That's Right, They're Called the Sod Poodles

A small patch of blue opened up in the middle of the game above right field.

It had to be some kind of baseball miracle. It’s the last day of my Texas/New Mexico minor league baseball tour and the game tonight is the Amarillo Sod Poodles vs. the Wichita Wind Surge. I drove in rain the whole way from Albuquerque to the city limits of Amarillo, when suddenly the rain stopped. 

I kept my fingers crossed, checked the weather radar forecast, monitored the Sod Poodles Twitter and headed for Hodgetown with plenty of time to park and get a ticket before the gates opened at 6 p.m. The ballpark is named for Jerry Hodge, a former mayor and civic booster who played a big part in bringing minor league baseball to Amarillo. 

The clouds were ominous and there were a few drops in the second inning, but somehow, we made it to the last out of the ninth inning before the rain started coming down again. Do you know how I know it was a miracle? The game was over in just 2 hours and 21 minutes. 

Everything about the Sod Poodles was good. Their stadium is an art deco style beauty in a good location downtown with plenty of nearby parking. Tonight was $2 night, with a limited number of tickets for just 2 bucks. All they had left when I got to the ticket window were lawn and standing room tickets, so I asked for a senior citizen discount in a regular seat. I was 7 rows back just past third base. 

Lots of choices and few lines at Hodgetown's food concessions.

The Piggly Wiggly. There's a hot dog underneath that BBQ pork and cheese.

Food options are plentiful with a lot of what you’d expect to find at a ballpark in the Texas Panhandle. I tried the Piggly Wiggly, a good-sized hot dog covered with BBQ pork and cheese. They gave me a fork, but I was up for a challenge and didn’t need it. The large Diet Pepsi I ordered for $6 came in a souvenir cup.

The fold-down chairs might be the most comfortable I’ve sat down in, and there was plenty of elbow room even with a large crowd of fans. The staff is very friendly and helpful. One woman ran to catch up with me as I wandered by her gaping at all the details on and off the field. “Can I help you find something?” she asked, and pointed me toward the team store. I would challenge anyone to walk out of that shop without buying something.

The seats at Hodgetown come with plenty of room. 

After "Take Me  Out to the Ballgame'" in the 7th inning stretch, fans are treated to a short version of the Sod Poodles Anthem. The title of this post is a fragment from the lyrics. You can hear Carson Leverett's studio version of his song here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmBpaRQ7mPM

The Sod Poodles used to be the AA San Antonio Missions, but they had to pull up stakes to make way for the AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox, who were moving to San Antonio. The teams had the same owner, so it was a sort of corporate restructuring.

Pre-game warmup in the Soddies' bullpen.

The Sky Sox would keep the Missions name in San Antonio and basically upgrade the team from AA to AAA. Meanwhile the team that was moving to a new stadium in Amarillo needed a new identity. Sod Poodles, a nickname for prairie dogs, was the result of a long search and branding operation.

Fast forward to 2021, after the pandemic shutdown and Major League’s takeover of the minor leagues. The San Antonio Missions were reclassified to AA, which put them back in the same league as the Sod Poodles, the team that used to play AA ball in San Antonio as the Missions.

A souvenir pin celebrates victory for the young pups.

There also were some changes in affiliation with major league teams. The Sod Poodles played their first season in 2019, and won the league championship, as the AA team of the San Diego Padres. For 2021, they were invited to join the farm system of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Missions were the AAA team of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2019. Now they’ve reunited with the Padres as their AA team.

Tonight’s visiting opponent, the Wichita Wind Surge, went through a similar switcheroo. They were supposed to move to Wichita as the AAA team for the Miami Marlins in 2020. But for 2021, the Marlins decided to make the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp their AAA team, which bumped the Wind Surge back to AA. Then the Twins and the Marlins swapped AA teams, Minnesota getting Wichita and Miami getting the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

As noted earlier, this was a very fast game. The Sod Poodles scored first with a single and a home run right out of the gate. They added two more runs in the 3rd and the 4th innings, making it 4-0. The Wind Surge came back with a 2-run homer in the 7th and a solo shot in the top of the 9th. With a runner on base, D.J. Burt struck out looking to end the game. 

