Mountains of Fun

The entrance sign to Tennessee Smokies Ballpark calls it “America’s Friendliest Ballpark.” It’s hard to argue. The people working at the stadium are aggressively helpful whether you need directions to the team store, recommendations for ballpark cuisine or to replace your ticket that got swept away in the wind. The ballpark is easy to get off of I-40 at the exit taking you to Dollywood and the Gatlinburg entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

There’s been a baseball team in or near Knoxville, Tenn., since the late 1800s. Much of the time the teams used the name Smokies, for the magnificent mountains nearby. The team moved in 2000 to nearby Kodak and the expanding tourist megaplex around Dollywood. If you like baseball, roller coasters and beautiful mountain scenery, this is the right place to be. Just be prepared for some heavy duty local traffic.

Outside the ballpark, the W flag flies after a victory.
Milepost shows the way to other Cubs teams.

The AA baseball Smokies carry an original name, but their insignia and uniforms imitate the style of the Chicago Cubs, their major league team. This seems to be a general rule for Cubs teams. The Triple A Iowa Cubs and High A South Bend Cubs even use the same name as the big league team. The oddball is Chicago’s Low A Myrtle Beach Pelicans, which has a name and colorful identity befitting their seaside locale.

Side by side offerings at the team store for Cubs and Smokies merchandise.

The Smokies team store offers a good amount of Chicago Cubs merchandise and a lot of lookalike Tennessee Smokies gear. You might bump into the Smokies’ mascot, Homer, not a cub but a full-grown bear, or at least someone in a full-grown bear costume. In keeping with another Cubs tradition, the Smokies fly a white flag with a blue W alongside Old Glory and the Tennessee state flag after a victory. At the Taste of Chicago concession stand, you can get a foot-long hot dog, Chicago style.

Taste of Chicago on the concourse. Tater tots with Bush's chili on top.

For a little more local flavor, you can get a nacho bowl or loaded tater tots featuring Bush’s Best Baked Beans that are produced in nearby Dandridge, Tenn. Moonshine and blended cocktails are on the menus around the ballpark too.

There are plans for a return to Knoxville in a few years to a downtown stadium which will be part of a new shopping, dining and residential development. Will they become the Knoxville Smokies again? Only time will tell, meanwhile there are still at least a couple of years to enjoy minor league baseball amidst the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains.

It got late early for the Tennessee Smokies. Another day, another game will come.

It was a rough night for the Smokies. The visiting Mississippi Braves piled it on early with big innings in the second and third to take a 7-0 lead. Another big inning in the sixth put the game out of reach, despite the efforts of the Smokies to mount a comeback. It could have been a lot worse. The first home run for the Braves came with one runner on base, and two later homers were solo shots. Final Mississippi Braves 11, Tennessee Smokies 4.

It wasn’t what the Smokies fans were looking for, but it’s hard to feel dejected while leaving the stadium as Dolly Parton trills “Nine to Five.”

A double-duty pin for the Smokies and Cubs.

Making History in Historic Fredericksburg

The brand new stadium in Fredericksburg, Va., doesn't even have a name yet. 

The original plan for my latest baseball trip was to see a couple of games in Wilmington, Del., and Aberdeen, Md., and to catch up with some relatives and friends nearby. A few days before I left, I realized that the Fredericksburg Nationals would be playing the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers in their new stadium about an hour away from where I’d be staying, and so, I added another night of baseball to my schedule. 

It was $2 Tuesday. All the $2 seats were gone, but I had a couple
of $2 "walking tacos." small bags of Fritos with chili and cheese.

A half-dozen teams are playing in brand new stadiums this year, the most since seven ballparks opened in 2005. Four of them, including the Nationals and the Cannon Ballers, were supposed to open in 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic put a stop to that. Also, plans for farewell seasons were wiped out in Pawtucket, R.I., where the AAA Red Sox played for many years at historic McCoy Stadium, and in Beloit, Wisc., home of the Snappers. The Worcester Red Sox began playing in their new Polar Park with their new name and smiley face logo this year. In Beloit, the team is playing one more season as the Snappers, but they’ve already had a contest for a new name that will be introduced next year.

The teams whose opening seasons were delayed include the Rocket City Trash Pandas, who were the Mobile Bay Bears before they moved to northern Alabama, the Wichita Wind Surge, formerly the New Orleans Baby Cakes, and the Cannon Ballers, who are still in Kannapolis, but have a brand new ballpark in the same location where they played as the Intimidators.

 
The big digital board in center field is made to look like 
the little green hand-operated scoreboard to the left.

The Fredericksburg Nationals are the fourth team that had to wait a year to christen their new stadium. They moved a few miles south of their previous location in Woodbridge, Va., where they played as the Potomac Nationals and a number of other names for four decades.

The team has embraced their historic hometown and two of its famous former residents, George Washington, who lived across the Rappahannock River and his mother, Mary. Frederick is home to Mary Washington University, also named for George’s mother, and Mary Washington Healthcare is a prominent sponsor of the team.

