7585. Slide down the slide at the Fox Cities Stadium

 Sliding down Bernie Brewers slide is #602 on the original bucket list. As much as I want to do it, I'm too cheap to pay for the experience to do it and the hubby would never do it. When the T-Rats built a slide at Fox Cities Stadium for fans to go down, I figured that is something I could do. 

The slide at Fox Cities Stadium opened in 2023. It is in the left field corner. For $2 fans of all ages can take a turn going down the slide. For kids, you can purchase a wrist band that gives you unlimited rides on the slide and inflatables for like $10. It is cash only if you just want to go down the slide but if you buy a wrist band at the concession stands, you can pay with credit card.

I knew the hubby would just roll his eyes if I told him I wanted to go down the slide so I did it when he wasn't there. Since Heather had season tickets and got free play off tickets, she invited me to join them for the divisional play off game 1. 

It was a gorgeous night for baseball. Since we got there early enough, I decided it was the perfect night to ride the slide. I paid the $2 and climbed the 40 or so stairs to reach the top of the slide. 

Down I went. It was a lot faster than I expected. It was a definitely a thrill. I would totally do it again. I just have to remember to wear shoes and not flip flops as I wanted to go down without them. 

For an unique ball park experience, pay the $2 and ride Fang's Slide. It is painted like a snake for the Timber Rattlers. 

Now that I rode the slide at the T-Rats game, I need to find more ballpark rides to cross of the bucket list like the Ferris Wheel at Quad Cities and the carousel at Comerica Park in Detroit. Maybe Tim will make a Inside the Ballpark Attractions Passport....

4926. Go to Brewer’s a taxi squad practice/game

 Because the Pandemic messed with baseball in more ways than one, Appleton became home of the Brewers taxi squad, basically AAA players that will float between AAA and the majors to help when players are injured or out due to COVID.  Appleton was picked because it is the home of the Brewers A team and it's only about 90 miles up the road from Milwaukee. It made the most sense. 

Even though the T-Rats would have loved to have fans in the stands last year for taxi squad practices and games, they couldn't. When Major League baseball pushed back the start of the AAA season so there could be a month of taxi squads, just in case, Appleton was again chosen to be the Brewers taxi squad partner. This time fans were allowed in on a limited basis.

I told the hubby I wanted to go. Most of the practices/scrimmages were held during the day for about three hours. The hubby reluctantly agreed to go. I bought tickets. Then he got stuck waiting for Grandma at the doctor for over two hours. I was nervous he wouldn't get back in time to catch any of the scrimmage but he was home by 3:30 and we hightailed it to Fox Cities Stadium.

The taxi squad scrimmage was kind of like being at spring training. The players worked different positions in the field and took swings of the bat. A pitcher pitched a set number of pitches and types of pitches. There was a real minor league umpire calling balls and strikes. I figured a local umpire would have that job. Not every position was covered on the field at all times. The coaches set up different scenarios and that's what they focused on during the half inning.

We were able to watch about an hour of baseball. For $5, it was cheap entertainment. There were probably about 20 people there. Not many foul balls were hit but the one that was, I tried to get but someone else beat me to it.

I did stamp in. I got the first stamp at Nueroscience Field at Fox Cities Stadium since 2019. I was surprised that the stamp had 2021 because some of them did not. Getting a stamp was the real reason I wanted to go to a taxi squad game but it was fun never the less.

The hubby enjoyed it and if more games fit in his scheduled, we probably would have gone to more. It was ALMOST like being at spring training. 

Hopefully we don't need to have any more taxi squads in future seasons but we would definitely go back if we had the opportunity. 

Now we wait for the minor league season to begin and figure out when we can go to to a T-rats game this season.

Mike Jirschele Bobblehead Night

Last week I got my weekly update about promotions and happenings at Fox Cities Stadium and the T-Rat game. It said next Thursday was going to be Mike Jirschele, bobblehead night. I mentioned this to the hubby, who said he wanted one and wanted to know where he was. I told him he was in Lomira and asked if he wanted me to go and get him. His response, “Not if you’re going by yourself.” So I put a post on Facebook asking if anyone wanted to go to the game. Danielle said she’d go with me. I ordered tickets to pick up at will call.

I knew from past experience that we would need to get to the stadium before the gates opened to make sure we got a bobblehead since they were only giving away 1000 of them and Mike was a Clintonville native. Danielle was at my place around 4:45 and we were there by 5:00 for a 7 pm start. We stood in line for a half hour before the gates even opened. Luckily it waited to rain.  When we got in line, there were probably close to 100 people already in line and by the time the gates opened, the line stretch all the way down the first base side parking lot. Once we had our bobbleheads, we stood in a much shorter line to have Mike sign them. 

The line when we got in it 30 minutes before gates opened

Now you’re probably thinking why would we stand in line for this Mike guy’s bobblehead? 1. He’s from Clintonville. 2. He used to play for the Appleton Foxes 3. He is now the 3^rd base coach for the Kansas City Royals. So basically, he’s a local guy that made it to the big leagues. If you are not from the Valley or a Royals fan, this bobblehead probably has no value to you. For the hubby, it is a cool piece to add to his collection.

Getting my bobblehead signed

We never did get to see the baseball game. It poured buckets shortly after we got inside and the eventually we left. Shortly after we left, they called the game.