Minor League Baseball

Double-A Class

Texas League

Tuesday 16th August 2016

First pitch 19.05

Frisco RoughRiders 4 Springfield Cardinals 3,  attendance 4,013

@ Dr Pepper Ballpark

7300, Roughriders Trail

Frisco, TX 75034

$13 Admission

Programme free, 36 pages.

Frisco RoughRiders are affiliated to M.L.B. team the Texas Rangers. Prior to 2003 the franchise was based in Shreveport, Louisiana, and were known as the Shreveport Captains as well as one season as the Shreveport SwampDragons.

They currently play at Dr Pepper Ballpark, opened on 3rd April 2003, when they were defeated by the Tulsa Drillers. Capacity is 10,316 and attendances here reportedly average 8,000, with 30 sell out games a season. Certainly nowhere near either of those figures tonight.

Major League Baseball

Friday 29th July 2016

First pitch 19.10

Detroit Tigers 14 Houston Astros 6,  attendance 31,771

@ Comerica Park

2100, Woodward Avenue

Detroit, MI 48201

$21.50 Admission

Programme available, didn’t bother.

I had made the 162 mile drive northeast to Detroit by early afternoon, but didn’t want to commit to buying a ticket too early, as thunderstorms were forecast until around an hour into the game. I phoned the stadium around 4pm, following a pretty wild thunderstorm, to make sure tickets were available at the ticket office, which they were, So I was able to delay my decision until around 6pm. No more rain arrived, although the skies were very grey, so it was game on. I parked in the nearest of the cheap car parks ($20) which was a  four block walk to the stadium, passing the construction site of the new Detroit Red Wings N.H.L. arena, which is due to open next year.

Comerica Park opened in April 2000, replacing Tiger Stadium. Capacity is 41,297, with the record attendance being 45,280, set in July 2008 for the visit of Chicago White Sox.

Minor League Baseball

Class- A

Midwest League

Thursday 28th July 2016

First pitch 19.05

Fort Wayne TinCaps 3 West Michigan Whitecaps 1,  attendance 8,497

@ Parkview Field

1301, Ewing Street

Fort Wayne, IN 46802

$10 Admission

Programme free, 72 pages.

It was a 160 mile drive northwest into Indiana for tonight’s game. Parking was across the road from the stadium for $5, so ticket purchased and into the ground within 5 minutes of arrival. First pitch was delayed until 7.25 pm after a very brief rain shower just as we were scheduled to start.

The TinCaps are affiliated to M.L.B.team the San Diego Padres. Home since 2009 is Parkview Field, an 8,100 capacity ballpark with 6,516 seats.

Minor League Baseball

Short-Season Class A

Northwest League

Saturday 23rd July 2016

First pitch 18.35

Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 5 Everett Aquasox 8,  attendance 1,949

@ Volcanoes Stadium

6700, Field Of Dreams Way Northeast

Keizer, OR 97303

$12 Admission

No programme.

It was an easy 46 miles drive down the I-5 to Keizer, allowing time to check in at my hotel a couple more junctions south of the stadium exit off the highway.

Volcanoes Stadium, nicknamed ‘Oregon’s Field of Dreams’, was opened in 1997 and has a capacity of 4,254. The team moved to Salem-Keizer in 1997 and have since won five Northwest League Championships, the last one being in 2009.

Minor League Baseball

Double-A Class

Texas League

Monday 11th July 2016

First pitch 18.30

Springfield Cardinals 3 San Antonio Missions 8 (12 innings),  attendance 3,044

@ Hammons Field

955, East Trafficway Street

Springfield, MO 65802

$10 Admission

Game Information Sheet, free, 6 pages.

With only one of my three mates being a driver, I took my turn behind the wheel today to give him a break. After a look round Independence, which didn’t take long, it was a 170 mile drive south east to Springfield for our evenings entertainment.

Springfield Cardinals are an affiliate of St. Louis Cardinals of M.L.B. having taken  the position occupied by the Tennessee Smokies prior to the 2005 season. Springfield themselves were originally the El Paso Diablo franchise.

Home is at Hammons Field, which opened in 2004, currently shared with the Missouri State University Bears. Capacity is 10,486, with 7,986 seated.

We thought we’d be finished easily by 9.30pm, but that soon came and went. First time I have been at a baseball match that has gone to the 12th innings, the scores tied at 3-3 at the end of the ninth.

