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Brethren,
As we move into the final month of the 2014 season, it is
shaping up to be a pennant race after all. Through Labor
Day, including the games of Monday, September 1, 2014, the
front-running Monarchs now have two teams that are
most definitely within striking distance: The
Wah-wah-wahoos, a mere 179.2 points off the lead; and
the defending Champion Chiefs, a manageable 220.5
points behind the Blessed Butterflies. Could we
possibly have a repeat champion in the Hot Stove League, the
first time this has happened since Big Guy’s Tigers
accomplished a trifecta back in the dead ball era of
1987-1989? Stay tuned.
From top to bottom, here are the
standings for the entire league:
|
1. |
Monarchs |
10519 |
|
2. |
Wahoos |
10340 |
|
3. |
Chiefs |
10299 |
|
4. |
Bums |
10197 |
|
5. |
Redbirds |
10073 |
|
6. |
Tigers |
9927 |
|
7. |
Bears |
9814 |
|
8. |
Cubs |
9712 |
|
9. |
Tribe |
9494 |
|
10. |
Blues |
9376 |
|
11. |
Skipjacks |
9293 |
|
12. |
Senators |
9285 |
|
13. |
Bombers |
9221 |
TOP 10 HITTERS
|
1. |
Mike Trout |
Chiefs |
603.9 |
|
2. |
Giancarlo Stanton |
Skipjacks |
597.1 |
|
3. |
Jose Abreu |
Bears |
547.9 |
|
4. |
Jose Batista |
Monarchs |
535.0 |
|
5. |
Victor Martinez |
Redbirds |
532.1 |
|
6. |
Miguel Cabrera |
Redbirds |
521.0 |
|
7. |
Freddie Freeman |
Wahoos |
519.8 |
|
8. |
Andrew McCutcheon |
Bums |
519.1 |
|
9. |
Michael Brantley |
Monarchs |
515.1 |
|
10. |
Anthony Rizzo |
Cubs |
509.2 |
TOP 10 PITCHERS
|
1. |
Johnny Cueto |
Monarchs |
760.0 |
|
2. |
Felix Hernandez |
Tigers |
742.0 |
|
3. |
Clayton Kershaw |
Cubs |
708.0 |
|
4. |
David Price |
Bombers |
677.0 |
|
5. |
Corey Kluber |
Tribe |
660.0 |
|
6. |
Max Scherzer |
Blues |
646.0 |
|
7. |
Madison Bumgarner |
Redbirds |
638.0 |
|
8. |
John Lester |
Wahoos |
622.0 |
|
9. |
Adam Wainwright |
Cubs |
616.0 |
|
10. |
Julio Teheran |
Wahoos |
616.0 |
WHO HOT—HITTERS
|
1. |
Victor Martinez |
Redbirds |
91.0 |
|
2. |
Buster Posey |
Senators |
87.7 |
|
3. |
Hunter Pence |
Tigers |
83.6 |
|
4. |
Jacob Ellsbury |
Blues |
77.0 |
|
5. |
Jason Werth |
Tigers |
77.0 |
|
6. |
Matt Holiday |
Wahoos |
76.0 |
|
7. |
Jose Abreu |
Bears |
72.2 |
|
8. |
Brian Dozier |
Chiefs |
70.0 |
|
9. |
Ian Kinsler |
Senators |
68.7 |
|
10. |
Jimmy Rollins |
Senators |
68.2 |
WHO HOT—PITCHERS
|
1. |
Matt Shomaker |
Bombers |
115.0 |
|
2. |
Madison Bumgarner |
Redbirds |
114.0 |
|
3. |
Drew Smyly |
Wahoos |
94.0 |
|
4. |
Mike Fiers |
Chiefs |
87.0 |
|
5. |
Jake Peavy |
Bums |
86.0 |
|
6. |
Alex Wood |
Bums |
85.0 |
|
7. |
Tyler Ross |
Redbirds |
84.0 |
|
8. |
Chris Tillman |
Bums |
82.0 |
|
|
Scott Feldman |
Senators |
82.0 |
|
10. |
Phil Hughes |
Tigers |
79.0 |
MY MINOR OBSESSION
As many of you are acutely aware, one of my current
obsessions is visiting new (to me) Minor League venues.
