Category Archives: former major league affiliation

Ballparks categorized by teams whose affiliates formerly used the ballpark.

former philadelphia phillies affiliates, minor league, new york, new york-penn league, short season single a, st. louis cardinals affiliates

Dwyer Stadium, Batavia, New York

July 6, 2009 Paul 1 Comment

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This page will only be here through 6/29, but I am saving these (and adding new parks as I see them) here, at paulsballparks.substack.com. See you on the other side!

Dwyer Stadium, Batavia, NEW YORK

Number of states: 8
States to go: 42
Number of games: 1
First game: July 26, 2004 (Batavia Muckdogs 6, Mahoning Valley Scrappers 2)

(Click on any image to see a larger version.)

As I crossed back into the United States from Canada (and Skydome) to make New York the 8th state crossed off in the Minor League quest, the US was on a major terror watch due to the Democratic National Convention beginning in Boston. I figured it would be a tough time getting across the border. Here’s what transpired:

CUSTOMS GUY: Where are you coming from?
ME: Toronto.
CUSTOMS GUY: What were you doing there?
ME: Watching two baseball games.
CUSTOMS GUY: Where are you heading?
ME: Batavia. One more game, tomorrow night.
CUSTOMS GUY: Where are you from?
ME: Seattle.
CUSTOMS GUY: How do you afford this? Tickets, hotels, rental car?
ME: Well, it adds up, but I save up.

Isn’t it nice to know that, even at a moment when our country is in unique danger, that this customs guy cares enough about me to ask about my finances? I mean, not that I expect politeness or sensitivity from my government workers–I know better–but come on, isn’t this a little irrelevant and intrusive? Oh well–at least I wasn’t frisked.

Maybe the man’s status as a government worker isn’t to blame for this

exchange. Maybe it’s something as simple as his status as a resident of an Eastern state, where politeness isn’t valued that much. This gentleman served as a nice introduction to the brusque East from the polite Midwest and polite Canada. I’m glad I met him…it was essential preparation for the treatment my new friends would give me in Batavia the next night.

I had literally zero expectations for Batavia, a town of 80,000-ish about 40 minutes east of Buffalo. I’d never heard of it and hadn’t been anywhere near it before. What a pleasant surprise! It was a disarmingly charming small town–loads of parks and historic markers. Rather than dining at a chain fast food place, I had a sandwich made at a family-run deli

just a couple of blocks south of the ballpark. This kind of place doesn’t exist in a good chunk of the country–at least not in cities large enough to support minor-league baseball. If it weren’t cold and drizzly, I would have spent the entire day wandering around one of Batavia’s several large, tree-packed parks. As it is, I went down the road to LeRoy to enjoy the Jello Museum. Yes, I was excited to go–that kind of kitschy pop culture integrated with American history is right up my alley. I’ll lay off talking about it here and encourage you to check out the website if you’re at all interested.

The ballpark itself is smaller than most I’ve been to, even at the short-A level. There are three small segments which spread from just-beyond-first to just-beyond-third with significant gaps between the segments. This means that a spectator can walk from the pavilion straight out to the dugouts. There’s little in the way of decoration on the pavilion, but I like what there is: clearly, local schoolkids have made art as a part of a local anti-smoking campaign. Also, they have a very basic “Wall of Fame” listing every major league player or manager in history that had passed through Batavia on his way to the bigs. I’ve seen walls of fame before, but

only for superstars; this is the first I’ve seen that claims to be all-inclusive, honoring every major leaguer from Hall of Famers down to cups of coffee. (Even if they incorrectly changed “Dock Ellis” to “Doc Ellis.”) Additionally, the ballpark has a little table underneath the whiteboard with the starting lineups; this makes it far easier to write lineups in my scorebook than it has been for me anywhere else. These little things add up.

I must admit that, as much as I liked these touches, the fans are what made Batavia such a nice experience for me. A month or two before I went to Batavia, Sports Illustrated ran a nice piece on how big minor league baseball is in New York. The fine folks around me backed this up. First, I met an elderly couple who were clearly major Muckdogs supporters. Not only were they able to tell us a good deal about current Muckdogs, but had some sense of their fluctuating roster–who was on their way up to full-season A and who would be promoted to Batavia from the Gulf Coast League. Very impressive. The grandmotherly woman was kind enough to give me a NY/Penn League baseball. Thanks, kind stranger! The gentleman next to me was on a minor league trip through the Northeast. He’d made it from his home in Scranton up to Rochester, then to Batavia, eventually to get as far as Akron. Nice guy, although it appeared his wife would rather be elsewhere. The gentlemen

behind me were from Connecticut, and one of them was in his 35th year of teaching high school civics, which gave

us a lot to talk about. He, too, was traveling through a number of minor league ballparks in the Northeast. It was almost enough to get me to forget he was a Yankee fan…but not quite.

All of these folks were nice–and all of them turned on me mercilessly. Make no mistake…I deserved it. It happened in the fifth inning. Carl Galloway was at bat. I’m sitting in the front row just short of first base. Mr. Galloway checks his swing and sends a chopper off the tip of his bat down towards me. The ball takes a wicked ricochet off the base of the wall about six feet short of me, and I throw out my glove to attempt a backhand stab at it. Before I tell you the result of my attempt, please consider these two facts:

1. I had less than a second to react after the ball ricocheted off the wall.

2. As a result of going off the end of the bat and then the base of the wall, the ball had some nasty English on it.

Okay. The ball hit my glove, and I dropped it. It didn’t get back into the webbing. I could feel it hit the meat of my hand beneath my pinkie and spin right out past the flesh beneath my thumb. It was gone as soon as it was there.

Here’s where things went haywire. The Batavia crowd booed me relentlessly. Even my alleged friends

around me really let me have it. “Why didn’t you put down your scorebook?” shouted one. “Put an E10 in that scorebook! E10! E10!” shouted the Connecticut teacher. While I slammed my glove into the railing, hid my face in shame, and slunk to my seat, the first base coach retrieved the ball and handed it to the guy NEXT TO ME! Whatever…I already had a ball from the nice old lady.

But my so-called friends wouldn’t let me forget it! I know it was all in fun–Connecticut guy said as much by repeatedly saying “Welcome to the Eastern United States!” in the midst of his heckling. I have no idea how to respond to this kind of treatment. It feels like the second-grade boy and girl smacking and pinching each other to show they like each other. In the Eastern United States, apparently, when you like somebody, you verbally abuse them. I’ll stay in Seattle, thanks. But still, I can respect the cultural difference and even play along a little. And I could have prevented the whole problem by catching the damn ball to begin with.

From the small world department…As I looked at the program before the game, one of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers’ hometowns was the small suburb in which I teach. He was warming up just a few feet in front of me. I called him over and asked if he went to my high school. He had! My first year there was his senior year, and I didn’t teach him, so we didn’t know each other, but I asked if I could say hi to anybody when I got back home. He played on a tremendous high school team that wound up having four players drafted off of it…and this kid wasn’t one of them! Funny thing was that their team didn’t do very well–didn’t make the state playoffs, perhaps because the kids were more focused on the fact that there were scouts in the stands than they were on playing the game. Nice kid. Tim Montgomery is his name. He went 0-for-4, unfortunately, but brought a .270 average into the game. I’ll keep an eye out.

“Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was not sung in the seventh inning stretch at Batavia. It was pre-empted by a

no images were found

marriage proposal. The PA guy turned the microphone over to a man, pictured at left, who proposed to his girlfriend right there. “Say no! Say no!” the New York guys shouted, particularly the fat guy in the Bills cap who was most ruthless in making fun of me…clearly because fat guy is leading a lonely life, and would never have been able to make the catch that he ridiculed me for missing…yeah, I’m making fun of the guy now that I’m out of the state and he can’t hurt me…so what? Anyway, the marriage proposal was a success: the woman pictured here agreed to marry the man, in the words of his proposal, “a year from now, right here at the ballpark.”

A couple of thoughts about marriage proposals (and, indeed, marriages) at the ballpark. Michelle the Girlfriend and I love baseball, and indeed, baseball has been central to our relationship in many ways. She came up with the idea for the yearly July 4th Minor League Baseball trip, she keeps up on my website, she understands and tolerates this quest of mine, and she’s even competitive in my fantasy league. Indeed, we probably wouldn’t be together were it not for baseball…we reconciled four years after a breakup in part because Michelle got a job for a minor league team and found she missed me. But when the time comes for a marriage proposal, if I do it at the ballpark, Michelle has assured me she will never speak to me again. I share her distaste for the ballpark proposal. First of all, there’s the public aspect of it. It seems to me that asking and answering this question should be done privately. It’s a terribly intimate moment…why make it into a de facto reality TV show? That feels cheap and yucky to me. Also, how much pressure is there on the woman? Just once, I’d like to see a woman actually say no to a public proposal. It’d serve the guy right for pressuring her. Michelle and I have agreed that, when the day comes, we’ll have our rehearsal dinner at a minor league game, but that’s wildly different from the actual marriage–it’s a party, not a ceremony. I don’t want to have a thousand strangers looking on, four dozen kids chewing tobacco, or people publicly adjusting themselves as I become engaged or married. I certainly don’t want a mascot spraying silly string. I don’t want the recessional music to be “YMCA.” I don’t want a scoreboard to send us off on our honeymoon. I don’t understand why anyone else would. Nevertheless, I wish the happy couple luck, and hope they enjoy their wedding.

Dwyer Stadium was a very good experience for me–it has a homey, intimate feel, and I enjoyed my trip there. I’ll be back. I’ll spend some time preparing some insults for Fat Bills Hat Man and anyone else who comes after me, and I’ll field grounders for a month before the trip. I’ll show you guys.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 8/10
It felt like a small town–and a small Northeastern town at that.

