Tour 2026: Coca-Cola Park

All photos of Coca-Cola Park available on Flickr.

It was a little over an hour north to part two of our Saturday doubleheader - a Lehigh Valley IronPigs game in Allentown, PA.  We normally just buy walk-up tickets when we go to non-major league games, but we made sure to purchase these in advance because the I-Pigs are perennially one of the highest attended teams in all of the minor leagues.  That was evident right away when we arrived to full parking lots and were forced to park in a garage across the street.  This did not bother us at all, but on the contrary got us excited to be a part of a 2nd consecutive sellout minor league crowd; this was a far cry from the St. Paul Saints and New Hampshire Fisher Cats games we normally frequent.

Coca-Cola Park was built to house the former Ottawa Lynx, who moved to Allentown following the 2007 season.  As we approached through the parking lot, we were greeted by a rather disappointing and drab exterior, almost resembling a mall.  I was expecting to see a stadium that showcased the beauty of steel, as the famous Bethlehem Steel is what the Lehigh Valley is known for, but I guess they must have went with EIFS and masonry in protest of their bankruptcy.  I'm an architect so I'm going to find fault in just about any design, but I just didn't find it impressive.  It definitely had the appropriate scale and presence of a AAA ballpark.  This ballpark gets so many fans on a regular basis that they have entry down to a science and were directing people to different gates based on what type of tickets they have.  We ended up walking into the right field corner gate just as we did in Hartford, and we were greeted by a giant food plaza and an intoxicating aroma of pork.  The IronPigs go all-in on the pig theme and you can get just about any sort of pork food dish imaginable here.  We literally had to go on the team website and peruse all of the options just to make sure we didn't miss any options when selecting our dinners.  We had both eaten barely anything by the time we got there and I was salivating just from waiting in line.  I went with the Porker Pierogi Bowl and Erik had a pulled pork parfait, and both were heavenly.  Items such as a Three Little Pigs Sandwich, pork poutine, pork mac & cheese, and candied bacon on a stick were just a fraction of the other options.  Variety and taste are both important but are only a part of our concessions ranking, with vendor price being perhaps equally as important.  We were pleasantly surprised with the affordability here, which speaks to the massive crowds this team draws on a nightly basis in a very blue collar part of the state.  I only paid $10 for my meal, and I would not have been shocked to pay twice that just about anywhere else.  Tickets were nearly half what we paid in Hartford for basically the same seats.  It was only $10 for a 32oz IPA.  It's not the most glamorous minor league ballpark by any means, but the value for your money and the sellout crowds at an I-Pigs game are unrivaled.

Continuing in the community blue-collar spirit of this ballpark, aside from your typical suite level there were very few private areas, with almost everything accessible either to all fans or with an individual ticket.  There was an expansive tiki bar in left field and an open bar in right field that were open to all fans, and we spent a few innings at the RF bar.  I loved the picnic patio in the LF corner that had the seats angled facing directly toward the batter, and I also enjoyed the flame stacks that shot fire upward for homeruns.  The money for this place does have to come from somewhere, so it is unfortunately about the most advertisement-filled stadium you'll find outside of Roger Dorn's redecorating in Major League II.  They have literally walls of scaffolding constructed for the sole purpose of hanging ad signage and there is no square inch left uncovered in the outfield.  This is but a minor drawback to an otherwise delightful experience in Lehigh Valley.  I was also happy to not run into any of my ex-fiancé's family while we were there, so that was a bonus.

The I-Pigs battled the Columbus Clippers on this night, and came away victorious by a score of 6-3.  As is typical at the AAA-level, the rosters were a hodgepodge of prospects on the doorstep of the big leagues, a bunch of dudes filling out the 40-man roster, a few guys on rehab assignments, and some has-beens and never-will-be's clinging on for one last gasp.  Carter Kieboom and journeyman dickbag Tommy Pham fell into the latter category for Lehigh Valley.  Kieboom acquitted himself well with a 2-run double, but Pham went 0-3 and was batting .183 as of Saturday's game.  We had fun time heckling him and asking how his fantasy football team was doing (go ahead and google "Tommy Pham fantasy football" if you don't know what I'm talking about).  Chuck King managed just 5 innings and walked 5 but still got the win.  Bo Naylor went 2-5 out of the cleanup spot on a rehab assignment with the Clippers.  Unfortunately, the Phillies and Guardians #1 prospects both did not play in this game.  Aidan Miller is currently on the IL for the I-Pigs, and Ralphy Velazquez was likely already in Philly preparing for the Futures Game we would see him in on Sunday.

