March 2011
A couple old ballparks
My parents recently drove to Florida and back, and during their trip, they passed a handful of cities that have Minor League Baseball teams. I was curious to see what these stadiums looked like, and they were kind enough to get off the interstate, find and photograph the ballparks for me.
Here’s McCormick Field, home of the Asheville Tourists:
The Tourists are a Class A team in the South Atlantic League, and are the affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They’ve got a pretty storied history dating back to 1915. McCormick Field was built in 1924 and has a pretty neat design, according to the above photo. Its age is probably its most defining trait, but it’s also known for having a Fenway Park-style Green Monster in right field.
Later on their trip, my parents snapped this photo of Jackie Robinson Ballpark:
Jackie Robinson Ballpark is home to the Class-A Advanced Daytona Cubs, the Florida State League affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They’ve played at Jackie Robinson Ballpark since their inception in 1993, but the park was built in 1915. Why’s it named after Robinson? Because Daytona Beach was the first city in Florida to allow Robinson to play; this happened in Spring Training of 1946.
My parents took photos at a couple other stadiums along their trip, which I’ll post in the near future.
New Hampshire – September 10, 2010
You know those baseball roadtrips (or even single games) that rank pretty high among your all-time favorites? This was going to be one of those days.
On the morning of September 10 last fall, I woke up early and loaded up my car for the seven-hour drive to Manchester, New Hampshire, home of the Eastern League’s New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The Cats are the AA affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, so their roster is usually stacked with guys you’d recognize. My plan was to make the drive to Manchester to catch Game 3 of the Eastern League semifinals against the Trenton Thunder, the Yankees affiliate. The Thunder won Games 1 and 2 at home, and with a best-of-five series, the game I would attend would be pivotal.
The drive to Manchester was beautiful — lots of picturesque views through the Adirondacks. The nice views started, however, after I snaked my way through Montreal. Anyone who’s driven in Montreal rush hour knows how ridiculous it is. I arrived in Montreal about 9 a.m., meaning I was right in the heart of it and had to cross the city to get to the border. That took longer than expected, but pretty soon, I was off.
After a painfully slow stop at the border, and a couple bottles of Vitaminwater later (you’ve gotta go with orange and lemonade in the morning) I had to go. Bad. Of course, being in the middle of nowhere, there wasn’t exactly a place to stop. So I kept driving. And driving.
Pretty soon, it was either pull over and find a discrete area or risk unfortunate circumstances. I elected to stop. I pulled off the highway and found a back road in sort of a cottage country area.
(If this story is horrific, or boring, feel free to skip ahead. Otherwise, it might give you a chuckle.)
Anyway, on a quiet, wooded street next to a body of water, I, uhh, relieved myself. As I stood there, looking at the giant lake ahead of me, I casually wondered what body of water it was. Then, I had a minor, silly panic. This was Lake Champlain!
This lake, like Scotland’s Loch Ness, is known for supposedly containing some sort of creature of the deep. I had horrible visions of my empty car being discovered a day later after I’d been eaten by a lake monster who took exception to my adding a little liquid to his lake. Quickly, I got back in the car and was on my way.
(Back to baseball briefly: The Short-Season A team in Burlington, VT, is called the Vermont Lake Monsters in honor of this creature.)
The rest of the drive was more relaxing, and offered plenty of spectacular views through the mountains:
Yes, I took that photo while driving, and yes, I did it when the road was otherwise deserted. See the dark clouds and rain on my windshield? I had my fingers crossed that the game would go off as scheduled and my roadtrip wouldn’t be for naught.
Typically, I book my ballpark travel hotels on Hotwire, opting for a low price over knowing exactly what I’m getting. For this trip, however, I booked my room on another site because I wanted to stay at Manchester’s Hilton Garden Inn, which overlooks the Fisher Cats stadium, Automerchants.com Stadium. (It’s since had its name changed to another equally long one: Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.) More specifically, I wanted a field-facing room. Other than Rogers Centre in Toronto, I don’t know any pro ballparks with hotels overlooking the field. If you do, please leave a comment below. I’d love to know about them!
I arrived mid afternoon, checked into my hotel and couldn’t wait to get to my room. Here was the view:
Absolutely outstanding! As I said earlier, this trip was awesome.
Because I was three or four hours early for the game, there was very little going on at the stadium. Eventually, the grounds crew came out to prepare the field, but otherwise, it was cool to just keep an eye on the empty ballpark.
Here’s a panoramic I took from my window, which was on the third or fourth floor:
And this is The Porch, an outdoor eatery that is ideal for snagging batting practice home runs:
Unfortunately, the teams didn’t have BP, otherwise I would’ve been able to add a few more balls to my collection.
Pretty soon, the teams came out to stretch for a bit. Here’s Trenton:
And here’s another group of Thunder players:
After some waiting in my room, and continuously checking the field to see what was up, I took a brief tour of the hotel, scouting out the pool and gym, and packed up and headed on the short walk to the park.
