to Richmond left about 20 minutes late, but was smooth. And it was great to see my mom again after nearly a year since my last trip home. But I was happy that I turned what could have been a distressing situation into a positive experience.

I've Been (Nearly) Everywhere

Often when I am on a sports assignment for the Orange County Register the Johnny Cash song "I've Been Everywhere" runs through my head.

Sure, I had been out to Los Angeles to see my Dad on seven or eight trips since 1978, but the first chance to quantify some of the travel I have made around the Southland comes from the datelines of the football, basketball, baseball and softball games I have covered in the past 12 months.

Most of the games have been in Orange County, of course. I now know several ways to get around the nightly closings of the 405 near the 22 on the widening project that will probably be done sometime around 2022.

I'm pretty sure this list is comprehensive as of right now:

ANAHEIM
HUNTINGTON BEACH
WESTMINSTER
GARDEN GROVE
PLACENTIA
COSTA MESA
NEWPORT BEACH
IRVINE
LAKE FOREST
SANTA ANA
LONG BEACH
LOS ANGELES
TORRANCE
COMPTON
CARSON
ROLLING HILLS ESTATES
GLENDALE
PASADENA
CULVER CITY
EL SEGUNDO
MANHATTAN BEACH

Whew. Quite a list. I won't lie. I was a little concerned about going to Compton, but folks over there were great. And my Los Angeles entry came from a new high school in the south-central area, but, same thing. A great experience.

The non-league season has allowed me to stay closer to home, and save money on gasoline, but eventually I'll be on the road to Orange County again. We'll see how much that adds to the list real soon.

Quakes win in 10 with DH on the 10

When the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes clinched their spot in the postseason Sunday night, the man who started the night as their designated hitter was probably somewhere around Pomona, heading back to Los Angeles.

Matt Kemp is caught in a first-inning rundown

Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp continued his rehabilitation work with the California League farm team, but was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and a first-inning walk that later turned into an out when he was caught in a rundown between first and second.

Meanwhile, the Quakes were trying to earn a wild-card spot in the playoffs that start on Wednesday. They went into Sunday night’s contest needing a win or a High Desert loss to take the third and final spot.  

Lancaster took a 1-0 lead over the Quakes on a Brandon Meredith homer in the fourth, but Rancho answered with Corey Seager’s sacrifice fly to forge a 1-1 tie in the fifth.  As the innings went by, and Kemp struck out twice, High Desert won a seven-inning nightcap over Lake Elsinore after having dropped the opener to the Storm. To avoid some Labor Day drama, the Quakes needed a win Sunday night.

Kemp, who is now hitless in four games with the Quakes, left the game after his second strikeout ended the eighth. As the game moved to the 10^th, he signed about 50 or 60 autographs and climbed into an SUV that had been wheeled up to gates outside the café section down the third-base line.

About the time Kemp was leaving LoanMart Field, Quakes right fielder Noel Cuevas and catcher Chris O’Brien (who was not in the starting lineup) combined to nail Chris Epps trying the score the go-ahead run for the Jethawks, ending the inning.

Noel Cuevas touches home as the Quakes pour out of the dugout

Then, as these things often work out, Cuevas led off the bottom of the 10^th with a double, and after moving to third on a groundout, he scored the winning run on an O’Brien single to left, putting the Quakes in the playoffs.

The first thing I thought about was the fact that Kemp was not in the ballpark when the Rancho players celebrated their win. While the weekend rehabilitation assignment has been a disappointment for Kemp, the Quakes had bigger business to attend to. While the purpose of the farm teams is to groom new talent for the parent club, and decisions are often made that are at odds with winning games or championships, it would have been a disappointment to take this moment away from players who have been working so hard to get there.

One spectator noted that this was not Kemp’s team that won the playoff spot, so his early departure probably avoided some awkwardness. The more I think about that, the more I agree. Yes, it would have been nice for him to be at the end of the game he started, but Dodgers relief pitcher Brian Wilson left in the fourth or fifth after pitching an inning for the Quakes a few weeks ago, so this is something that is typical.