Following the game, we were treated to another wonderful fireworks display.  We then of course blasted "Allentown" by Billy Joel on the way home, and immediately passed out after a long and exciting Day 2.

park stats and rankings:

aesthetics - 6
views from park - 2 (blocked by ads)
view to field - 6 (lots of foul territory)
surrounding area - 2
food variety - 10
nachos - 10 (I didn't see any, but I'm just giving them a 10 because I'm sure they had pork on them)
beer - 10 (they have a great beer garden)
vendor price - 9
ticket price - 9
atmosphere - 9 (sellout)
walk to park - 4
parking price/proximity - 3 (across the street for $5)
concourses - 9
team shop - 9
kids area - 8 (good proximity to field and free)

best food - can't go wrong with anything porky
most unique stadium feature - huge crowds, row of seats in front of bullpen
best jumbotron feature - inserting Rodney Dangerfield dancing in Caddyshack into other movie clips
best between-inning feature - pork race

field dimensions - 325/400/325
starters - Logan Allen (COL) v. Chuck King (LHV)
opponent - Columbus Clippers
time of game - 2:37
attendance - 10000
score - 6-3 W
Brewers score that day - 7-6 L, 3-2 L

Tour 2026: MLB Draft

All photos of Philadelphia and 2026 MLB Draft available on Flickr.

Saturday was the day I was most looking forward to of the trip and also the most exhausting.  It was the one day we had to set an alarm, and we were on the road for Philly a little after 7:00am for the 4+ hour drive.  The bulk of this drive would be on our old Tour nemesis - I-95 - so we knew to expect traffic and made sure to give ourselves plenty of time to make it for the first pick at 1:30.  It started out beautifully as we headed south to New Haven and west along the Long Island Sound, but sure enough we slowed down through the Bronx and into Newark.  Why there is not a better bypass system to get around New York City, I'll never know.  It was our longest drive of the trip, and we mostly passed the time listening to a very entertaining reggae radio station we stumbled upon, featuring a thick-accented Jamaican DJ that was eager to repeat the same event ad reads over and over.  We also made a pit stop in New Jersey, at which I learned that it is the only state in the union where it is illegal to pump your own gas.  We made it into downtown Philly just before noon, got checked into our hotel, and walked past city hall over to the convention center for the Draft.

Up until 5 years ago, the Rule 4 Draft was historically held in early June, which was always an incredibly inconvenient time as most college players are still in school and many of the top picks might even still be playing.  The draft back then was also extremely inaccessible to the average fan.  The advent of MLB Network and the rise of social media helped with this some, but it was never the spectacle that the NFL or NBA drafts are.  That all changed with with the latest CBA in 2021 when it was formally moved to be integrated with All-Star Week.  This change gave the league an opportunity to better market the sport and give prominence to this event like never before.  Fans visiting a city for the All-Star Game could now go watch the draft in person just like all the other major sports.  I'm not sure how it's been the last 5 years, but this year it was free but you had to register for an opportunity to be one of the supposedly 250 fans let in.  The Luck of the Tour was on our side once again and I was selected!  Fans started being let in at 12:30, and we rushed up the escalator to claim chairs as close as we could to the stage.  On the way to our seats, we passed by rows and rows of analysts and team representatives actually working the draft, as well as multiple television crews.  It felt like we truly had VIP access, and quite simply it was one of the coolest baseball events I've ever been a part of.  To be in the same room as star former players, media personalities, and the commissioner of baseball, not to mention the honor of witnessing the most important moment in the lives of a few dozen athletes, was something I'll never forget.  Erik and I were memorialized on TV and the internet several times in our Brewers and Twins jerseys respectively, cheering loudly for each pick.  It all felt like a crazy dream that we got to be there, and it was my favorite part of our trip.  Any baseball fan needs to add this event to their bucket list ASAP. 

My one complaint for this particular iteration of the event was the very limited concessions.  We ended up leaving about 3 hours in after the Brewers #25 pick, but the draft lasted well into the evening and really your only options were popcorn, pretzels, and soda.  It definitely wouldn't have been enough real food to sustain us had we chosen to stay longer.  In the pro column, I loved how much they tried to make it a very personal experience for the limited number of fans in attendance.  This is clearly an event best suited for television audiences, but MLB Network and the emcee made every effort to entertain the crowd during the breaks and made sure we more than just 250 flies on the wall - and all the free swag didn't hurt either.  It felt like we were a part of a live studio audience that just got kind of a peek behind the curtain of how the draft runs, and it was a pretty indescribable feeling.