Final: Amarillo Sod Poodles 4, Wichita Wind Surge 3.

Comeback Win for a Comeback Team

A big win for the Albuquerque Isotopes.

The fictional Springfield Isotopes from the Simpsons never made the move to Albuquerque thanks to Homer’s efforts, but the real Isotopes are alive and thriving there. You can even take a picture at Isotopes Park with a life-size Homer, Marge, Bart or Lisa, all located around the stadium’s concourse. 

Marge Simpson waits for you to join her for a photo op.
A Home-like hand encourages an Isotopes batter to bring in the winning run.

A few years after the beloved Dukes were moved to Oregon, Albuquerque became the new home of Calgary Cannons. “Isotopes” was the most popular entry in a poll to find a new name for the team. The name is a natural tie-in with the nuclear technology industry in and around Albuquerque.

The Isotopes play on the same field, officially Rio Grande Credit Union Field, that the Dukes used, but the stadium itself has been rebuilt with a multitude of upgrades and fan-friendly features. The center field wall has a big recessed cutout with a grassy hill that pushes the warning track inward. The bullpens are stretched end to end from right field to the centerfield and behind them is a large terraced picnic area. Behind the left field wall is high terraced lawn with a walkway that is part of the full-circle concourse around the field. A play area behind the batter’s eye is closed temporarily.

Picnic area, bullpens and the outfield hill under dramatic skies at Isotopes Park.

New Mexico’s famous green chile is featured in a number of food options at the concession stands, with wavy fries, bratwurst and foot-long hot dogs to name a few. You can even buy green chile merchandise in the souvenir shop, including replica jerseys and caps worn by the team when they play as the Albuquerque Green Chile Cheeseburgers.

Green chile and cheese on wavy fries.

The game took some lopsided turns. There was no score going into the 6th inning, when Ty Kelly led off with a single for the visiting Tacoma Rainiers. That was followed by two walks to load the bases and a pitching change. Another walk made it 1-0, a fielder’s choice sent in another run and loaded the bases again. One more walk made it 3-0. Still nobody out with the bases loaded, the Isotopes called in a third pitcher, who started things off with one more walk to make it 4-0. Finally, a flyout and a strikeout brought up Ty Kelly again, who led off with the inning’s only hit. His pop fly ended the inning for the Rainiers. 

The Isotopes got 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th and tied it up in the 8th at 4-4 with a homer by the catcher, Jose Briceño. In the bottom of the 9th, Briceño flied out with the bases loaded and one out. Wynton Bernard, pinch-running for Conner Joe, beat the throw to home plate to score and end the game.

It might have been a higher scoring game, but both teams struggled with runners in scoring position. Between them, the teams left 26 runners on base, 14 for Tacoma and 12 for Albuquerque.

The exciting come-from-behind win brought the large crowd of 7,009 Albuquerque fans to there feet and pumped them up for the Star Wars fireworks that went off within minutes after the end of the game.

Final: Albuquerque Isotopes 5, Tacoma Rainiers 4.

Flags were lowered and a moment of silence preceded the game
out of respect for the five victims of a fatal hot air balloon accident earlier in the day.

Fun + Pride = A Good Time in El Paso

It looked like rain, but it was the Round Rock Express
that really poured it on in El Paso on Thursday.

It was Margaritas night at Southwest University Park in downtown El Paso as the Chihuahuas began their six-game series with the Round Rock Express. That means the two teams are playing as their Copa de la Diversión (Fun Cup) counterparts, the Chihuahuas as Las Margaritas and the Express as the Chupacabras. It was also Pride night at the ballpark for double the fun, and a big crowd of 6,720 was on hand for the game, the largest I’ve seen at a minor league baseball game this season.

Southwest University Park gets its name through sponsorship, not from the school’s athletic program, which doesn’t exist. The stadium has about 7,500 seats, but it can hold up to 10,000 fans thanks to expansive concourses and many club and party areas. The stadium is situated on the site of the old city hall building that was torn down to make way despite some objections. Its architecture features several old-time references to help it blend in with some of the historic downtown buildings nearby.

