Category: Uncategorized
2010 Baseball Trip: Day 4-Clinton, IA
Clinton LumberKings vs. Beloit Snappers: After leaving Norway, we headed back east to the banks of the Mississippi River once again. This time our destination was Alliant Energy Field, home of the Clinton LumberKings who we saw the night before in Peoria. Alliant Energy Field was built in 1937, and is a great throwback to the older Minor League parks. Remodeled in 2006, this is really a nice place to watch a ball game. The grandstand is completely covered, and the seats put you right on the field. The fans were friendly and very baseball knowledgable. We ate dinner at the ballpark, had a cold beer, and watched a good baseball game in the oldest city currently in the Midwest League. I like to think of this ballpark as ‘classic’ instead of old, and despite it being not as fancy as some of the other parks we’ve been too, I really enjoyed myself here. Final: Snapper 2, LumberKings 0. Best: The trash pail: for only $5:50 you get loads of food including mini tacos, mini corndogs, onion rings, waffle fries, chicken tenders and more. Worst: Finding the ballpark. GPS couldn’t find it, and there are absolutely no signs anywhere in town to direct you there. My advise is to follow the riverfront until you run into it.
Photos property of MIB
2010 Baseball Trip: Day 4-Norway, IA
Iowa Baseball Museum of Norway: Making a stop in the baseball Capitol of Iowa, Norway, was a must for me on this trip. The true events of this towns rich baseball histrory prompted the movie ‘The Final Season’. This small town’s high school team won 20 Iowa State Baseball championships before being forced to merge with another local school after the 1991 season. I became a fan of the movie after watching it, but I am a bigger fan of the true story here. If you are ever in this area, this town and museum are a must for you. The museum itself is small, but packed with memorabelia from baseball’s history as well as the history of baseball in Norway. They had displays of former Major Leaguers from Norway such as Hal Trosky, Bruce Kimm, and Mike Boddicker. Also on display are the school’s state championship trophies, little league trophies, and coaching awards. The people who run the museum are all on a volunteer basis, as well as the people who helped put it together. We were given a first hand history of the town and it’s teams while we were there. There is a great pride in Norway about what they accomplished. My pictures and words really can’t do this place justice. A highlight for me was meeting legendary coach Jim Van Scoyoc who led Norway to 12 of it’s state titles and was named National Coach of the Year. After being forced to retire before the merger, he coached the Detroit Tigers system and founded Perfect Game to help teach young ball players. This was just a great experience for me.
Photos property of MIB
2010 Baseball Trip: Day 3-Peoria, IL
Peoria Chiefs vs. Clinton LumberKings: We didn’t have a whole lot of time to celebrate the Kernels victory before hitting the road again to Peoria. We made it to O’Brien Field about 30 minutes before game time, which is good enough to get our merchandise, grab a brew, and get ready for more baseball. It was Monday, and unfortunately not much of a crowd. We missed the big crowds over the weekend with Star Wars night and a Little League ceremony. Still, half price tickets should be drawing the people in anyway. O’Brien Field is nicely fit into downtown Peoria, and the Chiefs share their home with the NCAA Bradlay Braves. It was a beautiful night for baseball, but a quik game tied at 1-1 in the ninth. The Chiefs sent up a pinch hitter with two outs who hit a walk-off homer with the bases loaded for the win. Pretty exciting at the end. Final: Chiefs 4, Lumber Kings 1. Worst: The scoreboard. One half never worked, the other half only part of the time. Best: Half priced seats every Monday.
Photos property of MIB
2010 Baseball Trip: Day 3-Cedar Rapids, IA
Cedar Rapids Kernels vs. Kane County Cougars: Day three had us up early, and backtracking east through Iowa to Cedar Rapids for a noon start. Day games are usually a lot of fun, and this one didn’t disappiont. Vetrans Memorial Stadium is located basically in a residential area, but still had plenty of parking and decent site lines. Of all the ballparks on our trip, this one simply had the best atmoshpere. The workers were all very friendly and everyone just seemed to be happy it was game day. We had great seats behind home plate just off of the Kernels dugout. My oldest son is an Angels fan, so it was easy for me to get some autogaphs from some prospects like Mike Trout and Michael Wing. Trout is a first round draft pick, but seemed very down to earth and was great with the fans. He also homered in his first at-bat. After getting shut out our first few games, it felt good to get a couple of foul balls here. I got two, but gave one away to a little girl. Yeah, I know, aaawwww. The cool thing if you catch a fly ball here, you recieve an honorary lifetime contract with the Kernels. Now I can finally put Minor League Baseball player on my resume. It’s pictured at the very bottom along with the fouls balls I caught in Cedar Rapids and Peoria. If I could choose any ballpark from our trip to visit again, it would be this one. Final: Kernels 8, Cougars 1. Best: The baseball atmoshpere. You fans know what I’m talking about. Worst: No souvenier cups. It’s a small thing, but I like to take the plastic cups home, wash them out, and drink a beer. It reminds me of the games I’ve been to.