One other major factor in the MLB Draft gaining more popularity in recent years is that draft picks make a faster impact in the big leagues than ever before, and the White Sox #1 overall pick of UCLA SS Roch Cholowsky was perfect evidence of that.  It used to be that a team would pick a guy, and he would get exiled to the minor leagues and nobody would hear from him again for 5+ years.  It's not uncommon now for the top picks or polished college players to get called up to the majors within 1-2 years.  Many experts believe that Roch will be ready for the bigs as early as next year and that that was a factor in them choosing him.  There are many "inside baseball" reasons for this fast tracking that I won't get into here - the slashing of minor league teams is one of the many - but it's undeniable that it makes the Draft more exciting for the casual MLB fan when they can visualize these players helping their team sooner rather than later.  The first 4 picks were chalk - Cholowsky (or Cha-loose-kee as our commissioner says), HS SS Grady Emerson #2 to the Rays, Georgia Tech C Vahn Lackey #3 to the Twins, and UCSB P Jackson Flora #4 to the Giants.  The Pirates and Royals then selected a couple of moderate surprises projected to go lower in the 1st round and it was off to the races.  UNC P Jack Schaffner #20 to the Red Sox and HS SS Trey Ebel #25 to the Brewers were the biggest surprises of the 1st round, if you define "surprise" as merely the biggest gap between their rank and where they were selected.  Any Brewers fan or draft expert should know by now that it's never a surprise for them to take a value pick in the 1st round to save money for spending later in the draft, which is exactly what they did when they stole TCU OF Sawyer Strosnider at the back of the 2nd round.  This is famously how the Brewers managed to snag Cooper Pratt away from a college commitment a few years ago, and now he is their starting SS with a long-term contract.  For as amazing an experience the draft was, by the time the Brewers picked it was starting to get a little redundant, so we left after that to head to our 2nd part of the day in Allentown.

2026 MLB DRAFT ROUND 1/PPI/1A: 

1.  CHW - Roch Cholowsky, UCLA, SS

2.  TB - Grady Emerson, HS, SS

3.  MIN - Vahn Lackey, Georgia Tech, C

4.  SF - Jackson Flora, UC-Santa Barbara, RHP

5.  PIT - Derek Curiel, LSU, OF

6.  KC - Zion Rose, Louisville, OF

7.  BAL - Eric Booth Jr., HS, OF

8.  ATH - Drew Burress, Georgia Tech, OF

9.  ATL - AJ Gracia, Virginia, OF

10.  COL - Tyler Bell, Kentucky, SS

11.  WSH - Chris Hacopian, Texas A&M, 2B

12.  LAA - Jared Grindlinger, HS, OF

13.  STL - Trevor Condon, HS, OF

14.  MIA - Jacob Lombard, HS, SS

15.  ARZ - Ryder Helfrick, Arkansas, C

16.  TEX - Gio Rojas, HS, LHP

17.  HOU - Logan Hughes, Texas Tech, OF

18.  CIN - Justin Lebron, Alabama, SS

19.  CLE - Liam Peterson, Florida, RHP

20.  BOS - Jack Schaffner, UNC, RHP

21.  SD - Coleman Borthwick, HS, RHP

22.  DET - Cameron Flukey, Coastal Carolina, RHP

23.  CHC - Cade Townsend, Ole Miss, RHP

24.  SEA - Ace Reese, MS State, 3B

25.  MIL - Trey Ebel, HS, SS

26.  ATL - Carter Beck, Indiana State, OF

27.  NYM - Carson Wiggins, Arkansas, RHP

28.  HOU - Jack Radel, ND, RHP

29.  SF - Carson Bolemon, HS, LHP

30.  KC - Tyler Rabe, Ole Miss, RHP

31.  ARZ - Blake Bryant, HS, RHP

32.  STL - Tegan Kuhns, Tennessee, RHP

33.  TB - Taj Marchand, HS, SS

34.  CHW - Landon Thome, HS, SS

35.  NYY - Hunter Dietz, Arkansas, LHP

36.  PHI - Tyler Spangler, HS, SS

37.  COL - Daniel Jackson, Georgia, C

38.  COL - Logan Reddemann, UCLA, RHP

39.  TOR - Cole Carlon, ASU, LHP

40.  LAD - Bo Lowrance, HS, SS

venue - Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia

Tour 2026: Dunkin' Park

All photos of Hartford and Dunkin' Park available on Flickr.

I just got back from Philadelphia on our Tour 2026 trip, and recency bias aside, this was probably a top 5 all-time trip for us.  One of the main reasons we decided to go to the all-star festivities despite having already done that in 2014 was to be a part of the USA 250 celebrations in the birthplace of our nation, and that definitely added another layer of pomp and circumstance and excitement.  But of course, we fit in some minor league ball first.  I flew in to Albany a day early to visit another friend, and Erik graciously picked me up there en route from New Hampshire to Hartford, Connecticut for our first stop of the trip to see the Yard Goats.  It was about a 2-hour uneventful drive from Albany to Hartford and we arrived with a few hours to spare before first pitch, so after checking in to our downtown hotel, we hit a couple of bars on a cool pedestrian street nearby, Pratt Street.  The first was Urban Lodge Brewing followed by Vaughan's Public House.  The slow transition from folks skipping work to watch the World Cup to old women pregaming the Lionel Richie concert next door was entertaining to say the least, and both places were really fun and energetic.  After tossing back a few, we walked the 4 blocks to the park and got in around an hour before the 7:10 first pitch.