Here’s a shot looking back at the hotel. Pretty nice, huh?
Merchantsauto.com Stadium is located on Line Drive:
And the stadium front is pretty different looking from the front:
You buy your tickets at the window on the left, then climb about 30 stairs up to the concourse.
Here’s my ticket shot:
Before the gates opened, I took a walk down a path at the side of the stadium that runs parallel to the Merrimack River. It’s all pretty nice looking:
On the path, I saw this:
I don’t know what it is, but it looked old and neat. After walking for a few minutes, I could hear players taking swings at an indoor cage, but couldn’t see anything. By now, the stadium was ready to open, so I headed back and walked in. Here are those stairs leading up to the concourse:
Before I climbed them, however, I stopped at the team shop. Because this was potentially the team’s last game of the season, there was a huge sale. I bought an official Fisher Cats cap for $15 and a T-shirt for $10.
Here’s the view when you get to the top of the stairs:
This is the outdoor patio for the Samuel Adams Bar & Grill, which is located indoors just behind these picnic tables, as you can see here:
And you can see the hotel in the background. And here’s a view looking toward home plate while standing in the area around the picnic tables:
I spun to my right, and snapped this photo of the sun setting over the Merrimack River:
Time to walk around and get my bearings! The ballpark has an open concourse and only one level of seating. There’s a suite level, but I don’t count that as regular seating. Here’s a panoramic I took from the concourse in left field:
The autograph seekers were already hanging out at the Trenton dugout:
I should point out that Andy Pettitte pitched for the Thunder the night before, but didn’t make the trip to Manchester. Too bad, because he’s since retired and it would’ve been pretty neat to see him.
Here’s a look at the seats and press box behind home plate. I think you’ll agree this is an awesome-looking stadium. I can assure you the vibe was even better:
Even though I’m not a suite type of guy, I climbed up to the suite level to take this photo looking back at the concourse:
To the left of the giant milk bottle is where you enter the stadium and you can see the picnic area and bar on the right.
I descended back to the main concourse and checked out the Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame, which is roughly located behind home plate. The real one is in Tampa, but this replica museum was all right. It focused largely on Williams and had some displays about New Hampshire-born MLBers:
Pretty soon, I found the game’s starting lineups and got even more excited. I have to admit I knew none of the names on the Thunder, but I knew all the guys on the Fisher Cats:
Darin Mastroianni has lots of hustle; Adeiny Hechavarria is the Cuban shortstop snatched by the Jays a few months earlier; Eric Thames is a home run machine; Edwin Encarnacion can’t play defence but was down from Toronto for a rehab stint, so that was cool. I won’t go on, but it’s neat to go to a Minor League game and see a lineup full of guys you recognize.
I headed over to the right field corner, which is the only area of the stadium that has bleacher seating. New Hampshire’s bullpen is also in this area. Here, I took a panorama that shows what a perfect evening for ball it was:
The stadium was still mostly empty, so I went behind the Fisher Cats dugout and snapped this photo:
Then went behind home plate and got this one:
I sure get my exercise during ballgames. After those photos, I walked back down the concourse (saying “no, thanks” to the vendor who tried to sign me up for some insurance thing for the fourth time) to the picnic area to get this panorama:
I also snapped this photo of the hotel. My room is either the bottom or middle window on the left:
After these shots, I once again climbed the stairs to the suite level, took a browse around and chatted with a friendly Fisher Cats staffer.
By now, there was action in the Fisher Cats bullpen, so I walked over to watch Canadian Scott Richmond warm up:
And spotted Encarnacion, who was signing autographs along the fence:
I grabbed a ball from my bag and got him to sign it:
I also spotted Hechavarria, who’s supposed to be Toronto’s shortstop of the future. I called out to him and he came over to me. As he turned, he tripped on a groundskeeper’s rake and almost fell, briefly giving me visions of a blown ACL and an angry call from Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos. Anyway, he signed quickly for me and I must admit his autograph is one of the oddest I’ve seen:
Pretty soon, the clock said a few minutes before 7 p.m., meaning the game was set to begin. I snapped the shots to build this panorama during the national anthem:
Then, took my seat behind the visiting team’s dugout. (Not that it mattered where I sat, because I would soon be on the move again!) After the first batter, the three or four kids beside me who were yelling, eating and generally not paying attention to the game got on my nerves. Normally I sit in my designated seat for the first inning or two, but not this time. Off I went again.
