2019 Baseball Stadium Tour -- Modern Woodmen Park

When we saw that the T-Rats were closing out the season at Quad Cities and the Brewers were home against the Astros on Labor Day, it made sense that our Labor Day weekend trip was a close one.. Davenport and Milwaukee.

Quad Cities River Bandits play in Davenport, IA which is one of the four cities in the Quad Cities. They play at Modern Woodmen Park which is just south of downtown. Googlemaps actually had us going through town instead of taking the bypass around then getting off the highway. We thought that was easier after we took it getting out of town.

Modern Woodmen Park is right on the Mississippi River. Being so close to the river, it does flood from time to time and home runs could land in the river. There are several lots near the ball park. The website really didn't say where to park so we winged it and it worked out.

The stadium was built in 1931 and has gone over several names and renovations throughout the years. You can tell it's an older ballpark with the having to climb stairs to enter the stadium once you get inside. It is actually a very nice, modern stadium.

Beyond left field is a small amusement park, for a lack of better term. There is giant Bandit Ferris Wheel which if the hubby wasn't afraid of heights I would have insisted on riding. There is also an old school carousel plus a few smaller rides for kids.

The netting pretty much runs from the length of the seating area which is pretty much dugout to dugout. There is some picnic areas and grass seating along the outfield lines but the actual seats extend dugout to dugout. We sat behind the T-rats dugout and had really good seats.

It was a pretty good game with the T-Rats winning (I think). We spent most of the game talking to the bus driver who we met when the hubby went to say hi to someone he knew that is a host family.

We would definitely come back here. It's a nice park with good amenities and the food isn't bad either. Only two more stadiums left in Iowa to hit and they aren't usually home at the same time.

In case you are keeping track, I've been to 13 major league and 12 minor league parks.. the hubby is at 12 and 11. I have Fenway and Jacksonville Suns on him.

Where will our travels take us next year? Stay tuned to see where the 2020 baseball stadium tour takes us.

2019 Baseball Stadium Tour -- Parkview Field

Originally we were going to go to the Louisville Bats game on the our way back from Nashville. However since we decided to spend two days in Nashville, Louisville was no longer an option. Monday night baseball games are a tough thing to find in August especially on our route home. When I saw that Fort Wayne was home, I was okay with that choice. Fort Wayne is home to the Single-A Team of the Padres, the Fort Wayne Tin Caps -- a nod to Johnny Appleseed.

The Tin Caps play at Parkview Field downtown Fort Wayne. It is very easy to get to. Their website really didn't give me any instructions on where to pay. Once we got downtown, a quick Google search advised us of where to park. There are three lots across the street from the stadium.. Red, Green, Silver. We paid $5 to park in the green lot and the attendant commented on us being from Wisconsin.

The stadium was built in 2009. It is actually voted the best minor league baseball stadium. It is very update to date and modern. The surrounding area really supports their team. There are seats next to the scoreboard and rooftop seats on the top of nearby business.

We were lucky enough to be there for $1 night.. $1 hot dogs, soda, pizza, popcorn, and cheesy chicken sticks. The cheesy chicken sticks were amazing. We got some because they sounded interesting and went for more later in the game.

Our seats were great. We could see the whole field. We were right behind one of the dugouts but we had netting. The netting extended too far down the lines for us.

The game was a typical Single-A game. They were playing the Iowa Cubs. It was nothing spectacular. There were some good plays.

While walking around, we ran into the parking attendant that noticed our Wisconsin plates. The hubby and him had a nice chat about baseball, stadiums, and the area. This is one of the reasons we like to go to these different stadiums, meet the locals, learn about the team, stadium, and area.

The highlight for me was getting my picture taken with Johnny Appleseed.. the Tin Cap's mascot. The educator in me has a soft spot for Johnny Appleseed so the Tin Caps would be favorite team of mine based on mascot alone.

They are the first single-A team that actually had an option to mail our tickets instead of will call. Most of the Midwest League teams we had to pick our tickets up at will call. I think most of the minor league teams we had to use will call.

I would definitely recommend this stadium. It was probably my favorite of the trip. 

2019 Baseball Stadium Tour --First Tennesse Park

Planning our trip to back from the World Series Nashville became a logical stop because the Sounds were home. Sometimes you hit stadiums you want to because the schedules work out.. other times you are stuck with whatever works in the schedule. Lucky for me Nashville Sounds were pretty high up on the list of teams I won't mind visiting mainly because there's a ton to do in Nashville besides baseball.

