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MLB ROAD TRIP 2001
2001.6.13 <VOL.18> Days 54-59
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*We are in Chicago, IL
Index
1. Chocolate
2. Comerica Park
3. Class A distinctions
4. Chicago
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Free chocolate
Between Reading and Harrisburg lies the town of Hershey, PA. It's not a coincidence that there is a chocolate company also called Hershey - the town was founded by Milton Hershey who also began Hershey Chocolate over 100 years ago. Hershey has a population of only 7,800, but is able to support a minor league hockey team as well as a soccer team due to the population of surrounding cities such as Harrisburg, which is only 10 miles away.
Hershey offers a number of tourist attractions, including an amusement park called HersheyPark, but we stopped in to Chocolate World, which offers a free tour through a simulated chocolate factory explaining the method of producing chocolate. You get to board this small cart that takes you through each stage of the chocolate-making process with TV screens and recorded explanations. It is really not that interesting, but the big bonus is waiting at the end. After you disembark from the "train", you are given a free chocolate bar. Not as good as the free beers at Miller, but still a tasty treat.
As I mentioned, there is lots to do in Hershey, but as it all seemed expensive, we decided to move on to Harrisburg, which is the capital of Pennsylvania. The capitol building is very impressive (the best so far) and worth a quick stop. We also drove along the river, before crossing the bridge to City Island, which is the location of Riverside Stadium, home of the Harrisburg Senators. The stadium is situated right on the island, which makes it unique to parks we have been to. It's a great location to have a picnic before the game, and perhaps have a game of catch. The stadium itself is nice, but unfortunately becomes infested with mayflies once the sun goes down. If you look straight up, it appears to be snowing with all the white flies buzzing around. Harrisburg won the game 5-3 with a 3-run 8th, and as they are the AA affiliate of the Expos, I was very satisfied. Hope to see some of them in Montreal soon.
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Comerica Park
We spent two nights at our friend Mike's place (thanks Mike!) on the outskirts of Detroit and enjoyed a game at Comerica Park on Sunday afternoon. Another of the retro-classic ballparks, Comerica was opened last year, much to the chagrin of Tiger power hitters. With center field 420 feet away from home plate, Comerica has become known as a place to avoid if you want to increase your home run totals. The park has a lot of interesting features, including some statues commemorating Tiger heroes such as Ty Cobb and Willie Horton, a number of sculpted tigers around the gates, and a carousel and Ferris wheel for the kids to ride on.
The park is nice, but having been to a number of new parks now, I can't say that it has anything special. The tickets we bought had a free hot dog and small drink come with them, but the seats in the upper deck aren't that great. The game was rain delayed in the 6th inning by an amazing storm, which drenched the place and most of the fans as well. After 72 minutes, play resumed, but what was interesting was that fans who had waited for over an hour for the rain to stop started leaving in the 8th inning.
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The two types of Class A ball
From this year, Class A leagues have been officially realigned, with three leagues (Carolina, California, Florida State) being classified as High Class A, and two leagues (Midwest, South Atlantic) being labeled as Low Class A. Every major league team should have one high A and one low A team, with the more advanced players assigned to the higher team. However, the Houston Astros have two low-A teams - Michigan in the Midwest League and Lexington in the South Atlantic League. With half of their players belonging in better leagues, these teams should dominate, and they do - both Michigan and Lexington are near the top of their leagues.
Coincidentally, we have seen both of these teams at home, and for me, they provide an interesting contrast in minor league baseball. As we mentioned in a previous issue, Lexington is an expansion team (created in order to give the South Atlantic league more teams so that the High and Low leagues would each total 30 teams) and the fans there are so desperate for baseball, they are willing to pay up to $15 to see a game from the club seats. Parking is $3, the stadium is brand new and has every thing you would expect and then some. This is the new face of minor league baseball, where marketing is more important than the game.
Michigan, on the other hand, although the defending Midwest League Champions, are not a big draw - in fact, they offer AAA discounts from Monday to Thursday (half-price tickets!) to attract fans. It costs only $3 to see a game from the first row behind the plate. The stadium is very simple, with none of the amenities that newer parks have, and parking is free. This is the way minor league baseball used to be, just a game with some fun promotions (one of which netted us 12 free donuts - more free food!) I wonder which will be stronger in the long run - it will be interesting to follow Lexington in a couple of years, when the honeymoon period is over and fans realize that low Class A ball isn't worth $15/game.But for now, I think that more and more new parks are going to be built (there will be one in Peoria next year, for example) just to satisfy the demands of local fans. For us, this means more road trips in the future I guess.
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Chicago
We are in Chicago now and loving it. What a great city! Two baseball teams to start with, lots to do and see, great eats, and a good transit system so we can leave the car for a few days. We saw David Wells beat Cincinnati yesterday in a game that matched the combatants of the 1919 World Series (Black Sox scandal) and we are off to Wrigley on Friday for a Twins-Cubs game. Wish you all could join us!
Talk to you later,
Sean and Aya
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