Inland Empire 66ers 5 at High Desert Mavericks 6 - April 26, 2011

Adelanto, CA might be the least known minor league city in the nation. For one, it has a population under 30,000, and secondly, their team is called the High Desert Mavericks, since the town is located in the Mojave Desert. To be fair, there are a number of larger communities nearby which provide a solid fan base. The area is also just off I-15, the main highway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, so it is an ideal sports roadtrip destination. I had been here once before but was late arriving and didn't have a chance to relax and enjoy it. So I decided to end the California portion of this trip by stopping in to see the Mavericks hosting the Inland Empire 66ers in a battle of the two Cal League teams that are not named for the city in which they play.

Stater Bros. Stadium

Located just off US 395, Stater Bros. Stadium is a basic ballpark with few amenities. It was opened in 1991 and originally known as Mavericks Stadium before Stater Bros., a local supermarket, bought the naming rights prior to the 2007 season.

There is a single roof over the concourse that stretches between the bases. The roof is supported by several posts, some of which have the opening day lineups from the past. You can also see the alumni report to the right, which mentions a one-time Maverick who has advanced up the ladder.

There are just two seating options: the red lower box seats (first 11 rows) for $7.50 or the blue upper box seats for $6. With parking being free and concessions reasonably priced, this might be the most affordable experience in the league.

The Hardball Cafe is a party patio for groups along the left field line, but it was not being used during this game (below). There are also private VIP skyboxes, which are small brick enclosures above each section with plastic chairs for up to 12 fans.

The visiting bullpen is right in front of the Hardball Cafe (below) while the home pen is more standard, being in foul ground down the right field line. The scoreboard has just the linescore and a small dot matrix section that shows the batter's name and stats.

The park is known as being a hitter's paradise as the high elevation and extreme wind lead to a lot of easy homers. Baseball America referred to it as a pinball machine, and there were 24 hits last night, a number of which would likely have been outs in another park. It also gets very cold once the sun sets, so make sure to bring a sweater or three. I'd say the temperature went from 70 to 50 between the first and sixth innings.

Overall, Stater Bros. Stadium is a fun place to see the game. The staff enjoy themselves as do the fans. The Mavericks drew over 200,000 in their first season but have fallen off lately and lie 9th in the 10-team circuit, averaging about 1,500 in the 3,000-seat stadium. There has been talk about moving the team to a newer facility, so if you haven't been here, try to stop by in the near future. For me, I really enjoy seeing minor league ball in places like this and highly recommend that you add High Desert to your list of stadiums to see.

The Game

While I watch a game, I try to look for something interesting that I haven't seen before. Baseball has so much variety and limitless possibilities that almost every game shows me something new. Well, this battle was one of those that had nothing worth mentioning. Pitching was mediocre, with only one 3 up-3 down inning, but this was to be expected given the hitter-friendly park. I suppose the biggest item was that both teams wore bright red jerseys. That's Ryan Franklin (27th overall, 2009, MLB #38 and Seattle's #3 prospect) being held on by Kole Calhoun (8th, 2010)

The game went back and forth without any big innings. High Desert scored a run in the 1st but the 66ers replied with 2 in the 3rd. Both teams scored singletons in the 4th before Casey Haerther (5th, 2009) smacked a solo shot in the top of the 5th to make it 4-2 Inland Empire.

Matt Long (30th, 2009) singles for Inland Empire

In the bottom half, Mario Martinez hit a 2-run homer to tie the game. High Desert retook the lead when Franklin doubled home a run in the 6th, and they added an insurance run in the 8th to make it 6-4.

High Desert's Denny Almonte (2nd, 2007) is 4th in the league in OPS

This is where I finally got to see something different. Jose Jimenez, a Venezuelan who has been in Seattle's system for 8 years, came on to close the game. After a walk to Long, he induced Haerther into a double play. It was very cold and I wanted to get out of there but Calhoun followed with a homer to bring the 66ers within one. Then Jon Townsend singled to complete a 4-4 game for him and bring up catcher Jose Jimenez (47th, 2009). So it was Jose Jimenez on the mound facing Jose Jimenez at the plate. A cool coincidence and fortunately the batter flew out to right to end the game and give the home team a hard-fought victory, 6-5.

Angels' #3 prospect Jean Segura

Notes

The In'n'Out Double Double batter was Franklin, and he doubled in the 6th inning. Amazingly, the section I was sitting in was the winner! I was in section 106 and there were maybe 3 other people around me, but once they announced the winning section, everyone in the adjacent sections moved over to get a freebie.

The Mavericks' mascot is Wooly Bully.