Charm: 4.5/5
Right down to the kids’ drawings.

Spectacle: 3.5/5
Could have had a little more going on for short-season A ball, but not bad.

Team mascot/name: 4.5/5

Meet Maxwell T. Chomper. (Check out the kids mugging for the camera behind us.) I know that “Muckdogs” is a new name (fans told me that the Columbus minor league team sued to have Batavia drop its former “Clippers” nickname), and that it’s a bit nontraditional, but I absolutely love it. It’s locally appropriate, unique, intimidating, and fun all in one. Max could be dressed a little better, I think, but that’s a minor complaint.

Aesthetics: 3.5/5
Lots of trees, and has a small town beauty/charm about it.

Pavilion area: 4.5/5
I love the major league wall and the writing surface by the lineups.

Scoreability: 5/5
No problems at all–they quickly displayed all close scoring decisions. One of the best ballparks I’ve been to for this.

Fans: 4/5
Okay–so the fans were verbally abusive to umpires, opponents, and worst of all, to me. Nevertheless, they mean well–I’m willing to see beyond their social shortcomings and obvious anger issues to see how genuinely kind, gregarious, and knowledgeable they were.

Intangibles: 4.5/5
I really felt like this was a fun, enjoyable night of baseball–a great way to end my 2004 trip.

TOTAL: 42/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

Kind of a quiet game.

The big blow was Carl Galloway’s three-run home run for Batavia.

Marshall Szabo went 4-for-4 for Mahoning Valley.

Scrappers’ pitcher Tony Sipp looked like a possible star to me, striking out 7 over 2 2/3 innings, but his defense and wildness let him down. Still, I felt he looked strong–worth keeping an eye out for him.

Andy Baldwin allowed only six hits and one run over six innings for Batavia.

(Written August 2004. Score revised July 2009.)

former new york yankees affiliates, low level single a, michigan, midwest league, minor league, no longer in use

C.O. Brown Stadium, Battle Creek, Michigan

July 6, 2009 Paul Comment

WE’RE MOVING!

This page will only be here through 6/29, but I am saving these (and adding new parks as I see them) here, at paulsballparks.substack.com. See you on the other side!

C.O. Brown Stadium, Battle Creek, MICHIGAN

Number of states: 7
States to go: 43
Number of games: 1
First and last game: July 20, 2004 (Battle Creek Yankees 3, West Michigan Whitecaps 2, 10 innings)

C.O. Brown Stadium is no longer in use for the affiliated minors as of the 2007 season.

(Click on any image to see a larger version.)

Singing buddy Kristin and I found our way to Cereal City after experiencing the annoying shortcomings of South Bend and the always fantastic Wrigley Field. Since I had no experience with Battle Creek other than driving through it on I-94 a few times (sometimes it smells like Corn Flakes, other times like Froot Loops), I had no real expectations for the evening. What I got was quite a memorable ballgame, an extremely quirky ballpark, and a sense that I was a part of the dugout for the West Michigan Whitecaps.

The park’s location is fairly typical for single-A: it’s a part of a recreational complex, just the largest of about a half dozen fields on the site. The cool part about this is that, at least on the night I went, there were other

games to be seen on site. If Kristin and I had arrived earlier, we could have sat in on either of two other baseball games taking place (it may have been American Legion or AAU ball). It was here that I secured my only foul ball of the whole trip, but alas, it was not at the Yankees/Whitecaps game…it was one launched into the parking lot from one of the other games. I retrieved it and dutifully tossed it back.

I can’t for the life of me figure out how C.O. Brown Stadium came to be shaped exactly as it is. The largest block of seating is behind home plate, but there’s an almost-as-big block which hooks around the left-field foul pole. My best guess (indeed, my only guess) is that the older-looking seating area by the foul pole was, at one time, the only block of seats in the ballpark, and that home plate used to be over there. My theory then has the larger block built later on, and home plate moving but all the seating remaining. A friendly usher was unable to help me solve this conundrum, and I still can’t figure out why the ballpark looks that way. Quirky? Yes. Charming? That’s in the eye of the beholder.

Another quirky feature of the ballpark adds loads to its charm, however. Just past each dugout is a box of seats that juts out four or five rows

beyond the dugout and towards the field. Kristin and I had seats on the inside edge of that section, second row. That means that, by looking over our right shoulders, we were able to look directly into the visitors’ dugout. Any sense of privacy those players hoped to have was shot! I looked as players lifted barbells, chatted, high-fived, and watched the game. It made it very easy to root for West Michigan on that day.

Besides, just out of principle, I can’t root for any team nicknamed the “Yankees.” I’m annoyed that the team has this name. Battle Creek’s name was just changed in 2003, from the locally appropriate (and interesting) “Battle Cats.” Does George Steinbrenner think that everyone really wants to be like him? Worse yet, after the Yankee victory, the loudspeakers played “New York, New York.” Gimme a break! We’re not in New York, even if it’s what the players are striving for. You know the line “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere?” Well, the players have to make it in Battle Creek first. Lay off that song, or at least relegate it to pregame somewhere.

As I meandered through the ballpark before the game, I saw a scoresheet on a table behind home plate on

the main walkway. Would the Yankees really put their official scorer out there with the people? I was astonished. Later, I found out that this was not at all true–but instead

was part of what I think is a fantastic promotion that balances my desire for promotions at the low-minor level without the concern that those promotions will interfere with the baseball. Spectators were given Bingo cards upon entry to the stadium with various possible outcomes on them, such as “Matt Carson walks” or “Nick Walsh doubles.” This means that fans must keep track of the game to fill out their bingo cards. The scorebook behind home plate was not the official scorekeeper, but was the Yankees’ worker keeping score–the guy the winner takes the bingo card to as soon as he/she has a bingo. I had never seen this before, and was quite impressed with the idea.

At the end of pregame warmups, Whitecap Juan Francia got on my good side by

delivering a baseball to a youngster next to me. What a stud–I hope he rises through the organization. He went 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base, as well as some flashy defensive play. But I’ll always remember him first for being a nice guy.

It was church night in Battle Creek, so I had to be on my best behavior. According to the Yankees, 361 of the 1,574 in attendance were a part of ten or twenty church groups that were in attendance. A chorister from one of the churches sang the National Anthem and bungled it badly–he started in a key so breathtakingly high that I turned to fellow singer Kristin and whispered “I’ll hate to hear ‘the rockets’ red glare.'” Sure enough, when he got there, he had to drop down an octave. Later, he sort of made up a melody for “land of the free” to dodge that high note as well. Singers–if you are to sing the National Anthem a cappella, I implore you to do the following: for a couple of minutes before you begin, sing “Oh say can you see” and “And the rockets’ red glare” back to back repeatedly. “Say” and “red glare” are the lowest and highest notes you’ll have to sing, unless you choose to go up the fourth on “land of the free” later on. This will prepare you for the anthem and avoid the situation this man found himself in. It always worked for me.

I don’t know if this was planned, but after the sixth inning, they gave the anthem singer another shot at the mike, this time to sing “How Great Thou Art.” I guess this was to celebrate church night. This led to a bizarre situation on the field and in both dugouts. How does one respond

to the singing of a religious hymn during a game? I admit, when the guy started singing, I stood and removed my cap…but as soon as I realized he was singing “How Great Thou Art” rather than “God Bless America” or another patriotic song, it occurred to me that it might not be appropriate to have my hat over my heart and standing at attention to the flag. This is not the national anthem. I passionately love my God and my country, but I passionately love them separately. Mixing them by observing the flag while singing a religious hymn felt wrong to me. However, I’d want to be respectful by standing in silence, just as I would stand in silence for a sacred song for any religion. So I was at a bit of a loss for what to do, and figured it would be worse for the players. Do the players look at the flag, stand reverently, or just go about their business? A quick look over my shoulder, however, revealed that West Michigan manager Matt Walbeck (who, until and including the previous season, had been a major league player) had his hat over his heart, and had beckoned his team to join him on the top of the dugout steps, which they did:

Seconds later, however, I think Walbeck realized that this wasn’t “America the Beautiful,” because by the time the singer got to “My savior God to thee,” Walbeck had run out of the dugout to his third-base coaching position, where he prepared for the inning. The Whitecaps’ players, at least a couple of whom must be Jewish or Muslim or agnostic or atheist, all of whom had until seconds earlier had been standing in reverent silence, had headed to the bat racks and benches, perhaps wondering what the heck had happened. And Wilton Reynolds, the designated hitter, had clearly realized the bizarreness of the situation, because he actually was doubled over in laughter. I made eye contact with him–I thought the whole thing was funny too. (Looking at the picture above, it looks like Vince Blue, #31, also senses something is awry.)

On the whole, this was a nice way to spend a muggy Michigan night–surrounded by nice people enjoying a ballgame at an old park. This also turned out to be one of the best minor league ballgames I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. I’ll tell you about that under “Baseball stuff” below.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 6.5/10
Reasonable, with big Midwestern trees beyond the outfield wall and massive Midwestern clouds, but nothing really to denote Michigan or Battle Creek. I couldn’t even smell the Froot Loops until I was on my way out of town.

Charm: 4.5/5
Sure. Quirkiness and fans so close to the action that kids talked to the bullpen catcher as he warmed up pitchers.

Spectacle: 5/5
Excellent here. Understated and persistent–frequent between-innings action and the Bingo game tied right in with the baseball.

Team mascot/name: 2/5

The name change to Yankees was tragic, as the old “Battle Cats” paraphernalia on sale for half price was one of the saddest things I’ve seen. I hope Steinbrenner helped defray the costs. The mascot himself is Doodle–apparently a youngster or a very short individual. I like the name Doodle (get it?) a lot.

