Category Archives: league

carolina league, high level single a, minor league, no longer in use, virginia, washington nationals affiliates

Pfitzner Stadium, Woodbridge, Virginia

July 7, 2009 Paul 4 Comments

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Pfitzner Stadium, Woodbridge, VIRGINIA

Number of states: still 21
States to go: 29

First game: August 19, 2006 (Kinston Indians 6, Potomac Nationals 1)

Way, way, way out into the DC suburbs is a tiny minor-league ballpark. While the occupants try to get a new ballpark every year, they continue to return to this run-of-the-mill field that’s a part of a high school complex in

Woodbridge, Virginia. It’s uncertain how much longer they’ll remain, but I got in a game in at Pfitzner Stadium during the summer of 2006.

The ballpark itself is fairly nondescript. It does not pass the “do we have any idea where we are” test…I saw no evidence we were in Virginia or near Washington DC. We honestly could have been anywhere. The ballpark is charmless as well. There’s too much netting around the infield. I lost virtually all memory of the place within a few months. But, and for the first time, the part that troubled me the most was the way that the team’s owner actually interfered with my enjoyment of a game.

I don’t mind some wackiness and promotions as a part of my minor league baseball experience. But it cannot interfere with the baseball on the field. Art Silber, the owner of the Nationals, did just that. Apparently, on Saturday nights, Silber coaches

first base for the team…and he did for the first half of the game or so, before taking a seat behind home plate in his baseball uniform.

This bugged me in the extreme. What we have here are players and coaches who are trying to work their way up towards the major leagues, and Silber is interfering with that goal for each of them. I’m not certain what or how much a first-base coach contributes, but the idea that this guy is living out some long-unaccomplishable fantasy at the expense of people who still have a legitimate shot at making the bigs…well, that bugged me. He might say he’s showing his love of the game; I say it shows he’s not taking the game seriously. What if a young rich person (like Master P a few years ago, or maybe Marc Cuban) bought a minor league team and decided that, rather than coaching first base, he wanted to play first base? Why is that any less ridiculous? Mr. Silber, you’re out of line. You interfered with the baseball.

On the other side of the coin, I don’t much mind if players take jobs that normally go to others. Steve Mortimer sang the

national anthem. He was nervous…probably more nervous than he was playing first base that day. It made me root for him all the more…we don’t have enough Renaissance men like that in the world.

Probably the best part of my trip was getting to hang out with Tom. We found ourselves a seat away from some others, and we said wacky stuff to each other throughout the game. That’s just the way it happens. He told me a good deal about Virginia politics. We also had a lot of fun making up personalities for the players. Singing Mortimer was easy, of

course, but it went further. J.D. Martin was pitching for the Indians, and since it was his first game for Kinston, we decided just to call him “New Guy.” We imagined his fellow Indians getting annoyed having to tell him how the copier worked, or carefully telling him which guys are the cool ones and which ones are the dorks to avoid. A relief pitcher, Cody Bunkelman…well, he was fantastic. Just awesome. I caught a particularly resistant strain of Bunkelmania that day. Tom thought I was insane. He didn’t see Bunkelmania spreading across the nation. I certainly do.

Perhaps the most damning aspect of this ballpark is that now, only a few months after going to the ballgame, I’ve forgotten almost everything about the ballpark. So I will finish this not with words, but with a couple more pictures.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 4/10
Not much. Only a local Congressman’s pitch and Uncle Slam save the score at all.

Charm: 2.5/5
Nothing too special.

Spectacle: 2.5/5
Rule #1: Don’t let your spectacle interfere with the baseball. The owner coaching…well, that interferes. But I did like the player singing the anthem.

Team mascot/name: 3/5

Uncle Slam and me. I like puns, so this name works. But the team name? Why not stick with “Cannons”? So much better.

Aesthetics: 2/5
Some nice trees, but the ballpark itself is quite dull.

Pavilion area: 3/5

Scoreability: 1.5/5

Fans: 5/5
Props to my buddy Tom.

Intangibles: 2/5
It was a fun night, but the owner bugged me.

TOTAL: 25.5/50

Four Indians pitchers–J.D. “New Guy” Martin, Cody Bunkelman, Ryan Knippschild, and Randy Newsom–combine on a 4-hitter, allowing no earned runs. Martin strikes out 4 in 4 innings, giving up two hits. Bunkelman pitches two perfect innings in relief, striking out three and picking up his third win of the year.

Rodney Choy Foo, Nathan Panther, and Matt Whitney homer for the Indians.

Steve Mortimer goes 1-for-3 with a double for the Nationals.

(Written December 2006.)

double a, eastern league, minor league, pennsylvania, pittsburgh pirates affiliates

Blair County Ballpark, Altoona, PA

July 7, 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!

Blair County Ballpark, Altoona, PENNSYLVANIA

Number of states: 21
States to go: 29

Number of games: 1
First game: August 4, 2006 (Altoona Curve 6, New Britain Rock Cats 4)

(Blair County Ballpark has been renamed Peoples Natural Gas Field. Incidentally, this is the same name as the airspace within five feet of me at any given moment.)
(Click on any image to see a larger version.)

A ballgame was welcome after a day of American Tragedy Tourism. I spent much of the morning at the Shanksville memorial, which is a pilgrimage I believe

every American should take, and then at the Johnstown Flood National Memorial, which was depressing in an entirely different way. Blair County Ballpark was a refreshing change at the end of the day. I had heard many positive

reviews of the ballpark–some call it the best in the United States–and while I prefer a few others to this one, it still was a tremendous place to see a ballgame, and well worth a detour if you’re anywhere nearby.

Blair County Ballpark sits adjacent to Lakemont Park, and a roller coaster sits past right field. This creates a carnival atmosphere to the ballpark. I could see this being a bad thing–after all, I loathe any ballpark with a carousel, and

I don’t like distractions during my baseball (though between innings, they’re fine). But Blair County Ballpark manages to take its baseball seriously without taking itself seriously, which is fantastic.

First, the bit about not taking itself too seriously. There’s plenty of wackiness going on, and not just from the multiple mascots. The night I attended was a promotion to honor bowling in the Altoona area. Kids could bowl out on the concourse, and the first pitch was bowled out (a bowling ball painted to look like a baseball). There were

about 800 first pitches, including one from Mrs. Pennsylvania (I didn’t know they still did that), and loads of promotions between every inning. Many of the distractions were quite hilarious–they recruited youngsters to walk along the tops of the dugouts between every inning with a card saying the inning number, like the ring card girls in boxing. It was really very funny.

On the other hand, however, when it came time for baseball, the ballpark provided a great experience. Unlike any other lower-level ballpark I’d been to, the ballpark gave in-progress scores of other minor-league games.

A true fan of the Eastern League could keep track of the divisional races on one of the two big video screens. Speaking of which, I was impressed that a double-A ballpark would have two big scoreboard screens. Some might feel it’s unnecessary,

but I don’t see anything wrong with a small-town park having a gorgeous couple of scoreboards that they use properly.

And who can come up with a better use for a scoreboard than to put me on it? Altoona’s radio pre-game show interview takes place on the concourse behind home plate, and is broadcast on the scoreboard. That means that, if I place myself just right, I can see myself on the scoreboard, and if I bring a camera and are especially vain, I can photograph the back of my purple T-shirt as broadcast on the scoreboard, just over the guest’s right shoulder.

Memory of the game: a foul ball glanced off of a three-year-old girl a few rows behind me. Sweetly, the entire Curve dugout came out to look and see if the kid was okay. I believe Steamer came to give her a Diesel Dawg stuffed animal. People are really nice.

