A Night for the Home Team and a Hometown Hero

A spectacular view when you enter Haley Toyota Field near third base.

I’ve been trying to see a Salem Red Sox game in Virginia for years, but they always seem to be on the road when I’m in Roanoke visiting my niece on the way from Pennsylvania to Florida and back. A few years ago, the schedules were in sync for once, but the game was rained out on the night I was planning to go.

My current trip to Roanoke is mostly about baseball, so this time I was able to plan my travel according to the Red Sox schedule. In a stroke of luck, Wednesday night’s promotion was Bark in the Park, and we happened to have two dogs, Wicket and Briar Rose, to take along. All they needed to get in to the game was a $5 donation that went to local animal shelters.

Wicket, Becky, Briar Rose and me.

Salem Memorial Ballpark wasn’t built for the Red Sox, who arrived years after its gates were first opened in 1995 for the Salem Avalanche, a farm team of the Colorado Rockies, but Boston is in the air at Haley Toyota Field, as it is known now. First there is the team’s name: the Salem Red Sox. And there are alternating Red Sox and Salem flags flying along the top of the grandstands.

Flags over the grandstands at Haley Toyota Field.
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The high green outfield wall that runs all the way from left field to right is reminiscent of the Green Monster in Boston, though it’s not as high. Fans join in when “Sweet Caroline” plays in the middle of the eighth inning, and they can find plenty of Boston gear for sale in the team store.

A mini version of Boston's Fenway Park for the kids.

Best of all is the mini Fenway located on the grounds outside the left field side of the stadium. It’s a playground built to scale in the shape of Boston’s beloved field that is open for kids during all home games.

A local kid did well for the visiting Fayetteville Woodpeckers, Low A team for the Houston Astros. Nathan Perry, who played high school baseball down the road in Bassett, Va., hit home runs in the first and fifth innings to score 3 runs, and brought another runner home in the third with a sacrifice fly to right field.

The wrong stamp from a past version of Salem's stadium, left, and a new pin.

His four r.b.i. for the night were the total output for the Woodpeckers, even though everyone in Fayetteville’s lineup had at least one hit. Several Nathan Perry fans were on hand behind the visitors’ dugout to cheer on their local favorite.

The home team took an early lead in the second inning sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring 5 runs on 4 hits. A couple of insurance runs sealed the deal for the Red Sox. Final: Salem Red Sox 7, Fayetteville Woodpeckers 4.