OT: Minor League Baseball teams near you/parks you've been to
Major league games are great, but they murder your wallet and you probably aren't going to a handful or more of them a year unless you're affluent.
I love going to minor league games. I have a stadium that just got built in my hometown within walking distance and there's one I live a short drive from for 9 months a year when at school.
I've been to
- Fifth Third Field in Toledo (Hens killed Columbus 10-0 tonight)
- Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park
- Great Lakes Loons in Midland
- Pensacola Blue Wahoos
- Jimmy Johns Field in Utica, MI
Toledo Mudhens
Grand Rapids White Caps
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (I was real young, but A-Rod played for them)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox (I was about 6 years old and got extremely upset I couldn't catch a ball).
Also, may have seen the Ft. Myers miracle when I was very young. Can't remeber though.
Overall, I like the Mud Hens facility the best. However, I think a lot of Minor League teams upped their facilities in the last ten years so I have no idea what the Timber Rattlers or Sky Sox's stadium looks like anymore.
Last year, the Rockies dumped COS as their AAA affiliate. The Sky Sox are headed to San Antonio next year. Not good times in the Springs for pro ball.
Cincinnati Reds :(
Clinton Giants/Lumberkings -Riverview Stadium/Ashford University Field (yuck to that fucking college and it's inhabitance in that town)
Quad City Riverbandits - John O'Donnel Stadium/Modern Woodman Park
Cedar Rapids Kernals - Veteran's Memorial Stadium (Perfect Game Field)
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Now I live in Indianapolis. We have the Indians here. They're AAA but I don't know what team they're affiliated with. I haven't been to a game yet but plan to eventually. The park is in a nice location right by the White River State Park.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
I have also visited PK Park where the Eugene Emeralds and Oregon Ducks share a facility. The stadium was built just a couple years ago.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
I live in Eureka, CA, which is very near the Humboldt Crabs...the longest continually operating collegiate summer league baseball team in the nation. No major league affiliations, and they keep their roster stocked with college guys who are off for the summer. It's cheap, it's weird, and the stadium is always packed. Also, they have a nightmare-inducing mascot. What's not to like?
The Cyclones play in Coney Island, right off the Boardwalk, home plate facing the ocean. I went their first season in honor of a late uncle who was one of those Brooklyn old-timers who turned his back on baseball when the Dodgers abandoned them for LA. My best memory is the cap I bought. Didn't even realize it had Brooklyn spelled in tiny letters across the brim until someone else noticed it.
Then a good buddy, a Yankee fan all his life, started going to the Staten Island Yankees when the uptown version got way too expensive. (Also easier for him to get his 90-something Dad out there than all the way up to the Bronx.) He started celebrating his b'day there, renting a "luxury box" for $20 per person, including free food, AC indoors and 20 seats outside. The free food is what you'd expect for free, but you can also order other stuff if you want to defeat the mood of the minor league experience. Gorgeous stadium, looks like something from a small town from another era, and the outfield is the view of downtown Manhattan. (Occasionally blocked by a slow-moving trawler.) A short, easy walk from the Staten Island Ferry (now free both ways).
Got to go to the game when Mike O'Neill was playing for the SI Yankees (the "Baby Bombers")and Pat Biondi for the visiting Cyclones (though he didn't get on the field that night). But also have been there on Irish night (bagpipe & drum team and teenage stepdancers), and almost every night has a special commemorative cap and fireworks after the game.
Wilmington Blue Rocks. Unfortunately there was no rodeo that night
Lansing Lug Nuts
Rochester Red Wings
Richmond Flying Squirrels
When I was stationed at NAS Lemoore, CA, Visalia had a single A team. One of the reservists who did his drill with our unit got a handful of tickets and we all decided to go.
It was an interesting night. Visalia had a relationship with some minor league teams in the Japanese system, and they exchanged players for a few games. That night was the game they gave the ball to their Japanese pitchers.
Welcome to USA baseball. The Visalia pitchers got LIT! And not just the starter, three different guys in the first four innings or so. We left at that point, since BP is generally less interesting than a competitive game.
I've only been to two - Midland Loons, which was fun but pretty generic. It seemed to be devoid of any unique character.
