Like many people, I make New Years' resolutions. Unlike most people mine aren't about losing weight, spending more time with family, getting organized, or any of the other most common resolutions that people end up breaking a few weeks into the new year. Instead, my resolutions are about travel related to baseball teams. Specifically, I tweet my resolutions about the baseball teams/stadiums I hope to visit during the upcoming year.
So as 2016 is nearly coming to a close, I've taken some time to sit down and look at my success of accomplishing my New Years' resolutions. Since 2014, I've written four resolutions on January 1st of each year. So without further ado, I'll review how I did accomplishing my resolutions for 2016.
Attending a Thirsty Thursday game hosted by the Asheville Tourists was easily accomplished as part of my trip to the Carolinas following my engagement. It was the second stop of our trip through the Carolinas, and we did indeed took advantage of the beer specials that night (read about it here).
It's tough for me to assess this resolution because I did not get to see all four South Carolina Minor League teams play at home, but I did make it to all four towns and had the intent of attending a game at all of the stadiums. However, the Greenville Drive's home game was rained out on the night I was in town as part of my #SCMiLBTour. So I ended up seeing the other three Minor League teams in the Palmetto State. You can read about my experiences in Myrtle Beach (here), Charleston (here), and Columbia (here).
Since 2014, I've tried to see all three Kentucky Minor League teams in action, and have failed to accomplish that resolution. Sadly, this past year was no different. In early August, Katie and I attended a Bowling Green Hot Rods game (read it here), but we were unable to incorporate visits to Lexington or Louisville into our trip.
In 2016, I resolve to see a @Braves game during their final season at Turner Field. #PlayBall
I hoped to make it to multiple Braves games at Turner Field during the 2016 season, but had to settle for just one ballgame before the club moved out. However, in late May on the way back from the Carolinas, Katie and I watched the Milwaukee Brewers take on the Atlanta Braves in Turner Field.
As I've previously mentioned, trying to assess whether I accomplished all four of my resolutions is a bit difficult. However, if I apply a black-or-white filter things become much clearer. In a black-and-white world, I accomplished two of my four resolutions by attending a Braves game at Turner Field during their final season there and by attending an Asheville Tourists game on a Thirsty Thursday. So overall I finished the year 2-for-4 (0.500 average).
If I break down the individual components of the resolutions my average climbs to 0.667 or 6-for-9. As usual, my eyes are often bigger than my schedule when it comes to attending baseball games. But now it's time to consider my resolutions for 2017...
Baseball's Hot Stove season is in full swing, as teams wheel and deal pro players and prospects alike. Earlier this week I recapped the baseball stadiums I visited during the 2016 season (read it here), and felt it was appropriate to wrap up the mascots I had my picture taken with during the year.
I attended 14 games during the season at 11 stadiums. Four stadiums were first-time visits, so I was keen on getting my photo taken with mascots at those ballparks. One big difference this past season was traveling with my now fiancée, who was included in all my mascot photos this season.
The first stop on our trip through the Carolinas was actually in Tennessee, as we attended a Tennessee Smokies game (read it here) and got our photo taken with Homer the Hound.
Katie and I with Homer the Hound.
The second stop on our trip to the Carolinas was Asheville, N.C., where we saw the Asheville Tourists and along with enjoying the Thirsty Thursday promotion (read about our visit here) we got our photo taken with Mr. Moon.
Katie and I with Mr. Moon almost immediately after walking in the gate.
The next stop on our trip was Greenville, S.C., but the Greenville Drive game got rained out that night. So our next game was on the Grand Strand, as we got to see the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. I hoped to get photo with Splash, but unfortunately that was not the case (read about rest of our visit here). Instead late in the game we got our picture with Rally Shark.
The final stop on our #SCMiLBTour was the state capital: Columbia. We got to attend a game at the newest ballpark in Minor League Baseball and see the recently relocated Columbia Fireflies in action (read about our visit here). All the superlatives meant we also got to take our picture with the newest mascot in the South Atlantic League: Mason!
Katie and I with Mason as the sun sets.
Although last season I had a picture of just myself with the Nashville Sounds mascot Booster, Katie and I got a picture with the hot chicken together when we attended the Sounds' first playoff game at First Tennessee Park this September.
So this season I added photos with five more MiLB mascots while Katie got her first six photos with team mascots. The best part about our journeys is that these photos with mascots give us a great memento of our trip to each ballpark.
I usually write the recap of my baseball stadium visits in September or October at the latest, but unfortunately I got behind with my responsibilities and didn't get to reflect on the past season until recently. So it seems appropriate that during the chill of December, I think about the various ballparks I visited during the 2016 season.
