With no Furman baseball program, the annual visit by the Gamecocks to Fluor Field here in Greenville is out although the neutral site game vs. Clemson is here this year. It has been moved back however to the last weekend in February as opposed to the first weekend in March. It was cold enough the one time I went on my own as well as the previous times with my family....not to mention USC and Clemson fans arguing in the stands. I also had the next to last seat in the next to last row down the first base line and that game is the most expensive of them all. I get better seats for half the cost to Drive games.
The Drive has yet to announce other college or high school games this year but I found Wofford vs. Georgia listed on Wofford's schedule and North Greenville also has a game scheduled there. The sad part is Michigan State is not making their usual trip this year. The owner of the Drive is a Michigan State grad and I was fortunate to see my USC Upstate Spartans beat them last year before the season blew up.
USC Upstate was scheduled to play Clemson at Fluor Field on Tuesday March 9th, but the game got moved back to Clemson. I do plan on visiting Harley Park in Spartanburg on Tuesday March 16th when UNC-Asheville visits. One of my favorite customers is the sister-in-law of UNC-Asheville's baseball coach and I always hoped for a rivalry with that school even before USC Upstate joined the Big South conference. There is also a game against Presbyterian the following Tuesday the 23rd that has possibilities. I could listen to the game against Clemson on the radio on the 9th, go the the game against UNC -A on the 16th and possibly the game against PC on the 23rd.
Minor league also is a consideration this year, but I am very disappointed in MLB's restructuring. It's bad enough that the Charleston Riverdogs are no longer a Yankees affiliate, breaking up the Palmetto State's part of the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry, but the Riverdogs and Columbia Fireflies won't even be in the same league as the Drive. The only team I have any interest in in terms of a rivalry that will be in our league are the Asheville Tourists. I considered the Drive's "Mug Club" which would include tickets to every Thursday game (I don't work on Thursdays) but I decided it's too expensive for only really being interested in one team, and also not being a big fan of going to games on "$1 Drink Night".
As for MLB, I'm very intrigued by the possibility that Jackie Bradley, Jr. may no longer play for the Red Sox. It may be as long as 10 years ago that I went on Facebook on opening day and declared myself a Red Sox fan, primarily due to JBJ being called up. Now my loyalty is in question although the Greenville Drive may be enough to hold my devotion to the Red Sox. Opening Day is Thursday April 1st so I lucked out again as I will be off. It will be an interesting year.