A welcome sign outside the stadium appears to be superimposed on a photo,
but it's just a reflection of the El Paso Convention Center next door
on the highly polished marble plaque.

The entry gates lead to a stairway up to the wide concourse level with good views of the playing field and downtown skyline to the right, and an impressive view of Juarez across the Rio Grande in Mexico to the left. A welcome sight for me was a Bahama Buck’s in a row of concession stands a few steps in at the top of the staris. It was another hot day near 100 degrees and I was ready for some coconut flavored shaved ice. The Bahama Buck’s secret is a spinning machine that grinds a block of ice into an ultra-fine snow-like form that melts in your mouth.

Loaded nachos, not in a batting helmet, but a plastic dog bowl.
A new cap with a ball and cross bones. Look close to see where they've been chewed.

After cooling off, I headed for the Guest Services booth to see if they had starting lineup sheets. They did, but there were no full rosters available, and then came worse news. One of the woman noticed I was holding my ballpark passport.

She shook her head and said, “Don’t tell me you’re bringing that here to get it stamped.”

“No,” I explained, “I’m taking it to the team store for the stamp.”

Still shaking her head and, with a sad voice, she replied, “They don’t have it.”

Somehow the store had lost their stamp, which meant no validation for my visit to the stadium. I was ready to suggest that maybe someone could make a thumb print mark if they still had an inkpad. Then another woman chimed in, “Do you want a paw print?”

“Sure,” I said, thinking she was going to get some kind of sticker from the kids’ club booth next door. She came back with an inkpad and holding a rubber stamp of a dog’s paw. I told the rest of the crew that this meant Southwest University Park and the Chihuahuas’ page would stand out from all the others with this one-of-kind stamp.

Meanwhile, the group was impressed with my lanyard full of AAA ballpark pins and told me there were several to choose from at the team store. They also liked my Ninja Trash Panda t-shirt and I told them how I got it as a consolation gift because the Rocket City store in Alabama had no pins for sale.

Then the head-shaker asked the two women inside the booth, “Are there were any of the five-year pins left,” but they couldn’t find any. She took my name and seat number, I gave her my name, and went off to enjoy the game.

The El Paso Chihuahuas in their Margaritas uniforms before the game.

It was quite a game, maybe my first in the Copa de la Diversión series. The Copa promotion is a way for minor league teams to reach out to their local Hispanic/Latino communities by adopting Spanish names and wearing alternative uniforms. The program began in 2017 with four teams, grew to 33 teams in 2018, and 72 teams in 2019. Participation reached 92 teams for 2020 before the season was cancelled because of the corona virus pandemic. Then, after Major League Baseball took over the minor leagues and eliminated 43 affiliations, it left 76 teams out of 120 total with Copa alter egos.

I didn’t realize that both teams would be representing their Copa identities, the Chihuahuas in a blinding yellow-green uniform and the Express in Jerseys with a big Chupacabra logo on the front. I’m not going to try to explain what a chupacabra is, but it’s worth looking up. The Margaritas promotion was coupled with a special price on actual margaritas and a 10 percent discount on any Las Margarita items in the team store.

Did it make the game fun? Well, maybe not for the Chihuahuas. Everything started out fine with El Paso taking the lead on 5 runs in the 3rd, but from that point on, the visitors from Round Rock scored in every inning. They piled it on in the 6th when Leody Taveras hit one out of the park after the Express loaded the bases on a scary beaning that knocked the helmet clear off Ryan Dorow’s head and two walks. That was 4 runs on the only hit of the inning for the Express. By the time it was over, after almost four hours, the two teams had scored a total of 23 runs on 32 hits. Final: Round Rock Chupacabras 18, El Paso Margaritas 7.

Many of the fans had left already, but as the rest of them wandered out, I finished a few final notes in my passport book. Then I heard my name and looked up.

“Are you Donald Parsons?” Standing beside me was another guest services staffer, one I hadn’t seen before. “I was asked to give you this,” he said as he handed me a tiny plastic package. Inside was the 5-year pin, the one they couldn’t find earlier. Yeah, it was another good night back at the ballpark.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

"The prairie sky is wide and high (clap, clap, clap, clap) deep in the heart of Texas."