As a roadtripper, I believe in watching live sports before any televised event, except a championship decider. Last night was a tough call, with the Canucks playing game 7 against Chicago. I figured if the hockey game went to OT and the ball game was fast enough, I'd get a chance to see the overtime winner, but of course, the ballplayers conspired against me. They dragged things out, taking 3:11 to finish the game, so I just missed Burrows' series winner when I finally returned to the hotel.

Fortunately, I saw the two other game 7s tonight in Las Vegas, where I had a day off to visit with my brother who is in town for a conference. I'm going to visit the Las Vegas 51s tomorrow and Friday, so check back on the weekend for what happened in Vegas.

Best,

Sean

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Visalia Rawhide 9 at Bakersfield Blaze 3 - April 25, 2010

I've seen all the California League Parks, but in one case, there was a stadium I hadn't seen in ten years. That would be Sam Lynn Ballpark, home of the Bakersfield Blaze. They were starting a four-game set against Visalia so I decided to stop in to see what has changed over the past decade.

Sam Lynn Ballpark

Sam Lynn Ballpark was built in 1941 and is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. It's located in north Bakersfield in a non-descript area of town, off Chester Avenue. Parking is plentiful and (gasp!) free.

The first thing that you notice when you enter the ballpark is the sun setting directly behind center field. It is not often that home plate faces west, and there is a huge batter's eye to mitigate the problem. Even then, games have to start at around sunset, once the batter's box is in the shade. This early in the season, a start time of 7:15 is OK, but in the summer, start times move to as late as 8:00.

The other thing that you might notice is the how shallow center field is. At only 354 feet, it is the shortest in pro baseball. But balls have a tendency to die there unless they are absolutely creamed, so it plays deeper than you might expect.

There is no actual ballpark structure here, just several separate seating sections. Tickets are cheap, with three seating areas to choose from: the $9 green box seats behind the plate, the blue reserved seats down first base at $8 (you can see them above), and the general admission grandstand along third base for $7 (or $1 on Dollar Monday, which was when I visited). There are also a couple of party areas for groups, and a beer patio from where the below photo was taken.

Unfortunately the Blaze are not drawing well these days, averaging around 800 fans a game, so you can sit wherever you want. I ended up in the front row of the green box seats because it had a unique perspective. The ground here is about two feet below field level, so you are looking up at the on-deck batter. It also gives a good angle for seeing the movement on breaking pitches. Definitely worth trying, if just for a change.

Concessions were limited but the hot dogs were pretty good, especially since they were also a dollar due to it being Dollar Monday and all. Game notes and rosters also sell for $1 (every day though) and are worth buying.

The Blaze did have the starting lineups posted, but they used a different marker for some of the batters. I guess they lost the green marker after the previous game.

Bakersfield is now affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds, but was once a Dodger farm club and they still have a couple of pennants on the wall behind the main seating area. I'd like to see more history here even if it is Dodger-related. Hall of Famer Don Drysdale and other Dodger notables including Pedro Martinez and Mike Piazza all played here. Pointless trivia: Hideo Nomo began his American career in Bakersfield, appearing in a single game in 1995.

The scoreboard is very basic, with just the line score displayed. For some reason, the run totals are shown with a leading zero (i.e. a 3-2 game is 03-02). Beyond the fences are some large juniper trees which are there to cut down on the wind sweeping up and over the wall and blowing sand and dust around. Unfortunately, the trees also keep the flag from moving much, so players are never quite sure which way the wind is blowing.

And that's about it. A very simple setting that is little changed from ten years ago. What has changed though are fan expectations. When I came here in 2001, it was a lively place with about 2,800 fans. I remember tutoring a young boy on scoring the game. Last night there were only 669 fans and you could hear every heckle. I'm not sure why the Bakersfield ball fans have stopped coming out, but I hope they realize that although they might not have the fanciest ballpark, they have a unique and memorable one that should be enjoyed before it too is replaced.

The Game

Visalia started Mike Belfiore, who is considered by some to be a top Arizona prospect after being drafted in the sandwich round in 2009. Curtis Partch (26th, 2007) took the mound for the Blaze, who came into the game hitting .337 to lead the league.

But they didn't have much of a chance to hit against Belfiore, who had a lot of trouble finding the strike zone. He loaded the bases on 3 walks in the first but escaped with no damage after a questionable double play. Visalia opened the scoring in the second. After Bartch walked Kyle Greene (11th, 2008), Bobby Borchering (16th overall, 2009, below) reached on an error. Rossmel Perez then attempted a sacrifice that Bartch fielded and promptly threw into the next county, allowing the two baserunners to score. Perez later came home on a David Nick (4th, 2009) double to make it 3-0, all runs unearned.

