It will be my first time to PNC Field. Rochester Redwings are visiting. (Nationals AAA).
The roster is a little thin right now with so many of the advance AAA Yanks playing in the Bronx due to injuries.
This is actually the first AAA game I’ll be going to. I’ve been to several AA games and many A level games along with hundreds of major league games all over the country.
No major point to this thread, but I realized I’ve been to far more major league stadiums than minor league ones. How about everyone else?
My early years were as a Red Wings fan and we went to several games per year. (they were the Oriole AAA farm team in those days, if I recall correctly.
Now, as a Mariners fan, I can go to the Rainiers in Tacoma pretty easily. But we don’t go often, maybe once every 2 to 3 years. If we want baseball, we go to Seattle.
I’ve never been to any major league games, but I’ve been to a few minor league games. Three or four at the old Bush Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Indians (AAA), and then at Victory Field, which is a beautiful ballpark.
I’ve been to one or two games at Harbor Park for the Norfolk Tides (AAA, Orioles). I’d go to baseball games more often, but I don’t really have anyone to go with me.
Haven’t been to any minor league contests. The Fort Worth Cats folded again some years back; there is an independent team in Grand Prairie (the Airhogs) but haven’t ever been to see them.
I do know that the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox played in the longest professional baseball game ever played. 33 innings on April 18/19 and June 23rd of 1981. Wade Boggs (Pawtucket) and Cal Ripken Jr. (Rochester) both played in it.
The name “RailRiders” tickles me too. Given their location, it reminds me of that episode of The Office where Jan Levinson was spending Michael Scott into the poorhouse, so Michael decided to hop a train to leave town (with predictable results).
I’ve only been to a handful of minor league games (all A level):
Madison (WI) Muskies (farm team for the As in the late '80s)
Kane County Cougars (far western suburbs of Chicago, '90s, I think they were affiliated with the Marlins back then)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Appleton; early 2000s) – that one was notable because we realized that Fernando Valenzuela’s son was playing in the game
Twenty years ago, I worked with one of the minority owners of the Lansing Lugnuts, and had a standing offer from him for tickets to a game, but I didn’t care to drive a few hours for a ballgame.
By contrast, I’ve been to games in six MLB stadiums, three of which are now gone:
Milwaukee County Stadium
American Family Field
Comiskey Park
Guaranteed Rate Field
Wrigley Field
Metrodome
Plus, I was at Rogers Centre, though for an Argonauts game.
Major League stadiums: Yankees: Current and the prior one along with the Pre-Renovation Stadium in the late 60s apparently but I don’t remember that. Citi Field & Shea (Mets) Fenway & Wrigley & what is now Guaranteed Rate Field (White Sox) I think it was Cellular One when I was there. Camden Yards of course O’s & Veterans Stadium, Phillies Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati Reds) Angel Stadium of Anaheim but back around 2007.
I’ve been at the LA Coliseum for concerts not Baseball games.
The not lamented Jack Murphy Stadium is San Diego. Terrible ballpark.
I’m forgetting one I think.
Worst stadium I’ve been to was probably Shea, though Jack Murphy wasn’t good.
Back around 1980 my wife and I were fans of the Holyoke (Mass.) Millers, a Milwaukee Brewers AA team. They played at a high school field, which had a cinder track running through the outfield, for the track team. Many unusual bounces ensued.
I saw Mickey Mantle Jr. play for the Alexandria Dukes (single A), also at a high school field. He was not, unfortunately, a chip off the old block.
My best friend saw Bronson Arroyo pitch a perfect game for the Pawsox, in 2003. Only the 4th 9-inning perfect game in the history of the International League (120 years).
I’ve been to more MLB stadiums, but probably more MiLB games. I’m in Indy, and have been to probably well over 100 games here, dozens of South Bend SilverHawks (now the SB Cubs), a handful of Omaha Royals (now the Storm Chasers) and a Louisville Bats game. But I’ve been to:
Kauffman Stadium (Royals)
Wrigley
US Cellular (White Sox)
County Stadium (Milwaukee)
Chase (Diamondbacks)
Anaheim
Coors
Phillies (forgot the name)
Great American (Reds)
Nationals Park
Camden Yards
I saw a doubleheader in Melbourne (Australia) a few years back. It was the Northern Hemisphere’s winter, and teams were allowed a number of MLB players who wanted to (or had to) play “winter ball”. There were a couple of names I recognized.
Some rules had to be explained to the fans before the games - such as “you have to throw back foul balls”. The diamond layout on the oval cricket/AFL field yielded some interesting field dimensions.
The between-game activities included fans standing at home plate, trying to win a prize by launching a Frisbee over the outfield fence.
If you’d gone last night you would have seen a no-hitter. Looks like the Red Wings are getting some payback tonight.
Haven’t been to too many major league parks:
Yankee Stadium (old and new)
Nationals Park
Camden Yards
Shea Stadium
Atlanta Stadium
Great American Ball Park
Minor League (many no longer have affiliated teams after the contraction):
Randolph Field (Bristol Tigers/White Sox/Pirates)
Cardinal Park (Johnson City, TN)
Harry Grove Stadium (Frederick, MD)
Durham Athletic Park
Whatever the Nashville Sounds park was called in the early nineties
FNB Field (Harrisburg, PA)
Pfizer Stadium (Woodbridge, VA)
Bill Meyer Stadium (Knoxville, TN)
Prince Georges Stadium (Bowie, MD)