All I know about Midland, Texas, is that George W. Bush said it was what set him apart from his father, the other President Bush. “The biggest difference between me and my father is that he went to Greenwich Country Day and I went to San Jacinto Junior High.” 

W moved to Houston with the family after 7th grade, whereupon his education took a path more like his father’s. That doesn’t take away from the fact that where the father grew up in New England, and where the son was raised, deep in the heart of Texas, gave them different perspectives on the state of things in our vast and diverse country. 

As the sun set slowly in the west, the moon rose slowly in the east.
The wind blew. The flags waved.

Now, here I am in the unlikely destination of Midland at the start of western road trip that will take me to El Paso, Albuquerque, southern Colorado, and Amarillo, and then back to Midland for my flight home. Thank you, Minor League Baseball.

The four minor league teams I’ll be seeing — the Midland Rockhounds, the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Albuquerque Isotopes and the Amarillo sod Poodles — form a near perfect square in an area of the country where the teams are few and far between.

This trip is not just about baseball. I want to check on wildfire damage from 2018 where I own land in Colorado. I also want to visit family in New Mexico and friends I worked with when I lived there years ago. I also have to catch up with some college friends who are now in the southwest.

Baseball, however, is definitely behind the wheel on this itinerary. And what a wheel it is! I booked a full-size rental car and wait 'til you see what Midland, Texas threw back at me. I have to start in Midland because the Rockhounds are playing at home this week, then they go on the road. At the other end of the circuit, the Amarillo Sod Poodles are away now, and they won’t be playing at home until I swing through there next week. Lucky me, the Chihuahuas and the Isotopes are playing at home at the right time. I’m even going to see a baseball game in Colorado Springs, where the Rocky Mountain Vibes are playing in the Frontier League.

A Chevy Colorado for me to make my baseball rounds. Me in full regalia.

The Midland Rockhounds are the AA affiliate of the Oakland A’s and part of baseball’s new AA Central alignment. This week they are playing the new kid on the block, the Wichita Wind Surge, a team I’ll get to see again when I get to Amarillo. It’ll give me a chance finally to wear my Wind Surge t-shirt and New Orleans Baby Cakes cap that I acquired when the team was affiliated with my team, the Miami Marlins.

Wichita used to be the Baby Cakes, but the team moved after the 2019 season. They were supposed to be the AAA team of the Marlins, but the 2020 season was cancelled because of the pandemic, and baseball’s realignment of the minor leagues assigned the Wind Surge as the AA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

It's hot. When I picked up the truck at the airport, the dashboard thermometer said 100°. But, as the flags in the outfield will attest, there is a very friendly breeze. The grandstand at Momentum Bank Ballpark has its back to the afternoon sun, so most of the seats are in the shade before the end of the second inning with a 6:30 first pitch. Too bad it's not Thirsty Thursday when drinks are half price. Imagine a typical souvenir cup of soda for $2.75. You'll have to check with the Rockhounds yourself to see about beer and other beverages. 

Wednesday is Half-price Hot Dog Day, perfect timing for me after a long day of flying from Newark to Midland with a change in Houston. I had two dogs with a medium Diet Dr. Pepper. Next time I'll try some of the BBQ and taco offerings at the concessions, but I'll probably pass on the Peanut Butter and Jelly Bacon Dog.

A baseball-themed splash pad behind the batter's eye kept the kids cool.
A nifty train made the rounds beyond the outfield.

Momentum Bank Ballpark is a fantastic stadium with amazing views from the concourse around the outfield. There's a big playground between the scoreboard and the batter's eye, and a big splash pad hidden from view that was giving a bunch of kids relief from the heat. There's also a basketball court off of right field. From my seat by the visitors' dugout and third base, I kept noticing a little train that would work its way from left field to right and then back. I think rides were free and not just for kids.

View from the visitors' bullpen half in left field, half in foul territory.

One of the strangest things is the outfield itself. First of all, the two bullpens jut into fair territory in left and right field, and they are separated from the playing field by short fencing. In left field, the arrangement adds a few extra feet to the left field wall in a cowlick-shaped curve. It made me think of Fenway's unusual shape.