Clay Condrey pitches in Reading

And a lot of times these assignments don’t work out as well. When the Phillies needed a place to get Clay Condrey an inning of work before he was to come off the disabled list in September 2009, they dispatched him to Reading, where the R-Phils were in a best-of-five series against Akron. Akron had already won two games at home, so Reading was hanging on for dear life. After Condrey gave up two runs in the first, things went from bad to worse. By the fourth, the Aeros were up 7-0 and they cruised to a 9-3 win.

So while Kemp struck out with a runner on second in the eighth, he did not cost the Quakes the game. And folks who have been around the ballpark the past few days said the Dodgers outfielder has been signing autographs and buying the clubhouse spread for the Quakes – one guy told me their interest in finding the credit card receipt Kemp signed for a pizza order on Saturday.

Warming up Sunday afternoon, Kemp appeared to still have concerns about the ankle he injured sliding into home plate in Washington in late July. That game was his first after an earlier stint on the disabled list, and he homered and doubled in the second inning as the Dodgers won 9-2. 

While Kemp was back on the DL, the Dodgers have continued their improbable surge from last place in the division, and are looking for their first NL West crown since 2009. And there are still lots of questions about how he might fit into the formidable order manager Don Mattingly has put together. Striking out against young hurlers who are still working on their third or fourth pitch doesn’t help answer those questions.

Kemp’s a good guy, so Sunday’s victory for Rancho was tinged with a bit of concern for the organization. But the win has to give the Quakes a healthy dose of optimism heading into the postseason.

All ears

While Time Warner and CBS continue to hash out their differences over a new contract to allow the cable company to carry the network's owned and operated stations, channels 2 and 9 have been returned to our Torrance abode thanks to a $20 set of rabbit ears. Which I got for free.

It took a little bit of time to find the right spot, and it's still not perfect, but when the Dodgers return to KCAL, we'll be able to see them. When "Under The Dome" airs next Monday at 10, we'll be able to see it as well. And the next time we hear that there's a freeway chase, the KCAL News at 8, 9 and 10 will be available to us.

I am still trying to figure out why a broadcaster can get money from cable companies for the same material it sends out over the air for free. When cable television started in the 1950s in Pennsylvania, the idea was to get the signal to more eyeballs so you can sell commercials for more money.  After the sat-casters started to become prevalent in the late 1970s and early 1980s, cable became more popular in areas where there was no difficulty receiving signals from ABC, NBC, et al.

But when these sat-casters figured out they could charge the cable companies a fee for each subscriber, the cost for service went through the roof. I still remember paying $11 a month for 36 channels, including ESPN, in 1988. Now, ESPN gets something in the range of $6 a month per subscriber from the cable and satellite television providers. While other cable nets cannot command that kind of price, there are a lot of channels getting 50 cents or 75 cents, and it adds up fast.

The broadcast networks saw this, and after landmark legislation in 1992 they were also able to demand payment from providers. These providers just pass the costs on to consumers, so bills have continued to climb. The cable companies are not absolved of all of this, since they have been charging a pretty penny for some of their hardware, like DVRs. Despite the fact we don't have any premium channels, the cable portion of our bill is close to $100 a month now.

No wonder people are "cutting the cord," although those who are interested in live sports will find it quite difficult as long as the regional sports networks are able to black out programs such as local baseball and hockey games. But there has to be a breaking point soon (although I will admit I said that about baseball salaries in the 1980s too).

As the conflict between CBS and Time Warner enters its third week, the cable company is offering subscribers in Los Angeles, New York and Dallas a free indoor antenna to receive the over-the-air signals that have gone dark. I picked one up at Best Buy on Tuesday, and it took me about five minutes to get KCBS this morning, but a little more work to pull in KCAL.

So it will be interesting to see how much longer Time Warner and CBS are at odds. Then ESPN's contract with DISH comes up at the end of September, and there will be many more of these battles to follow. A big battle looms when Time Warner Cable gets control of Dodgers telecasts in 2014.

For the time being, we have channels 2 and 9 back, although we might still have an issue if someone or something interferes with those rabbit ears.