Aesthetics: 3/5
Sweet on the outside, but not too attractive on the inside (see below).

Pavilion area: 2.5/5
There was an area where kids were playing pickle, but it was far too small. Mostly, it was just prison-like cement.

Scoreability: 3/5
Numbers and names readily available in the pavilion, but by the seventh inning, the names they had on the scoreboard didn’t at all match the actual people at bat. It’s like the scoreboard people gave up. Good for a while, though.

Fans: 3.5/5
The church people were very nice in the conservative Midwestern way (and I mean that affectionately–not at all sarcastically or disparagingly). A few drunken louts nearby hurt the score.

Intangibles: 4.5/5
A great game where I felt like I was chatting with the players. Fun night.

TOTAL: 34.5/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

What a game! Mr. Walbeck has a little work to do in the managerial department, I’m afraid. The game’s star was Whitecap starter Virgil Vasquez, who cruised through eight innings of four-hit shutout ball. I was surprised to see him come back out for the ninth inning. Don’t they have pitch counts at A-level ball? Walbeck had a reliever, Eulogio de la Cruz, warmed up, and Vasquez had thrown quite a few pitches. Still, he struck out Matt Carson to start the inning, and things looked good for West Michigan. When third baseman Kody Kirkland kicked Erold Andrus’ liner, there was one on and one out, and I was thinking that one more baserunner and would bring out Walbeck with the hook. Bryce Kartler singled. Vasquez stayed on. A popout brought it to two on and two outs…then a laboring Vasquez walked John Urick. SURELY, I thought, this has to be it for Vasquez…he’s had a fine game, now de la Cruz can nail it down, right? Nope. Walbeck stuck with Vasquez. It turned out to be a bad move, as Tommy Rojas singled to tie the game with two unearned runs. Only then, too late, did Walbeck relieve Vasquez.

De la Cruz got out of the inning, but Battle Creek won in the tenth on Andrus’ RBI single. An angry Kody Kirkland, whose error made all of this possible, violently kicked a plastic cooler in the dugout on his way back to the clubhouse after the game.

Also, Garth McKinney homered for the Whitecaps. Party on, Garth. (I bet he’s never

heard that one before! Man, it just occurs to me that Garth would have been around 10 at the height of Wayne’s World…what a bummer of a time to be 10 and named Garth.)

(Written August 2004.)

chicago cubs affiliates, former arizona diamondbacks affiliates, indiana, low level single a, midwest league, minor league

Stanley Coveleski Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

July 6, 2009 Paul 1 Comment

WE’RE MOVING!

This page will only be here through 6/29, but I am saving these (and adding new parks as I see them) here, at paulsballparks.substack.com. See you on the other side!

Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium, South Bend, INDIANA

Number of states: 6
States to go: 44
Number of games: 1
First game: July 17, 2004 (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4, South Bend Silver Hawks 2)

(The ballpark is now known as Four WInds Field at Stanley Coveleski Stadium.)
(Click on any image to see a larger version.)

Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium (or, as the locals call it, “the Cove”) is in a decent location as far as the “is there any doubt where you are” test. It’s hard up against a train station on one side–charming architecture that is visible above the right field stands. On the other side, there is the spire of what I assume to be a Catholic church in view. These two items in concert say South Bend to me, but on the inside, there’s little clue that I’m in Indiana.

College singing buddies Rob (of Three Rivers Stadium and Hooters fame), Kristin and I were fortunate to get seats in the front row behind the home dugout. I looked forward to watching the game, but something transpired which had never

occurred to me…when one is in the front row behind the dugout, one’s view is often obstructed by dancing mascots. Additionally, kids who wish to see the mascot frequently cascade down to the front row and make annoying child noises. I wonder why this problem had never occurred to me? Nevertheless, Swoop, the Silver Hawks’ mascot, is quite easily did the best job out of all mascots I have ever encountered. He was energetic, wacky, and fun throughout. For example, he and the alternate mascot (a child dressed in a giant mustachioed head) sat on the dugout and played spin the bottle with a couple of young women in the front row. Hilarity ensued! The mascot actually made me laugh a couple of times–a rarity. Nice going, Swoop. Now sit down and get out of my way.

Beyond the mascot, there were a whole lot of negatives about the Cove. For starters, let’s talk about the mini-bat. I buy a mini-bat at every minor league park I see a game at…they hang by a map of the US in my den. The quality of mini-bats in South Bend were unacceptably inferior. At first, I thought the bat was hollow, but I no longer think so–now, I believe it’s just made of a really chintzy light wood. Oh well–so it’s light, whatever. I set it on the ground and watched the game. When I picked up the bat at the end of the game, the paint had worn off of every part of the bat that had made contact with the ground. How bogus is this? So I headed off to the souvenir shop to trade it in, and had the following conversation:

ME: Can I trade this bat in for another? The paint has worn off the side.
CONCESSION WOMAN: Oh, they’re all like that.
ME: I know. Can I have another?
CW: No. You don’t understand. They’re all like that.
ME: I know…but this time I won’t do something awful with it like put it down.
CW: (gives me a very annoyed, angry look, then trades in the bat)

Arrrggh! I did wrap the bat carefully in a sweater, packed it up…and it’s made it back home without any damage. The fact that this bat was sold to me for an above average cost (usually I pay $4 or $5 for a bat…this was $5.25) leads me to think that they were all about squeezing off profits. This led me to realize that my hot dog was cold and my soda felt a bit watered-down…in combination, not a great feeling for the ballpark.

Worse, I didn’t have any idea what was happening due to an inferior program and unacceptably incomplete PA work. It was exceedingly difficult to score a game at Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium. Sure, the lineups were accessible in the pavilion, but what about during the game? The PA announcer failed to announce three of the four relief pitchers that entered the game–he only announced the pitchers who entered mid-inning. This means the guy either didn’t notice that the pitcher was new (in spite of the umpire’s clear “new pitcher” signal) or didn’t think that we cared. We do care, PA guy. This left me in the position of figuring out the pitchers’ names on my own from the players’ numbers and my program. Or maybe not–much to my dismay, I found there was no opposing roster in the program, and I couldn’t seem to find a scorecard to buy. So I had to get the names of two Wisconsin relievers on the Timber Rattlers’ website later that night.

Even worse was a failure to announce the South Bend reliever who entered to pitch the ninth inning. After fruitlessly waiting for the PA guy to say his name, I figured I’d check to see who #33 was in the program. Incredibly, the players were listed alphabetically and without numbers! What was I supposed to do, guess at his height and weight?

This led to a wonderful moment–an explication of one of the reasons I like Rob so much. He’s so terribly pleasant and friendly, yet sorta crazy. As the pitcher is running off the field at the end of that inning, Rob shouts at the pitcher repeatedly: “What’s your name? Hey, 33, what’s your name? What’s your name??” #33 ignored the lunatic in the front row–I believe wisely. But Rob wasn’t done.

The first base coach for the Silver Hawks, #17, was headed out for the bottom of the ninth. Rob called out to him. “COACH! Hey, COACH!!!” #17 turned around. Rob said “Your pitcher. #33. What’s his name?” The baffled coach asked Rob to repeat himself a couple of times, and Rob did.

Then, the coach gave us the information we wanted, although it was hard to hear–but by cross-referencing our alphabetical program, we eventually were able to figure out what he was saying: “Cremidan. Alex Cremidan.” Thus it came to be that Alex Cremidan was given credit for his perfect ninth inning, including a strikeout. Now, coaching a minor league team is likely a challenging job in and of itself, so to willingly add the PA announcers’ duties to your own is a very selfless action. As a result, I’m very impressed with this coach, and would like to thank him by name in this public venue…but I can’t, because the Silver Hawks don’t have coaches listed on their website or by number in their program. Oh well. Thanks, #17.

One more complaint–the crowd, while mostly kind, did have one moment of ugliness. After flying to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning, third baseman Augie Murillo (if memory serves, this was the guy) was nearly drilled by a tennis ball thrown from the crowd as he returned to the dugout. They had sold tennis balls to be thrown into hula hoops on the field for prizes after the game, but someone decided to take a shot at a player instead. I was watching Augie head back to the dugout when the ball zinged by. He immediately looked up, and

with a few teammates, had ushers head towards the hooligan who threw it (although, given that Murillo’s head was down, I’m not sure how he could have known). Much to my surprise, rather than a nearby drunken guy, ushers ejected a woman who was at least 25 yards away. Quite an arm. “Was that her?” I asked Augie. He nodded. I love getting into conversations with these guys.

There’s a lot to like about this ballpark–its location, the cool multiple mascots, the grassy berm in the outfield spectators can suntan on, the dramatic Midwestern thunder cells in the distance reflecting a pink sunset. But I got an overall negative vibe from the place because of poor service from top to bottom, from the people selling the mini-bats all the way to the guy in the PA booth. When I add it all together, it’ll wind up near the bottom of the list, although with a new set of workers, I could see me returning someday and enjoying it far more.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 7 /10
Nice placement between a church and a railyard, but little inside the ballpark that says one is in Northern Indiana or Michiana (the horrible term locals use for the area).

Charm: 3.5/5
On and off. Liked the cars for car night, liked the outfield berm.

Spectacle: 4.5/5
Plenty good for the low minors.

Team mascot/name: 4/5

Swoop and I are in the left picture here, with the mysterious mustachioed kid-mascot to the right. Swoop is a fine name, and I like the multiple mascots, although Silver Hawks isn’t, to my knowledge anyway, local. (Update April 2008: The Silver Hawks, two of their fans have informed me, are named after the Studebaker Silver Hawk that was once manufactured near the stadium. Nice historical touch there.)

