2025 Baseball Stadium Tour: Day Air Ballpark

 As I was planning our trip, I realized that Dayton was only about 90 minutes from the train ride I was looking at in Connersville, IN. I casually mentioned to the hubby we could extend the trip a day and catch a Dragons Game. He was like isn't that the minor league team that is Lambeau and sell out all their games. I was like probably. After some schedule adjustments, we added Dayton to our trip and found a different train museum for the hubby.

Day Air Ballpark is the home of the Dayton Dragons, which is the High-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. It is located downtown Cincinnati. Tickets can be hard to come by but if you are flexible, you should be able to find tickets for when you want to go. There are several neighbor parking lots and garages you can park in. We paid for parking ahead of time and it was a breeze. 

Day Air Ballpark is an easy park to maneuver through. The concourse is large and roomy. I never felt crowded any time walked around. 

Our first stop was to the team store for a stamp. I was tempted to get a Dragon's mini bat but decided to wait until Louisville to pick one up.

Our seats were along the third base side. Although we couldn't secure aisle seats (waited too long), they were good seats and our neighbors were friendly. 

We especially liked that they still used chalk to line the batter's boxes. They shook the chalk on. It was an exact science that took patience and care.

We opted for dinner at the ballpark. The hot dogs smelled like feet so I opted for a brisket sandwich. Day Air Ballpark has Dr. Pepper. I was a very happy camper. The hubby said his hot dogs were good. 

I think my favorite part of the night was between innings when the Retirement Village People performed. They did this twice.. Once on the third base dugout and later on the first base dugout. They were hilarious. I don't know where they found these group but I would pay money to see them perform again.

The game itself was not that exciting. The Dragons played Lake County Captains. The Dragons lost 7-5. It was just a lot of small. It was fun seeing teams we normally don't see in Appleton. Jackson Churro's brother, Jaison, plays for the Captains. 

Day Air Ballpark is definitely on our list of ballparks to return to if it works out. It was welcoming and just a fun atmosphere for baseball. 

Getting My Stamp On

 A few years ago when we were at the Royals game, I was told about a Facebook group that is all about visiting different stadiums. I just kind of made a mental note and figured that information would be useful down the road. A few days later we were at the Iowa Cubs game and I saw the Minor League Stadium Passport and bought it. It was a bit outdated since Savannah was still listed but I didn't care. We were on a mission to see all the minor league parks and this would be a good way to track them.

Iowa Cubs versus the Colorado Springs Sky Sox was my first stamp. I would pick up several more minor league stamps including Midland and Nashville. Then the pandemic happened and minor league baseball was restructured.

Then while at spring training the other year, I saw someone carrying what looked to be a passport. Sure enough there is a spring training passport and I had to have it. So now I have 2 passports plus my national park password. It is still 1 park.. 1 stamp. No multiple stamps for me.

I never really felt the need to stamp in at a Major League game since the ballpark app allowed me to check in and track teams and stadiums. Then the pandemic hit and I discovered the Ballpark Stampeders Facebook Group.

This is a group of baseball fans that visit baseball stadiums and stamp in. Some have been to all 30 stadiums and more. This group made me want to stamp in at Major League games as well. However, unlike the minor passport, there are several options for the major league park.

You can get the Big Book -- which has a page for each of the current major league ballparks and allows you to add inserts as new parks become available. It is leather bound and comes with $75 price tag.

Or you can get smaller books like the minor league passport which are $20. Since I got a deal, I got the big book and a little book. Of course, I did....

My little book is set up for Milwaukee games only and 1 page per team. If we see a team more than once (and we always see the Reds or the pirates), extra stamps will go in the back.

Since the minor league has been restructured and teams lost, I need a new minor league passport or four of them.. one for each league. I only got one so far. I will get the rest as I need them. I liked that it is red so it easier tell apart from the Major league ones.

I will continue to use my old minor league passport for duplicate games and special games like a taxi squad game.

So now I have 5 major league passports and 2 national park passports. That's a lot of stamping and book lugging on vacation but it will worth it. 

I love being part of the Ballpark Stampeders Group. I learned I'm probably one of the less crazy stampers out there. Every stamper has stories to tell and their own way to stamp. I met a fellow stamper at the Brewer game this year.. his seats were in the next section over. I'm sure I will meet more as time goes. It is a fun little hobby and if you ever have a desire to visit multiple ballparks, you might want to think about stamping in as well.