Baseball Stadiums: 2015 Recap

With the 2015 Minor League Baseball season officially concluded following the Triple-A National Championship Game in El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 22, and the Major League Baseball season approaching the playoffs, it felt like an appropriate time to recap the stadiums I visited during the 2015 season.

I visited three MLB stadiums, and wrote about two visits.  For the first time, I visited U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox (read about it here).  As has become custom for me over the past five years, I attended a few Cincinnati Reds games at Great American Ball Park while in town for the A.P. Human Geography Reading, but I did not blog about my visits.  In the sense of playing catch up with ballparks I have visited, but not written about I attended an Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field in late August (read about it here).

I visited eight new MiLB stadiums and revisited three during the season.  I attended a Gwinnett Braves game at Coolray Field; this time on Back to the Future Night when the team wore jerseys replicating the attire of Marty McFly, the main character in the 1985 film "Back to the Future."  I also saw the Mississippi Braves at Trustmark Park, but attended because I served as "designated eater" for MiLB.com reporter Benjamin Hill (read it here).  Hill also interviewed me about my academic work and how I study sports through a geographic lens (read it here).  Closer to home, I attended a pair of Birmingham Barons games at Regions Field during the season; once in April with a friend and on the Fourth of July with my girlfriend.

Screen capture of Ben Hill's article about my academic research on the Minor League Baseball web site.

The first new Minor League stadium I visited was Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Geneva, Ill., home of the Kane County Cougars (read about it here).  In April I was in Chicago for the 2015 Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, and made a one-day trek to the west suburbs to watch the Cougars.  I also got to meet fellow baseball blogger Craig Wieczorkiewicz, who runs the The Midwest League Traveler site.

After the end of the spring semester, I took a 3-day trip to the Gulf Coast and saw games at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium, home of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (read about it here), and Hank Aaron Stadium, home of the Mobile BayBears (read about it here).

At the end of May I made a daytrip to Birmingham to attend the 20th Rickwood Classic at Rickwood Field.  While I have seen the host Birmingham Barons play at their current home, Regions Field, I had never attended a Rickwood Classic (read about it here), when the team wears throwback uniforms and play at the oldest continuously used baseball stadium in the United States.

While visiting family in Atlanta during the month of June I took a trip and saw the Augusta GreenJackets at their home, Lake Olmstead Stadium (read about it here), and the Savannah Sand Gnats in their final season at Grayson Stadium (read about it here).  I also made a daytrip to see the Rome Braves at State Mutual Stadium (read about it here).  Along with attending a game at Coolray Field, home of the Gwinnett Braves, I was able to visit all four of the Minor League stadiums in Georgia, which is a resolution I set out to accomplish a year ago, but failed to fulfill during the 2014 season.

In 2014, I resolve to visit all four Georgia @MiLB teams: @GreenJackets, @GwinnettBraves, @TheRomeBraves, and @gnatsbaseball. #PlayBall

— Steven Ericson (@geoSteven) January 1, 2014

I made the same resolution in 2015, but was actually able to fulfill my goal and visited all four of Georgia's Minor League teams in the same season.

In 2015, I resolve to visit all 4 Georgia @MiLB teams: @gnatsbaseball, @GreenJackets, @GwinnettBraves, and @TheRomeBraves. #PlayBall

— Steven Ericson (@geoSteven) January 1, 2015

At the beginning of August I made a trip to Nashville with two goals.  The primary objective was to help my girlfriend move into her new apartment, and the second reason was to attend a Nashville Sounds game at their new ballpark, First Tennessee Park (read about it here).

I also made a change to my blogging experience during the past season and abandoned using Google Maps to display my stadium visits, and changed to mapping my blogs with Esri Story Maps.  Esri is a company that makes mapping software, most notably ArcGIS, and provides a free online format that incorporates maps and photographs to create mashups like story maps.  My Story Map can be found here.

Screen capture of my Story Map.

As the 2015 baseball season concludes I wrote about ten ballparks and attended 17 games at 13 stadiums across the MLB, Triple-A, Double-A, and Class A levels.

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 = 5 (5 active)
• Class A = 8 (5 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 28 states, the District of Columbia, and one Canadian province (British Columbia).  I attended games in seven states during the 2015 season, but the only new state was Illinois where I saw the Chicago White Sox and Kane County Cougars.

Baseball Stadiums: Rickwood Field

In 1996, a tradition was born that returned baseball to downtown Birmingham, Ala.  The Friends of Rickwood and Birmingham Barons staged the first Rickwood Classic, which brought the team from its suburban home at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium (read about visit here) to downtown for a single game.  Since 2013, the Barons have played in downtown at Regions Field (read about visit here), but have continued to play the Rickwood Classic.