Aesthetics: 3.5 /5
Not too much in the way of beauty here, but a gorgeous thunderstorm in the distance helped.

Pavilion area: 3 /5
Just fine. A little dark and dreary, but a nice set of plaques commemorating South Bend baseball history, including one to Mr. Coveleski himself and a couple commemorating the stars of South Bend’s AAGPBA entry, the Belles.

Scoreability: 0/5
Horrible. Useless PA guy and useless program.

Fans: 2.5/5

While most were fine, I can’t overlook the violent lout who threw a ball at a player.

Intangibles: 0/5
On the whole, I just wasn’t impressed–I simply felt like profit was valued over service. Worse yet, they misspelled “Wisconsin” on the standings board! (They had an “o” where the second “i” is.)

TOTAL: 28/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

Wisconsin pitcher Nibaldo Acosta was the star of the day, scattering 9 hits over 8 innings, giving up only 1 run.

Wladimir Balentien homered.

(Written August 2004. Revised July 2009.)

former arizona diamondbacks affiliates, minor league, northwest league, short season single a, washington

Yakima County Stadium, Yakima, Washington

July 6, 2009 Paul 2 Comments

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Yakima County Stadium, Yakima, WASHINGTON

Number of states: still 5
States to go: 45
Number of games: 3
First game: July 8, 2004 (Yakima Bears 7, Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 4)
Most recent game: July 3, 2009 (Yakima Bears 9, Spokane Indians 4)

(Yakima County Stadium is no longer used for affiliated baseball as of the 2013 season.)

(Click on any image to see a larger version.)

In the competition for “Longest drive made to meet Paul at a baseball game,” the nominees

are: 3. My dad, who took an airport shuttle two hours to get from Columbia, Missouri to a fine game at Busch Stadium. 2. Rob, who drove about two and a half hours from State College, Pennsylvania to meet me at Three Rivers. And the #1 longest drive to meet me at a ballpark: Brian and his wife Annie, who drove two and a half hours from Seattle to meet me in Yakima. They win the tiebreaker over Rob because–let’s face it–they drove to Yakima and did so for a short season single-A game. It’s nice to have friends like these. The Yakimas of the world are nicer when you can share them with friends.

Brian, a fellow teacher, a guy I call “my hero and mentor” (and he thinks it’s tongue-in-cheek), has a daughter who is working on her medical residency in Yakima. I had forgotten this when I jokingly invited him to join me in Yakima for a ballgame. I was pleasantly surprised when he agreed, saying he’s always looking for an excuse to visit his daughter Rachael. Given that we’re both teachers (yay, summers off!), he did, in fact, meet me in Yakima for Northwest league baseball. His daughter joined us, and somehow, I wasn’t bothered when she studied during the game for tests she’d be taking shortly. My answer to the questions about people with difficult medical

challenges was always the same: “He should be seeing a doctor.” Strangely, it was never the right answer. The Yakima crowd made it easy for her study–there were few of them and they were quiet, even on Thunder Stick night. (By the way, there is precedent in my life for studying at sports venues. My brother claims he studied in college at the bowling alley…the general cacophony there was easier on him than the complete silence of the library. Me? The library all the way. I had a carrel way down in the dusty bowels of the place. Perfect.)

The Bears’ people did well to keep things active during the game. They featured loads of promotions, and wacky ones, such as attempting to throw toilet plungers into a toilet, a cream pie eating contest, and an attempt to catch high-slung T-shirts with butterfly nets. There were probably other promotions as well, but I couldn’t hear them–the PA system was awful. On the whole, the atmosphere wasn’t exactly electric…a routine seating bowl which, as

I said, is mostly empty.

The ballpark itself has some nice quirks. It’s incredibly short–293 feet–down the lines, and Yakima’s dry, relatively high air must make those foul poles inviting targets. However, the short porches at the poles become longer in a big hurry, as the outfield wall juts more or less straight out from there…the dimensions go from 293 to 340 in a big hurry. The views of nearby mountains are charming, and if you’re heading to Yakima, you might note that the first-base side is home to the hot, sunny, uncomfortable seats. The sun can be such a problem for spectators and fielders that they have put up a big screen past the third-base seats to block it.

On the whole, I’ll remember a fun night with my buddies in the middle of nowhere–one old friend with whom I can talk baseball and shoot the shit, his kind wife, and a woman who’s working on bringing health care

to the Yakima Valley. What more can you ask than that?

July 2005–I returned to Yakima with my fiancée during the month of our wedding for that year’s July 4th Minor League Baseball trip. And in the process, I managed to make my baby feel wonderful–nearly crying–and make a silly rookie mistake at the same time. A local florist had a promotion called Sweetheart of the Game…basically an essay contest. Write a few sentences about why your date should be the Sweetheart of the Game, and the winning essay’s sweetheart gets flowers delivered to her at her seat. I wrote that Michelle and I were getting married on the 29th of that month, that we were on our third annual 4th of July Minor League Road Trip, that said road trip was originally Michelle’s idea (this is especially impressive to those who believe I’m dragging along an unwilling partner to all these ballparks), and that I loved her very much. Well, they picked Michelle as Sweetheart of the Game (of course they did…I’m a poet, dammit), and Michelle was surprised and touched…she confessed later she nearly cried. So what, you ask, was the rookie mistake? This was…I wrote the wrong damn date for our wedding. We were getting married on the 30th, not the 29th. The 29th was the rehearsal dinner…where Michelle threw out the first pitch at an Everett AquaSox Game and where I sang the National Anthem. We’d been spending the whole weekend talking baseball and playing catch, so the baseball on my brain led me to write the wrong date down…so Michelle corrected the announcer, saying “Actually, it’s the 30th.” What a doofus move. But she pointed out that this was short-season A ball, and so it was fine that I made a rookie mistake. I’m thankful for that, because I want to spend my whole career in her organization.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 8.5/10
The view of nearby mountains is nice. The museum area with the exhibit about Yakima-connected “Hub” Kittle is better.

Charm: 2/5
Reasonable here, in a county-fair sort of way (the stadium is located on fairgrounds), but I can’t look past the foul-ball screen obscuring the view of literally every seat, the way-too-quiet PA (couldn’t hear him from my seat by third base!), and the horribly-maintained infield.

Spectacle: 5/5
Wacky low-minors stuff that never interferes with the game.

Team mascot/name: 2.5/5

Boomer Bear is about what you’d expect–a bit conventional and not locally appropriate.

Aesthetics: 3.5/5
The stands themselves are unattractive, but it’s quite a nice view.

Pavilion area: 4.5/5
Love the exhibit, though both it and the entire pavilion can be a bit larger for my tastes.

Scoreability: 2/5
I had to guess at some tough scoring decisions, and the lineups in the pavilion neglected to tell me first names and uniform numbers. Plus, a scoreboard malfunction made one strike look like seven strikes.

Fans: 3/5
Gets a little better every time I go, although I’m still remembering how quiet the first game was.

Intangibles: 5/5
I wasn’t a fan after my first visit, but the last two have each brought tremendous memories…my baby crying at being named Sweetheart of the Game, just a few weeks before our wedding…and four years later, in 2009, both my wife and I tearing up as we watched our son totally transfixed over his first-ever fireworks.

TOTAL: 36/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

Two homers for Chris Carter set the table for the Bears’ win in my inaugural visit.

As of July 2004, Chase Smith had two losses in professional baseball, and I’ve been there for both of them: the first in Eugene a week earlier, than this one. Chase–send me a few bucks and I’ll not show up anymore.

For July 4th weekend of 2005, Michelle and I saw Yakima’s Angel Rocha give one of the poorest pitching performances imaginable. He made it two-thirds of an inning…faced ten batters. Two outs, six walks, and two hits–all of them scored for 8 earned runs, or an ERA for the outing of 108.00. It didn’t get much better for Yakima thereafter.

Incredibly, in a 17-run, 17-hit onslaught, John Mayberry Jr. managed to go 0-for-6 for Spokane.

In 2009, Yakima comes back with an 8-run 8th-inning–aided by a pair of bases-loaded walks–to defeat Spokane.

(Written July 2004. Updated July 2009.)

former colorado rockies affiliates, minor league, northwest league, san diego padres affiliates, short season single a, washington

Tri-Cities Stadium/Dust Devils Stadium/Gesa Stadium, Pasco, Washington

July 6, 2009 Paul 1 Comment

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Tri-Cities Stadium/Dust Devils Stadium/Gesa Stadium, Pasco, WASHINGTON

Number of states: still 5
States to go: 45
Number of games: 6
First game: July 7, 2004 (Everett AquaSox 16, Tri-City Dust Devils 4)
Most recent game: July 18, 2019 (Tri-City Dust Devils 5, Everett AquaSox 4, 10 innings)

Stadium was called Tri-Cities Stadium in 2004, Dust Devils Stadium for my second visit, and Gesa Stadium now.

(Click on any photo to see a larger version.)

What might have been…Michelle the Girlfriend worked for this franchise for a couple of years, overseeing its 2001 move from Portland. And I was all set to head out there during the summer of 2002 to serve as a general dog’s-body for the organization.

(Michelle said she was considering using me as official scorer until they found someone who could do it more regularly, then having me pinch-hit wherever I was needed for the rest of the summer.) But, alas, Michelle left the Dust Devils before the season began and moved to Seattle with me. Oh well…lose summer employment, but gain Michelle the Girlfriend’s constant presence.