I had the pleasure of hanging out with a great guy for most of the ballgame. As usual, the conversation began when we both scored the game.

He’s a history professor (emeritus? I don’t remember) at nearby Indiana University of Pennsylvania. We talked a bit about teaching, baseball, and travel. I teach history sometimes (although literature is more my game), and I recognize that a love of history plays into a love of baseball. I had spent an entire day reflecting on the history of our nation, both distant and recent, and was in a place that respected its history–from the locally-appropriate name to the plaques honoring every former Altoona player to make the majors. Hearing about the area through the eyes of a historian was a nice touch–the icing on the cake. He was kind enough to give me a business card…which I, like a bonehead, have since lost. Nonetheless, thanks for the conversation, Professor.

On the whole, it’s a unique ballpark experience in a lovely, while often overlooked, part of the country. It lands very near the top of my list. The atmosphere was the perfect blend of frivolous and baseball-respecting, and the people were quite fun.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 7.5/10
Pretty good, but not quite great. I like the unique feel of watching a game in the shadow of a roller coaster, but I can’t say I could look around and now where I was. Still, the team name and a sense of local baseball history is apparent.

Charm: 5/5
Nice.

Spectacle: 5/5
They get this right.

Team mascot/name: 3/5

Steamer and me above, and Steamer’s pet dog Diesel Dawg below. Steamer has his own email and his own pets. Weird. I like the idea of Steamer, but he looks derivative of the Phillie Phanatic, and the dog, while adorable, could be anywhere.

Aesthetics: 4/5
Not bad.

Pavilion area: 5/5
Loads of activity, all within view of the ballgame.

Scoreability: 4/5

Fans: 2.5/5
Surprisingly quiet.

Intangibles: 4/5
On the whole, a fine night, but maybe I had my expectations too high.

TOTAL: 40/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

Brett Roneberg’s first-inning two-run triple gave the Curve the lead they never gave up.

Milver Reyes goes three-for-four.

(Written December 2006.)

former chicago cubs affiliates, illinois, low level single a, midwest league, minor league, st. louis cardinals affiliates

O’Brien Field, Peoria, Illinois

July 7, 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!

O’Brien Field, Peoria, ILLINOIS

Number of states: 20
States to go: 30

Number of games: 1
First game: July 31, 2006 (Dayton Dragons 3, Peoria Chiefs 1)

(O’Brien Field has since been renamed Dozer Park.)
(Click on any image to view a larger version.)

I’ve got to give a shout out to my Uncle Ed. At sixty years old, he found it in him to sit through a Chiefs game in triple-digit temperatures. Triple digits…and I’m not positive the first digit was a one. (Okay, it was, as the thermometer at right attests. 100 degrees at first pitch.) He stuck it out all the way to the end. What a nice man–to get me two rows behind home plate, and not to beg off due to the

horrendous heat. Alas, as much as I like him, I can’t say the same (in the way of endurance) for my young, robust cousin Luke, who fled after about five innings. He was studying for his GREs. I spent part of the day helping him memorize vocabulary words that begin with the letters A through D. Right there in the midst of the baseball game, Luke suddenly announced that he could not recall the definition of the word “aver,” and fled for home. No sweat there. I would like to aver that his eventual endodontic practice will not be impacted by his knowledge, or lack thereof, of that word.

My first visit to O’Brien Field was not my first visit to a Peoria Chiefs game. I went to a game there in 1994, as I stopped to visit my Peoria-based grandmother as I moved to Pittsburgh. Another cousin, Rick, and I sat in the second row behind the Madison Hatters’ dugout and lightly heckled players (I was younger and stupider then) whose names we thought were stupid. “YMCA” subsequently played, and the mascot (some ursine creature) noticed that I was singing along to the verses and not merely

to the chorus. He dragged me up for my first (and, to date, only) dance atop a dugout. Let’s just say I gave the mascot a bit more than he might have bargained for in the dance department.

Twelve years later, I passed through again. Very little remains from my first visit. Pete Vonachen Stadium has gone the way of the dodo–its former location is now the site of Bradley University’s soccer fields. While the Vonachen name has been replaced by the corporate O’Brien Field (for Peoria’s O’Brien Motors) there are two nice traces of Vonachen that endure. First of all, the ballpark is on Pete Vonachen Way. Second is a lovely sculpture which greets spectators as they approach the seating bowl from the home plate entrance. In it, Vonachen talks to a young fan, and the sculpture is quite lovely in portraying the emotion of two people of two generations who clearly love baseball.

This trip saw me paying another visit to the Peoria-based grandmother,

although not nearly as happy a visit, as, while she continues to breathe and eat, she no longer has any memory of anyone in the world except for my host, Uncle Ed. I never went to a ballgame with her, I’m afraid. She was always a Cub fan…never a

very knowledgeable one, but enough of one to understand the futility of it.

Perhaps because of that day’s visit with my grandmother, I was quite impressed to see that the Chiefs, in addition to the usual Little Leaguers running out to greet the players at their positions, had residents from local retirement homes out there as well. That, quite simply, was sweet, and I bet the elderly folks enjoyed it every bit as much as the kids did, albeit in a different way. Kudos to both Uncle Ed and the Chiefs for taking care of the elderly in Central

Illinois.

There’s a lot going for O’Brien Field as a place to see a ballgame. The view opens out to downtown Peoria. In the “is there any question where you are in the world” department, there’s a massive building for Caterpillar Tractors, one of the cornerstones of the Peoria economy, right beyond the left-field wall. The seventh-inning stretch singing was led by a video of Harry Caray, thus playing into both the fact that the Chiefs are a Cubs affiliate and, more importantly, that we’re in Illinois. I’d imagine that actual Peorians are divided between Cubs and Cardinals fans, but Caray announced for both during his career, and fans of any team can’t help but sing along. The architecture is fairly typical for recent minor-league ballparks, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, since it means the lovely views and loads of places to picnic.

Quite simply, O’Brien Field is a winner. Since family gatherings will likely take me back to Central Illinois with some frequency, I’ll likely be back there, and I’m glad about that.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 8.5/10
Very good, with downtown, Caterpillar, and Harry Caray.

Charm: 4/5
I’m taken by Pete Vonachen’s smiling statue.

Spectacle: 4.5/5
Very good–lots going on pre-game and between innings.

Team mascot/name: 2/5

Homer–a dalmatian representing the Chiefs…get it? Why the heck are they the “Chiefs,” anyway, and isn’t Homer a bit like the “Smith” of baseball mascot names?

Aesthetics: 4.5/5
Lovely views and a nice ballpark.

Pavilion area: 3.5/5
Pretty good, but I failed in my effort to circumnavigate the stadium.

Scoreability: 3.5/5

Fans: 5/5
Hey–they’re my relatives. How do you expect me to score this?

Intangibles: 3/5
A good game, a fun night, and damn, damn, damn hot.

TOTAL: 38.5/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

Wade Miller (at right) makes a rehab start for the Chiefs. He pitches four shutout innings, and is followed up by Joel Santo, who looks pretty darned strong too for four-plus.

The Chiefs take a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning. Santo starts to falter, and Bo Lanier comes on for the save. They get the Dragons down to their final out–and, if I recall, to their final strike–when Craig Tatum comes through with a two-run double. He then scores on Adam Rosales’ single for the final margin.

Peoria threatens with a leadoff walk in the ninth, but Dayton center fielder B.J. Szymanski’s splendid catch of Alberto Garcia’s liner helps preserve the 3-1 final.

cincinnati reds affiliates, international league, kentucky, minor league, triple a

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, Kentucky

July 7, 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!