The seventh inning stretch included a nice local touch. "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," was followed by a round of "Deep in the Heart of Texas." I couldn't make out if the recording was Perry Como, Gene Autry or Tex Ritter.

The game started with a few quick 1-2-3 innings, but Wichita surged in the middle innings and was ahead 8 to 1 after 7. Midland's Rockhounds had a rally going in the bottom of the ninth, but could only get halfway there. Final Wichita Wind Surge 8, Midland Rockhounds 4.

In Short, It Was a Long Game

If you want to have fun at a baseball game, this is the group you want to have along. Wicket and Briar Rose took us to PNC Field for Waggin' Wednesday. The pups got in free and we got hot dogs for $1. 

The ball game was good, with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders versus the visiting Syracuse Mets. A long first inning ended with the score tied at 2 apiece. The lead changed several times until the Railriders tied it up in the bottom of the ninth. 

It had been four hours since the first pitch, and the cool, late spring air had dropped into the 50s, so it was understandable (not unforgivable) that many in attendance had left, including most of the dogs. The blankets we had brought to spread on the outfield lawns came in handy against the cold. We never made it to the lawn, because the left field picnic tables were open and we claimed one as our own.

At the end of the ninth inning, Briar couldn't get out of the stadium fast enough, and dragged me with her. I was able to relinquish her leash, however, and get back inside for the 10th. With one out and two on, including the designated base runner now at third, Rob Brantly ended the long game with a home run to right field.

Yogi said it. "It ain't over, 'til it's over."

Final: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders 10, Syracuse Mets 7.

On the Road to the Bigs

Welcome to Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, home of the Marlins and Cardinals.

I’m on my to Miami for a couple of Marlins games. What’s on the way to Miami? Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, home to both the Jupiter Hammerheads and the Palm Beach Cardinals. Who’s playing baseball at Roger Dean Stadium this week? Well, it’s the Jupiter Hammerheads and the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. Looks like I’ll be stopping in Jupiter for some minor league baseball on my way to the bigs.

Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., is a busy place. In addition to the Low-A Hammerheads and Cardinals, Miami and St. Louis also share the stadium for spring training, and each fields a team here in the rookie Gulf Coast League. That means there’s always something going on at the stadium and it requires a lot of fancy footwork to keep the pieces moving.

Safety first. No autographs. A shield between bullpen pitchers and fans.
Some seats OK, some not, for safe distancing.

Masks 100% off in the stands, 50% off in the team store. 

The Marlins and Cardinals both use the same playing field and grandstand, but each organization has its own office space, practice fields, conditioning rooms, lockers, etc. The teams were faced with a problem when dealing with pandemic health restrictions. How do two teams that play games in one stadium virtually every day find time to clean seats and other surfaces to ensure safety for players, employees and spectators?

The solution was to close the stadium three days a week to all but players and essential personnel. No spectators were allowed for Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday games, and seats were limited for Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Restrictions have been eased to allow more people in the stands, but there are still no spectators on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Some recognizable names on Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame banners.

I’ve been to games at Roger Dean Stadium several times, I think for at least one spring training game, and maybe a minor league game too. I don’t have my game logs handy, but I can check them out in about a week when I’m back in Pennsylvania. I know that I was here for a game in spring of 2013 so my sister Gale could get an autograph on the pink bat she was given as the Marlins 2012 Honorary Bat Girl in baseball’s Going to Bat Against Cancer campaign. 

I’ve also been back to get a stamp in my Minor League Ballpark Pass-Port Book. I just don’t remember exactly when. You’d think I would have gone to a lot of games at Roger Dean on my many, many trips to Miami for Marlins games, but there was always some scheduling problem or travel deadline that got in the way. I have seen the Hammerheads play many times when they travel to Daytona to face the Tortugas. 

Signs show which outfield buildings belong to the Marlins
and which belong to the Cardinals. They light up.

 
Tonight’s game in Jupiter was a perfect fit for my weekend plans in Miami, with an early Marlins game Saturday and even earlier start on Sunday. Spending tonight in South Florida means I won’t have to get up extra early for the 4½-hour drive south.