If anyone ever asks you what public relations staff must do for a minor-league team, keep in mind (and this I never knew) that one of the duties is to dress as the mascot for winter appearances. This makes The Dust Devil (who technically does not have a name, although I was encouraged by Tri-City staffers to call him “Dusty”) was, when my girlfriend was in the costume, the sexiest mascot in the United States and Canada. But take a look at that thing…what IS it? A dust devil, I know, but does it look at all like one? The nickname of Dust Devils is a fine nickname, and totally appropriate (I walked through

a few on the way to the ballpark, and a good number of them popped up on the field during the game). But this thing doesn’t look like much of anything, and on top of that, it’s got to be difficult to walk around in that getup.

The ballpark itself is nice. Not a standout. It’s a part of the local recreational complex, and is therefore surrounded by a billion soccer and softball fields. I took my customary walk around the ballpark before play began, and saw people taking softball batting practice on the soccer fields, which, come to think of it, would be a fine place to take a catch before the game. Also, if you wanted to attend the game for free, please note that on this night, not one but two gates along the left field wall were open. One led directly onto the field (kinda hard to get in that way) but the other actually led to the seats. Not that I advocate this kind of thing, but it would have been

very, very easy to walk right in–nobody watching and a gate already open.

The Dust Devils might consider letting people in for free, actually, since their attendance has been quite low in their four years of existence. I’m told it can be stiflingly hot even for evening games (please note that the third-base side is the sunny side). But this July night was unseasonably cool, so the dust-devil winds not only kicked up dirt but made it a chilly, unpleasant night. Very few fans were there for the first inning, and after an awful night of baseball (7 errors, 3 by the Tri-Cities in the seventh inning, and a 14-0 Everett lead at one point), there was more or less nobody left but me. The day started quiet like a bookstore, but ended quiet like a tomb.

The ballpark was huge–335 down the lines. I’ve not seen a game with so many Texas League doubles and backpedaling middle infielders in my life. I haven’t looked up the stadium’s history to see if it’s always been that large, but my guess is that they’ll

certainly keep it that way as long as the Dust Devils are a Rockies affiliate. Coors Field is that large as well, and those young outfielders need to practice patrolling all that real estate.

The Tri-Cities workers did their best to keep everyone involved and active. Erik the Peanut Guy had a microphone on him, and the PA announcer would kick it down to him for promotions and even a few random announcements. It was a nice touch. The affable Erik would do his schtick on the microphone, then resume hawking. By the way, I absolutely loved the personalized T-shirts that the hawkers wore (the backs had their names and statements like “Cotton Candy Expert”). Erik even did an interview with the mother of the Dust Devils’ third baseman who was seeing her son play professionally for the first time. His first question to the mother was bizarre. “So, is this your first time in the Tri-Cities?” Gee, Erik, what do you think? Why would this young woman have ever been to Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, or

West Richland before? (That’s right…there are FOUR cities in the “Tri-Cities.”) The third baseman had two hits, as the mom said to anyone who would listen to her after the terrible loss–“My boy had two hits!” she said–but really needed to work on his arm. Like clockwork, at least one of his warmup throws every inning would sail into the front row. I was in the front row. I’m fortunate I was not hurt. It took me until later in the game to figure out what was going on…he was trying to throw to his mother! What a sweet gesture. UPDATE: The kid, Matt Macri, eventually made the majors with the Twins.

One of the nicest

moments I’ve ever seen at a ballpark arose out of a scary one. A foul ball looped over my head and hit the ankle of the adorable kid in this picture. He screamed and cried while his mother held him. The ball rolled down past my feet to a fourth- or fifth-grader in the front row. He then walked up and handed it to the still-crying little guy. Would I have had that kind of kindness and grace at that age? I’m not sure. In my mind, that gracious young fan is the MVP. I tried hard to get a ball for the rest of the game–maybe one of the third baseman’s errant throws?–so that I could give it to the kind, charitable youngster, repaying his kindness. But no such luck.

All in all, a decent night of bad baseball in shivery, windy cold. Yup–to me, that’s not a bad night.

UPDATE 2009: I’ve been back twice since, both for July 4 family baseball jaunts, and have improved my view of the ballpark. First, some significant changes: Most importantly, blessedly, and thankfully, the Dust Devils have installed a sun screen behind the first-base stands. I’ve heard

it called an eyesore, but I don’t care. No more desert sun and desert heat for the third-base side…the screen blocks it beautifully, and it was worth every dime.

Second, the name has changed. Gesa, a local credit union, has affixed its name to the ballpark. Not a fan of corporate naming, but if that money helped build the sun screen, then I’m all for it–and might have to transfer all my money into a Gesa account.

Next, Tri-Cities sprawl threatens the character of the area just a little bit, but the view hasn’t much changed…the view beyond the outfield fence still features several rows of soccer fields.

The only negative to the visit were some jerks in the section next to us, who I heard were the Dust Devils grounds crew–let in free for the game. If that’s the case, they need to tone down the heckling, especially since

they were in my original seat (no big deal, as I just sat in a better one). Shouting “Ichiro!” at the Boise Hawks’ two Korean players, Hak-Ju Lee and Jae-Hoon Ha, is a rare combination of racially insensitive, geographically stupid, and boorish. Tone it down, guys.

Finally, and for the first time ever, I was recognized for this website. I was on my way to the head when Erik the Peanut Guy flagged me down, noticing my Tennessee Smokies hat. “Is that the Tennessee Smokies?” he asked. I replied in the affirmative, and Erik asked if I’d been there. I talked about my effort to get to all the minor league parks, and recommended he visit my website–and I wrote down my name. He said “Oh, I know you! I LOVE your website!” and then said “We need to

get you a hat.” He then had the team store give me my choice of hat. I picked the $22 TC model to complement my wife’s Dust Devil model. He took some time out from hawking to hang with us for a while. He and Michelle remembered each other from his days hawking in high school when Michelle worked for the team. We spent a pleasant inning hanging out.

I’ve got to say, wearing random other minor league hats to ballparks is a good move. Wearing an Everett AquaSox hat in Princeton, West Virginia bought me a free sledge-hammering of a car. And now wearing a Smokies hat…and having this website…got me a $22 hat. Thanks, Erik. You just brought your score up significantly. Remember–this is not Congress. Bribery is acceptable. Giving me presents can increase your ballpark’s score (although there’s no guarantee).

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 7.5/10
Lovely views of soccer fields and mountains. Actual, literal dust devils on the field help out a lot, although those can hardly be planned.

Charm: 2.5/5
Not much going for the physical edifice here, but Erik and his fellow hawkers help out quite a bit.

Spectacle: 3.5/5
A fair number of them, pulled off with nice energy.

Team mascot/name: 2.5/5

They call him Dusty. He looks like–nothing. And they have since put him in a Dust Devils uniform, which actually makes him more perplexing.

Aesthetics: 2.5/5

Pavilion area: 3.5/5
Could be larger. It includes an “alumni report” featuring the stats of former Dust Devils, wherever they may be. This is a fantastic idea that I”d like to see reproduced elsewhere.

Scoreability: 1.5/5
Not good here at all. Many errors on the scoreboard.

Fans: 4/5
As much as I appreciate Erik, crowds here are pretty sparse. And while I like the kid who gave up his foul ball, I don’t like the grounds crew acting like jerks to the opposition. Just cheer and watch the game. Don’t try to be Andrew Dice Clay. (I upped this score in 2013 after a much better experience sitting next to Erik the Peanut Guy’s parents.)

Intangibles: 5/5
In spite of all of its flaws, this place leaves me with positive memories. I’ve been there for a decade now, and thanks to Erik the Peanut Guy, I feel welcome there every time.

TOTAL: 33.5/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

My, what a terrible game I saw on my debut visit. Three hits for the AquaSox’s Omar Falcon led their attack.

Two errors–on back to back plays–by Dust Devil shortstop Pedro Strop (each a throw through the first baseman’s legs), plus another by second baseman Jason van Kooten stretch the top of the seventh into six outs, eight runs, twelve batters, and about fifteen years. Not that I’m complaining.

In July 2005, I saw what looked to be a stud-pitcher-in-the-making…Shane Lindsey, a free-agent pitcher, struck out 11, walked none, and gave up only 3 hits in 5 innings in a Dust Devils victory.

A crazy close to a game in July 2009. Tri-Cities scores their winning runs in the eighth inning on a combination of two hit batsmen, a wild pitch, a passed ball, an intentional walk, and a sacrifice fly. Low-level A baseball. Catch it.

D.J. Peterson scored on a Huascar Brazoban wild pitch in the 11th inning of a 2013 game to give Everett a victory.

Crazy game in 2017 is highlighted by an ejection: pitcher Mike Bunal was tossed for some word or other: just walked off the mound after he was, too. The Dust Devils win in the 11th on a double, sacrifice, and fielder’s choice.

(Written July 2004. Updated July 2009.)

former san diego padres affiliates, minor league, no longer in use, oregon, pacific coast league, san diego padres affiliates, triple a

PGE Park, Portland, Oregon

July 6, 2009 Paul Comment

WE’RE MOVING!

This page will only be here through 6/29, but I am saving these (and adding new parks as I see them) here, at paulsballparks.substack.com. See you on the other side!

PGE Park, Portland, OREGON

Number of states: still 5
States to go: 45
Number of games: 40
First game: July 4, 2004 (Portland Beavers 3, Edmonton Trappers 1)
Last game: September 3, 2010 (Las Vegas 51s 9, Portland Beavers 2)

(PGE Park was converted to an MLS soccer facility after the 2010 season, and is still used for soccer.)

(Click on any image to see a larger version.)