I visited three MLB stadiums, and wrote about two visits. I visited Kauffman Stadium (home of the Kansas City Royals) for the second time, but the first time since I started seriously blogging about my baseball stadium visits (read it here). I attended an Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field during the club's last season as the ballpark, but wrote about my 2015 visit. Although I attend one to two games at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati during my week in town for the A.P. Human Geography Reading, and decided to write about my visit this year (read it here) to watch the Cincinnati Reds because so much changed at the stadium as it hosted the 2015 MLB All-Star Game.
I visited four new MiLB stadiums and revisited four ballparks during the season. The most exciting part of my summer revolved around a week-long trip to the Carolinas with my now fiancée Katie. After departing from Nashville, we stopped near Knoxville, Tenn., and saw a Tennessee Smokies game. Although I've seen the Smokies twice at home before this stop, I had never written about my experience at the ballpark (read it here). The remainder of the ballparks we visited on the trip were all first-time experiences for me. The next night we attended a Thirsty Thursday game in Asheville, N.C., where the promotion originated with the Asheville Tourists (read it here). The following night we were supposed to watch the Greenville Drive, but the game was rained out. So our next ballgame was in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where we saw the Myrtle Beach Pelicans host a Military Appreciation Game (read it here). After an evening off and my in-person audition to be a contestant on Sports Jeopardy!, Katie and I attended a Charleston RiverDogs game (read it here). The last leg of our #SCMiLBTour brought us to Columbia where we saw the newly relocated Columbia Fireflies play in the newest ballpark in MiLB (read it here).
Although not technically part of our trip through the Carolinas, Katie and I concluded our journey by attending the previously-mentioned Braves game. Concluding my visits to Minor League ballparks, the other parks I revisited besides Smokies Stadium were First Tennessee Park (home of the Nashville Sounds), Regions Field (home of the Birmingham Barons), and Bowling Green Ballpark (home of the Bowling Green Hot Rods). I did not write about my visits to see the Sounds or Barons, but did write about my visit to see the Hot Rods because Katie and I enjoyed the game from a pair of Club Level seats and dined at the Stadium Club (read it here).
In keeping with my map making from last season, I have continued to add my stadium visits to my Story Map. I made a change to the design of the map, instead of showing the main entrance to the stadium I changed the primary image to the first pitch as seen from behind home plate. You can see the updated map here.
Screen capture of my updated Story Map.
As the 2016 season enters the height of the Hot Stove Season, I wrote about eight baseball stadium visits and attended 14 games at 11 ballparks across the MLB, Triple-A, Double-A, Advanced A, and Class A levels. The only level of affiliated baseball I didn't watch this past season was ShortSeason-A/Rookie level.
These trips now bring my stadium tally to:
MLB = 21 (14 active)
Triple-A = 10 (8 active)
Double-A = 21 (16 active)
Class A-Advanced = 6 (6 active)
Class A = 11 (8 active)
Class A-Short-Season = 6 (5 active)
Independent = 5 (2 active)
Spring Training = 10 (9 active)
I have now seen professional baseball games (including Spring Training) in 30 states, the District of Columbia, and one Canadian province (British Columbia). I attended games in nine states during the 2016 season, and added North Carolina and South Carolina to my list of states.
Coming into the baseball season I thought I was going to have the opportunity to visit all three Minor League Baseball teams in Kentucky. Unfortunately, scheduling prevented me from making the trip. However, in early August things started to come together that would allow fiancée Katie and I to make the trip to see the Bowling Green Hot Rods over her birthday weekend.
I started by reaching out to Alex Cohen, the team's broadcasting and media relations manager, about securing a pair of tickets to the Club Level. I also got assistance from Telia Butler with the Bowling Green Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, who helped me find a great hotel in town. I ended up staying at the Fairfield Inn & Suites, where Katie and I were upgraded to a king suite. The hotel is only a year old and featured newer design elements, and has all the amenities people expect from the Fairfield Inn brand: a great breakfast, indoor swimming pool, and gym. The next time I stay overnight in Bowling Green, I will definitely stay at this hotel.
After a trip to the Historic Railpark & Train Museum (photos can be seen on my Instagram account), Katie and I ended up exploring some of the local beer and liquor stores in town. We ultimately ate dinner at El Mazatlan, which was good, but nothing spectacular.
The following day Katie and I went to Mammoth Cave National Park, ate lunch at a Bosnian café/grocery store, and had some beers at White Squirrel Brewery. Then finally we got to the primary reason we made the trip from Nashville to Bowling Green: to watch the Hot Rods play ball.