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KENTUCKY

Number of states: 19
States to go: 31

Number of games: 4
First game: July 30, 2006 (Toledo Mud Hens 6, Louisville Bats 1)
Most recent game: June 14, 2014 (Louisville Bats 1, Gwinnett Braves 0)

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

First of all, check out that picture up there. Seriously. Do not Windex your screens. Have you ever seen such a damn hot place? The heat practically busts through your screen. Temperatures for this

late-afternoon game–a 5PM start on a Sunday in July–were in triple-digits. Public service announcement: THE THIRD BASE SIDE IS THE SHADY SIDE. SIT THERE. I was on the first base side, and therefore, my recollections of the place are going to be as hazy as that picture. Everything I remember will be, to say the least, impacted by my broiled brain.

That’s a bit of a shame, I think, because under other circumstances, I probably would have liked Louisville Slugger Field more than I did. The park has a lot going for it. First, and most notably is its location. It’s just off the river and a not too far from downtown, and both are visible from the seating area (although the Ohio is on the other side of a wide road–the bridges are more therefore more visible than the water). It’s a nice ballpark of the new generation, with all the positives (nice location, good amenities, ability to see the game while getting food or desperately-needed water) and negatives (a bit similar to others of its generation, a few too many sponsors and sponsorships, and a damn

carousel…no ballpark in the universe should be permitted to have one).

I give the team credit for a good name for its stadium and team. “Louisville Slugger Field” is a nice means of getting both sponsorship money, local color, and baseball history worked into one name, and “Bats” is a decent play off of that. I seem to recall the team was named “Redbirds” in my youth, but with the Cardinals long gone, it’s totally reasonable to junk that and to have a more locally-appropriate name.

Local color was noticeable throughout the ballpark as well. The “Kentucky Baseball Hall of Fame” is housed on the premises. There are Cooperstown-style plaques for particularly noteworthy Kentuckians (Pee Wee Reese, Rube Waddell, and Jim Bunning were three that stood out

to me). There’s also a lengthy bit of Louisville minor league history, focusing on decade-by-decade rundowns of local teams. I’m always glad to see who’s passed through a particular town on their way to stardom, and what teams happened to come together to see success along the way. The Bats seem to get the appeal of that.

Louisville itself, which I had no impression of prior to my arrival, impressed me. I got into town at what I thought was three hours before game time to spend a little time at the Muhammad Ali Museum. Immediately upon my arrival in Louisville from Nashville, I discovered that, even though I had driven more or less directly north, I had gone from Central to Eastern time. So I didn’t have the time to enjoy the city that I would have liked, and that’s too bad. The Ali Museum looked lovely, but I only arrived about a half hour before closing. Oh well–worth checking out the Louisville

Slugger factory/museum, right? Closed for a private party. The main drag of what looked to be old downtown looked like a place to have a good time, but by the time I’d stepped into two closed or closing museums, I was too hot and annoyed to care. But I won’t hold a grudge; Louisville looked like a fine place to go.

Quick guess: who’s the subject of the sculpture outside of Louisville Slugger Field? Sorry–wrong. It’s Paul Hornung. Yeah, I didn’t guess it either. It was probably the only non-sequitur in a place that otherwise did a fine job of respecting baseball.

I encountered this funny situation in my pregame circumnavigation of the field. I spotted two kids faced with this very intimidating sign at the bottom of the left-field berm (or, to put it another way, on the spectator side of the left-field wall):

This is, of course, quite a bummer for any kid who’s at the ballpark and wants to play catch. No throwing of any objects? OK. So I watched two kids roll a baseball along the cement path by the wall. On the third roll, the ball hit the crack in the cement and bounded upwards, over the fence, and onto the field of play, leaving two perturbed kids with very little idea what to do next.

The heat did not prevent the Bats from pulling out all stops to put on a decent show. For starters, the Indianapolis Colts’ cheerleaders made the drive down I-65 to do some dancing for us all. Under most circumstances, I would take a look at their skimpy uniforms and think “Gosh, how alluring and pleasant.” On this occasion, however, I thought: “How practical.” I’d have dressed that way myself if I felt that I could pull it off. I doubt it, though…I don’t have the chest for it. Also, the Bats had a wacky pre-game deal where they would send a dog out onto the field with a bucket of baseballs for the umpires. At first, I felt for the dog and was ready to call the ASPCA on the spot. But then, later in the game, the dog provided the umpires with cold bottles of water. That’s very, very kind of the Bats. And of the dog. Good dog!

I sat next to some very friendly (and very, very rural) folks for a few innings, and enjoyed talking to the guy. He’s a Reds fan who takes his kids to one game a year. I just wish the kids had wanted to watch the game: after the hundredth time running in front of me and making me move my feet so he could run by, it got rather old.

So, even though the weather conspired against

me this time, as it would for subsequent games in Peoria and Pittsburgh, I can see through that and be complimentary towards Louisville Slugger Field. The best part of the game, I will have to admit, was the part where I was ordering a Sprite and water (not mixed together) and peering at the game over my shoulder. But even beyond that, I was able to sense that this was a nice ballpark with fine fans and a decent atmosphere in a city with a good deal of character. I’ll be back. I hope it’s in April or May, when I can likely enjoy it more.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 8/10
Sure, the place is a cookie-cutter, but you can’t argue with that river or that downtown view.

Charm: 4/5
Not too bad here.

Spectacle: 4/5
Pretty good–not overbearing.

Team mascot/name: 4/5

Here’s Buddy Bat getting the snot beat out of him at a kid’s party. I like both Buddy (maybe a tad commercial?) and the punny name Bats.

Aesthetics: 5/5
Gorgeous place with a nice view.

Pavilion area: 3.5/5

Scoreability: 4/5

From the Technologically Advanced Does Not Mean Better Department: The Bats put the lineups on a readerboard in the concourse. I thought it was a cool thing to do…until I realized there was no way I’d be able to write them all down (the screens weren’t on nearly long enough). This was countered by the nice, updated scoring and such they had on their scoreboard.

Fans: 5/5
The fact that people showed up at all on this miserably-hot day means they earn the maximum score.

Intangibles: 1/5
Sorry, Louisville fans, but the intangibles for me were that I felt like I’d been trapped in a closed tanning bed with hot jelly donut filling poured over my body–for nearly 3 hours.

TOTAL: 38.5/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

Josh Phelps’ three-run homer in the ninth puts the game away for the Mud Hens.

Chad Durbin pitches eight innings of three-hit ball to pick up the win.

Chad Bentz (pictured) pitches an inning and a third for the Bats. I notice something about him from my angle…and realize that he does not have a right hand, and has a delivery which includes him slipping a glove onto his pitching hand, much like fellow one-handed pitcher Jim Abbott. Unfortunately for Bentz, he’s the pitcher who gives up the home run to Phelps.

In 2013, Wil Myers hits a home run for Durham only a few days before he is called up (I assume for good) by Tampa Bay. But he is overshadowed by the Bats’ Neftali Soto, whose 4th-inning grand slam puts Louisville ahead for good.

(Written December 2006.)

demolished, former milwaukee brewers affiliates, minor league, no longer in use, pacific coast league, tennessee, triple a

Greer Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee

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!

Greer Stadium, Nashville, TENNESSEE

Number of states: still 18
States to go: 32

Number of games: 1
First game: July 29, 2006 (Salt Lake Bees 7, Nashville Sounds 4)

(Greer Stadium was no longer used for baseball as of 2015. It was demolished in 2019.)
(Click on any picture to see a larger version.)

