On the road: Scranton

SportsCenter is doing their "50 states in 50 days" series over the coming weeks. Well, I'm on the road, too.
Call it "Papa Cass: Three states and one district in seven days."
Between yesterday and this coming Thursday, I will be road-tripping to the Poconos and Washington, D.C., taking in the sights, walking until my legs hurt, and eating a lot of food I probably shouldn't.
My trip includes the states of Pennsylvania (where I am now writing from), Maryland, Virginia and, obviously, the District of Columbia.
Today, I am in a hotel room in Hamlin, Pa., about 20 miles east of Scranton in the state's northeast corner.
Among other things, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area is the native region of former Cavaliers guard Bob Sura. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre (about 10 miles to the south) are towns that boomed in the 19th and early 20th centuries when coal was the lifeblood of America's industry, and mining the anthracite was one of the most in-demand (and demanding) jobs in the country.
Today, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre survive as the largest cities in northeast Pennsylvania, but are showing the wear that comes with time and the decline of coal mining. Like many towns in the Appalachians, Scranton has no shortage of decaying buildings.
The eroding brick and rusting steel and iron add to the muscular, industrial feel of the region, however. Scranton is home to the Steamtown National Historic Site, a federally-managed museum complex dedicated to the history of the railroads in the U.S.
Outside the museum, old rail cars, rusting, rotting, some dating back more than 100 years, wait to be refurbished. By themselves, they would be junk. Linked together on storage rails, they are pieces of history.
Just south of town is Moosic. Moosic is to the Scranton/Wilkes Barre area what Arlington, Texas is to Dallas and Forth Worth: a common town in which to place the stadium for the shared-allegiance baseball team.
The Scranton/Wilkes Barre Red Barons are the Class AAA farm team of the Phillies. They're managed by former White Sox and Pirates skipper Gene Lamont.
As of the time of this post, the Red Barons were 51-55 and last in the International League's north division (the Buffalo Bisons, the Indians' top farm team, is in first place).
The hot story currently surrounding the Red Barons is pitcher Terry Adams, who gave up three runs in the eighth inning against Ottawa Thursday night, and then left the team "for personal reasons," the Scranton Times-Tribune reported today.
Manager Gene Lamont told the paper Adams "to the best of my knowledge is not coming back." He reportedly cleaned out his locker before Thursday's game. At 32, it appears Adams is abandoning his baseball career midseason for unspecified reasons.
As far as major-league allegiances, it would appear the majority of northeast Pennsylvanians follow the Phillies, the Yankees or the Mets, since Philadelphia and New York are the two closest major-league cities. The majority of football and basketball fans appear to hold their allegiances to the Eagles and 76ers, as opposed to New York's offerings: the inconsistent Giants and Jets, and the wretched Knicks.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre also has a minor-league hockey franchise: the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Penguins of the AHL, the same league the Cleveland Barons compete in. The minor-league Penguins (affiliation obvious) play their games in the thoroughly modern-looking Wachovia Arena in Scranton.