What makes me really happy is that I'm seeing games this season where all the Marlins teams are based, at least almost. After tomorrow, I will have been to games in Miami, Jacksonville, Pensacola and Jupiter this month. Somebody send me a ticket to Beloit, Wisc. If I can get to a Snappers game, it'll be a clean sweep of all the Marlins's teams. It might not be this month, but there's a good chance I'll make it before the end of the season. I would like to see the Beloit Snappers in their farewell season. They'll have a new name next year. We just don't know what it's going to be yet.

New name, new uniforms for the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.

The Hammerheads' opponents have a new name and a new look this season. The former Fort Myers Miracle, A-Advanced team of the Minnesota Twins, became the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels in 2020. They never got to play a single game though. No minor league teams did, as the season was postponed and eventually cancelled when Covid-19 put a halt to everything. This year it's a new name, new uniforms and new colors. They're still with the Minnesota Twins, but they and they rest of the old Florida State League teams are now in the Low-A Southeast league. 

Celebration for the Hammerheads.

The Mighty Mussels of Fort Myers showed up to play baseball, but it was the mighty muscles of the Hammerheads that prevailed. Final: Jupiter Hammerheads 4, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 1.

There's No Barking in Baseball

Lulu loves Bark in the Park. It was the first AAA game for her and for sister Gale.

It’s Crustaceans & Canines night at 121 Financial Park, home of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, and that means dogs get in free. Owners have to sign a waiver at the entry gate and read a short list of rules. Rule No. 2 says “NO BARKING” in capital letters, but there didn’t seem to be any enforcement throughout the game. In fact, the public address crew played a doorbell “ding-dong” several times to stir things up amongst the fur-covered fans. 

There’s a lot to like about this stadium. It’s easy to get to despite some tricky one-way streets around the downtown Jacksonville sports park area. There’s plenty of parking nearby and once inside you get a great view of some of the spectacular bridges that cross the St. John’s River. Beyond right field is the impressive TIAA Bank football arena, home to the Jacksonville Jaguars and college football’s Gator Bowl, and the otherworldly roof of Daily’s Place amphitheater.

Daily's Place amphitheater lights up right field. The colorful roof seems to be crowned
by a string of lights from the Hart Bridge over the St. John's River.

The food is very good with a special Jumbo Shrimp twist. In addition to the traditional hot dogs, peanuts and Cracker Jack, almost every food stand menu includes some type of shrimp dish. There’s boom boom shrimp, torpedo shrimp, shrimp and grits, coconut shrimp, burger and shrimp, shrimp po’ boy, shrimp and pulled pork nachos. That’s about it. On my bucket list (but I’ll need help from a few friends) is the burger pie: four quarter-pound patties served between two pizzas. 

Boom boom shrimp, fried morsels with a mildly spicy sauce served in a waffle bowl.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m excited about the Jumbo Shrimp’s promotion to AAA in the Miami Marlins minor league system. It’s an easy drive for me on I-95 in less than two hours from my home in central Florida. It’s a big opportunity to see some of the baseball stars of the future, as well as some of the current major league players who are working their way off the injured list.

Over the years, the Jacksonville teams have been affiliated with 10 different major league teams, the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, Montreal Expos, Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers and, since 2009, the Miami Marlins. Baseball fans will recognize many of the players who played in Jacksonville before or during their major league careers.

A tribute to Hank Aaron by section 103, one of many along the concourse. 

Some of the biggest stars are immortalized on the steel support beams that hold up the third level luxury boxes and other areas above the main concourse. My section was between pillars with pictures of Hank Aaron and Tom Seaver. There’s also a small wall of fame on the ground floor as you enter the stadium that includes names like Nolan Ryan and Larry Walker.

Wall of Fame, below the 3rd base stands.

Jacksonville was home to AAA baseball once before. The Havana Sugar Kings of the International League landed here in the 1960s after the team had to flee Cuba, and they became the Jacksonville Suns. The team moved again to Virginia a few years later where they play today as the Norfolk Tides. Another Jacksonville Suns team was formed and it played in the AA Southern League until the overhaul of the minor league system last year. For a while, the team was known as the Jacksonville Expos. They started playing as the Jumbo Shrimp in 2017.