Dunkin' Park opened in 2017, and at the time of its inception, it became Hartford's first foray into affiliated ball in over 6 decades.  The tale of the stadium is a very common tale for new cities luring a minor league team, in this case moving the former Rock Cats over from nearby New Britain.  It opened to rave reviews including several "Best Ballpark" awards, and was envisioned as a catalyst for an area of downtown known as DoNo (Downtown North).  Grand visions take grand amounts of money, and this ballpark is infamous for its troubles with cost overruns nearly from the start, which delayed its opening by a full season.  The city would eventually fire the original contractor and developer and a lawsuit was filed over the whole mess, which was ruled in favor of the city for a mere fraction of the contract sum.  That feels like a distant memory now, and nearly 10 years later, the immediate surrounding area has been slow to develop around it.  I went for a walk around the park early the next morning only to find several large empty blocks of dirt and not a single adjacent business open.  It's a familiar cautionary tale that no city ever seems to learn their lesson from, but we were in Hartford to watch ball and not play politics - and judging by the large crowd of people at the game and all the Yard Goats gear around town, nobody else seems to care anymore either.

The main entrance to this ballpark is in the right field corner and is marked by a tall concrete tower with the Dunkin' logo at the top.  This is where we walked in and was really the only area of activity around the park.  The other sides of the park are primarily brick and concrete with a few side gates, but otherwise not many windows or other opportunities to see in.  The edges make an attempt to engage with the street, particularly along Main Street, but it's pretty obvious there were some cost saving measures on the other three sides.  There was nothing of interest that drew my eye or enticed me to want to walk anywhere off of Main.  What you would traditionally call the "front" of the ballpark behind home plate is on the southwest corner of Main and Pleasant, and there is actually a storefront space here that is some sort of clinic or community center.  It was a nice attempt to blend the park into the community and a larger development, but again when it's closed and everything around it is closed or vacant, it doesn't really serve a purpose other than taking away a nice opportunity for a grand main entrance.  This site definitely has potential if it ever starts to fill in, but the main deterrent as in many other cities is a giant freeway running just south of the site that effectively cuts it off from the rest of downtown.  Dunkin' Park is a clear attempt by the city for transformational development on the north side of the interstate, but while there is definitely some new construction happening, as of today it is nowhere near fully realized.

The interior is where this park shines, and where you will find some of the more unique spaces and features compared to most other parks of this level.  With a capacity of just over 6000, it is one of the smaller parks in the Eastern League, and the Yard Goats make great use of every square foot of a challenging footprint.  The first thing you notice walking in from right field is the 2nd deck in right field, which is one of the few if any outfield upper decks I can recall ever seeing at a minor league park.  This is not like a tiered party deck or anything either, we're talking a full deck with 6 rows of actual seats.  It reminded me a little of the 2nd deck we encountered at a Windy City Thunderbolts game, except in that case it was very odd and seemed to exist just to exist, and here in Hartford it was probably out of necessity for a tight site.  What makes it even more interesting is the field level seating below the 2nd deck is behind a net, so a player could theoretically hit a ball off that outfield net and it would still be in play - only the 2nd deck is in homerun territory.  There is a concourse that walks under this 2nd deck at field level with a 333' distance marker next to a striped yellow line, so either this deck was added after the park opened, or this is a cute way to highlight that it is incredibly short down the RF line.  Walking through the outfield behind the batters eye you arrive at a goat tent.  Not a tent selling goat to eat (which is what I really wanted) but rather a goat petting area.  My kids would have gone nuts to see that, but it also seemed cruel to put it in the dark back corner with no air movement.  Emerging from this tunnel, the concourse opens up into a large "Travelers Patio" area in left-center complete with picnic seating and a BBQ stand, from which Erik got some delicious bacon-wrapped meatballs and I enjoyed a frosty IPA.  There is also a nice open bar/patio area closer to the left field pole.  The main concourse contains the majority of the food stands, and what they lack in goat-themed items they more than make up for with Dunkin' Donut-themed items.  There was a donut bun hamburger, and I went with the donut hole nachos, which was one of the best foods I've ever eaten at a ballpark.  I am one who typically avoids super messy foods, but I couldn't resist trying it, and I devoured almost the entire plate myself.  I also liked the tiny press boxes that were off-center instead of one giant one blocking the middle, and I loved the field level suites adjacent to the dugouts.  Overall I think they nailed the private-to-public area ratio and I really enjoyed the variety of seating.  It's a park where almost no two sections look the same yet it is very cohesive, which is tough to pull off.  It's easy to see why this stadium has won so many awards, and I would put it near the top of the AA stadiums I've been to (hard to top the lazy river in Frisco, but I don't know that I'd want to sit in a river of Hartford city water).

