2025 Baseball Stadium Tour: Louisville Slugger Field

 Initially our baseball trip this summer was going to take us to South Bend and Indianapolis until we discovered the Indiana State Fair was going on also downtown Indianapolis. Hotels and parking were nearly non-existent or exorbitant. When I saw that Louisville was home, we decided to due South Bend and Louisville. Louisville was on my short list of Minor League Parks to see. 

Louisville Slugger Field is the home of the Louisville Bats. The Bats are the AAA-Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. Slugger Field is downtown Louisville with a parking lot across the street. If you arrive early enough, you can snag street parking with is free after 6 PM. We ended up paying like $2 for parking which is better than $10 and it was the same walk. 

Slugger Field reminds of the Louisville Slugger Museum in terms of looks. It has the same appearance. 

Inside you could watch them make bats.

Of course our first stop was the team store to get my stamp. The lady was wonderful and let me stamp since someone yelled at her for messing it up once. We are particular when it comes to our stamps. I also got my Louisville Bats bat. 

The field was a great field to walk around. Very roomy and open. 

We even got to make our own bobbleheads courtesy of State Farm. 

The game was actually the best we saw all week. It looked like major league baseball. Hunter Green pitched on rehab for the bats. He didn't look very good and got beat up early. 

Because we had pizza before the game, we didn't eat anything at the game. Maybe next time. 

Louisville Slugger Field was a great ballpark and we would definitely go back. It was easy to get to and easy to get back into Indiana where we stayed. 

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.