Portland was the third stop on what I hope will become an annual event–the Paul and Michelle July 4th weekend trip to minor league ballparks. It’s possible we won’t be able to afford to go to new stadiums every year, as by the end of this year, I’ll have all of the Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia stadiums crossed off my list. But who can come up with a better July 4th tradition than baseball…minor league baseball? It’s American, kids and adults

love it, and you get to see a fireworks show safer than what your crazy Uncle John puts together with marginally-legal explosives he spirits in over the state line. If you do the weekend right and are willing to drive a little, you can get two fireworks shows (Eugene’s was after their July 3rd game, Portland’s on the 4th). Plus, the minor league baseball atmosphere is better–bigger, louder, more looking-for-a-good time crowds. So even if we just dip down to Tacoma or Everett every year, I’m thinking this will become a tradition. And it’s a good one.

And we could certainly do worse than to visit Portland again. I was extremely impressed with the setting of the ballpark. Field level is significantly below street level, so from throughout the stadium, when any fan looks out past left field, it’s easy to see city life go by. Portland’s light-rail MAX train goes past the fence out there, and better still, people who want to watch the game for free can do so easily by walking up to the fence between the sidewalk and the left-field pavilion. It’s not that bad a view, actually, as these pictures should show.

The MA

X trains and the Beaver mascot are only a tiny part of what gives this fine ballpark local color. A good chunk of that local color is supplied by Timber Jim, the de facto human mascot for the Beavers and A-League soccer’s Portland Timbers. Timber Jim is a bona-fide lumberjack. If you don’t believe me, just check out how he clambers up the giant log/pole

beyond the right-center field wall and watches several innings of the game from there. Also, check out how he repels down from a beam to dangle in front of fans and lead cheers from midair. He’s an excellent asset to the team–not really detracting from the game, but very much adding to the experience.

Speaking of detracting from the game, this is the first game since my early youth where I have done the wave during the game. I know, I know, disappointing. But I think you’ll understand when I say why. I attended this game with Michelle the Girlfriend and a whole gaggle of her college buddies (and their spouses and kids). They don’t know me terribly well yet, so as they did the wave, I was explaining to them that “I don’t do the wave.” Matt, one of Michelle’s best friends, was trying to talk me into doing the wave. I, of course, remained adamant. Michelle knows how passionate I am about the wave. But she made a tragic mistake. She cavalierly–and, as she soon

learned, too hastily–said to Matt: “I’ll give you a hundred dollars if you get him to do the wave.” Matt didn’t miss a beat before he turned to me: “Paul, I’ll give you fifty bucks if you do the wave.” Hey, we all have our price–fifty bucks is significant money to a teacher–and it’s not like doing the wave is a crime. So when the wave rolled by next time, I stood up, shouted, and did the best wave I’ve ever done. Alas, Michelle was very disappointed in my lack of morals. I hope I didn’t cause long-term damage to the relationship. How much money would YOU take for doing the wave once? I bet it’s less than fifty bucks. Fifty bucks which, by the way, both Matt and I are still waiting for. Michelle–hurry up. We’re charging interest.

The other thing I’ll remember from this game, besides forever losing Michelle’s trust in my integrity, was teaching a woman in the group to score. She was given a scorebook for a recent birthday, and it was suggested that I help her through the game. No problem…it’s very nice to help somebody out, and I love both scoring and teaching. But my…it wasn’t scoring this woman didn’t understand, it was baseball. Case in point: after a double play, I started to explain to her where to mark each of the outs.

“Here’s how you mark the double play,” I told her. She gave me a blank look, so I continued: “A double play. That was a double play.” Still nothing.

“They got both the runner and batter out.” Now she’s looking a little panicked behind her cluelessness. “You know, a double play. Two outs on one play.”

Finally, both confused and astonished, she responded: “They can do that????”

It’s not so much my efforts to teach her how to score that interest me…it’s the whole notion of the situation that I’m interested in. Why would somebody who didn’t understand baseball happily receive a scorebook as a gift? To be honest, even though she wasn’t yet a proficient scorer at the end of the day, I admired her a good deal. I sure wouldn’t try to score cricket or bridge.

At this writing, it looks like the Montreal Expos have next to no chance of moving to Portland. I admit I wish they would–not so much for the possibility of a new NL team down the road in a new stadium, but because it’d be fun to see major league baseball in this cozy, interesting venue. No sweat: I’ll have to settle for the quite pleasant alternative of a few minor league trips down I-5 to catch the Beavers at the very enjoyable PGE Park, where I’ll sit with Michelle and not do the wave. Unless somebody meets my price.

UPDATE JULY 2009: PGE Park has now become my home stadium, since I moved down I-5 to Vancouver, Washington in the summer of 2007. My knowledge of the park–a couple of years of partial-season packages–has led me to appreciate it a little more (still love those MAX trains heading by) and a little less (there’s no legroom, and a tall guy like me needs it).

The bad news is that it’s all academic, however, since PGE Park will become a soccer-only facility after the 2010 baseball season ends. As of this writing, there’s very little certainty as to what will become of the Beavers. They may be gone just like Timber Jim (who has hung up the repelling equipment since my original post).

There’s a chance that the Beavers will leave the area altogether, which would be terrible, but right now the number one possibility is that they’ll leave downtown and move to the suburbs. If they go to any suburb other than my own, the number of games I’d attend would drop precipitously. I will not fight rush hour out to the suburbs to catch a game more than once or twice a year. Stay tuned on this one.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 8.5/10
Outstanding. The MAX trains going by left field and a guy standing on top of a giant log? Can’t beat that. The former means you’re in the city, the latter means the Pacific Northwest. If this is the minor leagues, it must mean Portland. (I deducted a half point for the loss of Timber Jim, but the view of the Oregonian building still carries the day.)

Charm: 3/5
PGE Park is old…mostly the good kind of old. It gets docked for having a carpet, the right-field eyesore view of an extremely unattractive athletic club, zero legroom, and the stands being some distance back from the field. This weighs down the score in spite of its many positive quirks.

Spectacle: 4/5
A fair amount, but the game came first…about right for AAA.

Team mascot/name: 4.5/5

Lucky Beaver. The mascot is good–indigenous and intimidating (I’d hate to face a rabid beaver).

Aesthetics: 3.5/5
Wonderful to left field, hideous to right, and mixed within the old stadium.

Pavilion area: 3/5
Nice sense of ballpark history and a good sunny left field porch. I do wish that more of the pavilion were outdoors, however.

Scoreability: 3/5
The only balls-and-strikes scoreboard is hand-operated. Mistakes are a touch too frequent. I like the retro feel, but I like accuracy better.

Fans: 4/5
Attendance is often dismal, but when they show up, it’s a raucous-but-civil group.

Intangibles: 4.5/5
Overall, I like this place for baseball and I’m going to miss it.

TOTAL: 38/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

A pitchers’ duel. Portland’s Chris Oxspring (who really should have been a mattress salesman…excuse me, I mean an attress salesman) gets the best of it, pitching seven innings of four-hit ball.

Edmonton’s Josh Karp is the hard-luck loser, pitching very well besides a three-run homer to the Beavers’ Jon Knott.

Portland’s Mike Thompson takes a no-hitter into the sixth in a marvelous pitchers’ duel with Tucson’s Shawn Estes (on a rehab assignment). He loses it on a solo home run by Keoni De Renne, and three runs in the ninth seal it for Tucson.

In 2007, Royce Huffman has a killer Father’s Day afternoon against Salt Lake, going 4-for-4 with a double, a home run, 3 RBIs, and a stolen base.

The 2009 AAA All-Star Game was an enjoyable affair. Eric Kratz of Indianapolis takes MVP honors in the International League’s win, but I’ll most remember Nashville pitcher R.J. Swindle busting out a few 50-mile-an-hour breaking balls that nobody could hit.

Best pitching performance so far is probably Fresno’s Kevin Pucetas, who set the Beavers down on 2 hits over 7 innings.

(Written July 2004. Updated August 2006 and July 2009.)

demolished, double a, former kansas city royals affiliates, kansas, minor league, no longer in use, texas league

Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, Wichita, Kansas

July 6, 2009 Paul Comment

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Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, Wichita, KANSAS

Number of states: 3
States to go: 47
Number of games: 1
First and last game: April 10, 2004 (Arkansas Travelers 10, Wichita Wranglers 0)

Lawrence-Dumont Stadium was no longer used for the affiliated minors as of the 2008 season. It was destroyed in December of 2018.

(Click on any image to see a larger version.)

Spring Break 2004. I set out for my spring break, leaving chilly, rainy Seattle for warmer climes–Wichita, Tulsa, Arlington, and Houston. Why did I have to pick a week when Seattle had beautiful, record-setting temperatures and a mass of Northern air settled over Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas? The first Saturday night of the baseball season in Wichita was colder than the proverbial witch’s tit (and, I am sure, colder than a literal witch’s tit…not that I have any experience. With witches.) Thank goodness for the $23 K-Mart jacket I secured earlier that day. In any event, Lawrence-Dumont Stadium was an excellent Texas League ballpark that nobody in Wichita seems to have found.

For starters, Lawrence-Dumont Stadium has a rich sense of baseball history. Its pavilion makes a special point to commemorate Wichita baseball history, most notably the National Baseball Congress

tournaments held there through the years…basically the semipro baseball championship. There are plaques all the way around the ballpark talking about folks from Whitey Herzog to Mark McGwire. A fun walk! I must admit, I enjoyed that a good deal, but I felt it was sort of cheating. I mean, it’s just a tournament they host…not really related to Wichita minor league history. But when I learned that Mr. Dumont was responsible for the tournament, I relaxed my concerns a bit. After all, it was he and Mr. Lawrence, the mayor of Wichita, who decided to build the stadium. Hence, that pesky hyphen in “Lawrence-Dumont Stadium”: it’s named after two guys, not one.