The best experience I have ever had in a ballpark was my rehearsal dinner–July 29, 2005. Exactly a year later, I had another marvelous moment.

It sort of happened in San Diego, and it turned into a negative experience. I had a shot at it in Batavia, and

I blew it. But in Nashville? On July 29? Destiny.

I caught my first foul ball.

Bottom of the first inning. Jonathon Rouwenhorst pitching. Vinny Rottino batting. Rottino couldn’t catch up to Rouwenhorst’s pitches. He

kept sending foul balls down the right field line, where I sat. I got the glove ready. Then, it happened.

I’m not very good at judging fly balls, so I’m glad Rob was there. Not long after the ball left Rottino’s bat, he shouted: “I think that’s you, Paul!” The ball started by heading away from the plate, and then started arcing more parallel to the foul line, right along where I was. I stuck out my glove and intercepted the path. Bingo! I caught a real-live foul ball. On the fly. In the glove.

My section, and three sections surrounding me, cheered loudly and lustily. I greedily took it all in by raising both hands. “Thank you! Thank you!” I shouted. No kids came up to me asking for it, and that’s good, because after

waiting a quarter of a century and some 200 games to catch one of these, I wouldn’t have given it up. I attempted to re-enact the catch, but the resulting picture is poor…the glove was actually in front of me for a backhand stab. I generally was giddy for the rest of the game. Rest assured that I’ll try to get out every July 29 from now on!

Needless to say, Vinny Rottino is now my favorite player in the majors. The Brewers called him up about a month after I caught his ball, and I’m hoping he’ll stay up in 2007. (2009 Update: He didn’t stick, and was traded to the Dodgers in July of 2009.) Minor leaguers, remember: hitting a ball that I catch ALWAYS positively impacts your career.

It’s a good thing that I caught that foul ball, because the ballpark was a snoozer beyond that. Were it not for the huge guitar scoreboard and the name Sounds, this place would have had absolutely no indication of which of the 50 states we were in. The view beyond the outfield fence was a non-descript neighborhood to end all non-descript neighborhoods. There was nothing thrilling to look at. Add to that a too-crowded concourse, and it’s abundantly clear why the Sounds have decided

to move to a new ballpark by the river.

I did appreciate one thing about the concourse: the way that the concession stands were named for past Sounds. I always enjoy the nods to past players who have passed through, and Dibble’s Den, Bye-Bye Deli, and Magglio’s Pizza are a fun way to do that.

Sometimes, when a team goes to a place that is, as fellow Network of Ballpark Collectors member Tim calls it, “a new cookie cutter,” I can’t help but feel something has been lost. Sometimes I feel like there’s something to the old-school places, but not Greer Stadium, I’m afraid. I don’t have any vivid memory of the place.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 5/10
Beyond the guitar and the name, very little.

Charm: 2/5
Again, not much other than the scoreboard.

Spectacle: 3/5

Team mascot/name: 3/5

Here’s Ozzie. He’s a carbon copy of the Denver Nuggets’ Rocky. He does nothing for me. The name Sounds, however, is excellent.

Aesthetics: 1.5/5
This is an unattractive place with no real view.

Pavilion area: 1.5/5

Dull and crowded, but I like the names of the establishments.

Scoreability: 3/5

Fans: 5/5

Intangibles: 5/5
Catching a foul ball trumps everything. Simply everything.

TOTAL: 29/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

Salt Lake spots the Sounds a 4-0 lead, then comes back to win. Mike Eylward’s sixth inning 2-run double erases the last of that lead.

Matt Wilhite of Bowling Green, Kentucky, got the win in front of many friends and family.

Vinny Rottino goes 0-for-4, including a double-play.

(Written September 2006.)

alabama, double a, former milwaukee brewers affiliates, minor league, no longer in use, southern league

Joe Davis Stadium, Huntsville, Alabama

July 6, 2009 Paul Comment

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Joe Davis Stadium, Huntsville, ALABAMA

Number of states: still 32 (cancellation)
States to go: 18

Number of games: 0
July 28, 2006 (game cancelled–unplayable fields)

(Joe Davis stadium is no longer used for baseball as of the 2016 season.)
(Click on any image to see a larger version.)

It had rained all morning the day we headed to Alabama, but cleared up significantly in the afternoon. I went back and forth all day on whether there would be a baseball game played that night. Even as I walked up to the stadium, I thought that maybe there was a shot at a game. The lawns surrounding the stadium were dry to the touch. But the game was cancelled–unplayable fields. Which led my wife and I to speculate: how could the field

be unplayable when the lawn outside was nearly dry?

Our conclusion: in spite of the forecast, somebody must have forgotten to cover the infield before the rain began. Not impressive.

The Stars were running a promotion that day where fans could get in free with a donation to a local food bank. Workers for the food bank were outside taking canned food and exchanging it for tickets to future games. These nice people said I could probably find someone to talk to at the ticket office.

I wanted to ask for two things, both of which were longshots. First of all, I wanted to see if I could get a refund for our tickets. In the past, efforts to do this had been a mixed bag, but I was deeply appreciative last year when the folks in San Diego offered refunds for their freak rainout for anyone from out-of-state. I understand that baseball teams have to make a buck, but this seems a reasonable policy to me. Secondly, I wanted to see if, after all of that effort to get there, somebody might let me into the ballpark to

take a few pictures.

There was nobody from the Stars anywhere to be found. (They should take a customer service lesson from the food bank people, who were all over the place.) That’s strike two–they forgot to cover their field, and now they’re nowhere to be found.

The next morning, while on the road to Nashville, I called the Stars and talked to a staffer. While she stated that they couldn’t offer a rebate, even to an out-of-stater, I was disappointed but not surprised. She offered me an exchange for merchandise at their store, but I had already left the state. Oh well.

What followed was breathtaking.

ME: “Do you work with any charities that my wife and I can donate our tickets to?”

HER: “No.”

ME: “You don’t work with any charities?”

HER: “Not that I’m aware of.”

ME: “Not Big Brothers/Big Sisters? Not the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs? Nobody?”

HER: “Hold on…let me check.” Long pause while she checks with co-workers. She then returns. “Sir? We don’t work with any charities.”

Net result: we decided to send the tickets to a Huntsville charity on our own. And, as beautiful as I found the Huntsville area (gorgeous country there in northern Alabama), you can bet that I won’t go back for a Stars game. When I return to officially cross Alabama off the list, I will do so in Birmingham, Montgomery, or Mobile.

(Written August 2006.)

chicago cubs affiliates, double a, former arizona diamondbacks affiliates, minor league, southern league, tennessee

Smokies Park, Kodak, Tennessee

July 6, 2009 Paul Comment

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Smokies Park, Kodak, TENNESSEE

Number of states: 18
States to go: 32

Number of games: 1
First game: July 27, 2006 (Tennessee Smokies 6, Carolina Mudcats 5)

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

“Hi, Paul,” the friendly email, subject line “Continuing Your Quest,” began. “I was searching the internet for promotions ideas and I came across your website…I see that you have not been to Tennessee yet. I am not saying

that you will have a better experience than at any other minor league game, but I can assure you that you will enjoy yourself…I look forward to hearing from you and hope you will consider the Smokies for your Tennessee trip.”