The other was one of my favorite spectator experiences - Toledo Mud Hens at Ned Skeldon Stadium. No amenities to speak of, but it was AAA ball in an atmosphere that seemed very old-timey. The baseball was good quality, and it's the best ballpark I've been to.
Ned Skeldon Stadium is one of the few sporting venues I've been to (pre-renovated Yost, pre-halo Michigan Stadium and pre-renovated Notre Dame being three others) that yields sepia-toned memories. Curiously, Wrigley doesn't have that effect on me - probably because 90% of the fans there seem like tourists, at least the couple of times I went.
Syracuse Chiefs (NBT Bank Stadium, Auburn Doubledays (Falcon Park) and Rochester Red Wings (Frontier Field).
I enjoyed going to Falcon Park with the little kids becuase I could still watch the game while the kids were in the bouncy house.
Went with my sons and nephews and had a great time!
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Another option for those of you in southwest Michigan or Wisconsin is the Northwoods League. It is a collegiate summer wood bat league with some of the top players in the country. Cheap tickets, beer and food to go along with some pretty good baseball.
My next door neighbors' kid plays for the Thunder Bay Border Cats. Good to hear the games are fun to watch - his parents were a bit concerned about him being marooned in Thunder Bay for black fly season.
I had the good fortune to be able to play for one of the South Division teams in college for a few weeks before an injury and subsequent surgery ended my summer early. Never got a chance to make it to Thunder Bay so I can't offer any insider info regarding the black flies
The Madison Mallards (Northwoods League) have an all you can eat/drink section with a lot of local craft beer. It is a lot of fun.
Unrelated, but if anyone is in western Virginia (not West Virginia) the Salem Red Sox (in the Roanoke area) are a lot of fun. I went once because tickets were something like $5 (Monday night) and won free tickets to another game playing bags (aka cornhole). Went on a Friday using the free tickets and it was a local wing contestest - $5 to be a "judge", which got you 15 wings, and that turned into all you can eat when there were left over wings.
When I played in the Northwoods League we had opening day at the Mallards. The home town fans are passionate about their team and really let the visiting squad know about it. A truly incredible experience.
I went to a Eau Claire Express game last year and it was a lot of fun. I'll definitely be going back.
Indianapolis Indians
Charlotte Knights
That's it
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Having lived in the metro Boston area for way too long, some great parks in New England. McCoy Stadium, Pawtucket RI, Red Sox AAA team is a great experience. Took my son there for a birthday party, $15 per kid (hot dog, chips,drink, ice cream and tix). Portland Sea Dogs in Maine is a tremendous place. Been to Jet Blue in Ft. Myers, mni Fenway with Fenway prices!
By far the best New England baseball experience is a summer night watching high level college players in the Cape Cod League. See some top prospects using wood bats. Tremendous night out on the Cape. Bring a chair, plop down and drop a few bucks when they pass the hat.
Been to the Rochester Red Wings (Silver and Frontier) and Portland Sea Dogs the most, Buffalo Bisons once or twice. Big fan of Frontier and Hadlock, Coca-Cola Field feels a bit too big for a minor league park, at least when it's not full. Can sort of tell it was built with big league dreams. Need to make it out to the Lowell Spinners and PawSox sometime, have only heard good things.
Coca Cola Field in Buffalo, NY
Cooley in Lansing Mi
Joker Marchant in Lakeland.
All are really nice ball parks!
My wife and I get a 10-game ticket pack for the Lansing Lugnuts every year. It's always a good time, and the park is newly renovated. Cheap food, mediocre baseball, great atmosphere.
I was a big fan of watching the Mud Hens in old Ned Skeldon Stadium in Maumee. Parking was free, beer was cheap, and so was the food. It was funky and old and would be considered a dump by most people, but it had a personality to it and I loved the billboard ads on the outfield wall facing the field.
I went to one game at Fifth Third in downtown Toledo not long after it opened. It was much "nicer" than Skeldon, but totally devoid of any defining character. Parking was $$, and the beer and food were more expensive, naturally. Haven't been back since.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
and sometimes I actually miss the minor league team we had in Denver before the Rockies. Hell now I go see the Rockies play and it's like watching minor league ball for MLB prices.
Have been to Modern Woodman Park in Davenport Iowa
Also a Single A park in Winston-Salem NC, but don't remember the name.