A nightmare on the 405

Okay, granted that this is nothing new, and all my friends back east are going to laugh about Southern California traffic because they always do, but the poorly advertised closure of the eastbound 22 ramp from the southbound 405 over the weekend, coupled with heavy traffic to San Diego, and then the somewhat usual nighttime road work, really made for a nightmare on Saturday.

There's a big project going on to improve connections between the 22, 405 and 605 in the Seal Beach area, and it is one that I am intimately familiar with since I am often in the area writing sports assignments for the Orange County Register, and one of my favorite places to play trivia is nearby. When I visited in August 2011, and drove to San Diego to see the Padres and Marlins, I had the fun of a three-hour drive down the I-5 that usually takes two hours.

I had noticed in passing that the 22 was going to be closed over the weekend, so with a little thought we could have avoided the bottleneck that started in the middle of Long Beach and stretched about about eight miles, but there is not much you can do when everyone in LA decides it would be nice to visit San Diego on a Saturday. Other than the eight-lane stretch of I-5, you cannot get around Camp Pendleton unless you drive 30 miles to the east and take I-15 south.

Christina and I were driving with our friend Dan, who is visiting from Calgary, to play trivia with LILJOL, who is so well-known in Buzztime circles that Ken Jennings mentioned playing with him in his book "Brainiac." I got a chance to play with Joel a few months ago, and had a lot of fun, so when Dan said he wanted to come out west following Triviapalooza 6.0 in Cincinnati, Christina and I were happy to make the return trip.

We got there later than we wanted, but still had a great time. Then, 13 games of Countdown later, it was time for us to head back to Torrance. We said our goodbyes, and just 90 minutes later we were already in Huntington Beach zipping along into....the mother of all traffic jams.

CalTrans, in its infinite wisdom, had decided that 11 p.m. on the Saturday of the U.S. Surfing Championships was an excellent time for a full freeway closure of the 405 at Westminster. This annual event draws several hundred thousand people to town (and is usually pretty peaceful, Sunday night's riot notwithstanding), and it should not have been a surprise that many of them were headed home after grabbing something to eat or drink after the competition.

So here we were stuck on the freeway with a lot of people who all wanted to get back to Los Angeles County at the end of a long day. And five lanes of traffic being reduced to one and then taken off on a poorly marked detour that was still four miles away.

Having seen similar, though less harrowing traffic,on the northbound 405 the week before, I exited early to make my own detour at Golden West Street, and that seemed to work well until we tried to get on the westbound 22 and saw that it, too, was closed at Valley View. The "nice GPS lady," as my friend Jim Heffernan calls her, was of absolutely no use as she would just try to put us back on the 405. Luckily, Dan is a highway buff and had an actual paper map in the car, so he found us a roundabout way that took us through Garden Grove and
Los Alamitos before getting us back to the 405 north and on the way back home.

I understand the need for overnight and weekend work, but I would think better communication between agencies could help reduce or eliminate a lot of this stress that seems to happen often. The message board signs all called attention to next weekend's 405 closure, but it was only at the Beach Boulevard exit where it was finally noted that they had closed the freeway RIGHT NOW. Too late to get in the exit lane, and they were still letting people onto the northbound 405 there. Also, especially on a Saturday, an 11 p.m. closure seems a bit early. I would say they could wait until midnight or even 1 a.m., and if it is closed until 9 a.m. Sunday they still get eight hours. On weekdays they need to open the lanes by 5 a.m., of course.

Four hours to San Diego and more than three to get back is not anyone's idea of a relaxing trip. Christina noted it was the worst jam she had seen in 15 years living in Southern California. I'm just glad we did not have to set up camp on Springdale Street and wait for first light to get out of there.

Joe Williams' big write-in win

At one time in my journalism career, I was responsible for coverage of 11 towns in Rockingham and Shenandoah counties in northwestern Virginia. At the time, I was a staff writer and Sunday night wire editor at the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg.

For the most part, it wasn’t as crazy as it sounds. I went to as many town council meetings as I could, not only to get live coverage, but also to generate follows and trend stories. Between that and covering Shenandoah County it was not difficult to generate the eight to 10 stories a week they wanted from me, in fact, I sometimes provided more.