But the walk around the stadium also teaches us about Wichita’s minor league past. Included in this was a list of all of the teams that have played minor league ball in Wichita. On that list, I was delighted to find the infamous Wichita Jobbers.

Now maybe I’ve watched a few too many episodes of Beavis and Butthead, but I couldn’t stop snickering about that. Somewhere, after squandering a series of late-inning leads, an article must have been written under the headline “Jobbers Blow Another.” So I’m walking around enjoying a juvenile snicker (and thinking that, as bad a nickname as “Jobbers” is, it’s actually better than “Jabbers” or the feminine “Witches”) when I come upon a plaque commemorating the 1910 Jobbers, considered one of the best minor league ballclubs in history. And what picture did they put next to it? God as my witness, they put it next to popular former Wichita Aero and major league stalwart Pete LaCock.

Perhaps most impressive was the story–I hope it’s true–that Joe Carter hit a home run during an NBC tournament that hit the Metropolitan Baptist Church on one bounce. The church is nearly 900 feet away. This picture probably doesn’t do it justice, but still, check out this view of the church from home plate. The church is the red brick building with the white steeple beyond the left field wall.

On the whole, this was an excellent night of baseball. The staff with the Wranglers have done a fine job of putting together solid entertainment. They ran wacky ads starring their young staff (a send-up of The Apprentice, for instance). There were frequent promotions, but not so frequent as to take away from the baseball. The ballpark has a fine location on the Arkansas river–there’s a view of downtown right past the outfield fence. And Double-A baseball is great entertainment in and of itself. Still, only 155,547 showed up to watch the Wranglers in Wichita in 2003…barely 2,000 per game, only about a quarter of the league leaders and behind even Midland, which is a far smaller city than Wichita. I can’t for the life of me figure out why. It’s not because they have a less-than-good ballpark…Lawrence-Dumont is a great place. It’s not because it’s a poorly-run night of baseball…it was excellent. It’s not because it’s inconveniently located…it’s right in the heart of town. There’s no excuse, Wichita. Get out to your wonderful ballpark. You’ll have at least as good a time as I did.

Okay, now that I’ve said that, let me cut the Wichita folk some slack…the weather certainly was the lion’s share of the reason that attendance was so abysmally

low the night I was there (announced as 528, but that was a laughably high number…I put attendance at 130. That’s right, I actually counted…I figure that the people who were in the bathroom are counterbalanced by ushers I mistakenly included in my count.) It’s funny who you see among the most die-hard fans who would show up on a 40-something degree night in April with horrendous winds. I noticed a good number of women sitting alone and wondered why. Of course! Wives and girlfriends. And there were a good number of scouts with radar guns. Also, several close relatives. Notable among the latter were the friendly brother- and sister-in-law of a backup catcher I chatted with throughout the game…I had a long conversation with their four-year-old son. It’s awesome how four-year-olds start conversations. His starter? “I have the same name as my grandpa. His name is James…and my name is James!” And later: “I live out in the country.” Cool kid! He’d get along with my nephew, but as his mother said, “1500 miles is an awfully tough play date.” I like the Midwest. Friendly people. Women with ponytails and minimal makeup. People who assume you’re a good guy and talk to you.

And I like Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, which more Kansans should get out to see, especially on a night where they can’t see their breath.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 9.5/10
The celebration of Kansas baseball in the museum-like pavilion is fantastic. Add to that a location on the Arkansas river, a view of downtown Wichita, and a few friendly Kansans, and there’s not a doubt as to where you are.

Charm: 2.5/5
There’s a contagious love of baseball here. But ICK!!! The astroturf infield with the grass outfield? WHY???? Back when Wichita fed the Astros, it made sense. But now they feed Kansas City, who has a grass infield. It’s just an eyesore now. Lose it.

Spectacle: 3.5/5
Didn’t get in the way…but I didn’t see much of the mascots.

Team mascot/name: 5/5

Didn’t see much of Wilbur–the best I can do for a picture is the distorted shot at left. I think the cold night kept him in. I did take a shot with the Garbage Goblin, however, on the right. Please note that a gust of wind has gone up my K-mart jacket…that’s not my belly under there, it’s mostly cold Wichita air. I never saw Wilbur and the Garbage Goblin together, which strongly leads me to suspect they’re the same guy. “Wranglers” is a completely appropriate name for Wichita, and the horse totally appropriate as a mascot…although, upon reflection, aren’t horses the natural adversaries of wranglers?

Aesthetics: 4.5/5
Quite nice, with a view of downtown and the river.

Pavilion area: 5/5
A wonderful walk through Wichita baseball history that starts at home plate and goes all the way back to center field. Lots of good stories. The best part of the ballpark.

Scoreability: 4/5
No major issues here, but no major plusses.

Fans: 1/5
Nice people, but far too few of them.

Intangibles: 4/5
In spite of the weather, the sparse crowd, and the incredibly lousy game, I got a great feeling from this place

TOTAL: 41/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

A god-awful game in hellish cold. Arkansas pounds out 19 singles and a double. The worst part was that 5 of the runs were in the 9th inning, just as all of us were ready to head home. If I’d had a date with me who wanted to take off, I would have probably demurred…and that is saying something.

3 RBIs for Traveler Jason Aspito.

Tim Bittner pitched 6 innings of 4-hit ball for the win, with Cam Esslinger and Dan Mozingo closing out the 4-hit shutout.

The Arkansas Travelers’ road uniforms read “Little Rock.” Their jackets read “Angels.” The Arkansas Travelers are neither Arkansas nor Travelers. Discuss.

colorado rockies affiliates, former chicago cubs affiliates, idaho, minor league, northwest league, short season single a

Memorial Stadium, Boise, Idaho

July 6, 2009 Paul 1 Comment

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Memorial Stadium, Boise, IDAHO

Number of states: 2
States to go: 48
Number of games: 2
First game: July 5, 2003 (Tri-City Dust Devils 6, Boise Hawks 4)
Most recent game: June 28, 2013 (Boise Hawks 5, Eugene Emeralds 4, 10 innings)

After attending my first game in Spokane, I had a bit of a problem. How did I know whether the first minor league park on my trip was a good one or a not-so-good one? Well,

all it took was a trip to Boise and I knew. Spokane has a good ballpark. Boise’s? Not so good.

There were a number of problems, but (and I’m sorry, Idahoans) the primary problem was with the raucousness of the fans. It was like a library in there! I could have gotten some good studying done–or maybe written some music–while you sat not cheering at the game. And it’s not just that you weren’t cheering. You weren’t even speaking.

Not making any noise at all! Normally, during the quiet moments of a ballgame, I’ll hear the low hum of a few thousand conversations. Not here. Yeah, it was a little hot–in the upper ’80s–but I know this is a problem with the fans and not the heat. How do I know? As we observed moments of silence around each

pitch, I heard the following priceless utterance from the high-school aged guy behind me: “Do they let you shout while the pitcher’s pitching?” Come on! These guys aren’t Tiger Woods; they can handle the noise. Politeness is nice–it’s an aspect of life that’s falling from favor. And I suppose I’d rather have polite folks who are quiet at ballparks than rude folks who are loud. But still, REV IT UP a bit!

Game management wasn’t all it could have been. After ball three to the first or second batter of the game, our PA guy went ahead and announced the next hitter. The home plate umpire turned around and gave the PA guy this look–and beneath that look I could see his thought–“It’s going to be a long, long day.” If you can’t trust the PA guy to follow the pitch count, can you trust him to give all the scoring information when it’s more difficult? Also, there was another blunder–there was several simultaneous sounds that melded together into an indecipherable muddle. For example: We had songs over the PA while a fairly cool bluegrass band was playing. Two competing sounds were not enough for the Boise Hawks people, I guess, because

while these songs competed with each other, they’d be doing a promotion on the field–where a guy had a microphone. Apparently they didn’t want that guy to be even that easy to hear, because his microphone kept fritzing out. What a mess. How can I enjoy music or promotions I can’t hear? There was a particularly stupid scoreboard graphic too. Immediately after Dust Devils pitcher Brian Lynch delivered low and outside on his first pitch to a batter I don’t remember, they put the numbers one through four on the screen, and put a check mark over the number one. That’s right…they had a wacky scoreboard graphic for ball one! How desperate do you have to be for graphics to invent a ball one graphic?

To be sure, there were some positives. The ballpark had a lovely panorama past the outfield, and therefore did fairly well in the “is there any question where you are” test. And the bluegrass band was a good idea, even though I couldn’t hear it. I also liked the way they rounded up every kid in the stands and brought them onto the field to sing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” for the seventh-inning stretch.

The mascot joined them, as did the bluegrass band and a couple of creepy clowns. Also, there was another “only in the minors” moment: apparently the amenities aren’t all they should be in the home locker room, as thirty minutes before his start, I spotted Boise’s starting pitcher that day, Rich Hill, stepping outside the locker room to get some cellphone reception!

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 7.5/10
Some nice hills beyond the outfield ratchet up the score here.

Charm: 3/5
For whatever reason, this stadium did nothing for me in this area.

Spectacle: 2.5/5
I simply couldn’t hear a lot of what was going on. Would have been better to do none at all.

Team mascot/name: 3.5/5

Humphrey the Hawk and me. Kinda ugly, but not bad. (Need I say I’m referring to Humphrey and not me?)

Aesthetics: 4/5
Can’t beat the view. The ballpark itself isn’t too attractive, however.

Pavilion area: 3/5

Scoreability: 2/5

Fans: 1.5/5

Intangibles: 3/5
Maybe it was just a bad game or a rough day (drove 8 hours to get there), but there wasn’t much exciting to me. The heat might have also gotten to me a bit. By the way, if you’re planning on going to a game at Boise Memorial Stadium, the third-base side is the shady side.