With that email from the Smokies’ Dan Blue, I was hooked. The idea that a guy in the front office of a minor league club

would take the time to actually invite me to a game…well, that flattered me. Since Tennessee was on the list for that summer anyway, I told him sure. He then tried to talk me into a VIP package. It was a little spendy, but it included killer seats, a free hat, and a chance to throw out the first pitch. That sounded pretty good, but since there would be four of us traveling, I wanted all four of us to have something for that kind of money; not just one of us throwing out the pitch and one of us getting a hat. He threw in an autographed baseball and a chance to announce a batter over the PA. SOLD! We divided out the tasks: Rob would throw out the first pitch, Yolonda would get the hat, Michelle would get the ball, and I would get to go to the press box and announce a batter. It was official: I was a VIP. Seriously. Look–I really was:

With that, the fun began. Rob had to get his arm in gear for the first pitch. We snuck past a “no admittance” sign

back by one of the foul poles and got Rob’s arm into shape. Nobody stopped us…indeed, I’m not sure anybody noticed us. We all threw a baseball around, and Rob warmed up.

Next, Rob made it to the field. He was one of about eight “first” pitches. Included in that group was the Shoney’s bear and a boy celebrating his tenth birthday. Here’s where we learn Rob is a fairly sick man. The birthday boy didn’t know why he was on the field–I guess his parents wanted

it to be a surprise. So Rob told him: “I think you’re going to sing. Do you know the words? ‘Oh say can you see…'” The kid would have nothing of it. “I don’t know that!” Rob said “Well, how about this one? ‘Take me out to the balllllgaaame…'” He said he could sing that. But he threw out a pitch instead. As did Rob…a strike into the glove of left-handed pitcher Bill White, who signed the ball (which Rob subsequently annotated).

With that, we got going with the game.

What a gorgeous ballpark Smokies Park is. The outfield is surrounded by hills. They’re not quite as gorgeous as the nearby Great Smokies, but they provide a lovely backdrop. In fact, just past the right-field wall, there’s what

might be the best picnic-table-for-baseball-fans in the US. It was, at least at one time, the KOA Kampground for East Knoxville. I currently cannot find a KOA listing for East Knoxville, but the picnic table remains. There’s a good view of the field from all seats and just about all of the concourse. One can circumnavigate the stadium on a walkway, or sit and chill on a grassy hill beyond the outfield wall.

On a night warmer than Waffle House syrup, it’s nice to see the hills fade into darkness behind quality double-A baseball.

The Smokies did well balancing the wacky promotions with the baseball. There were some promotions between innings–a three-legged race which caused a pair of siblings to become exceedingly angry with each other, for starters–but for the most part, they let the baseball take center stage. Dan came by to hang out with us for a couple of innings, chatting about his past experiences in baseball with me and my wife–a veteran of the minor league baseball milieu. He addressed the unique challenges of promoting the Smokies; since they play so close to the most-visited national park in the USA (in fact, there’s a National Park office in the stadium building), about 25% of their visitors are

tourists. It certainly held true to my experience–I chatted with a mother from Florida for a good part of the game.

Next came my big moment. In the fifth inning, I headed up to the box with Dan and awaited my big moment announcing a batter.

This was no consolation prize to Rob’s throwing out of the first pitch. I wanted to do this. Big time. I serve as the PA announcer for the football team at the high school where I work. The key to it, as I see it, is to avoid cheerleading for the home team, and to keep the voice under control. In fact, during high school games, when I give credit to the chain crew, spotters, and scoreboard operator, I finish by saying: “And I

‘m Bob Sheppard.” So to avoid the sins of some other PA guys I’ve heard, I knew what I would do. Take it easy. Take it slow. Give the number, position, and name. Savor the syllables. But at Smokies Park, I actually felt a little bit guilty taking a batter away from George Yardley, the PA announcer. He may well be the best PA guy I’ve ever heard at a minor league ballpark…a deep, deep voice with just enough of a gorgeous pecan-pie Southern accent to remind me where I was. George: you’re the man.

I didn’t expect to enjoy being in the press box as much as I did. The guys–mostly good ol’ Tennessee boys–made me feel exceedingly welcome. They clearly loved doing what they did for a living. They have the best view of the game of anyone. The scoreboard operator was even wearing a glove. They were enjoying a conversation with me about my ballpark travels as Mark Reynolds came to the plate…

and that conversation was soon

interrupted by their whoops. Reynolds hit a massive home run off of the scoreboard. It was awesome to be there for what turned out to be the biggest play of the game. In the midst of the cheering, George grabbed a stuffed bear, squeezed it so that it made a heartbeat sound, and held the bear to the microphone. That sound reverberated throughout the ballpark.

Unfortunately, I had to follow that up, so it’s possible nobody heard my big moment. George said: “And now, to announce the next batter, here is V.I.P. Paul Hamann.”

All I wanted was a batter with a kick-butt name; ideally a Hispanic one (I, like Sheppard, love pronouncing those Latino players’ names). And I got it. Complete with pregnant pauses, and without a hint of homerism:

“Now batting…the first baseman…number thirty-one…Augustin…Murillo.”

Sheppardesque? Yardleyish? Maybe not. But damn fun. (For the record, Murillo popped to the catcher.)

Ever wonder how they figure

out how far a home run is hit? I saw the incredibly scientific process take place right in front of my eyes. Somebody asked: “Where did that ball hit?” They figured out that it hit an advertisement on the base of the scoreboard. After some argument as to whether it reached there on the fly or on the bounce, the best PA guy in the minor leagues got out a list of distances. He ran his finger down to the distance to the base of the scoreboard, added a few feet, and queried: “Does 441 feet sound okay?” They agreed, and he informed the crowd in his million-dollar voice: “That last home run by Mark Reynolds traveled 441 feet!” Not exactly a scientific process, but they did the best they could with the tools they had.

I don’t have anything bad to say about Smokies Park, and that is reflected in its very high score. Does the score have anything to do with the fact that Dan bumped up his VIP package to include getting me onto the microphone? Absolutely! This isn’t Congress. This isn’t Consumer Reports. Bribery is completely acceptable here. (Minor league salespeople everywhere: take note!).

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 7/10
Could do a little better here: perhaps it’s hard to feel local-Tennessee when one is surrounded by so many tourists. But the surrounding hills help this score.

Charm: 5/5
Lovely architecture and nice surroundings.

Spectacle: 5/5
My VIP experience was filled with baseball-centric spectacle.

Team mascot/name: 4/5

Three mascots. The top one is from Shoney’s: he threw out a first pitch after Rob. In the middle is a shark from Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. At the bottom is Slugger with the annoying promotions guy. The team name is great, and I like the multiple mascots, who were fun while never interfering with the game. But I’m not a big fan of the generic name “Slugger” (or of his sister’s name, “Diamond,” not pictured).

Aesthetics: 4.5/5
Quite lovely.

Pavilion area: 4/5

Scoreability: 4/5

Fans: 5/5

Intangibles: 5/5
Just tremendous. A great VIP night with fellow baseball-lovers. One of the best nights I’ve ever had at a ballpark.

TOTAL: 43.5/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

Mark Reynolds is the difference-maker, hitting a three-run homer as far as you’ll ever see a ball hit.

Augustin Murillo went 2-for-4 with two runs.

Brett Carroll his a 2-run home run for the Mudcats to make it closer.

Ria Cortesio serves as the first-base umpire, making this the first baseball game with a female umpire I’ve ever attended–at any level.

(Written August 2006.)

former new york yankees affiliates, international league, minor league, no longer in use, ohio, triple a

Cooper Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

July 6, 2009 Paul Comment

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Cooper Stadium, Columbus, OHIO

Number of states: 17
States to go: 33

First and last game: July 25, 2006 (Columbus Clippers 9, Durham Bulls 1)

(Cooper Stadium is no longer in use for baseball as of the 2009 season.)

