Minor League Baseball
 

Tell me about your minor league club!

We paid the extra buck and sat at field level Memorial Day right next to the visitors dugout. The AA Binghamton Mets were hosting the Trenton Thunder (Yankees). The BMets are wicked hot right now pounding everybody.The Mets organization has so many talented outfielders right its sick. Being a local and a Yankee fan I was torn but I rooted home team. Jason Brown the Thunder catcher made it even harder by calling us back down to the field after the game. "Sir, are those your daughters?" He gave my kids a bat! It was the kind of small thing that makes big fans out of kids. Nice. Had a nice conversation with an older gent behind me about the Triplet days when folks like Whitey Ford were hanging aroung Binghamton. Great day at the park.

Picture of the Park.
http://www.digitalballparks.com/Bing..._Netfx2V2T.jpg
The railyard is in left field so you get some train traffic during the games. A Dad behind me pointed out a train to his son who has autism. You could hear him realize he'd made a mistake and his kid immediately started up with the Thomas the Tank Engine patter and got upset when the tail of the train went through. I was glad to see that nobody made a deal out of it. :)

We have two here in the St. Louis area: The River City Rascals (who play in nearby St. Charles County) and the Gateway Grizzlies (who play in Sauget, IL)...both are part of the independent Frontier League. I might try and catch a couple of games once I move back.

The Philadelphia area has several teams: the Reading Phillies (AA, Phillies), the Trenton Thunder (AA, Yankees), the Camden RiverSharks, the Atlantic City Surf, the Lancaster Barnstormers (the last 3 part of the independent Atlantic League), the Wilmington Blue Rocks (A, Red Sox) and the Lakewood BlueClaws (A, Phillies). Generally, though, you only hear about Camden and Reading semi-regularly, and Trenton and AC occasionally.

I'm in my second year of my Blue Rocks ticket plan.

I went to see the Reading Phils as part of a company picnic deal a couple of years ago ... we had seating in the pool area.

Yes, the pool.

It has dancing fountains.

I actually had a much more enjoyable experience than I ever had at the Vet, and not just because things were priced reasonably and I got in free and they fed me.

The baseball was well played, and we got a double header because of a rain out the day before. We also got the fireworks display that had gotten rained out.

And I got to see a mascot jump into the pool (the rubber duckie ... there are something like six different mascots), sumo wrestling (two fans running at each other in those absurd sumo suits), as well as a nifty charity event in which fans threw numbered tennis balls at the field in an attempt to win fabulous and exciting prizes by getting them to land in hula hoops placed at each field position.

I did not win a fabulous and exciting prize, but it was a hell of a good time.

Great family atmosphere.

And the parking was free. (Took me a while to find a place to park, as I'd gotten there rather later than I had planned on, but if you arrive early, you get to park closer ... all of the businesses around the park let you use their lots, and despite my bitching here, I think I may have been only three or four blocks away from the entrance.)

I was never really into baseball.

But I always enjoyed seeing the Greensboro Hornets when I lived in NC. There's something about Class A ball... anybody who's even the slightest bit good gets promoted to AA so the roster is constantly changing. And by the end of the season... well... But it was always a lot of fun. We've talked about taking the rugrats to see the Blue Rocks. We went to see the Phillies a couple times at the Vet and for me it was just a complete snoozer.

Yeah Mike!
 

We've been watching Mike Jacobs in Binghamton for quite a while now. The Mets had been bouncing him from his original position as a catcher to first and third. He always pounds the ball so you'd think they'd find him a spot. Finally with Piazza out he is getting a chance. He homered in his first major league at bat and now has 3 homers in nine at bats catching and playing first for NY. Good Luck up there!

That's the fun thing about the Minors - if you watch a while you get to see someone make it to the bigs. My ex played minor league ball for years - got called up a couple of times, but only got to warm the bench, but at least he can say he made it to the bigs, got the uniform, got on the roster, sat on the field - When I used to go to his games we saw him play against Gary Sheffield, Junior (yes - Ken Griffey Junior - my friend dated him for a bit), and a couple others I've since forgotten.

You're right - the games are really fun, affordable, and accessible, and the players are very courteous.

Did you see Junior play for the (scratches head) San Bernardino Spirit? Weren't they the Mariners low-A club.

we've got the Arizona Diamondbacks... i'm pretty sure they are minor league this year.

I loved going to Durham Bulls Games! If you're ever in Durham NC during the summer, check them out - they are fun. I think they've won the International League championship for the past two years... not too sure about last year as I missed baseball season, but the year before they did. It's a great place to catch a game and they have good food too!

Yes, but they were triple A. Ironically, went to a Dodger/Mariners game in Seattle shortly thereafter. (ex played for the Dodger AAA team.)

A Diamondbacks fan, huh? Do you ever listen to the TV/radio announcers of the games, or just see them in person?