TOTAL: 30/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

Boise’s Rich Hill struck out 10 in six innings, but took the loss. Sandy Almonte and Tony McQuade homered.

The 2013 star was the Hawks’ Rony Rodriguez, who hit a pinch-hit, two-out, two-strike game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th. Two singles and two walks before an out in the 10th won it, culminating with the walk-off single by Jacob Rogers.

american association, colorado, colorado rockies, demolished, former chicago white sox affiliates, former cincinnati reds affiliates, former milwaukee brewers affiliates, former montreal expos affiliates, national league, no longer in use, triple a

Mile High Stadium

June 30, 2009 Paul Comment

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From “Ballparks of Baseball” website. Used by permission.

Mile High Stadium, Denver, CO

Number of minor league games: A dozen or so (no stats or results survive–just a few memories)
First minor league game: Probably late summer 1978 (Denver Bears 8, Wichita Aeroes 5)
Last minor league game: Probably August 1991 (Denver Zephyrs vs. Iowa Cubs)

Number of Major League Games: 4
First Major League Game: June 5, 1994 (Pirates 4, Rockies 3)
Last Major League Game: June 28, 1994 (Padres 11, Rockies 3, 11 innings, 2nd game of doubleheader)

Mile High Stadium was demolished in 1999.

It has been destroyed along with so many other multipurpose stadiums, but I’d have to say Mile High Stadium is probably the best multipurpose stadium I’ve ever seen. It’s because of those awesome movable East Stands, which actually glided on water to move from a cozy football position to a more distant baseball position. And for a time, after Coors Field opened, there were a few people bemoaning the loss of Mile High, which averaged more in attendance than Coors could seat. But those third-deck seats in Mile High were really, really up there–quite far away, especially if you were down the lines. And those seats in center field…my, but they were a million miles away (although I liked that they sold them for a buck). So Coors is a definite improvement, but I don’t think there was too much wrong with Mile High. It was wonderfully quirky, in fact…homers to left were insanely easy, but homers to right were very difficult (I think it was something like 370 feet down the right field line, and the wall quite high.)

My very first pro baseball experiences were here. The first pro game I ever attended would have been in the late summer of my 2nd or 3rd grade year…likely 1977 or 1978. My T-ball team headed there one night to see the Montreal-affiliated Denver Bears beat the Wichita Aeroes 8-5. I’m 99% sure that’s the score because I remember the linescore:

Wichita 050 000 000
Denver 111 111 02X

There was a bell to signify how many runs the Bears scored in each inning, so we kept hearing “The toll for the inning…[ding!]…one run.” All else I remember from that night was missing a home run while in the bathroom, being uncomfortably near a foul ball, and being amazed that I was out at the ungodly hour of 10PM.

I recall snippets from the next 16-17 years of American Association baseball, through Expos, White Sox, Reds, and Brewers affiliations: a ceremony to honor Tim Raines’ record 77 stolen bases in a year (1980), Lloyd McClendon hitting for the cycle, several “let’s impress the major league teams and show that we love baseball by having a bunch of people show up at the park” nights, and singing the national anthem with my high school show choir. Darryl Hamilton was signing autographs before the game on that anthem night, and I remember how game he was, signing whatever words we asked (I had him write “thanks for the tips!”, fellow HS singer Sheila had him write an elaborate love note along the lines of “you are my life…”) and how gracefully he handled it when Sheila asked him to prom.

Those minor league memories set the table for my major league experiences at Mile High, which were exclusively during the 1994 season.

I enjoyed one of these games with friends Michelle and Robby. Robby scores the games too, but he uses wacky hieroglyphics only decipherable to him. Archeologists could unearth my scorebook in ten thousand years, and would have no trouble whatsoever determining exactly what Eric Young did in the eighth inning that June day. If they unearth Robby’s scorecard…well…they’ll probably think it’s some failed architectural plan.

Mile High was also host to my only-ever scheduled doubleheader. I figured, hey, how could it get any better than this? A doubleheader with dad. That there is some father-son bonding. But there’s a problem…Rockies pitching. The doubleheader lasted absolutely forever. It resulted in one of only two times in my life I’ve been compelled to leave a game early…the damn 11th inning of the damn second game was positively–and unprecedentedly (see below)–endless. So I took pity on my Dad sometime during the eighteenth pitching change of the eleventh inning and let him take me home.

As much as I like the idea of the doubleheader, and as much as I laud suggestions that scheduled doubleheaders should be made more commonplace (this will never happen, however, as owners need each of the 81 games of revenue), I have a suggestion: schedule no doubleheaders between teams whose earned run averages, when added together, are higher than 9. We can’t handle that many walks and hits.

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

In the first game of the June 28 doubleheader, the Rockies come back from an 8-run deficit to win, a Rockies record at the time (over the year and a half they’d existed).

The Padres set a record in the second game for most runs scored in an 11th inning (since 1900), lighting the Rockies up for nine. It’s the only 11-3 pitchers’ duel I’ll ever see.

(Written July 2001. Last updated July 2009.)

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Dwyer Stadium, Batavia, NEW YORK

Number of states: 8 States to go: 42 Number of games: 1 First game: July 26, 2004 (Batavia Muckdogs 6, Mahoning Valley Scrappers 2)

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C.O. Brown Stadium, Battle Creek, MICHIGAN

Number of states: 7 States to go: 43 Number of games: 1 First and last game: July 20, 2004 (Battle Creek Yankees 3, West Michigan Whitecaps 2, 10 innings)

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Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium, South Bend, INDIANA

Number of states: 6 States to go: 44 Number of games: 1 First game: July 17, 2004 (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4, South Bend Silver Hawks 2)

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Yakima County Stadium, Yakima, WASHINGTON

Number of states: still 5 States to go: 45 Number of games: 3 First game: July 8, 2004 (Yakima Bears 7, Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 4) Most recent game: July 3, 2009 (Yakima Bears 9, Spokane Indians 4)

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Tri-Cities Stadium/Dust Devils Stadium/Gesa Stadium, Pasco, WASHINGTON

Number of states: still 5 States to go: 45 Number of games: 6 First game: July 7, 2004 (Everett AquaSox 16, Tri-City Dust Devils 4) Most recent game: July 18, 2019 (Tri-City Dust Devils 5, Everett AquaSox 4, 10 innings)

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PGE Park, Portland, OREGON

Number of states: still 5 States to go: 45 Number of games: 40 First game: July 4, 2004 (Portland Beavers 3, Edmonton Trappers 1) Last game: September 3, 2010 (Las Vegas 51s 9, Portland Beavers 2)

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Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, Wichita, KANSAS

Number of states: 3 States to go: 47 Number of games: 1 First and last game: April 10, 2004 (Arkansas Travelers 10, Wichita Wranglers 0)

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Memorial Stadium, Boise, IDAHO

Number of states: 2 States to go: 48 Number of games: 2 First game: July 5, 2003 (Tri-City Dust Devils 6, Boise Hawks 4) Most recent game: June 28, 2013 (Boise Hawks 5, Eugene Emeralds 4, 10 innings)

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Mile High Stadium, Denver, CO

Number of minor league games: A dozen or so (no stats or results survive–just a few memories) First minor league game: Probably late summer 1978 (Denver Bears 8, Wichita Aeroes 5) Last minor league game: Probably August 1991 (Denver Zephyrs vs. Iowa Cubs)

Number of Major League Games: 4 First Major League Game: June 5, 1994 (Pirates 4, Rockies 3) Last Major League Game: June 28, 1994 (Padres 11, Rockies 3, 11 innings, 2nd game of doubleheader)

Number of states: 8
States to go: 42
Number of games: 1
First game: July 26, 2004 (Batavia Muckdogs 6, Mahoning Valley Scrappers 2)

Number of states: 7
States to go: 43
Number of games: 1
First and last game: July 20, 2004 (Battle Creek Yankees 3, West Michigan Whitecaps 2, 10 innings)

Number of states: 6
States to go: 44
Number of games: 1
First game: July 17, 2004 (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4, South Bend Silver Hawks 2)

Number of states: still 5
States to go: 45
Number of games: 3
First game: July 8, 2004 (Yakima Bears 7, Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 4)
Most recent game: July 3, 2009 (Yakima Bears 9, Spokane Indians 4)

Number of states: still 5
States to go: 45
Number of games: 6
First game: July 7, 2004 (Everett AquaSox 16, Tri-City Dust Devils 4)
Most recent game: July 18, 2019 (Tri-City Dust Devils 5, Everett AquaSox 4, 10 innings)

Number of states: still 5
States to go: 45
Number of games: 40
First game: July 4, 2004 (Portland Beavers 3, Edmonton Trappers 1)
Last game: September 3, 2010 (Las Vegas 51s 9, Portland Beavers 2)

Number of states: 3
States to go: 47
Number of games: 1
First and last game: April 10, 2004 (Arkansas Travelers 10, Wichita Wranglers 0)

Number of states: 2
States to go: 48
Number of games: 2
First game: July 5, 2003 (Tri-City Dust Devils 6, Boise Hawks 4)
Most recent game: June 28, 2013 (Boise Hawks 5, Eugene Emeralds 4, 10 innings)

Number of minor league games: A dozen or so (no stats or results survive–just a few memories)
First minor league game: Probably late summer 1978 (Denver Bears 8, Wichita Aeroes 5)
Last minor league game: Probably August 1991 (Denver Zephyrs vs. Iowa Cubs)

Number of Major League Games: 4
First Major League Game: June 5, 1994 (Pirates 4, Rockies 3)
Last Major League Game: June 28, 1994 (Padres 11, Rockies 3, 11 innings, 2nd game of doubleheader)