The game pitted the Rockies-affiliated Yard Goats against the Mets-affiliated Rumble Ponies, with Hartford prevailing by a 7-2 score over last-place Binghamton.  The top Rockies prospect in the game was 2B Roc Riggio, a 2023 draft pick of the Yankees who was acquired as part of the Jake Bird deal last year.  He went 1-2 with a double and 3 walks out of the 3-hole.  SP Jack Mahoney was masterful, striking out 9 over 7.2 strong innings.  He gave up a bomb to a rehabbing Luis Robert Jr. in the 8th to put an end to his night and that was the only earned run he gave up in his outing.  I'm not even seeing him in the Rockies Top 30 despite have a sub-2 ERA.  There was nobody else I recognized on the R-Ponies aside from Robert and none of their top 30 prospects played in the game.  Y-Goats SS Andy Perez continued his great season with 2 RBI out of the leadoff spot, and RF Braylen Wimmer had multiple RBI in the win as well.

There was about a 5-minute Radio Flyer fireworks show that started almost immediately after the game.  On our way back to the hotel, we were unsuccessful in acquiring last minute Lionel Richie tickets, so the concert must either have been over already or he passed out on stage.  Probably for the best as we had an early wakeup call to get to Philly for the MLB Draft!

park stats and rankings:

aesthetics - 7
views from park - 5 (decent view to downtown from left field, mysterious windowless concrete building in left)
view to field - 8
surrounding area - 5 (downtown Hartford is a few blocks but immediate surrounding area is deserted)
food variety - 9
nachos - 10 (donut hole nachos!)
beer - 8
vendor price - 8
ticket price - 7
atmosphere - 8 (sellout)
walk to park - 6 (at this point in my life, just walking past tall buildings gets bonus points)
parking price/proximity - n/a (walked)
concourses - 7 (a little tight in some areas but unique)
team shop - 7
kids area - 3 (all I saw was the goat pen)

best food - donut hole nachos!
most unique stadium feature - upper deck/short porch in right field
best jumbotron feature - The Hartford credit card shuffle
best between-inning feature - goat rodeo

field dimensions - 325/400/308
starters - Bryce Conley (BNG) v. Jack Mahoney (HFD)
opponent - Binghamton Rumble Ponies
time of game - 2:44
attendance - 6687
score - 7-2 W
Brewers score that day - PPD

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 7/15/26:

Brewers 59-37, +5.0; 3 v. Marlins, 3 v. Mets, 3 v. Rockies

Twins 48-49, - 3.0, -- WC; 3 @ Cubs, 4 @ Guardians, 3 v. Athletics

2026 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 7

Peter - 20

Major Anniversaries for Brewers

(photo of Borchert Field, Milwaukee ca. 1911)

It feels like the USA Semiquincentennial has been capturing the minds and spirits of Americans for most of this year (and rightfully so).  With that event now come and gone, I wanted to draw attention to a couple of significant baseball anniversaries happening this year in Milwaukee that I feel have gotten lost in the excitement of America250.  The first of these is the 25th Anniversary of the opening of what is now referred to as American Family Field.  This technically occurred on April 6th of this year, but is being celebrated with an Alumni Legends Game on July 24th.  At least one member of the Brewers from the last 25 years will be represented in this game, and it is a follow-up to the extremely popular Alumni Homerun Derby that occurred for the 25th season last summer.  The headliner will undoubtedly be Ryan Braun, who to this day remains one of the most popular and greatest Brewers of all time, still my favorite player of all time, and not to mention is still on the Brewers payroll and an important part of the Milwaukee community.  He is 42 years old, but looks like he could suit up tomorrow and not be much worse of a DH than Christian Yelich is right now.  This event features $2.50 beer and brats and I really wish I could attend if I weren't working at German Fest.  I would be shocked if this doesn't become a semi-annual event, so I'm sure I'll get there one day.