Major League Baseball

Sunday 10th July 2016

First pitch 13.15

Kansas City Royals 5 Seattle Mariners 8,  attendance 27,544

@ Kauffman Stadium

1, Royal Way

Kansas City, MO 64129

$23 Admission

Programme available, didn’t bother.

After a late finish,then a diversion off the I-35 north of Waco , had meant I hadn’t arrived home from my match at Round Rock last night until just before 1am. I was up early and on a 7am flight to Kansas City, meeting up with 3 mates who had flown in the previous evening for a few days in Kansas and Missouri States tagged on to some holiday around New York. As arranged, I had taken a bus from the airport to meet them at the Car Hire centre and they duly arrived on time for the 9am meet.

Today, we would be doing a double of baseball and ‘soccer’. Both games would be involving teams with Kansas in their names, but despite both being from the same city, it is one that is split between two different states, Missouri and Kansas. We would start off in the former, at the home of the current World Series Champions. We had decided to leave buying tickets until the day of the game, as weather could be a problem and none of us would be around for any rearranged date if there was a late postponement. As it turned out, it was absolutely glorious, so we arrived at the stadium, paid our $20 parking and drove down to purchase our tickets. Once done, as we had been instructed, we were refunded the parking fee on exit, then headed for some food, before arriving back about an hour before the start.

Kauffman Stadium was opened in 1973 and was known as Royals Stadium until 1993,  when it changed its name in honour of the Royals founding owner Ewing Kauffman. Together with the adjacent Arrowhead Stadium, home to the N.F.L. ‘s Kansas City Chiefs, it is part of the Truman Sports Complex. It is the sixth oldest stadium in M.L.B. although it underwent a $250 million renovation between 2007 and 2009. Capacity these days is 37,903, but a crowd of 41,860 witnessed the visit of the New York Yankees in July 1980.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I

Big 12 Conference

Saturday 14th May 2016

First pitch 15.00

Baylor University Bears 8 Texas Christian University Horned Frogs 5,  attendance 2,860

@ Baylor Ballpark

1612, South University Parks Drive

Waco, TX 76706

$7 admission

Programme, free, 30 pages, covers full season.

Baylor Ballpark was opened in 1999 having been built on the site of their former home Ferrell Field. Capacity here is 5,000.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I

The Summit League Conference

Saturday 7th May 2016

First Pitch 14.00

Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles 6 Western Illinois University Fighting Leathernecks 5,  attendance 679

@ J.L. Johnson Stadium

East 81st Street and South Lewis Avenue

Tulsa, OK 74171

$7 admission

Programme, free, 6 pages.

The J.L. Johnson Stadium was opened in 1978 and has a seated capacity of 2,418.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II

Lone Star Conference

Saturday 30th April 2016

First pitch 15.00

Tarleton State University Texans 5 Texas A&M University-Kingsville Javelinas 7,  attendance 489

@ Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex

West Washington Street

Stephenville, TX 76401

No admission or programme.

Depending which car park you use determines whether you pay or not. I obviously picked the right one.

The ballpark was opened in 1988 and has a 550 seat capacity. The official attendance for this is laughable, as the photos clearly show. Thunder was forecast for late afternoon, but thankfully it never materialised.

Minor League Baseball

Triple-A Class

Pacific Coast League

Saturday 23rd April 2016

First pitch 18.35

Memphis Redbirds 0 RoundRock Express 3,  attendance 10,171

@ AutoZone Park

200, Union Avenue

Memphis, TN 38103

$23 admission

Programme free, 68 pages, plus free 5 page game information sheet.

I had called in here on my way through this morning and managed to purchase one of the last few $23 dollar tickets. Good jod I did, as only $48 dollar tickets were on sale when I arrived back about 20 minutes before the start, having got a decent parking space for $10 just down the road on a small industrial site. With the stadium being right in the city centre it means there is no way to park within sensible distance without paying, or indeed still having your car there when you return, and this was as cheap as I was going to get.

The Redbirds are an affiliate of MLB team St. Louis Cardinals. Round Rock are teamed up with another MLB team, the Texas Rangers. The game was of a really good standard and perhaps helped by having a decent seat not too far from the action.

AutoZone Park was opened in April 2000. The largest crowd here was 31st August 2008, when 18,620 witnessed the visit of Oklahoma Red Hawks. Nowadays it seats 10,000 and has grassed areas in use as well.

After the game it was a few miles south for a bite to eat and on to the hotel.