In the second, Belfiore walked 4 more batters and gave up a couple of hits that led to 3 Bakersfield runs. But Visalia got those back right away on a Greene 2-run homer followed by a Borchering double, Perez single and sac fly from Jon Mark Owings.

In the bottom of the third, Ryan La Marre (2nd, 2010, #11 Reds' prospect, above) called time but the umpire rightly chose to ignore him as Belfiore threw a rare strike. On the next pitch, La Marre grounded to Nick who booted it for an error, but La Marre injured himself running to first and had to be replaced by one-time Jays' farmhand Welington Ramirez. Belfiore walked the next batter but again used a double play to get out of trouble. He was relieved after 3 innings, walking 8 of the 18 batters he faced but only giving up 3 runs.

Visalia added two more in the fifth on an Owings dinger, and Borchering added a solo shot off Taiwanese pitcher Tzu Kai Chiu (below) in the 7th to complete the scoring.

The Rawhide won 09-03 as you can see.

At first glance, this might appears to be a pretty boring game, but there were some interesting statistical tidbits (well, interesting to me at least). Rawhide hurlers gave up 12 walks but only 2 of them scored. Cincinnati's #6 prospect Yasmani Grandal (12th overall, 2010, below), walked in all five of his plate appearances but was stranded each time. He was visibly frustrated after his last at-bat. Each of the seven pitchers managed to record at least one assist or putout, a rare occurrence.

Notes

Ken Griffey is managing Bakersfield, his first stint as skipper.

The Blaze are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the ballpark with the promotion "70 Years, 70 Games, 70 Stars". A former Bakersfield player will be profiled during each of the 70 home games. Yesterday's star was Larry Sherry, 1959 World Series MVP, who played 21 games with the Bakersfield Indians in 1954. This is a cool promotion but doesn't seem to be attracting any additional fans.

Draft Position

In these minor league posts, I note a player's draft position when they are in AA or lower. For first round picks, I'll mention their overall position and year, while those drafted later are noted with the round and year. Players that are drafted more than once are only denoted by their most recent draft. If there is no note, that player is an NDFA (non-drafted free agent) which is the usual for non-US players.

Finally, a big thanks to Dan Besbris, Bakersfield's Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations, for his help and notes about the ballpark.

Best,

Sean

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Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 4 at Modesto Nuts 1 - April 21, 2011

The city of Modesto is best known for being the setting of the cult movie American Graffiti. But it is also home to the Modesto Nuts, Colorado's Cal League affiliate. Although it is just 35 miles south of Stockton, the town and ballpark are worlds apart.

John Thurman Field

Located just south of Modesto Municipal golf course, John Thurman Field is what I expect from a Class A minor league venue: simple, affordable, and fun.

There are two large parking lots on either side of the stadium. There is street parking around although there were signs indicating a 2 hour limit and no parking after 10 pm. Whether these rules are enforced was not something I was willing to investigate, so I forked over $5 and parked in the lot.

Tickets are cheap here, only $7 for what are called preferred grandstand seats. There are more expensive box seats down low, but only 3 rows of them, so I would recommend that you buy the preferred grandstand and choose where you want to sit. These seats are the benches on the left in the below photo, to the right are the $6 general admission bleachers.

The stadium was originally built in 1955 and was renovated in 1997. It is a basic facility, with no outfield seating and just a couple of concession stands. The concourse is devoid of any distractions as you can see below.

Sitting on the third base side will blind you for the first couple of innings as the setting sun is directly in front of you. Of course, you can sit where you want, so this isn't much of a problem.

The outfield is asymmetric, with measurements of 312, 393, 400, 370 and 319 from left to right.

There's not much else to say here. When I first did the ballpark tour in 2001, places like this were the norm. Now minor league ball is slowly being taken over by big corporations who charge too much. This isn't true everywhere but it's becoming more common. So it was a nice change to revisit John Thurman Field and return to minor league baseball the way it was once played.

The Nuts' bullpen chairs face the field

Retired Numbers

There are two retired numbers here, one for Joe Rudi, and one for Fred Anderson. Initially I thought it was for Sparky Anderson but was corrected by a commenter. I found the information below from the Nuts media notes from a game in early June.

(1) Fred Anderson – Purchased the Modesto A’s franchise in 1994 with the intent of moving the franchise to Sacramento. Anderson committed his efforts to improving baseball in Modesto once efforts to move the franchise to Sacramento failed. He led an effort to renovate John Thurman Field in 1996 and was able to negotiate a new two-year player development contract with the Oakland Athletics that same year.