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

To be sure, there were quite a number of issues with Cooper Stadium. Its age shows, and not gracefully. I dislike the ancient PA system, the charmless pavilion, and the less-than-understated Carmina Burana playing

as the team takes the field. However, this July evening turned into a marvelously fun evening with loads of friends–an evening I was pleased to have.

Rob, Yolonda, Michelle and I made it to Cooper Stadium after a day at South Point, Ohio (near the tri-point of Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia). Buddies Joe and Alison gathered loads of friends and led us to the tenth row behind the third-base dugout. As happens so many times when I get together with buddies for a ballgame, there were many bizarre and memorable events to pass along.

For starters, the whole bunch of us nearly died in the second inning. The Clippers’ Jeff Karstens pitched to the Bulls’ Elijah Dukes. He must have fooled him very badly on a pitch, because as Dukes missed for strike two, he released his bat and it went flying behind him.

And right towards us.

Right the hell towards us.

Even if I had wanted the bat and been foolish enough to reach up for the bat, it likely would have just hit my forearms. So I joined all of my friends in ducking down very low. I did not want to get hit by a flying bat.

As buddy Joe (wearing the Orioles hat in the photo) put it, “I’d prefer to go the rest of my life without the little voice in my head saying ‘you’re not ducking deep enough’ ever again.”

As we dusted ourselves off and made sure all of our appendages remained, and as we confirmed that the people a couple of rows behind us were also unhurt, we missed Dukes grounding out to third. We also missed Dukes being ejected by the home plate umpire. This ejection led the Devil Rays to finally get so fed up with Dukes (in part because he had earlier said that “the major leaguers shower in Perrier while we get sewer water”) that they suspended him for the rest of the season. I appreciate the D-Rays’ priorities. Only AFTER he threw a bat at me did they toss him. Indeed, perhaps

the D-Rays knew that I was a sports official–in the year when Delmon Young chucked a bat at the home plate umpire, I would merely be the latest official a Durham Bull threw a bat at in 2006.

When I wasn’t in danger of dying, there were a few things I liked about Cooper Stadium. They did a fine job respecting the Clippers’ history, which, as of 2006, meant New York

Yankees’ history. I love ballparks that have lineups from past years on display, and Cooper Stadium had artists’ renditions of lineups from every year from the Clippers’ history as a Yankees’ affiliate. The mixture of all-time greats with who-the-heck-is-thats is one of my favorite parts of being at a ballpark, and Cooper Stadium does it well. As of the end of the 2006 season, the Yankees ended their relationship with the Clippers. I do hope that they keep the old Yankees’ pictures up; when I’m at a minor league ballpark, I want to see the local minor

league team’s history, not the history of the major league team. Wichita, Tulsa, and High Desert all celebrate past minor leaguers from who played at that park even after affiliate shifts. We’ll see if the Clippers have that same sense of history, or if their new parent club orders the relics of recent Yankee history taken down.

No other aspects of the ballpark blew me away. I was a little taken aback by the fact that a cemetery is visible beyond the outfield fence. When my mind and eyes wander during a Clippers’ game, they wander to headstones. A particularly massive home run at Cooper Stadium would not impress the fans so much as remind them of their mortality. The pavilion is typically dank and dull. They try to make it up with a miniature golf course. I’m not a big fan of such unnecessary distractions from the baseball–any fan who’d prefer golf to

baseball isn’t a fan at all–and on top of that, the mini-golf course is so poorly and hastily assembled that it’s actually worse than it could be.

This is also my second visit to a Yankees’ affiliate, and the second time that the team played “New York, New York” after a victory. I hated that just as much here as I did in Battle Creek. We’re not in New York, and these aren’t the Yankees. Let’s keep that music special for Yankee Stadium.

Occasionally, it’s a close race to actually be a charming old ballpark–the old, covered seating with beams obstructing views is a blast from the past–but I’m afraid that there are just too many negatives. Nevertheless, I’ll probably be back. With so many friends so close by, I’ll certainly be back to see if they do any upgrades–and if those upgrades will maintain the current sense of history.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 7/10
The ballpark’s strong sense of Clippers’ history earns points here.

Charm: 2/5
Not much. Old in and of itself does not mean charming, and Cooper Stadium demonstrates this.

Spectacle: 3.5/5
Not bad for the triple-A level, although the promotions they had were occasionally annoying.

Team mascot/name: 3/5

Joe, me, and Krash the First Mate. Not pictured: Lou Seal. Nothing offensive or impressive about any mascot-related matters.

Aesthetics: 2.5/5
Sort of old and dusty–and the view is of a cemetery, which is creepy.

Pavilion area: 1.5/5

Scoreability: 3/5

Fans: 5/5
Great friends. I look forward to going to the new place with them.

Intangibles: 2.5/5
I had a fun night, but in the end, this place didn’t leave me with a positive impression.

TOTAL: 29.5/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

The Clippers rough up the Bulls’ Doug Waechter for four first-inning runs.

Columbus’s nine runs include five unearned runs off of four Bull errors, including a pair by B.J. Upton.

B.J. Upton and Bronson Sardinha homer.

Jeff Karstens pitches 7 innings of 1-run ball.

(Written August 2006.)

appalachian league, minor league, rookie level, tampa bay rays affiliates, west virginia

Hunnicutt Field, Princeton, West Virginia

July 6, 2009 Paul 1 Comment

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Hunnicutt Field, Princeton, WEST VIRGINIA

Number of states: 16
States to go: 34

Number of games: 1
First game: July 24, 2006 (Greeneville Astros 8, Princeton Devil Rays 6)

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

I’m not positive about this, since I haven’t looked up the populations of all 220 minor-league cities, but I’m fairly sure that Princeton, West Virginia is the smallest town with an affiliated minor league baseball team. My American

Map atlas lists its population as only 6,000. I’m impressed that it supports a minor league club.

I didn’t get much of a feel for the town, but it was obvious that it was small enough that the Devil Rays are HUGE there. The town’s newspaper, the Princeton Times, is only a weekly, and in the copy I bought, Devil Rays news covered most of the 20-ish pages. The front-page photo, above the fold, celebrated the Devil Rays’ victory of the Mercer Cup, a trophy which goes to the winner of the season series between the P-Rays and the Bluefield Orioles just down the road. (It’s worth noting that the Orioles, while they represent Bluefield, West Virginia, play just

across the border in Virginia, in what might be the ballpark closest to a state border).

The ballpark itself isn’t in any kind of unique location, and does very little to let me know where I am. The view outside of the ballpark includes a Wendy’s and a McDonald’s. There aren’t any mountains or other landmarks that let me know I’m in West Virginia or Appalachia. So I was prepared to give it a low “is there any question where you are” score, which would have doomed the ballpark to a poor score. However, the workers for the Devil Rays gave me a whole lot of small-town hospitality, and since I was in the smallest town in the minor leagues, they get a lot of credit for that.

It all started with my Everett AquaSox cap. There is nothing in common between the AquaSox and the D-Rays save a love of colors in the bluish-green family.

They do not share geography, a league, an affiliation, or much else. But the guy who offered me a 50-50 raffle ticket looked at my hat and said “Everett AquaSox?” Nice! I love minor league workers who are knowledgeable about the minor leagues…it makes the whole experience into a celebration of minor league ball.