The other lesser known but still important milestone occurring for the Brewers this year is the 125th Anniversary of the original Brewers major league franchise.  Most Brewers fans probably know that the current iteration of the team began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969.  Many Brewers fans probably also know that the current Atlanta Braves had a stint in Milwaukee from 1953-1965 at County Stadium, winning it all in 1957 for the city's only baseball championship to date.  There may even be some fans old enough to remember that Milwaukee had a minor league team - also called the Brewers - for half a century until the Braves came to town, who played at old Borchert Field, which has since been paved over as present-day Interstate 43.  However, it takes a particular baseball weirdo like myself to know that for one season in 1901, the Brewers briefly existed as a major league franchise in the newly-formed American League.  In fact, the American League was actually founded as a major league at a former hotel in Milwaukee, and there is still a plaque on MLK & Kilbourn commemorating this event.  Following the 1901 season, the Brewers would relocate to St. Louis to become the Browns, and would eventually go on to become the modern-day Baltimore Orioles.  So technically, if it wasn't for Bud Selig moving the Pilots in 1970 and saving baseball in Milwaukee, we might all be Orioles fans, or Braves fans, or God forbid maybe even Cubs fans.  May 6th 2026 marked the 125th anniversary of our original major league hometown 9 and it is a milestone worth celebrating.  If you want to get even more in the weeds, there were also some minor league versions of the Brewers that date back to the 1880s, but let's just stop our lesson at 1901 for today.

Stay tuned next week for a full report on Tour 2026!

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 7/6/26:

Brewers 55-33, +6.0; 5 @ Cardinals, 3 @ Pirates

Twins 44-47, - 4.0, -1.5 WC; 3 v. Guardians, 3 v. Angels

2026 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 3

Peter - 16

Black Sox Park

All photos of Freeport Black Sox Classic available on Flickr.

Saturday was a whirlwind of a day and I learned that when it comes to Town Ball schedules, you have to be flexible and adapt.  I had planned to attend a game in St. Augusta which is about 20 minutes east of our house, but when I arrived a little after what was supposed to be first pitch, not a soul was to be found on the field.  I tried not to panic (admittedly difficult for me) and quickly turned down the next street to park and collect my thoughts, for a long enough period of time that the owner of the house I was in front of might have been suspicious of something nefarious going on.  Instead it was quite the opposite - I was scouring ball schedules on my phone.  I finally found another game occurring at Black Sox Park in Freeport, which was over a half-hour back in the opposite direction.  I hustled back west on I-94 as fast as I legally could and arrived at what the internet told me was the Freeport ballpark, but was actually just a playground.  By this point, I had been driving over an hour and my frustration was building, but I was also pot-committed and determined to watch ball somewhere, so I just started stubbornly driving around to other fields in Freeport I could find on Apple Maps, hoping that one of those was Black Sox Park.  Amazingly, this town of 675 people has 3 ball fields, and third time was a charm as they say.  This experience taught me two things.  #1 is that I always need to have a backup plan from now on, as it is not uncommon for these type of games to be cancelled with no warning or update whatsoever (the same thing happened to me in Luxemburg last year).  #2 is that many of these town ball parks have incorrect addresses or just no address at all, so just entering the name of the field on my phone is not always good enough.  Once I actually found the field and parked, I had a quiet chuckle about the ridiculous ordeal, and I couldn't help but think that Erik's "drive towards the light towers" method of navigation would have actually worked much better than an actual map in this case.

I got out of my car and laughed again when I saw the very address I was trying to locate was in large black letters on the roadside monument sign.  The field was empty but there was still a crowd of fans, so I thought maybe the game was over already but I was at least going to walk around and have a beer while I was out this far.  After snapping a few pictures, a team comprised of what looked to be younger players took the field for fungoes, so my next thought was maybe I missed the town ball game but there is some sort of junior game happening now.  I also noticed several other teams changing clothes and milling about.  I finally realized what was happening - I had stumbled upon a tournament!  Black Sox Park was hosting their annual Freeport Black Sox Classic for the entire weekend, and I happened to arrive there between games.  Eight teams are invited to played a double-elimination style tournament, and the game I was about to see was the Clearwater River Cats v. the Aitkin Steam - which explained why so many other teams were on the road today when I was looking at schedules.  I parked myself a couple rows from the top to witness some of the most regimented fielding practice I've seen in a long time.  A good round of fungoes is almost like watching a ballet or basketball passing drills where everyone is beautifully in sync with no wasted motion.