(26) Joe Rudi - Joe Rudi batted .297 with 24 home runs and 85 runs batted in over 101 games for the Modesto Athletics in 1966. Rudi played sixteen years in the major leagues and was a key part of the Oakland Athletics teams that continually won their division in the early 1970's (and won the World Series in 1972-74).

Joe Rudi was born in Modesto; Sparky Anderson managed for one season here

The Game

Ethan Martin (above) started for Rancho Cucamonga, who are the Dodgers' affiliate. Martin was their 1st-round pick in 2008 and is still considered a prospect, but has struggled with his command during his pro career. I saw him pitch last season in the Cal League, so he hasn't progressed much since then. His mound opponent was Dan Houston (7th, 2008, below).

Martin's poor command led to the first run of the game. Nolan Arenado (2nd, 2009, Rockies #3 prospect, above) singled to lead off the 4th and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Mike Zuanich (28th, 2008, below) then singled him home. Martin walked Orlando Sandoval and uncorked another wild pitch to put runners at second and third, but struck out the next two batters to escape the jam down 1-0.

Houston was good, yielding only a first-inning single through six frames. After striking out Modesto native Blake Smith (2nd, 2009, #27 prospect), Houston was relieved having thrown just 77 pitches. Unfortunately for him, his bullpen couldn't hold it. Kurt Yacko (8th, 2008) gave up 2 runs in the 7th and Coty Woods (33rd, 2009) gave up two more in the 8th, highlighted by an RBI double from Smith.

Tony Delmonico (6th, 2008) was hit twice

The Quakes' bullpen was superb, particularly closer Steven Ames (17th, 2009) who struck out all 3 batters he faced on just 11 pitches to earn his league-leading 6th save as Rancho Cucamonga won 4-1.

Note the pitch count on the scoreboard

Notes

Before the game I was taking pictures outside the stadium. I guess I must have spooked somebody because a security guy came out and asked me what I was doing. He explained that a "guard" of his said I took his picture. I was rather amused by this contention; have Americans become so paranoid that someone taking pictures at a minor league ballpark needs to be questioned? Turns out the security guy was just checking id's for the $2 beer night so I'm not sure why he felt he had any authority to question me. Give small minds a bit of power though...

Not only was it $2 beer night, it was college night. Interesting mix. There were lots of college kids enjoying the evening, although I don't think too many of them were paying attention to the actual game, what with the cheap beer to be enjoyed.

Modesto will host the 2011 Carolina/California League All-Star Game on June 21st, with a classic car parade the day before.

The team was renamed the Nuts in 2005 after a fan poll. The area is a leader in walnut and almond production, hence their mascots are a walnut (below) and almond. The name does lead to the rather interesting cheer "Let's Go Nuts".

Next Up

Back to San Jose for the weekend. Arena Football tonight and MLS tomorrow. As well, hoping to get into the Sharks/Kings game 5 but with the Sharks looking to clinch, tickets could be more than I'm willing to pay. Check back in a couple of days to see what happened.

Best,

Sean

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Visalia Rawhide 1 at Stockton Ports 2 - April 20, 2011

The city of Stockton is about 70 miles east of Oakland, a perfect distance to complete a day-night doubleheader with games in each city. After watching Boston defeat the A's in the afternoon, I drove east on I-580, which becomes I-205 before turning north to join I-5, my favourite highway, arriving at my hotel about 90 minutes before game time. After a quick stop to drop my stuff off, I drove down to the ballyard, eager to complete the California League ballpark checklist.

Banner Island Ballpark

Officially known as Stockton Ballpark until the naming rights are sold (hmmm, SportsRoadTrips.com Stadium anyone?), the locals refer to it as Banner Island Ballpark after the area in which it is located. It was opened in 2005 to replace old Billy Hebert Field.

Splash greets you at the entrance

The stadium is on Fremont Street as part of a Marina complex that also includes Stockton Arena (to the right in the below photo), home of the ECHL's Stockton Thunder. Sadly, the Thunder have been eliminated from the playoffs, meaning I'll have to return to visit them.

Parking is $5 in a lot just west of the stadium but there is plenty of free street parking nearby. Behind the ballpark is McLeod Lake and the Stockton Marina, to the east is the downtown core, while there is not much to the west.

Tickets are $12 for box seats between the bases and $9 for those down the lines. There's also a $7 option for the home run hill beyond the right field fence. I ended up being given a ticket and was able to sit wherever I pleased, so I suggest buying the $7 ticket and moving around. One interesting option that wasn't available at the box office are the Scout Seats, which are the top rows of the three sections behind home plate. They come with a small armside table where you can rest your speed gun. A cool idea.