This season, I have made it to Minor League games in
Louisville, KY; Chattanooga, TN; Allentown, PA; Camden, NJ;
and Oklahoma City; all beautiful and unique ballparks in
their own way. Having previously reported on the other
three, a few words now about my visits to Allentown and
Camden:
ALLENTOWN, PA: COCA-COLA PARK
On my recent trip to Philadelphia for a deposition, I
ventured north up to Allentown (about an hour drive) to
catch the Phillies’ Triple-A team, the Lehigh Valley
IronPigs, in a contest against their International League
rival, the Pawtucket Sox. The IronPigs’ ballpark, Coca-Cola
Park, was built in 2008, on land formerly owned by LSI
Corporation, near the heart of Old Allentown. To get to it,
you have no choice but to drive through a significant part
of Old Allentown, a heavily-decayed area that would probably
benefit greatly from a massive earthquake or flood. I
haven’t gone back and listened to his song of the same name
since my visit, but I will be curious to find out what it
was that Billy Joel found so compelling about Allentown.
Coca-Cola Park itself is a breath of fresh air for this
decrepit city, sitting up high and offering a wide-ranging
view of downtown Allentown and the surrounding area. Inside
the park, the remarkable feature about this venue is the
right field outfield wall, decorated with dozens of
advertisers’ signs, as seen in the above picture.
Beyond the structure itself, the food offered up by the
ballpark vendors was tasty and moderately-priced, if not
particularly memorable, and the stadium employees were
accommodating and friendly, seemingly belying their eastern
Pennsylvania roots. Based upon my single visit to Coca-Cola
Park, I would rank it as a top 25 Minor League ballpark.
CAMDEN, NJ: CAMPBELL’S FIELD
On that same trip to Philadelphia, I was lucky enough to be
able to catch a few innings of an 11:00 a.m. Businessman’s
Special game at Campbell’s Field in beautiful (not really)
Camden, New Jersey. Venturing across the Delaware River via
the Ben Franklin Bridge, I quickly found myself in Camden,
also known as “The Land That Time Forgot,” and braced myself
to begin dodging stray bullets from drive-by shootings.
Fortunately, it was a quiet morning and I didn’t hear a
single gunshot.
Located directly adjacent to the Camden campus of Rutgers
University, Campbell’s Field is located virtually in the
shadow of the Ben Franklin Bridge, as shown in this picture
that I took from my seat inside the ballpark:
As I settled into my seat to watch the hometown Riversharks
take on the visiting Long Island Ducks in an Atlantic League
game, on a beautiful late July day, I was awestruck by the
beautiful setting of this little baseball jewel, comparable
to the backdrop of the Pittsburgh skyline one sees when
seated in PNC Park. Positively jaw-dropping. The
developers and architects for this ballpark got it just
exactly right.
Enhancing my enjoyment of the day, I struck up a
conversation with another fan seated nearby who caught a
foul ball just behind me, a retired chief of the Camden Fire
Department by the name of Ken Penn. Within a few minutes,
it was clear that Mr. Penn is also a ballpark aficionado, as
he has visited many different venues across the country.
Most impressive to me, however, was that he previously
attended baseball games at Shibe Park, the one-time home of
Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics, and he could recite
the name of every starting player on the Philadelphia
Athletics teams of the 1950s. He was also a huge fan of
Nebraska native Richie Ashburn, who was a star player for
the Phillies in the 1950s and then a beloved announcer of
Phillies games for many, many years. I could have spent the
entire game kibitzing with Mr. Penn about baseball and
Tilden native son Ashburn, but soon I had to leave to make
my flight home to Omaha from the Philadelphia airport.
In any event, if you ever get a chance to visit Campbell’s
Field, take it. I definitely put it in the top 5 of my
favorite Minor League ballparks visited to date.
RANKING THE MINOR LEAGUE BALLPARKS
As I continue in my quest to see as many Minor League
ballparks as I can before I am stripped of my driver’s
license and committed to a nursing home, I have been
utilizing the internet frequently to help me decide upon
which Minor League parks to target. There are all kinds of
ballpark rankings available, as you can imagine. Provided
below is a list of the 25 “coolest” Minor League ballparks
that I found during an internet search back in June of last
year:
|
1. |
* |
Coca-Cola Field |
Buffalo Bisons |
|
2. |
* |
Modern Woodmen Park |
Quad City River Bandits |
|
3. |
|
Richmond County Bank Ballpark |
Staten Island Yankees |
|
4. |
|
Jackie Robinson Ballpark |
Daytona Cubs |
|
5. |
* |
Isotopes Park |
Albuquerque Isotopes |
|
6. |
* |
McCoy Stadium |
Pawtucket Red Sox |
|
7. |
|
Bosse Field |
Evansville Otters |
|
8. |
|
Appalachian Power Park |
West Virginia Power |
|
9. |
|
McCormick Field |
Ashville Tourists |
|
10. |
* |
BB&T Coastal Field |
Myrtle Beach Pelicans |
|
11. |
|
Autozone Park |
Memphis
Redbirds |
|
12. |
* |
Campbell’s Field |
Camden Riversharks |
|
13. |
|
Metro Bank Park |
Harrisburg
Senators |
|
14. |
|
Fifth Third Field |
Toledo Mudhens |
|
15. |
|
Municipal Stadium |
Hagerstown Suns |
|
16. |
* |
Cheney Stadium |
Tacoma Rainiers |
|
17. |
* |
AT&T |
Chattanooga Lookouts |
|
18. |
* |
Raley Field |
Sacramento River Cats |
|
19. |
|
The Joe |
Charleston River Dogs |
|
20. |
|
Harbor Park |
Norfolk Tides |
|
21. |
|
Whataburger Field |
Corpus Christi Hooks |
|
22. |
|
Ballpark at Harbor Yard |
Bridgeport Bluefish |
|
23. |
|
Riverwalk Stadium |
Montgomery Biscuits |
|
24. |
|
Grainger Stadium |
Kingston Indians (NC) |
|
25. |
|
MCU |
Brooklyn Cyclones |
* Parks visited by Skipper.