But coming into the town council elections in May 1998, I had my hands full. Thankfully, another reporter was assigned to compile the Rockingham County towns’ results, so I was able to concentrate on New Market, Mount Jackson, Edinburg and Woodstock. Still, there was a big surprise in Mount Jackson, and one that I often reminded reporters about through the next 15 years.

While five-term mayor Dewey Jordan was unopposed on the ballot, there was enough discontent in town for a write-in candidate to take hold. Wait, not just take hold, but to dominate. Joe Williams, whose campaign included handing out pencils that said “Write-In Joe Williams For Mayor,” took a 202-122 decision over the incumbent. The loss so discombobulated Jordan that he “resigned” over the phone while I was trying to get a quote from him. The formal resignation happened the next night as the Mount Jackson Town Council appointed Williams as mayor two months before his official full term was to begin.

Williams served as mayor of the nearly 2,000-population town until earlier this week, when he died after a brief illness.

I only covered Mount Jackson for another year after his victory, but working at The Northern Virginia Daily allowed me to keep tabs on the town for years after the write-in win, and I saw Williams take easy victories in 2002, 2006 and 2010. I did not see much of Williams after 1999, but he was always gracious and forthcoming in our interviews while I still covered the town.

When I started covering Mount Jackson in 1997, it was facing a serious water crisis as several of its wells showed nitrate contamination. The first attempt at drilling a new well also failed because the water was similarly contaminated. The council, first with Jordan at the helm and then Williams, worked hard to find a solution with the help of the state. 

One of the things that probably cost Jordan his job was the insistence that Mount Jackson did not need a town manager to oversee its operations. Within a year of his election, Williams and the council hired Charles Moore to take on that job, and everything I heard from our reporters indicated that the town was operating quite well through the years I was at the paper in Strasburg.

It was sad to hear of Williams’ passing, but I was happy that one of the former Daily reporters who did such good work, Preston Knight, thought to pass the word along.

If I took nothing else away from Joe Williams’ victory over Dewey Jordan 15 years ago, it was that write-in campaigns should be taken seriously in local elections where turnout tends to be lower, and people can be more motivated to vote if the circumstances dictate.

There’s the old saw about all politics being local. I know one thing, they are often the most interesting.

Tijuana beisbol is...wacky

A big crowd gathered at Esadio Gasmart in Tijuana for the Toros' game against Ensenada on June 8.

Minor league baseball can be wacky. My experience with entertainment from Mexico (mostly the Bee Guy from “The Simpsons”) has shown it to be wacky as well. So what do you get when you combine minor league baseball AND Mexico? That’s right, infinite wackiness.

Knowing how much Christina and I like minor league baseball, her friend Cynthia suggested that we might enjoy a visit to Estadio Gasmart for a Toros de Tijuana game. Cynthia has visited Tijuana a few times with Turista Libre, which runs day trips in northern Baja California.

The Toros play in Mexico’s Northern League, which is not to be confused with the AAA-level Mexican League. We were still trying to figure out the particulars, but it seems like this six-team league – with teams also located in Ensenada, Tecate, Mexicali, San Luis Rio Colorado and San Quintin -- plays at a AA level. The Tijuana roster included a few players who had been part of major league organizations here in the United States, most notably Reggie Abercrombie, who worked his way through the Marlins chain to play parts of two seasons in Miami, and also saw some time as a Houston Astro.

Still, a lot of this was unknown to us, so it was with some trepidation that we headed to San Ysidro earlier this month to meet with with Cynthia and about 15 other folks to seek out authentic Mexican cuisine and a Toros game against the Ensenada Marineros. We were met near the border by former Union-Tribune writer Derrik Chinn, the brains behind Turisa Libre, which he admits he started after having difficulty convincing friends from nearby San Diego to visit him and see the sights in Tijuana.

We parked on the U.S. side and walked into Tijuana.

The crossing into Mexico on foot was quick and before we knew it we were walking toward the spot where the bus would pick us up. We were waiting for two more groups who would meet us there and then we were on our way. Since this was more of an overall tourist venture, the group stopped for some authentic Mexican cuisine -- Christina had a tripe taco -- and then picked up some beer before continuing on to the stadium.

