This past week, I was back in Baltimore for another assignment for ABF Freight. I flew in rather early on Sunday and landed at BWI Airport around 2pm, a short flight from my new place in Virginia Beach, VA. There were a few spots on my Baltimore Baseball radar that I catalogued from previous trips that I was interested in and settled on a short drive down to College Park, Maryland – The University of Maryland.
I’m sure there a few baseball players I am missing, but most recently The University of Maryland Terps Baseball team has included several Rhode Island baseball players. Tucker Flint went there for a year after earning Gatorade Player of the Year honors and is now a Minor Leaguer in the Los Angeles Angels system. Matt Woods, after a stellar career at Bryant University, attended and played 48 games and hit .272 as a grad transfer for the Maryland Terps. With a little research and most likely a few calls home, I am sure there were others from Rhode Island that played at U of MD. So, the RI connection always draws me to places to check out, so I took the easy drive from BWI to College Park.
After arriving on campus, I found parking in a nearby garage and walked up to Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium. Smith was a Maryland baseball alum and major benefactor, according to the University of Maryland website page on the stadium, formerly known as Shipley Field.
When I arrived Sunday afternoon, there was a fall baseball game going on. Most likely a local high school or showcase event given the apparent ages and abilities of the players on the field. I sat in a few spots around the stadium and took in the game for a few innings. Later taking these photos…
The weather was incredible – bright sunny skies, little or no wind, no humidity, definitely jeans and T-shirt weather – so I decided to check out the other fascinating item on my “to see” list. The Jim Henson Memorial is located just .2 miles from the baseball stadium on the University of Maryland campus, up a steep incline, and in a nice shaded courtyard. There it was – Jim Henson with his most famous friend, who humbly taught us all “It’s not easy being green.” Yes Jim and Kermit, what an iconic and dynamic duo.
After taking a few moments to remember how inventive and imaginative Jim Henson and Jim Henson Productions is/was, and laughing at the Muppets movie scenes that always crack me up, I retraced my steps back to the baseball stadium to walk around, possibly snag a baseball memento. As I was walking in the left field fan area, I noticed this huge banner of things to come for the University of Maryland baseball program. I know a lot of baseball programs are going this direction adding massive sites for analysis and player development.
The day wouldn’t be complete without getting lunch/dinner locally so I headed out of campus and took a short drive down to Looney’s Pub. The place was packed, NFL games were on every TV, I got an awesome sandwich and got to watch the last few minutes of the Patriots game vs Washington. What an awesome experience in College Park, MD. The baseball stadium was incredible. The Jim Hendon Memorial was simple and sweet and just amazing to see. The great food and atmosphere at Looney’s was the perfect way to end my stay in College Park. And a great way to spend a Sunday before a busy work week.
PS I did snag a baseball!
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