Tour Molly 2022 and Ballpark #150: C.O. Brown Stadium

All photos of C.O. Brown Stadium available on Flickr.

This past weekend was my 2nd annual "Tour Molly" trip with my daughter, and this year we ventured to southwest Michigan to see the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Northwoods League teams.  We left Milwaukee just before noon on Friday and due to 100+ miles of Chicago/holiday traffic and road construction, what was supposed to be a 3-1/2 hour drive turned into 5 hours.  Molly was a trooper for the whole car ride - she slept for about half of the ride, we sang songs, and I think we stopped only once.  We arrived to our basecamp Kalamazoo hotel, did a quick check-in, and drove the remaining 20 minutes to Battle Creek for Friday night's 6:35pm start vs. the Rockford Rivets.

Technically now known as the mouthful of "MCCU Field at C.O. Brown Stadium," the park opened in 1990, and like so many others on the circuit, one of its early tenants was a minor league team.  The Michigan Battle Cats moved to Battle Creek from Madison in 1995 and took up residency through the 2006 season, as an affiliate to several teams but most notably the Yankees in the early aughts.  The then-named Southwest Michigan Devil Rays departed after the '06 season to become the Great Lakes Loons (who are still in existence today), but the park was not vacant for long as the Northwoods League moved in for the 2007 season and has been there ever since.  The park holds about 2,000 people and features a simple covered grandstand wrapping from 3rd base to 1st base, with expansive picnic/open space down the lines, open bullpens in foul territory, and a party deck in the left field corner.

I was excited to see the park, not only because of my quest to visit all of the Northwoods League parks and my general love for the league, but because the team rebranded this year from the Bombers to the Battle Jacks, and with rebranding generally comes a sprucing up of the stadium.  However, I quickly found that it looks like the vast majority of the park has not been upgraded in quite a long time.  The layout and feel reminded me a lot of the Johnson City park but about 5X less nice.  Battle Creek did a minor renovation about 6 years ago in which they replaced the first few rows of seats with 4-top tables (which is not uncommon in parks of this size), and also expanded the party deck in left field, and it is a pretty stark delineation from where the original stadium ends and the newer work begins.  I was saddened because I could really envision of the potential of this park if even the most basic of maintenance and upkeep was performed.  All of the blue paint was faded or flaking off, picnic tables were busted with dangerous jagged edges, wood decks and steps were rotting, steel was rusting, concrete chipping, the metal bleachers were filthy, the bathrooms were poorly ventilated and messy, and a lot of the grass both on and off the field looked to be dying.  And on top of all of this, the giant party deck was completely vacant on a Friday night on a holiday weekend.  It just didn't feel like the front office cared at all, which is not something any first-time visitor wants to feel, regardless if that sentiment is real or perceived.  I love the old parks with the covered grandstands and it could be really nice if they tried a little.  As a dad, I tend to look at parks a little differently now when I review them, and I really appreciated all of the open space down the lines for kids to run around - they even had a wiffle ball field - but again, there was zero mind paid to these areas and they were just neglected slabs of asphalt and dead grass when they could have been something great.  On a positive note, I will say that I did love the gesture of widening the seating aisles to add a food & beverage rail in almost all rows.  It was a brilliant idea which Kalamazoo also had, and I think should be incorporated in every baseball stadium in some capacity.

The game was a 2-1 victory for the Battle Jacks, but of course we left when it was tied 0-0 and heard the cheer of the Jacks scoring in the bottom of the 8th just as we got to the car.  Because of the aforementioned wide open areas/kids zones I actually got to watch the majority of the game, which was a far cry from my trip to Green Bay with Molly last year.  I was certainly proud of Molly the entire weekend for being attentive when asked to, and making the experience fun for herself no matter where in the park(s) we were.  Battle Creek ended up walking off in the 9th in perhaps the most anti-climatic way possible - a walk followed by 3 wild pitches.  Obviously it was nice for the home team to get the win, but it was a disappointing way to end what was otherwise a stellar pitched game by both sides.  Garrett Martin tossed 7 innings of shutout ball for the Battle Jacks with 9 Ks but did not factor in the decision, and on the other side, David Mata gave up only 2 hits over 5 for the Rivets.  Bobby Nichols was the clear star position player for either team.  He led off for the Jacks and had the game's only extra base hit with a double in the 8th, and he made three spectacular plays in centerfield - two diving catches on balls in front of him, and running down a rope near the wall.

We stayed as long as we could, but after 5+ hours in the car, not even an evening full of sugary treats could keep Molly awake any longer.  It was a late bedtime back at our hotel to rest up for a full day of activities in Kalamazoo on Saturday.

park rankings and statistics: 

aesthetics - 3 (even a 3 is generous, just points for potential)

views from park - 1

view to field - 4 (good from down the lines, obstructed from seating bowl)

surrounding area - 1 (Battle Creek seemed a little rough)

food variety - 2

nachos - n/a

beer - 3

vendor price - 9

ticket price - 7 (only $10, but that was steep for the experience provided)

atmosphere - 3

walk to park - 2

parking price/proximity - 10 (adjacent lot fo' free)

concourses - 2 (not active, under grandstand, dark)

team shop - 3

kids area - 5 (points for uniqueness in having a wiffle ball field, but not well maintained)

best food - hot dog I guess?

most unique stadium feature - food & beverage rails in most seating aisles

best jumbotron feature - n/a

best between-inning feature - guy in sloth costume races kid and refuses to let kid win

field dimensions - 322/402/333

starters - David Mata (RFD) v. Garrett Martin (BC)

opponent - Rockford Rivets

time of game - 2:49

attendance - 504

score - 2-1 W

Brewers score that day - 19-2 W

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 7/5/22:

Brewers 47-35, +3.0; 3 v. Cubs, 3 v. Pirates

Twins 46-37, +3.5; 3 @ White Sox, 3 @ Rangers

2022 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 1

Peter - 11