2013 Baseball Trip: Treated like Royalty in Burlington
Burlington Athletic Stadium–Burlington, NC: On our way east from Greensboro, we decided to stop by the home of the Burlington Royals to check out the ballpark and see if they had a gift shop open. The Royals are in the Rookie Appalachian League, so they don’t start play until later on in June. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any memorabilia for sale at this time, but the ballpark was wide open for us to poke around a bit. We were also lucky enough to run into the Royals GM, Ben Abzug, who last season was named the Appalachian League Executive of the Year. Ben was a very gracious host, giving us a history of the team and the ballpark. I found it very interesting that the ballpark was originally built in Virginia, but purchased and brought to Burlington piece by piece when they were awarded a team. He also explained to us the differences between the rookie league and other Minor League clubs. It was a very interesting and informative morning! Too bad we couldn’t see a game here, but at least I made it into the park to get some nice pics. Next stop…Durham!
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Minoring In Baseball 
You can’t really get that in the majors-A tour and info session by the GM, well done! So, why do they start play later in the spring?
It’s a rookie league, so some of the players that will be drafted by the Royals in a few weeks will be assigned there. Also some of the younger players still in extended spring training.
-Mike
I truly didn’t expect to see a content like 2013 Baseball Trip: Treated like Royalty in Burlington « Minoring In Baseball today. Very impressive. Reminds me of something I read about kingcobra the other day.
Excellent column. There are so many nice parks in the great state of North Carolina. I frequently take my two boys over to the DBAP in Durham, and Five County Stadium in Zebulon. Sure, it’s not the majors…but they ALL seem to go that extra mile, especially for the kids.
I agree, and loved all the ballparks in NC. Durham was awesome, but I enjoyed Greensboro and Asheville were great, too. We had a small crowd in Zebulon, but still had a great time. I find that Single-A ball is the best for the players interacting with the kids. We get to the Whitecaps and Loons here in Michigan as much as we can.
-Mike