There is also a club section named after cable provider Comcast which comprises 3 sections above first base. I like the way this section is separated from the rest of the park, there's a walkway in front of it and the best seats next to the field are still available to the plebes like me.

The ballpark is quite beautiful and you can walk around the entire thing. The concourse is mostly open, with the covered area just around the entrances.

There are a number of attractions such as the Stockton Police Officers' Batting Cages, which are available if you need to get in some swings during the game.

As you move around, you will pass over a small bridge under which there is a walkway that connects the Ports' clubhouse to the field. The players walk down this on their way to warmup; below is Stockton starter Ryan Doolittle with his mind on the game.

The outfield has three flagpoles with Stockton's pennant winning years (2008 was their most recent championship as you can see above). Here is where you will also find the Back Porch and Ports Terrace BBQ, which includes Kinders Meats as a dining option. I didn't partake here, but did visit their Stockton location the following day. I highly recommend their Ball Tip Sandwich, it is both topical and tasty.

Next to the BBQ are the bullpens (above) and the scoreboard (below). It's tough to see in the picture, but the scoreboard does have a small digital screen along with the line score.

The view from the outfield

There are a number of jerseys on the press box which honour recent Ports who have gone on to succeed with the A's.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect is the Monster Wall in left field, which juts in dramatically, making the distance down the line just 300 feet. This is a difficult area for an inexperienced left fielder as the ball takes some crazy bounces off here. On two occasions, what would be simple fly outs elsewhere went for doubles off the wall.

Finally, there are plenty of food options besides Kinders. Two that are unique are the Frito's Chili Pie (a lettuce bed with Fritos, chili, cheese, tomatoes, and onions) and an asparagus stand (Stockton is known as the Asparagus Capital of the World). I did not try either of these tempting treats, instead choosing a chicken burger, which was good enough in its own right.

Overall, Banner Island Ballpark is a great new stadium. They haven't gone overboard with attractions nor overpriced their product. Friendly staff and a unique configuration made this a fun place to visit. If you have yet to visit Stockton, I suggest you try to include it next time you are in California.

The Game

The Visalia Rawhide, Arizona's Advanced-A affiliate, were in town to take on the Ports, who have Oakland as their parent club. Visalia are stacked with four of the Dbacks' top 10 prospects, all of whom were first-round picks in 2009. Three of them were in the starting lineup (Matt Davidson, #3 prospect, 35th overall; Chris Owings, #4/41st, and Bobby Borchering, #7/16th, shown singling above).

They would face Ryan Doolittle (26th round, 2008, above), the reigning Cal League's pitcher of the week, coming in with a 0.00 ERA in 10 innings. Eric Smith (2nd, 2009, #24 prospect for Arizona) was on the hill for Visalia.

Stockton scored first when Rashun Dixon (10th, 2008, #28 prospect for Oakland) and Jonathan Johnston (42nd, 2007) singled to lead off the third. After Smith botched a sacrifice attempt that left the bases loaded, Michael Gilmartin (27th, 2009) singled to score two runs.

Doolittle was cruising, yielding only a hit batsman through 3, but Adam Eaton (19th, 2010, #30 prospect, below) ended the no-hitter and the shutout with a massive solo shot to right.

Both starters lasted just 5 innings, and then it was the bullpens that took over. Jose Guzman pitched two frames for Stockton, loading the bases in the 7th but escaping when Eaton grounded to third. Connor Hoehn finished things off with two innings of his own as the Ports held on for a 2-1 win.

A good game with solid pitching for both teams. There were only 3 walks in the game and 20 strikeouts, so command was not an issue as it often is at this level. Smith was the hard-luck loser while Doolittle continued his early-season domination.

Notes

There were several promotions that were a bit too tough for the contestants. In one case, a young girl was supposed to recite the lyrics of a song, which turned out to be Yakkety-Yak by The Coasters. That song is older than I am, so it's highly unlikely a 10-year old will even know the chorus never mind the second verse. To her credit, she said "I don't know!" and got the prize anyway.

They had Baseball Bingo here too. Within the first 8 batters I had 4 in a row on my card. I just needed centerfielder Conner Crumbliss (30th, 2009) to fly out and I'd be getting a $100 certificate for a local grocery store, which would cover the beer expenses for the rest of the trip. Of course, Crumbliss sacrificed, grounded out, and singled and my dreams of free beer were dashed.

The In-N-Out Double Double batter doubled in his first at-bat, but only one section wins a free Double Double burger. I was not in that section. This pretty much ruined my day.

Next Up

I'm in Modesto now and will be checking out the Nuts and Quakes tonight. Check back tomorrow for a post on that game.

Best,

Sean

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