Shirts and other merchandise in the team store feature
George Washington and his mother, Mary.

Fredericksburg’s colonial history goes back to the 1600s when a settlement and fort were established. It was an important city in the Civil War with its location about halfway between the two rival capital cities, Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Va. Thousands of slaves in the region reached freedom behind Union lines. Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park preserve several the sites of four major battles in the area.

Fredericksburg got its name from Frederick, Prince of Wales, the son of George II who died in 1751 before his father and never became king. Next in line was his own son, who would later take the throne as George III. This is the most recent incidence of a Prince of Wales not ascending to the throne.

Gus the mascot, a purple . . . something, has a team of helpful assistants.

The new stadium is easy to get to off I-95 at the north end of the sprawling Spotsylvania Town Centre shopping mall, a sponsor of all the foul balls during the game. The public address announcer says, “That’s another Spotsylvania Town Centre . . .” and the fans finish with a collective, “. . . foul ball!” 

There was a little bit of history on the playing field in a lopsided game where the Cannon Ballers took an early 3-0 lead. The score was tied at 3 runs apiece after nine innings, and it was three up and three down for the Cannon Ballers in the top of the 10th.

The bullpen races home to join the celebration.

In the bottom of the 10th inning, Ricardo Mendez put down a sacrifice bunt and beat the throw to first advancing Viandel Pena to 3rd. An intentional walk loaded the bases for Jake Randa, who struck out swinging for the first out.

Kevin Strohschein hit the next pitch out of the park, "deep into the Fredericksburg night" and into the history books for the walk-off win. It was the first walk-off home run and the first grand slam for the Fredericksburg Nationals in their short history at Fred Nats Ballpark.

Final Fredericksburg Nationals 7, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 3, 10 innings.

'O' Say Can You See

It's Independence Day 2021, and what better way to celebrate the holiday than at the ballpark. It's the Aberdeen Ironbirds vs. the Brooklyn Cyclones in a High A matchup at Ripken Stadium's Leidos Field. This is another one of those ballparks that I've gone by so many times. Heading south on I-95 you can see the back of the scoreboard a short while after you cross the Susquehanna River at the head of Chesapeake Bay. Inside the stadium, you can hear the traffic rushing by and you can catch a glimpse or two of the cars and trucks through gaps in the trees beyond right field. 

Cal Ripken Jr., born a stone's throw away in Havre de Grace, built the stadium, bought the Utica Blue Sox, moved the team to Aberdeen and changed their name to the Ironbirds in time to start play in the 2002 season. In last year's minor league reorganization, the Orioles invited the Ironbirds to be their High-A affiliate. I'm completing my personal Orioles cycle today, having been to the major league ballpark in Baltimore, their spring training stadium in Sarasota, the AAA Norforlk Tides, AA Bowie Baysox and Low A Delmarba Shorebirds. 

In the process, I've acquired enough paraphernalia to look like a real Orioles fan. Today, I'm wearing a Delmarva t-shirt under my Bowie road jersey. I added the latest addition to my outfit when a random flashing scoreboard lottery landed on Section 203 and all of us got a free IRON8BIRDS baseball cap. 

The number 8 instead of the letter B is only one of many references to Ripken, who was a fixture on the field at Camden Yards. Across the road from Ripken Field is the Ripken Experience, a complex of baseball fields for local youth leagues. The Ironbirds' team name itself is a reference to the Iron Man, who played in 2,632 consecutive games for the Orioles. 

The Leidos Field fan guide has a funny entry about noisemakers. "For the comfort and enjoyment of our guests, noisemakers of any type (e.g., air horns, cowbells, etc.), with the exception of Cal Bells, are prohibited at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium." 

The Hangar, the Ironbirds' team store, has plenty of Cal Bells, Ripken t-shirts, jerseys, and other memorabilia. My favorite was a baseball cap with Ripken's face embroidered on the front. The narrow road that leads to the sports complex and its free parking has a great name, Long Drive, of which Ripken hit many in his Hall of Fame career.

Fans were dressed in their patriotic best for today's game. The home teams' camouflage uniforms are a salute to our armed forces. The Star Spangled Banner was given a lively barbershop rendition by the Mainsail Quartet. You know you're at one of the Orioles' ballparks when the fans join in for a collective "O" at the beginning of the anthem's closing stanza.

The Orioles' John Means, on rehab with the Ironbirds, pitched the first two innings of the game. I felt bad for the Cyclone batters, even though he wasn’t throwing at full power. Then Luke Ritter popped a solo shot over the wall in dead center field in the second inning for the Cyclones and I stopped feeling sorry. The Ironbirds followed with a steady assault throughout the rest of the game and came up with the win. Final: Aberdeen Ironbirds 7, Brooklyn Cyclones 2.

There's No Place Like Home

This one was long overdue, my visit to the Wilmington Blue Rocks. I was born in Wilmington and so were my brothers and sisters. We moved to Florida long before the Blue Rocks arrived on the scene. When we were kids, this was part of the world belonged to the Philadelphia Phillies. 