Here’s Hechavarria batting:
And a panorama from sort of behind home plate:
Merchantsauto.com Stadium/Northeast Delta Dental Stadium (say that five times fast) has a Fenway Park-style manual scoreboard in left field:
You can also see it in the shot below, which captures the busy concourse behind the third base line:
Dinner time! I’d read about the ballpark’s decent selection of seafood, given Manchester’s proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. Normally, I’d be wary of eating something too exotic at a baseball stadium, but on this chilly night, I wanted something hot and tasty. Here’s the seafood menu:
I went with a clam basket, which came with fries and coleslaw. It was all right — lots and lots of breading but the slaw was excellent and the clams and fries were nice and hot:
It was also amply sized. I had trouble finishing it, but perhaps that’s because my hands were shaking because of the cold. I was only wearing a light jacket, so I was very chilly on this September evening. After I was done eating, I sat in the left field corner for a couple innings. If you love baseball like I do, you’ll appreciate how passionate I am about attending live games. It’s awesome, though there are hardly the words to describe it. I love moving around, taking photos and watching the game from different angles. Here’s a close-up shot of the scoreboard:
I was so close I could hear the men who were operating it talking back and forth. And here’s a look down the line from the corner. That’s Trenton’s bullpen; you can see one of the Thunder’s relievers stretching his throwing arm with a band tied to the fence:
Remember that $15 cap I mentioned earlier? Here it is on the fence:
And speaking of the fence, it’s ideal for snagging foul balls. I had no luck, but unlike solid fences that require you to hang over them to grab a ball, you can simply reach through the rungs of this one:
I watched a freezing cold inning from the picnic area behind the left field fence. I was the lone person braving the cold in this area. More sensible people were enjoying warming beverages in the bar behind me. Here’s a view from the picnic zone:
By now, the game was nearing its late stages, and things were still close. Trenton led 1-0 through six, but New Hampshire had trouble getting any kind of rally going. To make matters worse, the Thunder scored two in the seventh, four in the eighth and one more in the ninth. Normally, I don’t cheer for either team unless the Jays are involved, but given Toronto’s connection to the Fisher Cats, I was cheering like crazy for the home side. New Hampshire put up one run in the bottom of the ninth, but that was it. Final score: Trenton 8, NH 1. End of the season for the Cats, who quickly beelined it for the clubhouse. I was hoping they might return to greet the fans, as teams occasionally do after the end of the season, but soon the lights went off and a fireworks show began:
After the show, it was a bit of a depressing feeling. The team’s season was over, and my 2010 ballpark adventure might be over, too. I needed to check to see if the Tri-City ValleyCats had advanced to the New York-Penn League final; if so, they’d play in nearby Troy, NY, the following night.
So, with my 2010 hanging in the balance, I looked around at the dark Merchantsauto.com Stadium:
(As I had not been drinking, my vision wasn’t this blurry; it was just the camera.)
Because I’d yet to get a ball at this game, I decided I’d take advantage of the quickly emptying ballpark to see if I could come up with one. There was nothing in the NH bullpen, nor the home side’s dugout. As a last-ditch effort, I checked the Trenton dugout. Nothing. A hopeful peek into the elevator that helps people in wheelchairs get into the dugout, however, yielded a white sphere in a shadowy corner. Aha! I reached for the ball … and reached … and reached again. The elevator was so deep there was no way I could get the ball. Unless, of course, I climbed into the elevator. Its door was latched, so I quickly scaled it and reached for the (very cobwebby) ball. Got it! When I got back out and held it to the light, I could see it was an Official Eastern League Baseball. It had obviously been there a significant length of time, and I have no idea whether it was a game ball or just a practice ball:
Anyway, with ball in hand, I left the now-almost empty park, walked quickly past the line of traffic waiting to exit the stadium parking lot and was back in my hotel room watching ESPN before many fans were on the highway. Awesome! I also kept an eye on the darkened stadium. Lots of workers were scurrying around the concourse cleaning and doing other duties. Eventually, the workers thinned out and soon, the lights were turned off.
If you want to read my official guide to this stadium, click here.
The next morning, I woke early, worked out in the Hilton’s gym for an hour and stopped in at the business center to check the Tri-City website. It turns out the ValleyCats beat Batavia in the opening round of the NYPL playoffs, setting up a championship round Game 1 against Brooklyn starting that night. One more game to get to in 2010! Troy, NY, is a 3.5-hour drive from Manchester. I quickly packed up my room, loaded up the car and returned to the hotel lobby to check out. In the lobby, I ran into a familiar face. It was Edwin Encarnacion, who was leaving the hotel to wait for a shuttle. The shuttle would take him to the airport where he’d fly back to join the Jays. He was carrying his Jays duffel bag, too. I said hello to him, and he said hello back. I should’ve asked to get a photo with him, but there was no one readily available to take it, and I like to be respectful of pro athletes’ privacy when they’re not at work.
Before leaving, I walked back down to the ballpark and took one last shot of the building front:
Then I hopped in the car, punched Tri-City’s Joseph L. Bruno Stadium into my trusty GPS, and hit the road.
Toronto – August 11, 2010
A day after our first visit of the season to Toronto, we took the train to Rogers Centre for a second straight game against the Red Sox. Once again, we were visiting to take notes and photos for my website, TheBallparkGuide.com, which is being developed.
