The Baseball Trip 2022

Day 3    Wednesday, June 29

Onward to Traverse City, Michigan ,where we encounter again - you guessed it - the Pit Spitters! They have traveled home hoping to erase the memory of last night's loss to the Battle Jacks.

The game was close for six and 1/2 innings, tied 1-1. But the Pit Spitters broke it open in the bottom of the seventh for a 5-2 victory. The winning pitcher, Derek Clark, tossed nine strikeouts and is now the North Woods League's strikeout leader. It was impressive.

Some pix from the park, Turtle Creek Stadium:

Front entrance.

Left field seats toward home plate.

Toward left field.

Left-center scoreboard.

Me and the mascot, Monty. He is described as a blue, furry creature who grew up in the nearby cherry orchards. I need a Marvel origin story. 

Right field toward home plate. By the way, love the architecture of this stadium. One of the workers told me that those suites sell out for concerts faster than any ball game. And for more money.

Favorite City: Stronach, MI.

Favorite Signs: Lock Up Marijuana!

                          Redneck Yacht Club (Apparently a lot of rednecks up here?)

                          Welcome to Mentone - Egg Basket to the World.

Signs of the Rapture - 1 - Jesus is Risen.

Injury Lawyer Billboards - 1

Random Observation from Randy: Those Amish women do look kinda cute in those little bonnets.

Next: Green Bay Wisconsin.

The Baseball Trip

Day 2    Tuesday, June 28

So we are off to Battle Creek, Michigan.

We had breakfast at Liz's Parkview Café. Lots of good reviews. Breakfast for 2: $45.00.

Random Observation from Randy: I don't think we'll be visiting Liz again any time soon.

So it's the Battle Creek Battle Jacks(good name) against the Traverse City Pit-Spitters. That's right, the Pit-Spitters. Cherry orchard country. Batte Creek led the whole way, winning 7-4 in a game much more lop-sided than the score indicated.

Some pictures from the park (C. O. Brown Stadium at MCUU Field).

                                                            \From left field stands.

                                                      Left -center field scoreboard.

Not a lot of interesting ballpark features. The mascot big-timed me as well, so here's another of wacko Jack from Kokomo:

That night we camped at a state park nearby...very nice on the lake!

Favorite sign: Slocum Ditch

Things we can't hang around for: Fish Fry in Gilead, IN.

Favorite Cities: Jimtown, IN

                          Waupecongin, IN

                          White Pigeon, MI

Injury Lawyer Billboards - 2

Signs of the coming Rapture - 2  Are You Ready to Meet Jesus?

                                                        You are forgiven - tell them Jesus has dropped the charges.

Random Observation from Randy: He has a Trump flag on his house. His children will laugh at him.

Another Random Observation from Randy:  Ray's Auto Parts is doing incredible business today...selling drugs out the back door.

Tomorrow: Traverse City, MI

 The Baseball Trip 2022

Day 1    Monday, June 27

The idea this year was to travel back to the west coast and pick up the major league parks we missed in 2018 -Seattle and Oakland. Gas prices put the kibosh on that. We settled for a Midwest/Lakes tour of the Northwoods League. According to Wikipedia (a trusted source), "The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not paid, so as to maintain their college eligibility. Graduated senior pitchers are also eligible to play in the Northwoods League. Each team may have four of these players at a time." So yeah, big-time.

Along the way we like to count things to amuse ourselves amidst the corn and soybeans. In the past we have counted Confederate flags, women on riding mowers, Walmarts, war memorials with artillery, and other signs of the apocalypse. This year we are counting injury lawyer billboards and signs warning of the coming Rapture.

First stop is Kokomo, Indiana, which didn't much sound like the North Woods, but whatever. The Kokomo Jackrabbits were facing the Kalamazoo Growlers. The Growlers got off to a fast start, but the Rabbits kept fighting back. It wasn't enough, as the jackrabbits fell to the Growlers, 9-6.

Here are some pictures from the stadium:

Paid attendance: 507.

Behind home plate.

 

                                                             Me with the mascot, Jack.

                                                                    From left field berm.

                                                                  Behind home plate.

                                                                 Center field scoreboard

                                                  Weird wall jutting out toward the foul line.

By the way, the whole shtick of the mascot is to act like a real jackrabbit. Supposedly, jackrabbits will stand up on their hind legs and box you Like a rodent version of a kangaroo. Honest to God, all this guy did all game was punch people. And they all get the gag! They punch him back! It's the dumbest thing I've ever seen. (At a ballgame).

Favorite signs: You are beautiful!

                           Quick and confidential STD testing

                           Redneck Pyros!

Favorite City: Toto, IN

Things we cannot hang around for: Ice Cream Social, Greentown, IN

Injury lawyers -2

Rapture messages - 1 Jesus is Coming!

Random Observation from Randy: We'll count that billboard, but they didn't put their pictures on it. I can't trust my injury lawyers if they won't put their pictures up there.

One last note: We saw a student driver semi. Never seen that before. Kinda scary.

Next: Battle Creek, MI

 The Baseball Trip 2021

Day 16   July 7

Homeward bound. Not much going on here since we broke a rule and took I-57 all the way home to make sure I got to my Pub Trivia team by 7;00 pm. No sweat.

Here's the recap:

5,300 miles.