Main entrance.

This year marks the 20th Rickwood Classic, but my first time attending the game.  Each classic commemorates a different era of Barons history with this year's event commemorating the 1948 Barons, who won the Southern Association title and their fourth Dixie Series crown.

Rickwood Field opened in 1910 after Barons owner Rick Woodward built a concrete and steel structure to mimic the grandeur of Philadelphia's Shibe Park, and incorporated elements of Pittsburgh Forbes Field.  The stadium was placed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1991, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

Historic marker with sign 

After getting some primary photos of the exterior I entered the gate with my friend to see this scene...

Entering the turnstiles.

Once fans are through the turnstiles they quickly encounter the starting lineups, which you can see a glimpse of in the preceding picture.  The complete lineups are below.

Starting lineups for the Jacksonville Suns and Birmingham Barons for the 20th Rickwood Classic.

In addition to hosting the Rickwood Classic, the Friends of Rickwood maintain the field as a "living museum" that is open during the weekdays for fans to explore.  To aid fans on their self-guided tour on weekdays there are pamphlets at the ballpark.

Signage for self-guided tours.

So after grabbing a brochure with about 45 minutes before the game was to start, I explored the ballpark and took some photos.

The movement of the outfield reflects changes in baseball stadiums, as many ballparks moved their fences during the 1930s.

Walt Dropo was went onto to earn 1950 American League Rookie of the Year honors with the Boston Red Sox.

A fence in the outfield wall provides a view of the field and the grandstand.

Pennants commemorating titles by the Barons and the Negro League Birmingham Black Barons won at Rickwood Field.

One of the best features of the Rickwood Classic is seeing the Barons, and usually the visiting team, dress in period uniforms matching that year's theme.  For the 20th Rickwood Classic, the Barons wore replica uniforms from 1948, which was also the theme of the 1st Rickwood Classic in 1996.

Barons players in their 1948 replica uniforms.

After exploring for a bit, my friend and I took our seats and I got in position to get a shot of the first pitch.

Birmingham Barons starting pitcher Myles Jaye preparing to deliver the first pitch
to Jacksonville Suns center fielder Kenny Wilson.

In addition to the period uniforms the outfield walls are adorned with retro advertisements, which adds a unique touch to the setting.

Right field wall with retro advertisements plus a section honoring the history of Rickwood Field.

Right center field wall.

After watching the first inning from behind home plate, my friend and I moved to a spot down the first base line.  It was a great spot that provided some great angles for pictures of the pitchers and batters.

Closeup of Barons starting pitcher Myles Jaye on the mound.

Jacksonville Suns first baseman David Adams at the plate.

Birmingham Barons shortstop Tim Anderson (White Sox No. 2 ranked prospect) at the plate.

I explored down the third base line and got some pictures of the grandstand and the outfield walls, too.

First base grandstand.

Right field bleachers.

Finally my friend and I decided to get something to eat, just as the 7th inning began.  One plus and minus of the Rickwood Classic is the limited concession items.  It's nice that you have much simpler options that many newer ballparks, even the Barons' regular home - Regions Field.  However, it means some people's taste buds don't get to explore quite as much.  Down the first base line there was a large grill featuring hot dogs, Polish sausage, and Italian sausage.  So my friend and I opted to head there when our hunger finally forced us to eat.

Polish sausage with grilled peppers and onions with yellow mustard.

Despite thoroughly enjoy the stadium, the atmosphere, and the experience the Barons were not able to deliver with a win.  The Suns prevailed 8-2 as first baseman David Adams went 5-for-5 with three runs scored while second baseman Danny Black went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

Vintage scoreboard with the final score: Jacksonville 8, Birmingham 2.

After the game fans are allowed onto the field, which is not something that usually happens at any baseball stadium.  Yes, many Minor League teams allows kids to run the bases, but that is usually controlled and often limited to one day a week.  At the Rickwood Classic, all fans are invited down to the field.

A father and son playing catch on the field after the game.

As my friend and I were leaving the stadium we saw the home team locker room was open, and were invited in to check it out.  The team had already left, which allowed us to explore the entire space and see the manager's office recreated from 1948.

Fred Walters' office from 1948.

Without a doubt, the Rickwood Classic and Rickwood Field itself definitely deserve all the praise they receive.  It's a well preserved historic field, and the game recreates that nostalgic experience.  Attending the Rickwood Classic has been on my baseball bucket list for a few years, and I'm extremely thankful that I was able to experience it.  Whether you live near Birmingham or not, it's definitely worth the trek to the West End neighborhood to explore the ballpark.