Toronto’s traffic is ridiculous, but getting to Rogers Centre is pretty easy if you use public transportation. We took the GO Train from the suburbs again, and it couldn’t be easier. You get off the train at the downtown Union Station, which is at the foot of the CN Tower and a couple minutes’ walk from the stadium. Here’s the view when you come out of the Union Station walkway:
That’s the stadium, the foot of the tower and a little garden area.
Today, we bought 500 Level tickets for $14 each, which is a bit expensive considering how far you are from the action. Like many MLB teams, Toronto jacks up its prices for “premium” games, which mean you pay more when a good team is in town. Once we entered the stadium, we saw the batting practice screens were up again, so I’d renew my attempt to get a BP ball. My wife, as you can read here, got one ball in our first Jays game and I was shut out.
Though she got her ball in the 100 Level above Toronto’s left field bullpen, there was a lot more action in the left field corner, so we headed there early enough that the stadium’s fanatic guards weren’t deterring people from entering the good sections. I managed to secure a spot along the fence and patiently began waiting for balls to come my way:
My wife retreated about a dozen rows up into the second to avoid balls coming her way. When a line drive flew into her general area, she retreated up a few more rows. Before long, a roller came toward me and stopped pretty much below where I was standing. It was a few feet away from the wall, so I had to precariously hang my entire body below the wall and strettttcccchhhh until I could roll the ball toward me with my outstretched middle finger. Finally, I got it into my hand … ball #1!
A minute later, another line drive flew toward my wife, who quickly closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands. It bounced off a seat near her, and as three or four male ballhawks dove to the ground at her feet, she calmly bent down and emerged with her second ball of the series! We didn’t have long to celebrate, as a couple batters later, a screamer flew into our section, bounced off a seat and flew back toward the field. Somehow, I managed to barehand it, giving me my second ball. BP ended soon afterward, and we finished with four balls between us in two games!
Before we left the section in the left field corner, we noticed a total seating fail. Imagine buying a ticket for this seat?
We toured the concourse a bit, then began the long climb up to the 500 Level. Unlike Cleveland, which has steps, Rogers Centre is one ramp after another. Are they are dark and dreary as they appear below? Yes:
Once we climbed into our nosebleed seats, I took my first in-stadium ticket shot:
Below is a look at the different styles of seats behind home plate. From left to right (in other words, from closest to furthest from the plate) you’ve got plush red seats, then blue padded backs and seats, then non-padded plastic seats. The dark blue seats in the second deck have foam seats, but don’t have padded seat backs:
Rogers Centre’s upper deck is railing hell:
It’s also dizzyingly high:
But it’s got a nice view, as evidenced by this panorama:
From our seats, we could see the TV broadcast booth. That’s former Jay Pat Tabler and former Jay Buck Martinez:
Because Rogers Centre suffers from poor attendance, a lot of the upper deck is closed to fans. You can st
ill wander around the concourse, but it’s pretty much a ghost town:
ill wander around the concourse, but it’s pretty much a ghost town:
I did, however, sneak close enough to the Jumbotron to be able to spy on the rich people watching in their private dining area:
Here’s a panorama from about as close to dead center as I could get:
Remember yesterday’s entry and the mention about the amazing nachos we saw advertised? Here they are in all their glory:
We went back down to the 100 Level to buy the nachos and decided to watch the rest of the game from down there. The ushers won’t let you near any of the sections, yet there are empty chairs along the rail directly behind each section, so we pulled up two chairs and watched the rest of the game from here:
The photo doesn’t do the view justice; it wasn’t bad at all, and you could stretch your legs.
As for the game? Total snoozefest. The Red Sox won 10-1, led by Bill Hall’s two home runs. The conclusion of this game concluded our six-day, six-game roadtrip for TheBallparkGuide.com. Visit my website to read guides to every stadium I’ve visited thus far. They’re not all there just yet, but they will be!
Two more 2010 games left to recap … AA New Hampshire and A- Tri-City. Check back soon for details about my exciting visits to each of those ballparks.
Toronto – August 10, 2010
On the night of August 9, 2010, my wife and I arrived at my aunt and uncle’s house in the Toronto suburbs after driving straight from Niles, Ohio after watching the Mahoning Valley Scrappers game. We had a great time at Eastwood Field, compiling photos and notes for my website TheBallparkGuide.com. Here’s the Eastwood Field/Scrappers page on my site.
On this day, the Jays were hosting the Boston Red Sox and I’d bought 100 Level tickets online in advance. We took the commuter train from the suburbs to downtown, made a beeline for the ticket office’s will call window and picked up our tickets.
