Itineraries part three: Back on the road again
So who wants to go on a trip this summer? Here's a suggestion.
For the last two weeks you I would give you some summer travel ideas after I was inspired to recount my own a few weeks back. Here’s my last one, when I headed down south.
As if by happenstance, the fine folks at milb.com came out with their Minor League Ballpark Guides, which were a big help in compiling these.
There are a few ground rules I tried to follow with these potential trips:
The trip lasts from August 3-12, and always begins with the Thursday, August 3 game Delmarva is hosting that evening with the Lynchburg Hillcats.
Each of these trips has at least one game from each professional level: MLB, AAA, AA, Advanced-A, A, and independent leagues.
I made every effort to keep daily trips under 200 miles “as the crow flies.” In reality this may be about 250 miles, but that should be about a five-hour trip or less.
Where I could I had at least one “doubleheader day” where there was a day/night combo of games. I did not have game times for all the games, so I assumed on original compilation the minor league contests were in the evening. Turns out I was almost perfectly correct, as you’ll see.
This trip runs out to the Midwest and back here by Sunday, August 13.
Thursday, August 3: Lynchburg Hillcats at Delmarva Shorebirds (Class A, Carolina League.) After you watch our local boys take on the farmhands of the Cleveland Guardians on a Thirsty Thursday, pack your Maryland Pride shirt you got if you were there early enough and gas up the car for the trip west.
Friday, August 4: New York Mets at Baltimore Orioles. I’m slowly working west with the first stop being across the Bay Bridge. I’m going where the baby Birds seen the previous evening someday wish to be, Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It’s Fireworks Night at the ballyard, which is still considered one of MLB’s crown jewels even at 32 years old. We start at 118 miles and 2 hours, 4 minutes for this journey west.
Saturday, August 5: Gateway Grizzlies at Washington Wild Things (independent Frontier League.) The contrasts couldn’t be greater here: the highest level of baseball to the league where hopefuls are trying out just for a contract to play with (or return to) an affiliated team. But Wild Things Park will be hopping on this Saturday evening as it’s both City of Giving Night and Bethel Park Community Night, plus they’re giving away rally towels and having a special jersey auction. A full itinerary there. I’ve been to this park before and it’s a nice little facility. It’s a REALLY long trip to the western end of Pennsylvania, though: 249 miles and 3 hours, 50 minutes. Out of all three itineraries, this is the longest leg.
Sunday, August 6: Somerset Patriots at Akron RubberDucks (AA Eastern League.) It’s Youth Sports Day at Canal Park as the AA Guardians host the AA Yankees. Akron is one of the few big cities in Ohio I haven’t been to, but Canal Park is another stadium placed in a downtown setting. If you need a reprieve from the sun - Canal Park’s dimensions, single-level setup, and orientation are a little unusual - it looks like you’ll need a seat near the top concourse behnd the plate. Of course, there’s also a nice tiki bar in right field. The trip up is 134 miles and 2 hours, 5 minutes.
Monday, August 7: Miami Marlins at Cincinnati Reds. I could have kept you close to Akron with the Guardians (as they’re at home) but I’m saving them for later. Instead, hard along the Ohio River is the Great American Ball Park, which is another of the parks on this tour I’ve visited. (Hope this one’s not a blowout like I saw there.) This game is one of four Bark in the Park games the Reds are hosting, so hopefully the GAB hasn’t totally gone to the dogs by then. It’s a bit of a hike across the Buckeye State, covering 231 miles in 3 hours, 24 minutes.
Tuesday, August 8: Columbus Clippers at Toledo Mud Hens. (AAA International League.) Home at last! One thing about the Midwest landscape: many of the region’s big league teams have affiliates there as well, so this IL battle of Ohio is no different. An initial draft of this trip had me doing both Toledo and Detroit, but I (sadly) opted to skip the Tigers for the sake of diversity. However, I couldn’t pass up my hometown and Fifth Third Field, which the Minor League Ballpark Guide says, “helped set the template for what a 21st-century Minor League ballpark can and should be.” Having been to old (and recently demolished) Ned Skeldon Stadium many times, I concur. As for the game, it’s the AAA Guardians against the AAA Tigers, and for the second night in a row, it’s a dog-centered promotion: Hens and Hounds even features the team wearing “Mud Hounds” jerseys and caps for the occasion. From Cincinnati up I-75 it’s 203 miles and 2 hours, 59 minutes.
Wednesday, August 9: Fort Wayne TinCaps at Lansing Lugnuts (Advanced-A Midwest League, and a 1:05 p.m. start.) For the third day in a row, it’s a dog-centered event, the Dog Days of Summer! But it’s also Summer Fun Day at Jackson Field, home of the Oakland A’s class A-advanced affiliate. This game has a bit of West Coast flavor since they’re taking on San Diego’s farmhands from farm country just down I-69 in Indiana. One possibility on this trip: someone AirBnB’s one of the apartments just beyond the center field wall, 500 feet or so from (and overlooking) home plate. This trip is just 119 miles and takes 1 hour, 41 minutes so it’s not an unbearably early start for this one - afterward you can explore the Michigan state capital district or head east to the next destination. (The other alternative would be to make it a doubleheader day and drive about an hour and a half east to Detroit to watch the Tigers play the Twins. But two doubleheader days in a row may be a tough ask.)