In June of this year, I printed off 88 pages of rankings of
Minor League ballparks from a guy named Paul Swaney, which
he published on October 1, 2013, after reportedly visiting
every ballpark in Minor League baseball over the previous
three years, with the exception of the Mexican League,
Venezuelan Summer League, Arizona League and Gold Coast
League. Here are Mr. Swaney’s top 25 ballparks:
|
1. |
|
Pensacola Bayfront Stadium |
Pensacola Blue
Wahoos |
|
2. |
|
Parkview Field |
Fort Wayne TinCaps |
|
3. |
|
TicketReturn.com Field (formerly BB&T) |
Myrtle Beach Pelicans |
|
4. |
* |
Huntington Park |
Columbus Clippers |
|
5. |
|
Trustmark Park |
Mississippi Braves |
|
6. |
|
Dow Diamond |
Great Lakes Loons |
|
7. |
* |
Raley Field |
Sacramento River Cats |
|
8. |
* |
Coca-Cola Park |
Lehigh Valley IronPigs |
|
9. |
* |
Durham Bulls Athletic Park |
Durham Bulls |
|
10. |
|
Fluor Field at the West End |
Greenville Drive |
|
11. |
|
FirstEnergy Stadium |
Reading Fightin Phils |
|
12. |
|
Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium |
Vancouver Canadians |
|
13. |
|
MCU Park |
Brooklyn Cyclones |
|
14. |
|
Fifth Third Field |
Toledo Mud Hens |
|
15. |
|
LoanMart Field |
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes |
|
16. |
* |
Isotopes Park |
Albuquerque Isotopes |
|
17. |
|
Hadlock Field |
Portland Sea Dogs |
|
18. |
|
Fifth Third Field |
Dayton Dragons |
|
19. |
|
CMC-NorthEast Stadium |
Kannapolis Intimidators |
|
20. |
|
Jerry Uht Park |
Erie Sea Wolves |
|
21. |
* |
BB&T Ballpark |
Winston-Salem Dash |
|
22. |
* |
Werner Park |
Omaha Storm Chasers |
|
23. |
|
Daniel S. Frawley Stadium |
Wilmington Blue Rocks |
|
24. |
* |
Modern Woodmen Park |
Quad Cities River Bandits |
|
25. |
|
McCormick Field |
Ashville Tourists |
Note that Werner Park, home of the Omaha Storm Chasers, made
the list at number 22. Maybe a little bit of a stretch, but
nice to be included.
Obviously, the ranking of ballparks is completely
subjective, depending on what one deems to be important to
their viewing experience. By way of example, Mr. Swaney
lists the Pensacola Bayfront Stadium, Parkview Field in Fort
Wayne, and Ticket Return.com Field in Myrtle Beach as his
top three ballparks, and yet none of these make the top 25
in the other fella’s rankings. Similarly, the top three
selections from the first list above, Coca-Cola Field in
Buffalo, Modern Woodmen Park in the Quad Cities, and
Richmond County Ballpark in Staten Island, don’t get
mentioned in Mr. Swaney’s list until you get down to his
24th favorite park, the Modern Woodmen Park.
Reading through these lists and looking at the pictures of
these ballparks on the internet, I feel like a kid in a
candy store who just can’t decide what delicious little
treat to try next. Since the 2014 Minor League season is
over, it is time to plan for 2015. In the next issue, I
will list some of the top targets that are on my Minor
League ballpark radar, as well as provide a ranking of the
top ballparks that I have visited so far.
* * * * * *
Good luck to all in the final few weeks of the 2014
Campaign.
Skipper
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