After horribly forgetting to take a ticket/stadium shot in my first game at Cleveland’s Progressive Field, I made sure to get my trademark shot right away:
That out of the way, I snapped a few photos of Rogers Centre, the ballpark I know best. I’ve been here dozens and dozens of times since it opened in 1989, but every time I visit is just as exciting as the first. Here are a couple photos:
Once the gates opened, we went to our seats, which were directly over the Jays bullpen in right field. Batting practice was on:
I was determined to get my first Major League Baseball from a Big League BP. Here’s an artsy photo my wife took of me watching the proceedings:
Halfway through BP, not a single ball had entered my section, despite my intense watching skills:
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my wife catch the eye of an usher and point at a ball below our section. Without hesitation, he grabbed it and tossed it up to her … and she promptly misplayed it, causing the ball to roll out of the section and back down behind the bullpen. Somehow, he decided to go get it for her again, tossed it up and she caught it! I was down 1-0 to my wife who, if she had her druthers, would prefer that all projectiles steer clear of her.
BP wrapped up a few minutes later, so it was time to take a stroll around the stadium before the game begun.
Rogers Centre is a great facility, but the concession prices are ridiculous. So too are the product names — the food vendors love adding special names to common ballpark food to make it appear exotic. An “Italian” sausage is a brown-tinted hot dog.
A burger for $11:
A dry piece of cardboard pizza for $5.25? Ugh. Give me Minor League Baseball’s $2.50-everything menu any day.
The one exception we found, however, we a new attraction: The Roundhouse Carvery & Bar. Here, they’ve got actual chef types slicing actual meat. It’s basically meat on a bun, but the quality looked deli-style and pretty good for stadium food. And for $10, I’d much rather have this than another burger:
Equally good looking was the Muddy York stand, which offered loaded nachos for $8.50. By loaded, I’m talking about BBQ smoked pork, cheese, baked beans, corn salsa, sour cream, green unions and jalapenos … and this feast cost $2 more than the standard yellow corn chips and yellower “cheese sauce.” (More on these nachos in my second entry about Toronto … at this point, we were touring around and not eating just yet.)
As we walked around the circular concourse, I couldn’t help but take a photo of one of my favorite sights:
And a few other pics, including this panorama:
By now,
we’d circuited the entire stadium and made our way back to the rear of section 130, where our seats were. Near here, I have to mention, is the famous Quaker Steak & Lube concession stand, which serves outstanding wings. A basket is $10, and a big bucket is $21 (yikes), but they’re worth it. You can get a handful of flavors and they’re better than the average sports bar wing:
we’d circuited the entire stadium and made our way back to the rear of section 130, where our seats were. Near here, I have to mention, is the famous Quaker Steak & Lube concession stand, which serves outstanding wings. A basket is $10, and a big bucket is $21 (yikes), but they’re worth it. You can get a handful of flavors and they’re better than the average sports bar wing:
We each got a single order of wings (I somehow neglected to take a photo) and headed to our seats for the start of the game. Before getting there, I took an awkward-angle shot to show our seats, which were roughly in front of the orange Pizza Pizza banner:
Then the game begun. As you can see, the attendance wasn’t bad on this night. It’s typically pretty good for games against the Red Sox and Yankees:
From our seats, we had a great view of the Jays dugout. That’s Jason Frasor, Shawn Camp and Brian Tallet:
After a couple innings, we took our usual stroll to watch the game from different angles. From the top of the 100 Level along the third base side, I got this picture of David Ortiz:
Behind him is J.P. Arencibia, one of my favorite Jays prospects for a long time and the guy who should be Toronto’s Opening Day catcher in 2011.
I took the photos to make up this third base-side panorama later that same inning:
And here’s a close-up of Toronto starter Ricky Romero:
Here are a couple panoramas from behind home plate:
Granted, I haven’t been in many MLB stadiums, but’ve I’ve been in a ton of NHL and NFL facilities, and the Rogers Centre “ushers” are fanatical. Now, I’m a Jays fan and always will be, but it’s ridiculous. Of course, if I have a 100 Level seat, I don’t want someone else sitting in it. But if it were the bottom of the ninth, and there were 5,000 fans left in the ballpark, the ushers still wouldn’t let someone move to the 100 Level. I wanted to get the shots for a panorama from the third base side, so I walked past the usher to stand in the aisle and take some photos. No big deal; no one was trying to get past me and I wasn’t taking anyone’s seat. And he freaked. I told him I just wanted to take a couple photos and then I’d be gone. “No. I can’t let you do that,” he said. My response? “Well, I’m going to take some photos either way, and if you want to forcibly remove me, go for it.” And he just stood there looking frazzled. I’ll end the rant here, but it wouldn’t hurt Toronto’s military-wannabe staff to take a chill pill.
Here’s a panorama from the first base line:
After taking this, we headed to one of my favorite sections in the outfield, just to the left field-side of the batter’s eye. As much as I love sitting at the stadium, I don’t like crowds around me. So here’s a trick: If you buy a 100 Level seat, the ushers allow you to move elsewhere in the 100s, as long as the new seat is the same price as the old one. The section to the left of the batter’s eye rarely has people in it, so I often go sit in the middle of it where I can watch the game in peace. The view here is pretty good:
And as you can see from this panorama, the section is usually pretty sparsely populated:
You can also keep an eye on the bullpen: (That’s Scott Downs looking at me.)