Thursday, August 10: Toronto Blue Jays at Cleveland Guardians (1:10 p.m. start.) We head to The Land and Progressive Field (aka to my generation as “The Jake" for its original moniker of Jacobs Field) for another businessperson’s special. At least it’s not a dog day, but a chance to spend an afternoon in the midst of downtown Cleveland (and another park I’ve been to a couple times.) It’s a bit of a hike between parks at 233 miles and 3 hours and 23 minutes as you head back through Toledo.
Thursday, August 10: Washington Wild Things at Lake Erie Crushers (7:00 p.m. start, independent Frontier League.) Just out in the Cleveland suburb of Avon is Mercy Health Stadium, the home of the purple-clad Lake Erie Crushers. (They pay homage to Ohio’s wine industry, which is centered along the lake and its islands.) At the moment it looks like they’re between promotions on this one, but it’s still baseball, right? Mercy Health Stadium is just 22 miles and 24 minutes away from Progressive Field (the shortest trip in any of my itineraries) but in attitude and setting it’s much farther.
Thursday, August 10 (alternate): South Bend Cubs at Lake County Captains (Advanced-A Midwest League.) Going just a few miles the other way - 18 miles and 21 minutes to be exact - can give you an overdose of both Indians’ prospects and dog-centered promotions at Classic Park, because it’s Bring Your Human Thursday as they play the Cubs’ affiliate. I’ve been to Classic Park too and, while it’s not my favorite stadium, it’s a fine place to watch a game.
Friday, August 11: Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates. One of the most scenic of MLB stadiums as it lies in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, PNC Park is hosting a Miller Lite Happy Hour pregame to start off the Steel City weekend, and if you like the Reds you get to see them again. It’s 152 miles and 2 hours, 18 minutes from my stop in Avon to be about 25 miles northeast of where we were six days ago.
Saturday, August 12: Akron RubberDucks at Harrisburg Senators (AA Eastern League.) I finally caught up to a Marvel Defenders of the Diamond game at FNB Field on the island in Harrisburg, with post-game fireworks to boot. We see the Guardians’ prospects once again (meaning we hit four of their levels, and could go for five if we swapped Lake County for Lake Erie) as they tangle with hopefuls from the Nationals. In looking at a photo of the stadium, it seems unique in how many seats are close to the action, but there’s also the chance to see life-size bobbleheads, too. This trip is 206 miles and 3 hours, 14 minutes across southern Pennsylvania, and the home trip from Harrisburg is 200 miles and takes 3:16.
Saturday, August 12 (alternate): Frederick at Lancaster Barnstormers (independent Atlantic League.) Our last stop could also be the stop I used to wrap up the New England trip, too. (A very intersectional location.) The game at Clipper Magazine Stadium features a brand new Frederick team without a name yet - at home games they will play where the Keys did. It’s another staple night of minor league baseball - Fireworks Night - but they’ll also be turning their attention to the local athletes as it’s High School Football Night, too. Lancaster is 240 miles and 3 hours, 46 minutes from Pittsburgh. The return home on Sunday would be 162 miles and 3 hours, 10 minutes.
Tale of the tape
Games: 11 in 10 days (can be 12.)
Leagues: 7, 8 with alternate (all six levels)
States: 4 (Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan.) Games in all four states. We come close by West Virginia, too, depending on route taken.
MLB teams/organizations: (on standard trip) Baltimore, Cincinnati (twice), Cleveland (three affiliates + MLB), Detroit, Miami, NY Mets, NY Yankees, Oakland, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Toronto, and Washington. Plus three independent teams. On the 9th, a second helping of Detroit can be added along with Minnesota, on the 10th we could see the Cubs and the fifth Guardians affiliate in lieu of one independent team, and on the 12th we can swap two independent teams for a Guardians affiliate and Washington.
Mileage: 1,867 miles (base trip)
Driving time: 28 hours, 38 minutes
Regrets: I would have liked to circle around through Indiana but their teams in Fort Wayne and South Bend were on the road this week. I also didn’t get to work Comerica Park in for my Tigers except as a potential doubleheader day but otherwise it’s a pretty good trip, even if it is a lot longer than the others. (Having to cross PA twice will do that.) A bit “blah” on the promotions, though - I’m not a big believer that baseball and dogs are a good mix, especially in August. I wonder, though, how a Toledo-based trip would be. Maybe that’s an idea for next year since I’ve already considered a PONY (Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York) trip and a jaunt through North Carolina as ideas for the next version come spring 2024. Perhaps I’ll do an extra one based from a West Coast location, too, but that would have to omit the AA level since there are no such teams in that region.
Next week I get back to regular stuff, but, let me tell you, this was a lot of fun to put together and dream about.