Including Illinois, eight states:

Illinois

Iowa

Missouri

Arkansas

Oklahoma

Texas

New Mexico

Arizona

Two Major League  Baseballparks: Rangers, Diamondbacks

 Minor League parks: 7

Women's diners we ate at: 6

Ann Sathers, Susan's, Addie's. Milly's, Madison's, Lucy's

Rainouts: 2.5

Favorite town name: Sessor IL

Signs seen everywhere: Road Work Ahead

                                        Now Hiring

Random Observation from Randy: "Now Hiring Every Position." I would hang that sign outside a Gentlemen's Club.

Random Observation from Randy: We went through 7 states. Oh wait, it's 8. I forgot Iowa, which was a major waste of time.

See you next year!

The Baseball Trip 20

Day 15   Tuesday July 6

We are heading north and east to Marion, Illinois. On the way, we had to stop in Branson, Missouri. Branson is Wisconsin Dells on crack.

Random Observation from Randy: We can't be this close to Branson without showing you. It's stupid.

Replica - One third of the Titanic. Why? I don't know.

Transformers...yeah!

Ozarkland..yeah!

Anyway, we made our way to Marion, Illinois to see the Southern Illinois Miners play the Gateway (Illinois) Grizzlies. The Grizzlies won 3-2 in ten innings in a close game. Both belong to the Independent Leagues, which mean they belong to nobody. There must have been at least 200 in attendance.

Umpires convene at home plate.

Right-center field scoreboard.

Left field fence.

Behind home plate.

The Miners are pretty protective of their facilities:

And, of course, my mascot friend, Grounder:

Grounder.

Random Observation from Randy: I think it's a girl. She did a cartwheel, she did the splits, but the way she rested her arms on her hips really gives her away.

Favorite town names:  Sarcoxie, MO

                                    Eminence, MO

                                    Low Wassie, MO

Favorite Signs: Free Pie Monday and Thursday

                          Hitchhikers May Be Escaping Prisoners.

Random Observation from Randy: Maybe we should pick up those hitchhikers to help them escape the prisoners.

Events we cannot hang around for: Jeremiah's Jammin' Luau, Sikeston, MO.

Next: Home.

The Baseball Trip 2021

Day 14   Monday, July 5

Today is a travel day as we head east and north to Marion, Illinois. There is not much to report on, as the scenery is kind of blah. On the other hand, there is a casino in Tulsa (actually many) that we hit and spent a couple of hours wasting time and money. I also have some pictures that have not been published, some odds and ends to fill the page.

Spirit River Casino is owned and operated by the Muskogee (Creek) Nation. It also has a partner with Jimmy Buffet and the Margaritaville enterprise.

Photo courtesy of Google Images (I couldn't get a wide enough shot to do this monolith justice.)

Random Observation from Randy: If we're going to go to a casino, let's do it early before our brains turn to cotton after all that driving.

Here's something: I forgot to include: a picture of Hornsby, the Tulsa Drillers mascot on the first visit to Tulsa on our way west.

My close personal friend, Hornsby the Bull.

Fireworks night in Amarillo:

Fireworks night in Oklahoma City:

Route 152 drops you right in front of the Beckham County Courthouse in Cordell, Oklahoma:

If you look very cloely, to the left of the bottom of the courthouse, you can see a tiny blue rectangle. That is actually a statue of a bison wearing a blue Oklahoma State Trooper uniform.

Favorite town name: Slick, OK

Favorite signs: Two Baby Creek

                          Guns, Grills & Safes!

Events we cannot hang around for:  Three Dog Night at River Spirit Casino, Tulsa, OK

Random Observation from Randy: If I owned a cemetary, I'd have a sign that says "Plots Available FOR YOU!"

Next: Marion, IL

The Baseball Trip 2021

Day 13   Sunday, July 4

Happy Fourth of July!

Chickasaw Bricktown Park is located in Bricktown, the entertainment and restaurant center of Oklahoma City. Here you will find plenty of restaurants, bars, music venues, shops, and more lining and surrounding a canal that offers water taxi rides. Unfortunately, those that were open on the 4th were jam-packed. However, we found a couple of seats at the bar at Whiskey Chicks, a country and western bar where we enjoyed a couple of adult beverages:

Here are a couple more shots from Bricktown:

The Oklahoma City Dodgers (AAA, LA Dodgers) were facing off against the Salt Lake City Bees, the AAA affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. the Dodgers belted two home runs and defeated the Bees, 6-3.

Here are some pix of the park:

Front gate.

From center field.

Grandstand, upper deck ,and suites.

 

Holiday Inn and Hampton hotels behind right field. You can watch from your room.

Dodger bullpen.

                                                                     Right field berm. 

Favorite town names: Goodnight, TX

                                      Canadian, TX

                                      New Mobeetie, TX

Random Observation from Randy: Whatever happened to Old Mobeetie? Must have been some fallout at the Town Hall meeting.

Favorite sign: Shackled by Lust? Jesus Sets You Free.

Event we cannot stick around for: 80th Annual Will Rogers Range Riders Rodeo, Amarillo, TX

Random Observation from Randy: I'll pay your half of this motel bill if you take a zip-line ride with me.

Random Observation from the hotel clerk lady: Do it! That's a really good deal!

Uh...no.

Next: Not really sure yet. Seat of the pants!