This week’s schedule features a matchup between the two former Jacksonville Suns teams in a season-long series they’re calling the Navy Town Showdown. The Jumbo Shrimp took an early lead in the series, but the Tides have won the last two games to make it 9-5 in favor of Jacksonville. In the unusual post-pandemic schedule, the two teams face each other 36 times total, so they’ve got a long way to go.

You don't want to see this when you arrive for a game. Weather was never a threat,
but the Tides rained on the Jumbo Shrimp's parade in the 5th inning.

The Tides sent 13 men to the plate in the 5th inning and the Jumbo Shrimp were charged with two errors. Norfolk’s leadoff batter hit a home run and the ninth batter of the inning hit a grand slam to put the game out of reach. Jacksonville’s Deven Marrero had two home runs and three rbi, but that was it for the Jumbo Shrimp. Final: Norfolk Tides 9, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 3.

Braves' New World

Main gate at SRP Park in North Augusta, S.C.

Is there a more natural matchup for city and team name than the Augusta Greenjackets. On the one hand you have a feisty insect with a game face and a stinger to frighten opponents, and on the other hand you have a gallant tip of the baseball cap to the local golf institution. The Brooklyn Cyclones come to mind. A powerful storm and a wild Coney Island thrill ride. Any others?

Speaking of extraordinary baseball team names, but in a different category, I happened to be looking out an airplane window over Savannah, Ga., when I was writing this, and I could see Historic Grayson Stadium, home of the Savannah Bananas, the fun-and-a-half college summer team.

It's all about bugs and golf for the Greenjackets.
Augie ready to get busy with some gametime antics.

The Greenjackets have been around since the early 80s with affiliations beginning with the Tigers, then the Cardinals, Pirates, Red Sox and from 2004 to 2020, the Giants. When Major League Baseball reorganized the minor leagues, it gave the Atlanta Braves the opportunity to line their affiliate ducks in row across the southern states from Mississippi to South Carolina.

The Braves have the Gwinnett Stripers (AAA) in nearby Gwinnett County, the Mississippi Braves (AA) in Pearl next to Jackson, the Rome Braves (High-A) in northwest Georgia, and now the Greenjackets (Low-A). The San Francisco Giants chose to affiliate with the Eugene Emeralds over the Greenjackets, when the Emeralds were eliminated from the Chicago Cubs’ minor league lineup.

Prime real estate in the outfield. Prime seating in the suites.

The minor league reorganization eliminated 43 teams from the system which led to many teams being demoted or promoted from one class to another, and some switching affiliations with their major league partners. The Rome Braves and the Greenjackets were both class A, and both of them were in the South Atlantic League. About half the league’s teams were promoted to the High-A level, and another half were assigned to Low-A. Three SAL teams in Lexington, Ky., Hagerstown, Md., and Charleston, W.VA., are no longer affiliated with a major league team.

Another victim in the Atlanta minor league shuffle was the Florida Fire Frogs, the Braves’ A-Advanced team in the Florida State League. The Fire Frogs were a team adrift after an extension on their stadium lease in Kissimmee expired at the end of the 2019 season. They were supposed to play in Atlanta’s spring training facility near Port Charlotte in Florida in 2020 after a market infringement problem was resolved with the Charlotte County Stone Crabs, a Tampa Bay Rays affiliate. The 2020 minor league season was cancelled, and the Fire Frogs and Stone Crabs were both eliminated when the Braves went with the Greenjackets and the Rays chose the Charleston Riverdogs for their Low-A teams.

Riverdogs on the field, regular dogs in the stands.

The Greenjackets moved in 2018 to SRP Park across the Savannah River in North Augusta, S.C. The ballpark is in a new riverside development that includes a hotel, a brew pub and residential apartments that overlook the left field fence, like the apartments that overlook Coolray Field, home of the Gwinnett Stripers.

In was a hot Sunday afternoon with mercifully cloudy skies when the game began. Even the pitchers deserted the folding chairs in their baseline bullpens, to find a little shade in the dugouts. The Greenjackets sent 10 batters to the plate in the 4th inning and 8 in the 5th to build a commanding 9 to 2 lead. The Riverdogs tried to scratch their way back, but the Greenjackets held on for the win. Final: Augusta Greenjackets 9, Charleston Riverdogs 7.