As for the ballpark itself, this was another impressive one, which was not overly surprising since they are a host site for a tournament.  On the player side, it had a very well maintained field with a nice symmetrical outfield fence, an above-average electronic scoreboard, a locker room/restroom building, ample space for batting cages, and quality masonry dugouts - all luxuries that are not a given at any particular town ball park.  The main structure as you approach the field from the parking lot is a 30+ foot tall rectangular building with equipment housed on ground level and the press box at the top, with a large canopy extending over 10 rows of bleachers between this building and the backstop.  To the right of the grandstand is a concessions building fairly close to the field.  These two structures really framed the seating area nice as in Spring Hill, but this site was a little more open and less closed in, with farmland as far as the eye can see to all sides.  The concession stand here was one of the more exceptional ones I've seen in town ball, featuring hamburgers with fried onions grilled fresh to order, various other meats from a local butcher, for some reason golf on a projector screen, and also a wide selection of team merchandise for sale, including cool Black Sox caps and bleacher back seats.  However, with this variety and menu comes higher prices.  The gold standard for town ball park prices seems to generally be $3 dogs and $25 12-packs of Busch Light, and in Freeport those are priced at $4 and $30 respectively - still not breaking the bank by any means, but worth mentioning.  Maybe the prices were just higher because it was a free tournament, which would make sense.  I liked the brick wainscot that tied all of the individual structures together and I thought it was a really comfortable and well composed park.  Most town ball parks seem to face the "incorrect" cardinal direction of west, so if you're lucky enough to find one with a covered grandstand like Freeport has, that will greatly impact your experience.

As I mentioned earlier, I didn't actually see the Freeport Black Sox play, and it was a little disappointing because I was excited to see if they were wearing Field of Dreams style uniforms.  Between all of the driving around and the long warmup before the game, I also only stayed for a couple of innings.  These were two of the younger, more athletic teams I have seen at this level.  I'm accustomed to more of a bar-league softball level of talent, but Clearwater in particular had some good looking ballplayers, aside from the enormous first baseman who had a gut hanging over his belt and made other players go fetch bats for him.  It was another gorgeous day for baseball and I wish I could have stayed longer, but I left for a good reason - more ball!  After attending my first ever tripleheader just a couple months ago, Saturday would be another one for me as I saw parts of two more games in Cold Spring at their annual "Day at the Park" celebration.  This is an annual event consisting of the Springers, the Rockies, the local Legion team, and the senior team playing a quadruple header that culminates with live music after the final game.  It's the ballpark's main fundraising event of the year and one of the few games they actually charge admission to, and I was happy to finally get to go to this awesome community gathering.  Megan and the kids met me at the Cold Spring games, and I can't think of any way I'd rather spend Father's Day Weekend than watching ball with my family.

park rankings and statistics

(for purposes of amateur/town ball rankings, some categories are changed to just yes/no questions):
aesthetics - 7
views from park - 4
view to field - 6 (lots of foul ground)
surrounding area - 1
concessions - yes
nachos - no
beer - yes
vendor price - 8
ticket price - 10 (free)
atmosphere - 6
walk to park - 1
parking price/proximity - 10
concourses - 5
team shop - yes

kids area -  if you count the lone plastic slide, yes

best food - burger w/ onions
most unique stadium feature - concessions/team store combo stand
scoreboard - electronic

lights - yes

best between-inning feature - watching fungoes between games

field dimensions - 325/380/325
teams - Aitkin Steam v. Clearwater River Cats
time of game - unknown
attendance - there were more players there than fans
score - 6-2 Clearwater
Brewers score that day - 4-3 L

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 6/22/26:

Brewers 46-29, +5.0; 3 @ Reds, 3 v. Cubs, 4 v. Reds, 3 @ Diamondbacks

Twins 38-41, - 3.5, -1.0 WC; 3 v. Dodgers, 3 v. Rockies, 3 @ Astros, 3 @ Yankees

2026 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 3

Peter - 15

Charger Field

All photos of Charger Field available on Flickr.

My charting of rural Stearns County continued yesterday with an expedition to yet another ball field.  For this adventure, I braved further into the unknown wilderness of the county than ever before, with nearly a half-hour drive west to Spring Hill.  Coming in at a whopping 68 residents, it shockingly wasn't the smallest town I've been to thus far in my town ball travels, but it did feel the most remote, as I had to traverse many acres of farm land and several gravel roads to get there.  Spring Hill has the same ingredients that so many other towns of the area do: a single road lined with a couple dozen homes, a bar, a church, a ballfield, and ringed by farmland.  In fact, it looked eerily similar to a town I visited a couple years ago called Lake Henry which was only 5 minutes down Hwy 4.  And as I'll get in to, the ballpark was also as nice if not better than Lake Henry's as well.  I pulled into the lot off of Lake Henry Ave south of "downtown" at 1:30 just as the game was starting, and paid the customary town ball rate of $5 to the volunteer parking lot attendant.