Later that night, I headed out to meet Rob and Yolonda in the large-but-nondescript pavilion area (Rob was late to the game due to a horrendous cut-lip-on-broken-beer-bottle mishap in the pregame). While out there, I saw the man I took to be one of the higher-ups at the ballpark. I was right–it was the general manager, Jim Holland. “Everett AquaSox!” he said to me. I said I was impressed, and that they were my home team. A conversation ensued where I told him we were trying

to make it out to a lot of minor league parks. His response: “You look like one of those people.” Indeed, if “those people” are ballpark travelers, I am one. I just wasn’t aware there was a look about us. (My guess is “dorky-looking.”) In exchange for my troubles, he offered me a free shot with the sledge-hammer at the “Hit a Car, Not a Pet” junker car. I took a swing, and he offered me several more. I’m basically a non-violent man, but it was nice to get any potential axe-murdering instincts I might have out of my system. They gave Rob some free shots too. Here’s one of them:

The fans were quite sweet. There were loads of middle-aged ladies waving handbells around. Jim told me they were called the “Rah-Rah Sisterhood.” I got the sense that a good number of them

were host families or friends of the D-Rays players, and in a town of 6,000, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if players regularly encountered a healthy fraction of townspeople. I could feel that.

And where else other than a town whose only bookstores are Christian bookstores would the primary mascot be Roscoe the Drug-Free Rooster? Roscoe wandered around giving hugs to just about everyone in attendance. He headed up in my direction and hugged me. I talked to him, saying “How are you?” Much to my surprise, Roscoe talked back to me. “I’m fine, how are you doing?” His accent was slow and

sweet. I don’t know why, but that made me feel especially good on this night.

The ballpark itself had some interesting quirks. A walk behind the stands reveals two nice places to stand. First, down the third base line, a spectator can walk to a vantage point where he/she can peer backwards into the visitors’ dugout (not unlike Battle Creek’s C.O. Brown Stadium) or right at the bullpen. Underneath the home plate stands there is a wonderful little vista featuring a bench that, as best as I could figure, anybody could occupy–although it appeared spoken for by a couple of regulars. They honor past P-Rays who have moved on to the big club with pictures on the outfield wall. And I recommend the fried bologna sandwich, although don’t get caught making the same assumption I did. I thought

the adjective “fried” applied to the whole sandwich…that they were taking the entire sandwich and dipping in the deep fryer beside the french fries, kind of like Elvis with his peanut butter and banana sandwiches. That didn’t turn out to be the case. Instead, they had just fried the bologna. Pretty good stuff…tasted like ring baloney.

By the end of the night, I really had a positive feeling about the ballpark. I came close to winning a hundred bucks by throwing a tennis ball into a hula hoop (a fairly tough task…the stands are very, very high above the field, and the hula hoop was well out onto the field…but I just came up a few inches short, way closer than anyone else). Jim, on the field, let us go by saying “We love you!” The cool thing is, after a great night of baseball, I felt like he meant it. And when we passed him by on the way out and he wished us safe travels…yes, he remembered us…well, I guess it was confirmed.

So, on the whole, the ballpark has just enough charm, quirkiness, and sweetness to win me over in spite of its drawbacks. If I make it back there, probably to visit Bluefield, I wouldn’t mind seeing Hunnicutt Field again.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 6/10
The view from the seating bowl is dull, and could be from any of the 50 states. But the fried bologna sandwich and small-town hospitality bump up the score a bit.

Charm: 4.5/5
All over the place.

Spectacle: 4/5
Pretty good. While we missed the “everybody gets in free” promotion by 24 hours, and while the “Christian Baseball Night” may be strange to me were I of another faith, there was plenty going on–a moving mascot, a sledge hammered car, food–that was appropriate for low-level ball, but never got in the way of the game. And I came close to winning a hundred bucks.

Team mascot/name: 3.5/5

Roscoe the Drug-Free Rooster is a bit of a non-sequitur for a marine-based team, but he was a nice guy. The name “Devil Rays” was appropriate for Appalachian League naming conventions.

Aesthetics: 1.5/5
The one way this park was lacking. Quirky, but not exactly attractive–and the view is not at all good.

Pavilion area: 3/5
Not terribly picturesque, but I like the sledge-hammer and car.

Scoreability: 3/5
A few minor slip-ups.

Fans: 4/5

Intangibles: 5/5
On the whole, an excellent night. Any game that ends with the GM saying “We love you!” and my not being creeped out by it is a good night.

TOTAL: 34.5/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

The Astros’ balanced attack includes two RBI each from Brandon Caipen, Ralph Henriquez, and Andrew Darnell.

Andrew Lopez hits three doubles and drives in two in a losing effort.

(Written August 2006.)

appalachian league, former chicago white sox affiliates, minor league, pittsburgh pirates affiliates, rookie level, virginia

DeVault Stadium, Bristol, Virginia

July 6, 2009 Paul 1 Comment

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DeVault Stadium, Bristol, VIRGINIA

Number of states: 15
States to go: 35

First game: July 23, 2006 (Johnson City Cardinals 5, Bristol Sox 2)

Much like Asheville, I was thrilled that my ballpark travels brought me to Bristol. When on earth would I have ever made it to the Virginia/Tennessee border otherwise? There, I found a gorgeous ballpark in a charming, quirky town. There was a big show on State Street and loads of activity on both Tennessee’s and Virginia’s sidewalks, but we headed a little ways into Virginia to enjoy my first-ever Rookie League game.

The trip there from Hickory, NC was a good chunk of the fun. We took the Blue Ridge Parkway a lot of the way. Who would want to ever

put themselves on an interstate again after that? We were accompanied much of the way by a Christian motorcycle group, and then meandered up to the gorgeous NC/TN/VA tri-point. Even with that much activity, we did make it to the ballpark just in time for first pitch.

On the way in, there’s a plaque commemorating the astonishing accomplishment of one Ron Necciai. The plaque tells us that he pitched what can only be called a mega-perfect game…or so I thought. A little bit of research revealed to me that he didn’t strike out 27 guys in a row. In fact, with two out in the third inning, the catcher dropped one of his third strikes, thus enabling him to move on to strikeout victim #27. One guy managed to make contact, and I’m not certain how many walked…so the accomplishment is a

little misleading. On top of that, this English teacher is a little troubled by a critical misspelling…Necciai’s hapless opponents were the Welch Miners (of Welch, West Virginia) and not the Welsh Miners (who, for all I know, could be from Aberystwyth). Still, it served as an excellent welcome to the stadium. It was nice to walk the lengthy trip from parking lot to stadium and be greeted by a sense of local baseball history.

DeVault Stadium is a part of a high-school complex (signs boast that Virginia High School plays there) in the midst of a gorgeous valley. It does very nicely in the “regional feel” department because, literally everywhere I looked, there was something appropriate to the area. In addition to the plaque, I could look past the outfield fence. Past left field? A valley, lined with trees on either side. Check. Past right field?

A couple of small-towny houses. Check. Where am I? Not far from the mountains in the small-town South.

Bristol manages to be small-town in its presentation as well as its location. As best as I could tell, it was staffed entirely by local retirees–with few exceptions, I didn’t encounter anybody under 65. I’ve got nearly 30 years left, but maybe I can talk my wife into retiring there. Bristol looked beautiful, probably is not terribly expensive, and we could spend the summers of our golden years chilling out at a lovely ballpark. My favorite of the senior citizens was the PA guy. He was so laid-back it was hilarious. As kids got on the field to do the game-opening “find your shoe that we’ve stolen” game, for instance, he didn’t go overboard with the high-pitched, high-volume, the-Hindenburg-is-crashing excitement that so many PA guys are going with. Heck, he barely said anything…something like: “All right. We’re about to do the shoe race…and here it is.” Loved the guy.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of the ballpark is the tree-lined hill behind the foul lines. It

provides a place for people to sit back and watch the game and for kids to play ball. It creates a buffer zone between the ballpark and the surrounding neighborhood, which I appreciate. There are even trees that obscure the ballpark in a few places, which somehow adds to the charm.

