Baseball Stadium Tour 2018: Wrigley Field

The hubby wanted to go back to Wrigley Field after they updated it to see how it changed and make it an official visit. However I really had no ambition to go back to Wrigley and hang out with Cub Fans. Besides I really hate the el -- the platform scares me. I guess if I wanted to have the Wrigley Field check in on my app, I had to suck it up and deal with Cub Fans and scary el Platforms.

The Brewers were playing the Cubs at Wrigley on a Wednesday night. Because both teams are in the hunt for October, we figured we'd see a good game. We wantethd to get really good seats down the first base line but the Cubs and Illinois wanted to tack on over $40 in fees. I swear there was a fee just because we were Brewer fans. So we got seats down the left field line in the former bullpen area.

I got out of work early and we headed down to Chicago. We parked and picked up the train at Jarvis. We barely had a two block walk to the station. The train was relatively empty as we go towards Wrigley -- getting there 3 hours before game time might have had something to do it.

We checked out Wrigleyview for the first time. Being not much of one to enjoy the bar scene, we just kind of wandered into a few stores and then stumbled upon the highlight of the Wrigleyview, in my opinion -- Wrigleyview Station 78.

We turned the corner and I was like we are going there.We snapped a few pictures outside of the station when one of the fire fighters invited us in and told us to look around. The engine was in for repairs but it was still really cool to see a Chicago Fire House.

Wrigley Field is really unchanged. Yes the bullpens are no longer on the field and they added some electronic sign boards but it's still Wrigley -- few restrooms and the concessions still under the stands. And if you get there early enough, food is cheaper. We both had really good steak sandwiches.

We got there in time for Brewers batting practice. How often do you get to see the Brewers take practice or even any team any more? It was amazing. We stood in the left field corner and tried to get a ball that was hit in the corner. I am not happy with Hader at the moment, he'd rather give a ball the annoying Cubs munchkins instead of a Brewer Fan. I'm not bitter or anything... I still believe my ball got lost in the ivy anyways.

The game was really good. Our seats were amazing. The Brewers won. We spent a lot of time standing in the later innings to be able to see. The game really did have a play off atmosphere.

The ride back on the el was something else. Two or three southbound trains came and went before a northbound train showed up. And the train was packed even before it got to the station.We actually managed to snag a seat and by the time we got to Jarvis it was rather empty.

When the Cubs start losing again and they decide not to tax the heck of us Wisconsinites, I may actually get over my fear of the el and head back to Wrigley Field. However until then I will be more than happy to stay away from Wrigleyview.

Baseball Stadium Tour 2018: Dow Diamond

Since we saw the Indians play in Cleveland yesterday, we hoped to hit a minor league game on the way home today. The minor league season ends on Labor Day and there are several teams between Cleveland and Wisconsin... South Bend, Fort Wayne, Toledo, several in Michigan. It turns out that only Great Lakes and Western Michigan were home. The hubby didn't want to go through Chicago on the way home so we headed to Midland, MI and Dow Diamond.

Dow Diamond is the home of the Great Lake Loons, the Single-A team of the Dodgers. Dow Chemical is a big sponsor of the stadium and town. And you could tell. Dow Diamond is magnificent. It has 2 gates -- the main gate behind home plate and the outfield gate which we entered through. The outfield seating has fire pits which probably comes in handy for those early season games. It is one of the few Single-A parks that we've been to that you can walk all the way around it. They are plenty of concession stands that offer a variety of options. The team store is even 2 stories!

Their mascot is obviously a Loon -- Lou E Loon to be exact. However, they also have a Rally Camel as well. I've heard of Rally Caps but never a stinky fish wielding rally camel. He was actually more entertaining than the game.

Speaking of the game, the Loons faced the South Bend Cubs.. still can't away from those pesky Cubs. In order to get home by midnight, we had to leave by 4:30-5:00. Too bad we couldn't stay because when we left in the 5th, it was a 0-0 tie. The Cubs did end up winning 1-0. We missed the end of a good game.

Including Dow Diamond, we've been to six different Single-A ballparks and 2 Tripe-A ballparks.  I was also to a Double A park. This is by far one of my favorites. The seats are comfortable, the concourse is wide, and the atmosphere is one of baseball. For those baseball fans that actually read this, I would definitely put Dow Diamond on places to visit if you are in Michigan and want to see a ball game.

Baseball Stadium Tour 2018: Progressive Field

The hubby really wanted to go to Progressive Field in Cleveland this year… that and Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City. Since we did Kansas City for our vacation, we headed to Cleveland for Labor Day. I know most people are trying to hit the beach or some other one last summery weekend, we are going to Cleveland. That’s what baseball does to fanatics.. makes them take crazy trips all over the country just to see a baseball game but I won’t have it any other way (most of the time).

Progressive Field replaced Municipal Stadium as the home of the Cleveland Indians. It is smack dab downtown and next to where the Cavaliers play. There’s plenty of parking garages around so parking isn’t a problem. It was pretty easy to get in and out of downtown before and after the game.

The stadium is average. For all the history in Cleveland, I wasn’t feeling it too much at Progressive Field. There is a nice Honor Walk in left field but everything else was just meh. 

Maybe it was because we were in nose bleed heaven. about 7 rows from the top or maybe it was because it was kid's day. I just wasn't digging Progressive Field.

I have to say thought the concourse up in the boom shakes was quite impressive. They had a fair amount of concessions and even a souvenir stand or two plus plenty of bathrooms.

The Indians put a fair amount of emphasis on Kids' Day and the whole indoor play area designed for kids. Before the game they kept broadcasting live from inside the kid zone. I get they want to have a spot for the kids and it was kids day on all but it was way over done. 

