MiLB’ing around

I wrote this while en route to a couple of West Coast baseball games, when the Dodgers and Angels were both home this past weekend. When planning this trip, the thought did strike me that it might be fun to catch a Minor League game in southern California. I've only been to about a dozen minor league games, and that includes a bunch to my local team, the Hudson Valley Renegades, a short-season Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. I've been sticking to games “in the area”, and have seen two AAA venues, three AA ones, and the aforementioned Gades at the Dutch.

The current trip was about me getting to all of the MLB parks. I have no such aspirations with Minor League ball. I do, though, have some interest in seeing all of the Yankee affiliates (with a few visits to Trenton and Scranton Wilkes-Barre under my belt already), and I have strayed here and there to get to the games in New Britain, CT; Allentown, PA; and Binghamton, NY. With AAA and AA Yankee games seen, a trip to see the SI Yankees is pretty certain, and others to see the Yankee kids down in Tampa and Charleston are on the wish list. Getting to most of the International League, Eastern League, and NY-Penn League would be nice, as would a game in Nebraska or especially Iowa, in a “Field of Dreams” kind of way. Here are other teams on the wish list:

- Pawtucket Red Sox
- Durham Bulls
- Toledo Mud Hens
- Columbus Clippers
- Syracuse Chiefs
- Reading Phillies
- Bowie Baysox
- Portland Seadogs
- New Hampshire Fisher Cats
- Burlington Lake Monsters
- Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Tri-City Valley Cats
- Connecticut Tigers
- Aberdeen Ironbirds
- Brooklyn Cyclones

Sometimes, the team name grabs me; other times, a recollection of a team from reading about it, its feature in a movie, etc., grabs me. Of course, there’s just the simple enjoyment of seeing something new, and even the way it may pass time when other travel is required. To that end, a recent trip to Boston and Maine irritated me to a small degree when I realized that the four "local" (reachable) teams were all on the road.

The allure of these games is multifold, starting with small, but good, crowds, all into the game. There’s rarely a bad seat--more often than not, seats very close to the field are available. There looks to be more enticement for families, as many events between innings take place; further, there are plenty of adults there too, many with scorebooks, others just casually enjoying the game. I have not been to a game where a major leaguer was rehabbing, or where a known prospect was playing, but that didn't lessen my enjoyment, though I imagine it would have greatly enhanced the experience. Then there is the price: At my first game, I remember purchasing parking, ticket, food, a beer, and a shirt for something like $32. That doesn't cover parking in some MLB venues. In Scranton, AAA locale for the Yankees, I paid $3 for parking. And, what a beautiful park in a quaint setting that is. I really enjoyed a great day there. That stands as my favorite MiLB park.

Anyway, I wrote this post out long hand while on the cross-country flight, and have now "MyScript"’d it (akin to OCR'ing), and am cleaning it up. I correctly guessed that I would not add a California League team to the list.

Feel free to post a comment with any favorite MiLB venue of yours—always interested in such recommendations.

Comments

  1. sliced tongueJuly 18, 2011 at 9:54 PM

    Gotta love the MiLB. Went to a Potomac Nationals game last month and saw some decent baseball, post-game fireworks, and the kids got to run the bases. Plus, Bernie Carbo was set up at a folding table signing autos for free. For some reason, he added "John, 3.16" to his signature-- must be a Tommy John fan, although he didn't get the career ERA quite right. I take it he likes Jesus Alou, too-- the back of his shirt said "Jesus" with a big number 1.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revisiting the great state-border-crossing challenge

Image
When I posted this at the beginning of 2020, the pandemic hadn't cut into any travel plans and I hadn't really identified paths to getting to the last bunch of state border crossings I needed. However, after crossing a few more in the last year, being close but not too close to a few others I was missing, and especially talking to more folks interested in this idea, well, the quest has gained some traction. One of the things that remains both fun and frustrating about this venture is how recently it came into my consciousness. Decades of road tripping led me so close to some of these state borders I'm still missing. If I had any inkling this would be something I'd end up pursuing, at least another half dozen crossings would have been completed. But it's also a reason to go back to some of these areas, which works well with other travel goals. After all, I keep finding more things to do in many states—NPS sites, ballparks, breweries, etc.—so I know I'll be plann
Read more

New York counties, and then some

Image
 <I wrote this while on a flight to Chicago around this time last year, and just noticed it in my drafts much closer to finished than I recalled... 😀> At the start of 2021, one of my two posts was about my progress for reaching every corner of New York: I had set the goal of doing something in each of the state’s 62 counties. By "something", I meant an NPS site, a state park, a sporting event, a brewery or something else (for me, "something else" included the Corning Museum of Glass, the Baseball Hall of Fame, Howe Caverns, county fairs, etc.). At the time, 55 of them could be considered done. Since I had updated my other post of early 2021 early in 2022—the great state border challenge—it seemed appropriate to update my New York county post too, especially since it's now two years since I've completed that quest. Yes, I went 62 for 62 in June of 2021, when my quest was completed with a state park and brewery in Chautauqua, the state’s westernmost c
Read more

Tipping and ripping the cap

A belated tip of the cap to this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame inductees. I know the NFL and NBA Halls had their 2010 inductions more recently, and an eventual nodding of the helmets to the former may follow. It’s just that a recent conversation prompted this post. In this era of free agency, the need for players to don one team’s cap over another when their plaque is created seems to be something of a relic, especially when a player has left an indelible mark on multiple teams. Even if the bulk of his career or prime numbers rest mainly with one team, should that team be solely associated with that player when he gave another some great years? Conversely, if, say, a contract or personal quarrel leaves bad blood between a player and the team where his HOF numbers were earned, should that player have the right to select some team where he had less impact? Admittedly, most inductees do lean to one team or another in terms of career dominance, and Wikipedia, under the "Players with mu
Read more