Before the start of an inning, I snapped this photo of outfielders Fred Lewis, Jose Bautista and Travis Snider watching something on the scoreboard:
As for the game? Toronto lost 7-5, but got home runs from Adam Lind, Snider and Bautista.
After the game, we took the train back to the ‘burbs and I counted down the hours until the next night’s game, which would be Clay Buchholz against Shaun Marcum.
Mahoning Valley Scrappers – August 9, 2010
Goodbye, Cleveland.
On the morning of August 9 last summer, my wife and I left our hotel at the Cleveland Airport, loaded up the car and drove to Niles, Ohio, which is a little more than an hour east of C-Town and just outside Youngstown. Niles is home to the Eastwood Mall, the largest mall between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. More importantly, however, it’s home to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, the Short-Season A affiliate of the Indians.
The Scrappers play at Eastwood Field, which is on the same property as the Eastwood Mall, so it’s pretty easy to find. Once we navigated our way through the enormous parking lot, we came upon the ballpark. Time to begin taking photos and notes about it for my website, TheBallparkGuide.com!
Before I got too carried away taking photos of the front of the building, I wanted to quickly park and head behind the stadium to snag batting practice home runs. Just as I did at Auburn’s Falcon Park, I scouted out Eastwood Field before our trip and saw that a grass hill and parking lot was located behind the stadium. When that’s the case, you can just stand back there and pick up or catch home run balls as they leave the stadium. Awesome! (By the way, here’s my complete fan guide to visiting Falcon Park, home of the Auburn Doubledays.)
The thought crossed my mind to just park at the mall and walk up to the stadium, but evidently I’m about the 10,000th person to think of this ploy. As such, the Scrappers charge a $1 walk-in fee for fans, which is half the price it costs to park. Here’s the gate that prevents you from walking in for free:
We decided to park and were one of the first few cars in the lot. My wife stayed in the car to read, and I immediately grabbed my glove and backpack and made a beeline toward the rear of the stadium. (I should note I did a cool, casual walk through the parking lot and past the main gate, and sprinted as soon as I was around the corner.)
I was concerned about two things: That the area beyond the fence wasn’t fenced off; and that there weren’t other fans (or worse, a staff member) gathering balls. I was in luck! Here’s what I saw when I ran around the left field corner:
Clear, open ground! And if you look closely, there’s a ball sitting smack dab in the center of the picture. I grabbed the ball quickly and began looking around. Just behind the actual outfield fence, as is the case with many Minor League stadiums, stands a second, higher fence. This fence is covered in billboards, much like the home run fence. And sometimes, big home runs hit the second board and bounce back toward the first fence. When that’s the case, you see scenes like this one:
I grabbed this ball and a few others in the area. Suddenly, a ball blasted over my head, hit the paved parking lot and rolled into a distant field, scattering a bunch of groundhogs that were sunning in the area. I picked up this ball, then got to thinking. If this ball rolled so far, there might be others out here, too.
Here’s the parking lot:
It takes a big shot, or a lucky roll, to reach it. But once the ball does, it rolls and rolls and rolls all the way to the grass:
I took the above photo after finding another ball. It’s one of my favorites of the summer. After gathering a bunch of balls, I headed toward center, where I hoped to find more balls before moving into right. I quickly noticed, however, that the bus driver from the road team (in this case, the Aberdeen IronBirds) was picking up balls on his side of the field. No biggie. I went back to my left field corner and found a few more. I ended up with 10 balls in total:
I actually got 11, but threw one into the woods because it was so waterlogged and soaked in mud that it was disgusting.
Eventually, BP ended so I headed back to the parking lot with 10 baseballs weighing down my backpack. Here’s where I got my first couple photos of the front of the stadium:
Pretty nice, right? Notice the red carpet on the left side of the first image? That’s where season’s ticket holders get to line up. Ooooh.
Here’s a banner of Travis Fryman, a longtime standout Major Leaguer and the current manager of the Scrappers:
I hoped to get his autograph on a ball, but managers are sometimes hard to get before the game. We bought our tickets from the ticket office here:
And got my ticket/stadium front shot, as per always:
Once the stadium gates opened, we checked out the team shop so that I could buy a Scrappers cap. One of the team’s caps is pretty neat; it’s navy blue with two rows of teeth. It’s sort of bizarre, and since Minor League caps are priced so well, I wanted to get one. Unfortunately, the staff couldn’t seem to scan my debit or credit card and after about 10 minutes of waiting, I left without the cap. (Though I did pay cash for a Scrappers team ball that I wanted to get signed.)
My wife found a relaxing place in the shade, and I went to the conjoined clubhouses, which are in the right field corner. Both teams’ clubhouses are in one building, so you don’t have to make up your mind about which team you’ll pursue for autographs. Here’s the clubhouse door: (Gotta love the modesty of the Minors!)