The baseball game was unremarkable. The Rays took a 6-0 lead and held on. The Indians tried to make a come back after we left but fell short. The one unique thing about the game, the Rays pitched a bullpen game like they did  most of the season. They didn't use a starting pitcher but worked from the bullpen the entire game so a pitcher may work an inning or two at most.. maybe just a batter. That was the first time we've seen that.

Milwaukee has the racing sausages. Washington has the racing presidents. Cleveland has the racing condiments.

To be fair, I would give Cleveland another shot especially if it wasn't a Sunday. I would even pay to sit lower so it doesn't feel like we were so far from the action. Progressive Field isn't one of my favorites but it' my least favorite either. 

Stadium Tour 2018 -- Principle Field

When planning our vacations, I look at major league teams and then filter my way down to A Teams in the area and on the way back home. Since we were leaving Omaha, we had several possibilities of teams in Iowa to see. The one that we both wanted see was the Iowa Cubs, the Chicago Cubs Triple-ATeam. Lucky for us there were home on the day we needed them to be.

Since it was raining on and off for most of the drive to Des Moines, I checked the Cubs Facebook page to make sure the game was still on. To my pleasant surprise, last night’s game was postponed in the 5^th inning and would continue at about 5:00 tonight. Then the 2^nd game would be a 7 inning game. Free baseball (with a shortened game) was okay with us.

The Iowa Cubs play at Principle Field in downtown Des Moines. They charged $10 for parking which is the most any minor league team we have visited to date has charged. Most teams charged $5. Typical Cubs….

We got to Principle Field early enough and browsed the team store. We finally found the minor league baseball passport and picked it. We got our first official stamp in it and it had to be the Cubs.

The other nice thing about getting the passport was there is a spot for autographs. Since we were there early and the Cubs were playing the Colorado Spring Sky Sox, the Brewers Triple-A affiliate, we were able to watch warm ups and stretching. Because our seats were by the Sky Sox dug out, we had a few opportunities during warm ups to get a few autographs in our new passport.

In typical minor league ball park fashion, there was plenty of gimmicks and games between innings – some of which were carried over from last night. The featured a lot of kids in them. The hubby comes to see the park and the baseball, he could care less about the frills. I don’t mind them so much because it’s something else to pay attention to besides baseball.

My favorite part of the Principle Field is the manual score board. Just like Wriggly Field, the score board is manually changed after every half inning or when a run scores. I love the old school manual scoreboards.

Food options were relatively inexpensive. We both had decent chicken tenders. There were tables in the concourse to sit and eat at instead of balancing your food on your lap at your seats. Besides your typical concessions, there was also a beer garden with a ton of craft beers.

The games themselves weren’t all that exciting. The Sky Sox won the first game and got trounced in the second game. Our seats were pretty close to the action and if it wasn’t for all the little kids around us in the second game, I’m sure we would have taken home a ball.

Principle Field is a nice park but it’s full of the typical Cub fans. Some of them are friendly others are just as rude as they are in Chicago. I’m glad we got to see the Brewers Triple A team since most of those guys bounced between Colorado Springs and Milwaukee. If our travels take us through Des Moines, we may stop again but I wouldn’t go out of our way to come back.

Stadium Tour 2018: Werner Park

Once we figured out we were going to Kansas City, I had to start figuring out what minor league teams were home when we were going to be in the area. I was hoping to get a AAA Park since I've seen A, AA, and major league games. I really wanted to see an AAA game. Luck was on my side and the Omaha Storm chasers were in town. Omaha is only 2.5 hours from Kansas City and we were headed back north so it worked perfectly.

The Omaha Storm Chasers are the Royals AAA Team. They used to be the Omaha Royals when they played at Rosenblatt Stadium. When they were forced to build a new stadium, they got a name change too. Werner Park is about 7 years old and out in the middle of nowhere. There is a subdivision or two but it's mainly farmland. The way we came in, there wasn't really any signs telling us how to get to the ball park. We did see a sign on the highway though.

Werner Park is actually very nice. Like Kaufman Stadium there is a decent sized kid's area complete with a carousel. There was golf as well.

You can walk all the way around the stadium which is nice when you need to get your steps in.

The clubhouses are not attached to the dugouts so there is a walkway that places use to get to to the clubhouse. Because of this, there is an autograph alley where you can get players autographs as they walk to and from the clubhouse. It is also how they get the grounds crew equipment on the field.

It was Harry Potter night. We could pick our house we wanted to be in. I was Gryffindor and I gave the hubby Ravenclaw. I told him he couldn't be Slytherin. He just rolled his eyes at the whole thing. After each inning, depending on what plays were made, houses were awarded points. I am not sure what happened at the end of the game because we left early. Maybe we all got a prize or maybe it was just bragging rights.

It was also 50 cent snack night. Chips, Nachos, sodas, peanuts were all 50 cents. So for $2 we had a very nice snack. Too bad it was Pepsi (like most stadiums) but at least they offered lemonade.

The game itself was not very memorable. No heroics and anything that I can seem to recall. It was just a good night for baseball. As we were walking around a foul ball went into the concourse, I ran after it losing my flip flops but a kid beat me to it. He must have saw my bare feet and gave me the ball.

Like every other minor league, there were gimmicks and games between innings. I think the T-Rats were right a few years back "Come for the game. Stay for the fun." I would rather not have all the hoopla between innings but it is interesting to watch.

I would definitely go back to Werner Park if we are ever in the area. It's clean, easy to get to, and relatively cheap baseball. Besides what else there to do in Omaha??