It was here that I further developed a rule for minor-league ballparks. Many minor league ballparks have grassy hills from which kids can watch the game. Seeing what happens on the grassy hills is a good indication of how seriously a ballpark takes its baseball. As best as I can tell, there are three levels. The l

owest level is a place where kids are pounding the snot out of each other in a Lord of the Flies-style melee for nine innings. That means that the baseball is incidental, probably both to spectators and management. The next level up is a place where kids don’t pay attention to the game because they’re playing ball…playing catch, or, in the case of these kids at Bristol, taking grounders off of a wall. The next level features kids predominantly watching the game, although occasionally burning off steam. That’s an impressive level and worth striving for. But at Bristol, I had to invent a new level, because I looked over at one point and found an empty hill. The kids were all in the seats watching the game with their families. That’s an extraordinary achievement. Check out this rule the next time you are at a ballpark with grassy hills.

Further adding to Bristol’s charm:

the least expensive concessions I have ever encountered at a ballpark, with all proceeds going to Virginia High School.

DeVault Stadium also marked the the first time that I encountered visiting play-by-play guys (or at least I think that’s what they were) at the ballpark. I guess that the press box doesn’t offer too much space, because sitting in the top corner of the first-base bleachers were two guys wearing the colors of the visiting Johnson City Cardinals. The play-by-play and color were provided by the same guy, and he didn’t seem to want to talk much. It looks like the other guy is doing a video recording of the game: maybe he wants to critique his performance. Perhaps he’s not the official radio guy for the Cardinals–maybe this is just what he does for fun, much like I would turn down the volume and do play-by-play in my basement as a child. Still, it was bizarre to say the least.

Other things we noticed about the ballpark: They put a radar gun right out

in the middle of the stands behind home plate. Although they have a scoreboard display of the speed of the pitch, it’s pretty cool to be able to walk up to the actual gun.

These are the kinds of touches that made this such a marvelous stadium. It just felt right.

Two bizarre incidents stand out on this night. Michelle and I spotted a young woman who clearly was interested in hooking up with one (or more) Johnson City Cardinals. She wound up hanging out in the stands by the couple of Cardinals who were to chart pitches.

Needless to say, they were not at all interested in their job. In fact, I actually saw one of them give a sustained caress to her butt. She didn’t even recoil a little bit. Hel-LO, kiddoes! There are people behind that behind! Get a room! Looks like somebody doesn’t have enough interest in the craft of pitching to last.

The stud of the night was home plate umpire Tommy Sewell. In the eighth inning, a foul ball smashed off of the dirt and into his left hand. I’m 99% sure it broke his pinkie finger…and yet he finished the game, holding his hand awkwardly on his knee behind home plate. I didn’t see him take so much as an aspirin. Tommy–way to be, dude.

Also, In the midst of the night, Yolonda, the least baseball-crazy of the four of us taking this intense trip, seemed to have something click. Even though we were sitting on highly uncomfortable cinderblocks (if I go back, I sit on the lawn instead), she got the point of these travels we were in the midst of. “I can see the appeal of this,” she said, looking over the diamond at a Virginia sunset.

I’ll try to make it back to Bristol if I ever get a chance.

BALLPARK SCORE:

Regional feel: 8.5/10
Very good here. Geographically gorgeous.

Charm: 5/5
As good as it gets.

Spectacle: 3.5/5
Quietly effective. I’m sort of torn here, since I like a few promotions at my low-level minors, but here, the quietness added to the charm.

Team mascot/name: 2.5/5
No mascot–it’d have been nice to have one, but then again, I liked the laid-backness of living without one. The name “Sox” fits in with the Appalachian League naming conventions, sort of. (Why not “White Sox”?)

Aesthetics: 4.5/5
Architecturally, it ain’t much, but oh those trees and that valley. Flat-out beautiful.

Pavilion area: 5/5

Scoreability: 1/5
Many, many, many missed decisions.

Fans: 4/5

Intangibles: 5/5
A great little ballpark in a great little town. I’ll do all I can to get back.

TOTAL: 39/50

BASEBALL STUFF I’VE SEEN HERE:

Henderson Lugo starts the 5-hit shutout…but only lasts four innings. Oscar Lara finishes it with three innings of relief and gets the win.

(Written August 2006.)

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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!

Pfitzner Stadium, Woodbridge, VIRGINIA

Number of states: still 21 States to go: 29

First game: August 19, 2006 (Kinston Indians 6, Potomac Nationals 1)

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Blair County Ballpark, Altoona, PENNSYLVANIA

Number of states: 21 States to go: 29

Number of games: 1 First game: August 4, 2006 (Altoona Curve 6, New Britain Rock Cats 4)

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O’Brien Field, Peoria, ILLINOIS

Number of states: 20 States to go: 30

Number of games: 1 First game: July 31, 2006 (Dayton Dragons 3, Peoria Chiefs 1)

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Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KENTUCKY

Number of states: 19 States to go: 31

Number of games: 4 First game: July 30, 2006 (Toledo Mud Hens 6, Louisville Bats 1) Most recent game: June 14, 2014 (Louisville Bats 1, Gwinnett Braves 0)

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Greer Stadium, Nashville, TENNESSEE

Number of states: still 18 States to go: 32

Number of games: 1 First game: July 29, 2006 (Salt Lake Bees 7, Nashville Sounds 4)

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Joe Davis Stadium, Huntsville, ALABAMA

Number of states: still 32 (cancellation) States to go: 18

Number of games: 0 July 28, 2006 (game cancelled–unplayable fields)

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Smokies Park, Kodak, TENNESSEE

Number of states: 18 States to go: 32

Number of games: 1 First game: July 27, 2006 (Tennessee Smokies 6, Carolina Mudcats 5)

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Cooper Stadium, Columbus, OHIO

Number of states: 17 States to go: 33

First and last game: July 25, 2006 (Columbus Clippers 9, Durham Bulls 1)

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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!

Hunnicutt Field, Princeton, WEST VIRGINIA

Number of states: 16 States to go: 34

Number of games: 1 First game: July 24, 2006 (Greeneville Astros 8, Princeton Devil Rays 6)

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!

DeVault Stadium, Bristol, VIRGINIA

Number of states: 15 States to go: 35

First game: July 23, 2006 (Johnson City Cardinals 5, Bristol Sox 2)

Number of states: still 21
States to go: 29

Number of states: 21
States to go: 29

Number of games: 1
First game: August 4, 2006 (Altoona Curve 6, New Britain Rock Cats 4)

Number of states: 20
States to go: 30

Number of games: 1
First game: July 31, 2006 (Dayton Dragons 3, Peoria Chiefs 1)

Number of states: 19
States to go: 31

Number of games: 4
First game: July 30, 2006 (Toledo Mud Hens 6, Louisville Bats 1)
Most recent game: June 14, 2014 (Louisville Bats 1, Gwinnett Braves 0)

Number of states: still 18
States to go: 32

Number of games: 1
First game: July 29, 2006 (Salt Lake Bees 7, Nashville Sounds 4)

Number of states: still 32 (cancellation)
States to go: 18

Number of games: 0
July 28, 2006 (game cancelled–unplayable fields)

Number of states: 18
States to go: 32

Number of games: 1
First game: July 27, 2006 (Tennessee Smokies 6, Carolina Mudcats 5)

Number of states: 17
States to go: 33

Number of states: 16
States to go: 34

Number of games: 1
First game: July 24, 2006 (Greeneville Astros 8, Princeton Devil Rays 6)

Number of states: 15
States to go: 35