And here’s the grass hill where you can not only watch the game, but wait for players to emerge prior to first pitch:
Pretty soon, the Scrappers pitcher came out with a strength coach and started stretching. Who was he? None other than Mitch Talbot, a Major Leaguer who was down making a rehab start. I was only a few yards away from him while he was warming up, so I snapped these shots:
You might notice he’s wearing the cap I mentioned earlier. Pretty soon, players on both teams filed out of the clubhouse and stopped to sign autographs. I did pretty well, getting about three-quarters of the home team on the team ball:
Pretty soon, Fryman emerged from the clubhouse no more than 10 minutes before first pitch. A few of us asked him for autographs, and he said he didn’t have time. He seemed to think twice, then said, “Well, OK.” I got him to sign an official New York-Penn League ball that I’d snagged during BP:
After Fryman signed for a few of us, he jogged to the dugout and we went to the Bullpen Bar & Grille, located down the right field line just behind the grass hill I’d stood on for autographs. After a few days of ballpark food, I wasn’t too crazy to eat another hot dog, so my wife and I split an order of nachos. Here’s the concession:
Before the players came out of the clubhouse to sign autographs, we saw three or four of the Aberdeen guys getting hot dogs at this concession stand. You know you’re in a Minor League stadium when the players climb over the railing, up the steps and stand in line for hot dogs.
As usual, we watched a couple innings from our seats. For this game, we were located up high on the first base side in an attempt to stay in the shade. It was one of those sunny days in which the sun climbs by the inning, and you find yourself moving up rows constantly to stay in the shade.
The majority of Eastwood Field’s seating is box seating, and there are aluminum bleachers on behind the third base line and in left field, as well as a picnic area along the right field line:
Here are a few panoramas I took during my walk around the stadium:
And here’s one last photo; it’s of the Eastwood Field scoreboard:
We hit the road as soon as the game was over, because we had to drive about five hours to Toronto, where we’d stay with my aunt and uncle for three nights while catching two Blue Jays games. It was tempting to stay at the Scrappers game after its conclusion, however, as the team was organizing a LeBron James jersey-burning ceremony in the infield.
In my next two entries, you’ll read all about my two games in Toronto watching the Jays lose to the Red Sox.
Cleveland Indians – August 8, 2010
The next morning, my wife and I had breakfast near our hotel at the Cleveland airport and began to plan our day. We didn’t have tickets for the day’s 1 p.m. game (it was Sunday) but planned to buy them at the ticket office. Then we had a change in plan. Our stay in Cleveland was breezing by, and there were still some things we wanted to see. My wife wanted to check out the botanical gardens, but there wouldn’t be time to do so after the day’s Indians game. So, we decided that she’d drop me off at Progressive Field at 11 a.m., then visit the gardens herself and pick me up later. I had another day to check out Progressive Field for my website, TheBallparkGuide.com.
After getting dropped off, I snapped this photo of the Progressive Field sign. I love night games, but it’s nice to attend games in the day for the good lighting for photos:
I bought a 500 Level ticket for $10. I’d spend some time checking out the upper deck, but I’d also walk around the stadium and check out other sights. Here’s my ticket shot:
Today, I walked around the full stadium and was able to find the players’ lot. Yesterday, I’d seen it from inside the stadium, but now I was standing right in front of it:
I’m guessing the Ford Focus in the foreground of the second picture belongs to an Indians staff member, not a player. I made my way back toward Gate C, as it’s the gate that opens first. I also took advantage of being there early to take a picture of some of the anti-LeBron T-shirts being sold on the corner of the street outside the stadium:
Here’s Gate C. There are a few people milling around, but I was one of the first people in line:
And here’s the roadway between the stadium and the parking garage. The Progressive Field scoreboard is on the left and bridges over the road to let people reach the garage from the stadium:
Once the gates opened, I ran into the stadium and started looking around the lower level. Today, the crowd was substantially less than the day before, I’m guessing because the previous night’s game was the team’s Hall of Fame inductions. Security was pretty lax now, so I was able to get into the Bud Light Party Deck in right field to take this picture:
I then headed down to the first base line to try to get some Twins autographs, as a handful of players were signing:
I ended up getting Scott Baker, Jesse Crain and All-Star Matt Capps on a baseball. Interestingly enough, these guys were the top three players alphabetically on the roster at the time. Here’s the ball:
As you can see, the stadium was still pretty empty as I made my way to the visitors’ dugout:
And now, I got a chance to check out an area that I couldn’t get to yesterday — the Mercedes-Benz Front Row. This area is one of the most unique in baseball. Pay for a front-row seat at Progressive Field, and you’ll have soft, padded seats and more legroom than you’d ever need:
I made my way around the front row (thankfully, unharassed by ushers) and got right behind home plate. It was neat to stand behind home plate at my second MLB stadium. Progressive Field has a beautiful view. The home run deck, enormous scoreboard, tall fence and bleachers in left; Heritage Park and the trees in center; the Ridgid Jobsite in right-center; and the seating in right. Have I mentioned that I love baseball?