For somebody like me who's now been to a fair number of town ball parks, what struck me immediately upon arrival was the high quality of the facility in general.  I will continue to beat a dead horse by saying it's still impressive to me that any of these parks have little more than a chain link fence and a set of rusty bleachers, so I was awestruck by what I found in Spring Hill.  They had a covered grandstand that was honestly better than some minor league and collegiate ballparks I've been to (Concordia, Rochester, Pohlman Field...I could go on).  It consisted of eight rows of metal bleachers with backs that were clearly new and/or very well maintained, and the entirety of it was covered by a metal sided canopy, including the front aisle.  Normally on a hot summer day this would have been a fantastic area of respite, but on this upper-60s afternoon it was so well covered that it was almost chilly.  The bleachers were backed by a sided wall as well with some apertures for light and breeze, so it was a really cozy enclosed area.  You could easily fit the entire town in just that grandstand, but if that wasn't enough, there was also an additional small section of bleachers by each dugout, and a wonderful little pavilion along the 3rd base side with another bench of seating along the fence and some standing height tables as well.  Every town ball park I've been to so far has a small concessions building with restrooms and usually at least a partially covered area for picnic type seating, but in many parks it is just kind of off to the side and does not have a very good view to the field.  In many town ball parks, the concessions area serves double duty with a neighboring park and is not really intended to be a true seating area for a ballgame even if it's used as such.  In Spring Hill however, all that is at this site is the ball field, so this concessions/pavilion area is pushed right up against the backstop and was very intentional in how it was positioned, and it was a popular standing room and community hangout spot for the entirety of the game.  Nothing at this park felt like it was done on the cheap or like they cut corners in any way.  It was not extravagant by any means - let's be honest it was still metal building siding - but like I alluded to earlier, just the general quality of construction and craftsmanship was very noticeable.  Nothing was rusting or fading or cracked, everything was tied together nicely with the team maroon and gray colors, and it was a very clean and well maintained facility that Spring Hill should be very proud of.  Even the bathrooms and dugouts which are usually some of the roughest parts of these fields were very professionally built.  Not even Cold Spring's park has helmet racks and Sloan faucets.  It's hard to find super picturesque views at any of these fields that are in the middle of corn country, but Spring Hill even managed to pull that off with a very crisp clean fence backed by a row of evergreen trees and a pretty decent electronic scoreboard.  This was the only town ball park I've been to aside from Cold Spring's that actually felt like a true ballpark and not just a community field, and to say I was amazed would be an understatement.  It really proved to me that you can't go to any of these parks with any preconceived notions based on the Google aerial view; a lot of them will surprise you.

I was one of what would estimate was at least 150 people in attendance to witness the Chargers fall to the Elrosa Saints by a score of 2-1 in a brisk 1:54 game time.  I would guess over half the fans were there to cheer on the visitors, which made it arguably even more impressive.  It was by far the most crowded and liveliest town ball game I've been to, as evidenced by the umpire yelling at the Elrosa dugout and fans to stop the heckling at one point.  I watched about 6 innings from the grandstand behind home plate and the last few innings standing along the fence near the right field pole in the sun.  If you're paying attention enough, it's usually pretty easy to spot the one college player allocated to the towns this small, and it was clearly #12 in Elrosa's case.  He received the first intentional walk I've ever witnessed in town ball, and he also came in from the field to pick up the save.  Most half-innings took under 10 pitches and it was a very fast moving game, aside from the 1st when Elrosa scored both of its runs, and in the 8th when they loaded the bases on a walk, hit, and a dropped pop up.  After the conclusion of the game, I was seemingly the only person to leave.  The game went so fast that most folks still had a few Busch Lattes left to polish off from the 12-packs they bought at the concession stand, and a good time was surely had by all.

Overall, I'd put Charger Field all the way up at #2 in my rankings right behind Cold Spring.  Normally I'd say something like "this is definitely a park I'd visit again," but with the dozens I have left to get to and the finest park in the league a half-mile from my house, I think I will settle for one relaxing Sunday afternoon in Spring Hill.  

park rankings and statistics

(for purposes of amateur/town ball rankings, some categories are changed to just yes/no questions):
aesthetics - 8
views from park - 7
view to field - 8
surrounding area - 1
concessions - yes
nachos - no
beer - yes
vendor price - 10
ticket price - 9 ($5)
atmosphere - 9
walk to park - 1
parking price/proximity - 10
concourses - 8
team shop - no

kids area -  no

best food - as always, hot dog
most unique stadium feature - concessions pavilion and general construction quality
scoreboard - electronic

lights - no

best between-inning feature - Elrosa lettin' the ump have it

field dimensions - 310/365/310
teams - Elrosa Saints v. Spring Hill Chargers
time of game - 1:54
attendance - I counted about 150
score - 2-1 L
Brewers score that day - 4-0 W

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 6/15/26:

Brewers 43-26, +5.0; 3 v. Guardians, 3 @ Braves

Twins 33-40, - 6.5, -3.0 WC; 3 @ Rangers, 3 @ Diamondbacks

2026 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 3

Peter - 12