C. O. BROWN STADIUM

C.O. Brown Stadium is located in Bailey Park, which also contains a number of smaller diamonds for amateur play. Battle Creek has hosted the Stan Musial World Series, which is the national amateur baseball championship, for over 60 years. Before 1990, the Series was played in an older stadium, but in 1990, C.O. Brown was built. In 1995, when baseball expanded, Battle Creek received a new franchise and the team began using the stadium for pro ball. 

This is a very average stadium, the outside is aluminum and metal with a brick facing around the ticket windows, and inside is just cement. There are no amenities whatsoever, and on the day we were there, they had run out of bottled water. It had rained the night before, and the walkways were still wet several hours later. The scoreboard is very limited, with no useful information posted, and the souvenir shop is small and carries very little.

Having read that, you probably think that I didn't enjoy this park, but in fact, I did. For one, there are AAA-discounts on weekdays - box seats for $3, half the regular price. The best seats in the park are actually the field box seats which are right at field level by the base (you can see them surrounded by the blue fence in the picture). There are also some $7 grandstand box seats which are unique as the chairs are actually wire rocking chairs. There are very few of these, and they are just above the field box seats.

The red seats are the normal box seats. At $6, they are reasonably priced, but with the AAA discount thrown in, they are the best bargain in the Midwest League. The sun shines into the first base seats for a while, so if that is a problem, choose the third base side. You will also notice that the seats are elevated somewhat, which creates a different perspective from the front row. 

Parking is free, but be careful, the signs to the stadium are not clearly marked. We had good directions beforehand and we almost missed it. 

Overall, this stadium is the simplest we have seen. No massive picnic area, no pool, no water, just a park to watch a game. I enjoy these sorts of places and would say that if you are a baseball fan, check out a game here - the Astros have some great up-and-coming pitchers toiling here right now, which gives you one more reason to seek out a game in Battle Creek.

Front of the stadium

Some interesting trivia - when the team first began they were called the Battle Creek Golden Kazoos. For some reason, the fans didn't like the name and they had it changed to the Battle Cats. I am surprised they didn't call them the Cereal City Corn Flakes, I am sure Kellogg would pay for that.