The bus driver had to take us on a couple of back streets to get around traffic, and it was already the fourth inning when we got inside the stadium, but we still had plenty of time to get a sense of what minor league baseball is like south of the border. 

Christina and I had just found seats a section or two past first base when Javier Brito, a former Astros and Padres prospect, and Abercrombie hit back-to-back home runs to give Tijuana a 2-0 lead. When Brito hit his homer, we noticed that everyone came out of the dugout, but his first congratulations came from the gorilla mascot, Chango 0.

Javier Brito got a furry welcome after his home run.

As it turned out, the mascots pretty much had the run of the place, with a chicken named Pollo Layo getting much more involved with the umpire at first base than the San Diego Chicken or Philly Phanatic would dare. The chicken even transitioned from the Ensenada side of the field to the first base line during one at bat. Toro Torin (the bull who serves at the main mascot), Pollo Layo and Chango 0 were seldom out of sight, and filled much of the 2 ½-minute changeovers with help from cheerleaders. During one of the skits the chicken came out dressed as a police officer but eventually ended up nearly naked. I am still quite shaken.

This was a little more over the top than the work of the San Diego Chicken or Philly Phanatic.

At one point, Pollo Layo ran from the Ensenda side of the field between pitches.

 

A nearly naked masot...still scary.

 Music was played between pitches during each at bat, including some tunes familiar to ballpark denizens in the U.S. At one point, the scoreboard showed people in the stands, such as a guy wearing a cowboy hat, and appropriate music was played to the delight of the crowd.

Another time, a guy who looked like Pitbull (thanks for clearing that up, Christina) was shown and they played a Pitbull song and would not leave him alone until he obeyed the request that he dance (“Que baile! Que baile!”) displayed on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, the public address announcer talked very fast and was quite boisterous; delivering the name of each Toros batter twice (JAVIER BRITO!!!! Javier Brito.) 

When they tell you to que baile, you'd best que baile.

These items were 50 pesos, or about $4.

 In the stands, the vendors got a workout, selling everything from plates of shrimp and meat to churros filled with several kinds of icing and even American ice cream.

 We recognized the cotton candy despite different packaging, but there were bags of other items we had no idea about. The vendors also sold $1 Tecate beers with paper cups dipped in a hot pepper powder. Hot dogs and hamburgers were available from stands throughout the concourse.

The vendors even sold plates of meat and shrimp in the stands.

 The atmosphere was amazing. As Christina noted, it was almost like something from a dream. The excitement was palpable, even if some of the baseball was a little less sound than one might like. (We got to see two rundowns between first and second base within 15 minutes of sitting down.)

A Toro player is erased at second base via a rundown.

Former Marlin and Astro Reggie Abercrombie

As the game winded down with the Toros up 3-0, I wanted to head down behind the Toros dugout because I had brought along two cards to be signed by REHHIE ABERCROMBIE (as the PA guy was calling the former Carolina Mudcat and Albuquerque Isotope). We got there just as the game was ending, and called out Reggie’s name. He stopped, and was nice enough to autograph the cards.

It was a great time, and going in a group with Turista Libre certainly helped allay any fears I might have had about going to the stadium, which recently underwent $2 million in renovations. The bus ride and game ticket was only $15 for each of us, so it was a great deal. 

 

Reggie Abercrombie signs cards after the game.

Christina and I had such a good time that we might go back, although the league’s season only lasts from May to July, so it would have to be next year.The parking lot had a lot of cars with California plates, and it turns out the stadium is not far from the border crossing at the 905, which is not quite as busy as the station right in downtown Tijuana. 

Reggie Abercrombie is congratulated after fourth-inning homer.

For those who wonder about these things, the businesses we went into and all of the stadium vendors and concessions accepted U.S. dollars at 12 pesos each, which is a good rate, and yes you need a passport even if you are only going to Tijuana. Most of the fans we encountered in the ballpark were friendly, even if we could not converse very well. The smile after a home run does not require translation.