Photos property of MIB
2010 Baseball Trip: Day 2-Des Moines, IA
Iowa Cubs vs. Omaha Royals: Our only game on day two took us to Des Moines for some AAA Pacific Coast League action. The game started at 1:00 p.m., and the day was hot and sunny. About the third inning, though, all that changed. A huge storm cloud decided to nest over the field and give us some rain. Not too much, enough to get you a little damp, but not enough to call the game. If you think that a little rain is enough to chase me from a ballgame, though, you’re wrong. We stayed as long as the game was on, and that was the 8th inning. It finally decided to pour on us. Oh, well, 8 innings is still pretty good. I didn’t get a chance to explore Principal Park as much as I would have liked, but our seats were good and there really didn’t seem that there was a bad seat in the house. There was a lot of fans packed in for a Sunday game, but a lot left after the rain started. Our lunch consisted of a beer, a Chicago Dog, and some popcorn. I did like the park, though, and would recommend a game here if you’re in the area. Final: Royals 5, Cubs 4. Best: The scoreboard reading ‘Out of Towners’ and ‘Local Boys’. Worst: Lots of people. If you don’t mind large crowds, this shouldn’t bother you.
Photos property of MIB
2010 Baseball Trip: Day 2-Van Meter, IA
Bob Feller Hometown Museum: The second day of our pilgrimage took us west via the exciting I-80 highway, past the World’s Largest Truckstop, and into the small town of Van Meter, Iowa. Van Meter is just west of Des Moines, and home to Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller. A nice little museum was constructed in his honor there, and since we were going to Des Moines anyway, it seemed like a good stop on our trip. The museum wasn’t very big, but it was packed full of memorabelia from his early baseball days, to his MLB career and no-hitters, to his days in the Navy during World War II. Yes, Feller was one of the brave men who gave up his baseball career for a couple of years to server his country. Thank you for that, too, Bob. It was hard to get some really good pic because the building wasn’t big enough for me to back up and get some wide angled shots. We were also just shy of meeting Dwight Gooden, who was there the day before signing autographs. Some of the cooler stuff they had was the bat that Babe Ruth used to lean on during his retirement ceremony at Yankee Stadium, which belonged to Feller, and a couple seats from the old Cleveland stadium. It was a fun time and definately worth the trip.
Photos property of MIB
2010 Baseball Trip: Day 1-Davenport, IA
Quad Cities River Bandits vs. Burlington Bees: Our second game of the day took us to beautiful Modern Woodmen Park, home of the River Bandits. This ballpark was listed #1 on the Minor League ‘must see’ list, and it didn’t disappoint. The bridge going over the mighty Mississippi River in right field was really breathtaking. It had already been a long day, so it was nice to sit back, relax with my $6 brat and beer, and enjoy the game. There were a lot of walks, so we were able to scout many pitching prospects during the game. The weather stayed nice for us, too. It was hard to concentrate on the game at times, as we’d get mesmerized by the bridge and river. A perfect night for baseball. Final: Bees 9, River Bandits 6. Best: The view. Great site lines with the bridge. Worst: Pricey concessions.
Photos property of MIB
2010 Baseball Trip: Day 1-DeKalb, IL
Northern Illinois Huskies vs. Central Michigan Chippewas: Our first game slated the Huskies defending their home Ralph McKinzie Field against the Chips. This is the only game where we really cared about the outcome. My dad went to CMU, and the Chips have a local Sault kid on thier roster, so we were rooting for the visitors all the way. Things got a little interensting when a NUI batter ran over the Chips first baseman while he was fielding the ball. Both teams came out of their dugouts, but nothing really came of it. Central’s coach was pretty steamed, though, as the umpires didn’t call for interferance or give the batter a warning of any kind. It was a fun game to watch, as this was the highest scoring game we’d see the whole trip. McKinzie Feld is a simple place to watch a game, as there are just some bleachers behind home plate. There are some places to stand along the fist base wall, though. Final Score: CMU 8, NUI 7. Best: Free admission. Worst: Port-o-potties. I’m lucky I stand.
Photos property of MIB
2010 Baseball Trip: Day 1-Geneva, IL
Our trip this year started out with a long drive as usual, and our first stop was in Geveva, Illinois to the home of the Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League. The Cougars were on the road, as we’ll see later, but while we were in the neiborhood we stopped by Philip B. Elfstrom Stadium to check it out. Lucky for us there was a high school game going on, so we were able to get into the stadium and get our appetite whet for some baseball. The Cougars have a really nice stadium, and I’d like to get back to see them play a game here. It seems like every seat you feel close to the action and a great view. We couldn’t stay too long, though, as we had two games to catch on this day.
Photos property of MIB
Farewell, Ernie
I understand this is hardly breaking news at this point, but the passing of Ernie Harwell took place while I was on the road, and this is my first chance to post since. I’m not going to waste time going over Harwell’s great career as a broadcaster, because baseball fans are well aware of his exploits in and out of the booth. Like most Tigers fans, though, we grew up with Ernie on the radio. He was as much a part of the team as any of the players. Sometimes more so, as he was just always there. Enie was broadcasting games well before I was even born, so for so long he was all that I ever new when it came to listening to the Tigers. That’s an easy way to take thing for granted, though. I never had the chance to meet him, but my dad did and was able to get his autograph. There has been no one like him since, nor will there ever be again. Baseball lost a legend, but the world lost just a really good person. Thanks for the memories, Ernie.
Top photo property of MIB
Bottom photo courtesy of the Detroit Tigers
Minoring In Baseball 