First Tennessee Park, the home of the Nashville Sounds was built in 2015 in a relatively industrial area of town. It is getting more commercial and residential but it is going to take awhile. We actually ended up parking a couple blocks from the stadium in a sketchy business parking lot. I wasn't too keen on leaving the car there but the hubby decided it was safe. And it was. Next time we will have a better idea of the area so we should be able to get closer parking.

The stadium itself is very spectator friendly and open. There is mini golf for families. There are lawn games in one of the bar areas. It also for a lot of mingling while watching the game. The hubby didn't want to play mini golf. I was slightly disappointed. It would have been fun to play golf at a ballpark.

One unique feature of First Tennessee Park is the scoreboard. It is shaped like a guitar. The give-away as a replica scoreboard picture frame. We made sure we came home with two of them.

We had great seats and were only a few rows from the field. The game was a typical AAA game. Nothing really special but it was good fun.

Milwaukee has the racing sausages. DC has the racing presidents. Nashville has racing Country Stars. Dolly, Johnny, and two of there friends race along foul territory. You gotta root for Johnny but Dolly was the winner when we were there.

Great ballpark. We would definitely go back if we are in the area. Hopefully in the future they will remedy the parking situation and make the area around it more ballpark friendly.

2019 Baseball Stadium Tour --SunTrust Park

As soon as I found the hubby was going to Alabama for the World Series, I was like we are going to Atlanta to see the Braves. They were on my short list of teams I want to see and probably were #7 overall.

Getting to the Game

I heard Atlanta traffic is a nightmare from several people. There is no trains that run out to SunTrust Park.. yet. I gave us plenty of time to get to the stadium. Because of the extra time in we had in Atlanta, we actually checked into the hotel instead of coming from downtown so it was an easy 10 minute drive over to the stadium.

We bought parking ahead of time. I double checked the time that parking opened. The website told me 5:00 PM. Either I looked in the wrong spot or I didn't look hard enough because the lot we had parking for didn't open until 5:30. So now we had another 30 minutes to kill before we could even park. Dinner was McDonald's (again).

Finally we were able to park. Getting back to the parking garage from McDonald's was a treat since they were just starting to direct traffic and close lanes for baseball traffic. The good thing about going to McDonald's was we were on the correct side of the street to get into the parking ramp.

Then we had to attempt to cross the street to the actual stadium as the road is open to traffic and there are no traffic lights... just a police officer directing traffic. We got across the street unscathed. Leaving the game was a different story and a cab nearly ran over a family.

Alumni Parade

Because we were there for alumni weekend, I told the hubby we had to be by the Battery (the Braves version of Yarkey Street) by 6:00 PM for the parade. We actually got there about 5:40 and found a relatively shady spot towards the end of the parade route in the front row.

Former Brave players were in town for a weekend of festivities starting with a parade of Friday. The parade featured roughly forty or so former Braves. Many of them I never heard of before but there were also some of the big names in Braves History...Jones, Smoltz, Uggla, Glavine, Murphy. It was just an experience to be that close to some of the great ballplayers of the 90s.

SunTrust Park

Once the parade was over we headed inside the ball park and to our seats. Instead of sitting ALL.THE.WAY.UPSTAIRS, we opted for the 300 level seats down the third base side. Our seats were great. We could see the whole field. I wish we were a bit closer to home plate but the seats weren't bad.

The stadium itself is kind of boring. It seems like they rushed to get it done and didn't put in too many frills. Sure you have your usually different sponsor-areas and a fancy scoreboard but other than that it wasn't any better than Miller Park.

There is the Braves Hall of Fame down on the Field Level. That is pretty cool. It has 755 balls to commemorate Hank Aaron's Home Run Record. There are rings and other memorabilia from the Braves various World Series wins including the 1957 Milwaukee Braves. It was worth checking out.

The one thing I can say about SunTrust Park is the soda prices are CHEAP! I think it was like $3 for a bottle of water and $4 for a regular soda. Any other ballpark, I'm paying a minimum of $4 or $5 for water. I'm good with $3 water. And being Atlanta, they have Coke Products.

The game itself wasn't bad. It was the Dodgers and the Braves. I got to do the tomahawk chop. The Dodgers ended up winning but we didn't stay to the end like usual.

I am a bit disappointed that this wasn't that great of a stadium. Neither the hubby or I are in any hurry to go back. Since we have many more southern teams to visit, it is a bit disappointing that it was such a let down. Maybe if they ever get a train out that way, it will help and we'd go back. It's still a very new stadium but it's in the middle of a business district. Who knows, things change and maybe a few years they will build another new stadium because this one just doesn't work location-wise anymore.