Approaching the main entrance of Bowling Green Ballpark.
I previously attended a game a Hot Rods game in 2014, and blogged about that experience (read it here). So this time I wanted to do something different, and thanks to a pair of tickets to the Club Level at Bowling Green Ballpark Katie and I got to do just that.
Main gate of the ballpark.
There's a lot to explore at any ballpark, but my focus on this visit was on new additions to the stadium and specifically the Club Level. The first difference between my visits that I noticed was the starting lineups and Midwest League standings alternating on a flatscreen TV.
Starting lineups for the West Michigan Whitecaps and Bowling Green Hot Rods.
Midwest League standings entering play on Saturday, Aug. 6.
After taking the elevator up to the Club Level, Katie and I got to enter the Stadium Club.
Entrance to the Club Level.
Upon entering the club there is a collection of home plates along the wall, which isn't unusual considering it's a baseball stadium.
Home plates in the Stadium Club.
However, upon further inspection it becomes apparent that the home plates are autographed. Most of the home plates are not autographed by former players, but my notable guests or music performers who have been to the stadium. My favorite home plate was the one autographed by former Cincinnati Bengals running back Ickey Woods, who was best known for his touchdown celebration: The Ickey Shuffle (see video here).
Home plate autographed by former Cincinnati Bengals running back Ickey Woods.
Past the home plates on the wall is the bar that serves the Stadium Club. It looks like this...
Main bar at the Stadium Club.
As the photo illustrates, there is a full bar with a few beers on draft. As the craft beer scene has grown in Kentucky, I hoped you find a few on draft, but that was not the case. Instead the beers I found on tap were Michelob Ultra, Blue Moon, Bud Light, and other domestic macro beers.
While we mulled our beverage options, Katie and I went out to our seats and saw something you don't see at many Minor League stadiums: both teams in uniform in the stands. As MiLB.com's Ben Hill previously detailed (read his story here), Bowling Green sits on limestone, which makes the area susceptible to sinkholes. So when it rains the dugouts are prone to flooding, which was the case before tonight's game.
Bowling Green Hot Rods hanging out in the stands while water drains out of their dugout.
While the Hot Rods hung out in the stands, the umpires had declared that the game must go on. So while sitting high above home plate I was able to capture my usual first pitch photograph.
Bowling Green Hot Rods starting pitcher Jose Mujica delivering the first pitch to West Michigan Whitecaps center fielder Derek Hill.
We watched a bit of the action I captured some views of the seating in the upper level, too.
View down the first base line.
View down the third base line.
After awhile of watching the game, Katie and I decided we should order something to eat. While we could have ordered anything from the main concourse and brought it back to our seats in the Club Level, we decided it was best to stick with the options available on that level.
There are two menus in the Stadium Club. The Club Grill Menu is what I would call the usual ballpark items with chicken tenders, a jumbo hot dog, the wings basket, and other items you'd expect to find at a baseball stadium. The Past Specials Menu is what it sounds like it would be. It is a menu featuring a variety of specials that have been available at the club such as a Meatball Sub, a Taco Bowl, and a BLT Chicken Wrap among other items.
As Katie and I wanted to eat something unique we wouldn't traditionally find at a baseball stadium, we ordered from the Past Specials Menu. We decided to split the bacon mac-n-cheese bites and the BBQ shrimp burger.
The BBQ shrimp burger (left) and bacon mac-n-cheese bites (right).
Both items were undoubtedly unique, as I've never seen a BBQ shrimp burger at any baseball stadium. The bacon mac-n-cheese bites are a food item that has gained notoriety recently as people experiment with ways to macaroni and cheese, but there was a unique twist with diced jalapenos mixed in with the mac-n-cheese. Katie and I agree that we'd get both items again.
After letting our meal settle, we decided we needed something to "close our stomaches." We didn't need to explore or debate any choices, as the Hot Rods had been promoting their funnel cake fries during the MiLB Food Fight.
After finishing up the funnel cake fries, we decided to watch the remainder of the game from the field level. As we walked around the stadium, I felt obliged to take a photo of the grandstand from the outfield to provide an overall view of the ballpark.
A view of the grandstand from right field.
The amenities at Bowling Green Ballpark haven't changed since my first visit in 2014, which is good because it is a park that has everything a fan needs. I wouldn't normally splurge on club level tickets, but can say from my first experience (thanks to Alex Cohen) that the additional expense is well worth it. The food that is exclusively available at the Stadium Club was excellent, and the views were great. Additionally, the staff at the stadium really is #FanDriven.
Final Score: West Michigan 3, Bowling Green 7 Box Score