My father was never a big sports fan, but his father was and so were my Dad’s brothers. Grandpop’s little black and white television always had the Phillies on when we were there for Sunday dinner. I have a faint memory of going to a game once in Philadelphia, maybe at Connie Mack stadium.

So many times I have rushed past the Blue Rocks ballpark while driving south on Delaware’s tiny stretch of I-95, and I’ve have thought to myself, “I need to go to a game here.” This goes back to long before I became obsessed with visiting ballparks both major league and minor. Uncle Dick, my Dad’s younger brother, and I talked about going several times. We managed to see the Phillies together, but never made it the Blue Rocks. 

Three mascots for the Blue Rocks: Rocky Bluewinkle works the crowd,
Mr. Celery whoops it up when the Rocks score,
and Rubble shows up on merchandise at the Quarry.

There was an earlier Blue Rocks team that played in the 1940s, named for the colorful granite found along the banks of the Brandywine River. I had never heard of that team, but I was only two years old when they stopped playing in 1952.

The new team adopted the name of the original Blue Rocks when it moved from Hampton, Va., to begin play in Wilmington in 1993. Since then the team had been a minor league affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, with copycat colors and logos that continue to this day. There were two years, 2005 and 2006, that the team was affiliated with the Boston Red Sox, But the Royals returned in 2007.

In last year’s minor league shakeup, the Washington Nationals invited the Blue Rocks to be their High-A affiliate. Wilmington was placed in the High-A East League where they now compete with the minor league teams of regional big league clubs like the Phillies, Mets and Yankees.

Tribute to a legend outside the stadium. The Blue Rocks play their home games
on Judy Johnson Field at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium 

Now here I am, at last. It’s Independence Day weekend 2021, I’m on my way to another personal errand in the nation’s capital, and I’m ready for my first Blue Rocks home game at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium.

Traveling here was not so bad, considering that it’s Independence Day weekend. There were some construction snags along the way, and the traffic flow map indicated it might be slow getting to the game from where I’m staying in Maryland. I decided to skip I-95, the quick route, and travel through Newark and the University of Delaware to Route 2, also known as Kirkwood Highway, which will take me right to the stadium.

Kirkwood Highway may as well be called Memory Lane for me. Although there have been a lot of changes, many of the landmarks from my childhood are still part of the landscape. The “humongous” Quonset hut shaped Acme supermarket is no longer the anchor of Price’s Corner, but the sprawling shopping center’s towering sign still beckons Wilmington’s suburban residents.

The road leads into Elsmere and I pass the streets where my grandparents had homes, first on Maple Avenue, then on Central. I drive by the building where my brother and I would walk to the barbershop. On the corner was a drug store, where we would spend the dime or nickel that was the change from the dollar for our haircuts. It’s a liquor store today.

Down the side streets are the two elementary schools we kids attended. The Poplar Avenue School was for grades 1 through 3, and the Spruce Avenue School, the “new” school for grades 4 through 8.

Local ballpark fare, the Philly cheesesteak.

There’s good news at the ballpark. Parking is free and right in front of the stadium. I even get a good deal on a senior ticket for $12. My seat is behind home plate in the front row of the upper box section. Looking out towards left field, I can see the familiar twin spires of St. Hedwig Roman Catholic Church. Further up the hill in Little Italy is St. Anthony of Padua.

Past right field is the familiar low profile of downtown. There are more buildings, more modern architecture, but it still looks like the Wilmington I remember. I’m convinced I’m staring straight at the place where my brothers and sisters and I were born, Delaware Memorial Hospital. That building is gone, but there’s still a hospital in its place on the left as you cross the Brandywine driving south into Wilmington.

A rainbow after a brief shower gives fans the green light to return to their seats.
The Parsons kids always think of Mom and Dad,
our angels in the outfield, when a rainbow shows up.

The weather looks good for baseball, unlike the stormy night before that forced postponement of game 3 in the 6-game series between the Blue Rocks and the Rome Braves. It’s encouraging for the post-game fireworks too. A little bit of rain in the second inning was not enough to stop play on the field, but it did send most of the fans scurrying for cover.

An unoccupied seat for those who must not be forgotten.

The visiting Braves made it rain baseballs as they got hits, a total of 14, in all but the 8th inning. They were up 4-1 going into the bottom of the 7th, when the Blue Rocks came up with 3 runs to tie the game. Although Wilmington had scored a run earlier, they didn’t have a hit until the big 7th inning rally. Jesse Franklin V’s solo home run put the Braves ahead in the top of the ninth, and the Blue Rocks weren’t able to get anyone across the plate in the bottom of the inning. Final: Rome Braves 5, Wilmington Blue Rocks 4.

Tomorrow is a day with my cousins, then it’s another ballgame in Aberdeen, Md., before I continue on to see friends near D.C. Tonight was a good game with good fireworks, good food and lots of good memories. It’s good to be back home.

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.