Jackets get the victory.

Extra Innings, Extra Excitement

The Views at Coolray. Luxury apartment living in the outfield.

“Did I die and go to heaven?” 

That’s what I would ask if I lived in an apartment complex like The Views at Coolray Field. I would have been able to watch the Gwinnett Stripers (AAA Braves) play the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (AAA Marlins) from the comfort of my balcony or from the salt-water infinity pool that looks like it flows into right center field. Atlanta Braves fans get to select from 1- or 2-bedroom models with names like Spahn, Maddux, Aaron or Jones.

This was my second visit to Coolray Field near Lawrenceville, Ga., and a short drive from the Braves’ major league home north of Atlanta. I didn’t notice the apartments back in 2016 on my first time here, but I was probably more focused on the final game of the International League Championship series between the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders and the Gwinnett Braves. The team adopted the name Stripers in 2018 for the bass fishing that’s popular in the region.

The first 1,000 fans got a free Stripers fish scale jersey
like those worn by the welcome band. 

I had been to the first games in the series at the Railriders’ home field not far from where I live in Pennsylvania. It just so happened that I was leaving for a road trip to Florida and it occurred to me that I could tweak my route and stop for the continuation of the series in Georgia.

The Railriders walked away with the Governors Cup trophy that year, and I left with the a big notion in my head: I could arrange my future travels with stops near minor league baseball stadiums, and see a lot of baseball

I'm on my second ballpark passport book, with about 50 stadium stamps so far.

I got some help from the Gwinnett team store at Coolray, which was having an end-of-season clearance sale back in September of 2016. At half price, I picked up their last remaining copy of the Ballpark Pass-Port book that has pages to record your visits to each stadium. All the team stores have a rubber stamp with the stadium name and date of your visit. This was, in effect, the start of my quest to visit as many minor league ballparks as time and money will allow.

Jumbo Shrimp warming up before the game.

It’s extra exciting for me to be back in Lawrenceville, Ga., because it’s my first time seeing the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp playing as a AAA team. It’s also the first time I’ve seen any Miami Marlins AAA team in action. I wanted to go to New Orleans to see the Baby Cakes, previously the Zephyrs, but that never happened. Before New Orleans, the Marlins AAA team was the Albuquerque Isotopes, but only after I was no longer living there, and I never managed to make a trip back while they were there.

I was all set to go to Wichita, Kansas, where the Baby Cakes moved to a brand new stadium and were renamed the Wind Surge for the 2020 season that never happened. After the pandemic and baseball’s shakeup of the minor leagues, the Wind Surge were reclassified as a AA team and are now affiliated with the Minnesota Twins. They never got to play a game as a AAA team or as a Marlins affiliate.

I’m hoping to make a trip to Jacksonville this week to see the AAA Jumbo Shrimp at a home game. I can’t wait for them to come to Pennsylvania to play the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders whenever baseball eases off on its pandemic travel restrictions.

Jumbo Shrimp escape with a victory

The Jumbo Shrimp were cruising to victory until late in the game when the Stripers turned a 5-4-3 triple play (Jason Kipnis to Johan Camargo to Travis Snider) in the top of the 8th inning and scored a couple of runs in the bottom half. I’m pretty sure this is the first time I ever saw a triple play.

The Stripers tied it up in the 9th to send the game into extra innings. Now, I don’t care how long it takes to finish a baseball game. I share George Carlin’s enthusiasm when it comes to extra innings. But, say what you will about baseball’s new extra innings rule, there’s no denying that the excitement level goes up a notch when the inning begins with a runner on second base. Base runners seem to be more aggressive and the lost art of bunting becomes a useful strategy. The pressure on the pitchers increases from the very first pitch.

Jacksonville’s extra runner was picked off in the 10th and the next batters flied out and struck out. The Stripers had the bases loaded with 2 out in the bottom of the 10th, but the side was retired on strikeouts. In the 11th, the Shrimp scored 3 runs with an rbi double and a home run, and the Stripers went down on a popup, a strikeout and a ground out. Final: Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 8, Gwinnett Stripers 5, 11 innings.

Stadium souvenir pin, a Striper bait worm on a hook.