Mapping the path

MID-ATLANTIC BASEBALL

Altoona Curve

Our final Minor League game of the trip is with the Altoona Curve, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They celebrate a local “delicacy,” appearing as the Altoona Pizzas.

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Dad and I arrived at Peoples Natural Gas Field in Altoona, Pennsylvania, for the 14th and final Minor League game of our 20-ballpark journey. It had now been a week and a half since we had seen a win for the home team, with six straight losses — by a combined score of 48-19 — and two rainouts in eight games. But we had blue skies overhead, another great ballpark to explore, and at the very least the law of averages on our side.

The team tasked with breaking our streak was the Altoona Curve, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. We had seen the Curve fall to the Harrisburg Senators early in the trip. Altoona had played .500 ball all season long and would finish the year with a 67-68 record. Their opponents were the eventual Eastern League champions, the Erie SeaWolves, an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. Not exactly an auspicious setup.

Peoples Natural Gas Field opened in 1999 for the Curve’s inaugural season. It seats 7,210 fans and includes a large upper bowl with a significant vertical incline, offering fine views all around. In right field, the Skyliner rollercoaster is a fixture of the neighboring Lakemont Park amusement park, which dates to 1894 and is one of the oldest amusement parks in the country. The coaster ran through much of the game, strengthening the theme of a team named after a stretch of railroad known as Horseshoe Curve in a town founded by the railroad industry.

In the distance beyond center field, fans can see ridges of the Allegheny Mountains, a strip of the Appalachians that runs up through western and central Pennsylvania.

The Curve’s history begins in 1999, when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks were awarded Major League franchises. This added spots for 10 new Minor League teams across all levels. Altoona edged out Springfield, Massachusetts, for one of two new spots in the Double-A Eastern League. (The SeaWolves were the other club added.) Altoona signed an affiliation deal with the Pirates — also in western Pennsylvania — and has been with them ever since.

The Curve have won two league titles, in 2010 and 2017. Top alumni include Bronson Arroyo, Ryan Vogelsong, Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, and Gerrit Cole.

We soon found our way to the Curve team store for our purchasing rituals — Dad his logo baseball, and me my one and only hat.

I had already settled on the classic black home hat with a red bill and a capital-A within the symbol of the Keystone State. But I was happy to see the newest hats to hit the shelves, representing that night’s special team identity in celebration of a local “delicacy”: the Altoona Pizzas.

I place “delicacy” in quotes because I can’t personally attest to the quality of the pizza, and also because its description makes such a label seem impossible. Often called “Altoona Style” or an “Altoona Sicilian,” the pizza originated at the Altoona Hotel back in the 1950s. It consists of tomato sauce, sliced green peppers, and Genoa salami on a Sicilian-style pizza crust (OK, I’m with you — so far, so good), topped with slices of American cheese (nooooooooooo).

But whatever damage Altoona-style pizza has done to the culinary world, it more than made up for it by inspiring the incredible jerseys the team wore to mark the occasion.

The ballpark’s lower concourse has a huge number of picnic tables to allow fans to eat more comfortably before the game — out of the sun, no food on your lap.

I took a look at potential food options for myself. Then a patron showed me a Walking Taco: a pile of taco ingredients mushed into a bag that left me with questions that I frankly did not want answered. I suddenly felt like dinner could wait a bit.

Al Tuna, one of two mascots we would see on the day, appeared on the field for the pre-game ceremonies. Al typically shows up when the team scores a run to pump up the celebrations.

Altoona’s primary mascot, Loco, arrived on a quad bike and settled in behind home plate to receive a series of first pitches. Loco is said to be a member of the “Golden Locotami” — again, note the quotes — a species that supposedly roamed the hills around Horseshoe Curve in the 1800s. The first pitches were followed by a spirited rendition of the national anthem by a barbershop quartet, and it was time to play ball.

But on his third pitch of the game, Shortridge gave up a home run to SeaWolves left fielder Justice Bigbie, who had been tearing up the Eastern League with a .367 average that would land him in Triple-A Toledo by September. Erie took a quick 1-0 lead.

Shortridge would settle down from there, getting the next four batters out. His opposite number, SeaWolves starter Adam Wolf, sailed through his first two innings and worked out of a jam in the third to maintain Erie’s 1-0 lead.

I took a stroll down the left-field line, past Altoona’s “Road to the Show” display commemorating every member of the Curve who has made it to the Major Leagues.

I stepped up to The Kunzler Grill in left field, having recovered from the horror of the Walking Taco. The grill featured a few varieties of burgers and cheesesteaks, but I went with the Cajun Sausage special with chili-cheese fries — the dinner of champions. I paired it with a hazy IPA from New Trail Brewing of Williamsport. Everything was fantastic.

Shortridge faced just nine batters in the next three innings and would be allowed to go the rest of the way, a rarity at the Double-A level.

Wolf endured a long fourth inning on the mound for the SeaWolves. He walked leadoff hitter Matt Gorski, who stole second and third off the left-hander. Flustered, Wolf then hit the batter at the plate, catcher Carter Bins. Two singles and another hit batter later, Altoona had taken a 2-1 lead.

Between-inning fun on the field offered slices of Altoon-style pizzas as “prizes.” Games included a kids’ relay race; local trivia; a “cannonball toss” in which kids tossed a small ball toward a trash can behind them, missing without fail; a race around the infield featuring anthropomorphic meatballs Maria, Marco, and Giuseppe (there was beef between Maria and Marco, giving Guiseppe any easy win); and the Take One for the Team segment, in which a man sat smiling as a case of melted Mallow Cups was poured over his head. His prize slice was pressed onto the top of his gooey dome for good measure.

Loco worked the crowd expertly, doing bits and sitting with fans while wearing an Altoona Pizzas shirt. Behind home plate, I found sculptures representing Loco and former mascots Steamer and Diesel.

The score remained 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth when Altoona worked a walk and a single into a third run, giving Shortridge a two-run cushion going into the ninth.

He would need it. A throwing error, a single, and a sacrifice fly made it 3-2 in the final frame. But with two outs and nobody on, Shortridge struck out SeaWolves third baseman Corey Joyce to get the complete-game victory. The streak had been broken at last.

When we reached our car in the parking lot by the ballpark, I began to stow my things away and realized something was missing. “Dad, I can’t find my wallet,” I said, echoing the heart-sinking phrase he had spoken to me before our first game with the Bowie Baysox.

I hustled back into the ballpark and checked the area around our seats to no avail. I inquired at security, but nothing had been turned in. I retraced my steps. I had spent a half-inning late in the game sitting in the upper deck on the third-base side. I quickly hiked up there, looked under the seats, and… there it was. Disaster had once again been averted. I let out a long exhale of blissful relief as I made my way back to Dad.

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