Trenton, My Trenton: Hennessy Saturday in Mill Hill

TRENTON -- Hamilton High West baseball field, first time ever, there's Jim Hoey's retired No. 22 on the backstop and the retired No. 10 of some guy named Flynn, Saturday afternoon soaking in the sun, Senior Day, bottom-7, Allentown leading by 2. Then one. Then it was tied. Poor Allentown. Then Erving Nazario stepped up and ripped a pitch toward right field. The right-fielder charged and dove but couldn't snare the ball, which dropped in front of him by a foot, so the celebration began seconds later after Hamilton's 6-5 win. That's the beauty of baseball: no clock. It's not over until the final out. Allentown played great through 6. Hamilton owned the 7th. That's baseball. The last out of the game sometimes is the hardest out to make -- and sometimes you don't make it. Something big happened after the game involving Hamilton's coaches. Something bad is brewing -- actually bad vibes are boiling over at this point -- and the Hamilton school superintendent will become involved no doubt. From an outsider's point of view, it seems like the Hamilton coaches ought to be focusing on the right here right now with the playoffs about to begin, but the fella those coaches accosted after the game knows better than to talk to players in the middle of a high school game, even if it was during a break in the action. I'll update this soon.

After watching those theatrics, I spent the next few hours wandering around Trenton. First the train station because it is a crossroads, a strange mixture of funky-ass crazies and those who pull up in beemers to pick up and drop off. Meanwhile, homeless fellas wearing just one shoe sleep on the steps of the shuttered Pete Lorenzo's across the street. Poor Pete Lorenzo's. First it closes down, now it serves as a homeless man's bed. Poor guy. I wonder what he was doing 8 years ago. I wonder if when he 16 he ever considered this could be his life. Does any boy consider that one day he'll be homeless and hopeless?

The train station got old and depressing after 20 minutes. I drove to Mill Hill. Walked up and down South Broad looking to capture South Broad life. South Broad smelled. But it didn't smell nearly as bad as it smells on South Broad between the Rite-Aid and Wells Fargo bank over in South Trenton. My god. There is a stench on that stretch of sidewalk that makes you want to puke. It is beyond extreme. Third-world extreme. South Trenton, My South Trenton. But I digress. I took a ton of photos of South Broad near Mill Hill, and captured life in Mill Hill proper. What sticks out most about the homes in Mill Hill proper is the little things: cool street signs nailed high on the brick buildings, decorative address plates, tall front doors ... those little things make Mill Hill pleasing to the eye, not necessarily the structures.

Hamilton catcher Dave Osnato tags out Allentown's Brandon Reutsch

But Ruetsch made a great play in the top of the next frame

Hamilton's Erving Nazario slugs the winning hit in bottom-7

Asleep at the old Pete Lorenzo's

This headline sparked a conversation later on South Broad Street

South Carolina peaches. I hear that when they're ripe they're succulent

Quentin Tarrantino just got a woody and doesn't know why

Mill Hill

Spotlight shines bright for one berry; for the others, not so much

Cool wall decoration in Mill Hill

Cool address sign

And cool tall doors

Ma Bell with the ill communication

Mmmm, sidewalk pizza

Mill Hill

Uncle Snap of Mill Hill

Sucking down Hennessy

Cool decoration

Mill Hill

Mill Hill

Mill Hill

Mill Hill