Security was great in this area. I mean, there were lots of people (me included) who were browsing the area behind home plate and didn’t have tickets for the area. Cleveland’s ushers were attentive, but didn’t try to strongarm anyone for walking through this area. Anyway, I asked another fan to get a picture of me sitting on the wall just to the right of the Indians dugout:
Here’s that wall, which runs around the front row behind home plate. How about the leg room?!
I should say there was no batting practice on this day, as is often the case prior to a day game following a night game. Without BP to watch, I kept cruising the area behind home plate and took this panorama:
Then I headed over to the left field corner, where I took the photos that make up this panorama:
By this time, I was back in the area of Heritage Park, and it wasn’t as crowded as it was yesterday. I took advantage of the lack of the crowd to snap a few more photos:
The game was getting close to starting, so I once again climbed the 100-plus stairs up to the upper deck and took a look around. Up here, I had a good vantage point of the windowed restaurant along the left field line:
I grabbed a hot dog that tasted better than it looks in this photo and ate it in my seat waaaay up high behind home plate:
I was high, but with my camera’s zoom, I was able to capture the action at home plate fairly well. Here’s Joe Mauer:
And here’s Mauer on the scoreboard. As you can see, the stands were mostly empty today:
From up here, I could keep an eye on the Twins dugout:
And shoot a panorama from the upper level, roughly behind home plate:
Time for another tour. Up next is a shot of Cleveland from the upper deck, a look at the play area between Progressive Field at Quicken Loans Arena and the pedestrian bridge leading to the parking structure:
As empty as the bleachers and lower deck were, the upper deck was pretty quiet, too. This picture makes it look like a ghost town:
That said, there were several concession stands open in the upper deck, and my jaw dropped when I saw one of the condiments sections. Now, I’m used to ketchup and mustard being offered for your hot dog, and maybe some onions or hot peppers if you’re really lucky. But Progressive Field goes all out on the condiments:
For those keeping score, that’s ketchup, mayonnaise, honey mustard, ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, sweet relish, Ballpark Mustard, yellow mustard and more ketchup. I kind of wish I’d known about this station earlier, when I had my hot dog. A note on Ballpark Mustard. Clevelandites are pretty specific about this mustard, from what I gather. Cleveland’s Famous Bertman Original Ballpark Mustard (its full name) was invented in Cleveland and can’t be compared with any other mustards, according to what Indians fans tell me. I tried it on my hot dog, and it’s tasty. It looks and smells like Dijon, but doesn’t have the same bite. (I bought a bottle of it in the Indians team shop for $4.)
In my upper deck travels, I found my way to this:
It’s the back of the Progressive Field sign that I took from the sidewalk when I first arrived. After taking a tour of the upper deck, I headed back down to the lower deck and walked around for a bit before returning to the upper deck. Boy, I was getting my exercise today! I snapped this picture of myself with part of the stadium as a backdrop:
Then, I noticed something exciting: On the out-of-town scoreboard in the left field fence, I noticed that the Toronto Blue Jays were no-hitting Tampa Bay through eight innings. Soon, a video update about the game came onto the scoreboard, and it was pretty exciting to follow. Righthander Brandon Morrow was pitching for Toronto, and I was more interested in following the scoreboard action than the Indians/Twins game. Morrow finally gave up a ninth-inning hit to Evan Longoria, but the Jays hung on to win 1-0. Here’s the scoreboard in the eighth inning:
The Indians game was almost over, too. I took one last panoramic shot that shows the steepness of the upper deck:
The Indians lost again, 5-4 this time, thanks in part to a two-run home run by Minnesota’s Jim Thome. You have to love being able to use a camera’s zoom. I was roughly 43 miles from home plate, but could still zoom in enough to take this photo:
With the game wrapped up, I began the downward climb to meet up with my wife outside the Indians ticket office. Pretty soon, she pulled up and we headed away from the ballpark after two great days of Indians games. I realize Progressive Field is just the second MLB park I’ve visited, but I was hugely impressed. What a great experience; one that just makes me look forward to seeing more games this summer.
After the game, we headed straight to Momocho, an awesome Mexican restaurant that’s one of Cleveland’s top eateries. We’d seen it featured on The Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and wanted to try it out. We had a spectacular dinner of a trio of guacamole (the best we’ve ever had, by far) and chips, and main courses of taquitos with wild boar and duck. Again, absolutely incredible. I had a Tecate just to keep up with the Mexican theme. After dinner, we headed back to the airport area where we were staying, and I worked on the notes from my ballpark visit to add to my guide on TheBallparkGuide.com. Watch for that guide coming soon!
Three of our six games were now done. The next day, we’d head to nearby Niles, Ohio to watch the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, a Short-Season A team in the New York-Penn League.
Malcolm - TheBallparkGuide
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