Wrigley Field - Chicago 1940

This postcard went through the mail in January of 1940.  The sender was in Chicago and tells their friend that the temps are negative 14!

Great American Ballpark, Cincinatti Ohio 2025

Here is a quick look at an end of the season game I took in at Great American Ball Park in Cincinatti Ohio!

Seattle Mariners T Mobile Park September 2024

We got to see a Mariners game while we were in Seattle!

Lexington Legends Baseball 2025

Here is a quick look at the Lexington Legends!

Thrillville Thrillbillies Southern Illinois Miners 2024 and 2012

I have been catching baseball games in Marion Illinois for some time.  I was FINALLY able to catch the newest team, the Thrillville Thrillbillies recently.  In this video, we catch the new team, and talk about the former team, the Southern Illinois Miners!

Crosley Field Cincinnati Ohio postcard

 I found this great old postcard recently, showing old Crosley Field in Cincinnati Ohio.  It is unused and undated.  It is a bit more vibrant than the other similar postcard I just posted.

Tennessee Smokies Baseball June 2012

 I put up a video I found and edited from my collection....  going back almost a decade!  Here is just a brief video at a Tennessee Smokies event from 2012.  I filmed from the window of the hotel next door.

I used to really be into baseball, and if you care, you can check out my defunct blog I used to keep on baseball-

kentuckybaseball.blogspot.com

Columbia Fireflies- Columbia Georgia

Our first stop when we entered Columbia Georgia was at their new single A ballpark, Spirit Communications Park, home of the Columbia Fireflies!

We wouldn't be around for their game on this evening, and that was eating me up.  I really love catching a game at a nice minor league park.

Even if I am not able to catch a game in a nice town like Columbia, I still want to visit the park!

So we stopped by.  We parked, and made our way up to the venue.  We actually passed a couple of friendly staff who directed us to the team shop.

We did not catch her name, but an extremely friendly lady was running the store.  She talked about how much she enjoyed working at the park, and being a part of the team.

I picked up my usually items, some stickers, a pin, a shirt. etc.  I have picked up some of the Lego like Oyo figures at some parks, but they did not have them here.  Anyone else collecting the team mascots?


The staff was very nice about having the park open, and they told us to feel free to check out the field and take some photos!

This is just a great park in a very friendly city...  and I can't wait for my next visit to Columbia- I'll have to catch a game next time!

Charleston RiverDogs- Charleston South Carolina

The Charleston RiverDogs weren't playing while we were in town.  We still stopped by their park, hoping to patronize their gift shop, and maybe peak at their field.  Unlike most minor league parks, they were not open to sell stuff on the non-game day we went by.  We did get a couple of pictures though.

Greenville Drive in Greenville South Carolina

Where does the time go?  EIGHT years ago, we stopped in Greenville, and we were able to catch a Greenville Drive game (here is where I mentioned that on my old baseball blog, and here is where I mention visiting another minor league ballpark in the area).

Obviously, this is a great baseball town.  We stopped by their team shop on our recent roadtrip (the team wasn't in town while we were there).

There was a very sweet lady running the place.  She said she has been with them for several years.  I told her a job in minor league baseball sounds like a dream job, and she said that it was.

I picked up a lapel pin and a few other small items while I was here.  They had a small Lego style figure of their mascot that I could not pass up (I LOVE that minor league teams are selling these).

Anyway, I know we just stopped briefly here, and I didn't even get a good look at the field on this visit, but I like this organization, and I wanted to mention them.

"UnCORKED! Kentucky Sports Legend Corky Withrow" by Sherrill Williams and Charles Thurman

I used to really enjoy following baseball.  I still do, but not as much as I did before.  I still enjoy a good book about a former pro baseball player. 

AND, I love books about guys who, well, didn't exactly go on to be Hall of Famers.  I think we all know the stories of Ruth and Mantle.  I love hearing stories about guys struggling through the minors.  I want to read about someone who had his cup of coffee in the Majors, and then had a career in something else later on in life.

"UnCORKED!  Kentucky Sports Legend Corky Withrow" by Sherrill Williams and Charles Thurman is one of those books.

PLUS, it is a book about a guy who grew up in Kentucky.  He hung out in some of the same areas I did (just, many years earlier).

UnCORKED! tells about Central City Kentucky's Corky Withrow.  Most of the first part of the book follows Corky through his super star high school basketball career.  I especially enjoyed reading about his encounters with schools I am familiar with in Western Kentucky.  Horrible (and hysterical) pranks are played- Corky is the victim of a terrible one himself.  He is a member of some very exciting teams, including one that could almost be called perfect.

Eventually he is able to play some college basketball though his college basketball career gets very complicated as Corky signs a professional baseball contract after high school.

The second part of the book deals mostly with his baseball career.  He has a long and interesting career in baseball, mostly in the minors though he does get to play at the highest level with the St. Louis Cardinals!

Characters you might expect pop up, including the Everly Brothers, James Best, Stan Musial, Hank Aaron, and many Kentucky basketball legends. 

I want to mention again that the part covering Corky's high school basketball days was much more interesting than I expected.  The authors obviously did a ton of research into specific seasons, games, stats, etc.

This is easily one of my all time favorite Kentucky sports books.

Random Thoughts On Friday

So, I was watching the World Series....  Like everyone else.  This was one of those situations though, where I really wanted both teams to win.  I mean, how could you not want to see the Cubs win a World Series?

BUT, I lived in Cleveland for 10 years.  I have been to a lot of Indians games....  and I was even able to catch them earlier this year!  On an ironic side note, me and a buddy were planning a trip to Chicago to see the Cubs too, but that fell through.

So, I really would have loved to see the Tribe win since I have a long and somewhat personal connection to the team.

On a different note, I am not a huge TV watcher, but I really like several shows that have popped up recently.  I mentioned Timeless before, and I am really pulling for this one.  I enjoy the stories, and the effects are a lot of fun.  I really appreciate any show that goes back to some interesting historic sites and tries to recreate them.  They just had a very fun Alamo episode!

I like a couple of shows on the Syfy channel right now too.  We have been watching Aftermath- mainly giving it a try because of Anne Heche and James Tupper (we really liked Men In Trees featuring these two actors in a show totally opposite from Aftermath).  The show has a good horror vibe to it.

I'm pretty hooked on Channel Zero too also on Syfy.  This one is very weird too, and feels like a fun multipart horror movie.  Thumbs up to the Syfy Channel!

Horticultural Gardens Stadium and Boat Docks, Cleveland, Ohio

"The Horticultural Garden, located on Lake Erie in front of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, is a display of unusual beauty.  The exhibit consists of some of the finest flowers and shrubbery in existence.  It also contains beautiful statues and the water displays are especially picturesque when illuminated.  This garden is a permanent display."

This area is still amazing.  The stadium is not there, but the football stadium, Rock Hall, and other buildings are there.

Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland Ohio

The Cleveland Indians were MY team for years.  We moved from Kentucky to Cleveland in 1998, right at the tail end of a great Indians run, and we started following the team about that time.  My all time favorites are Casey Blake and Cliff Lee from my time in the town.

We went to a lot of games at "The Jake" and had a lot of fun here. 

I had a chance to revisit this park for the first time in nearly a decade!

I mentioned it here, and here on my old blog.

Here are a few photos I took from a recent game against the Royals this year.  Check it out!

Lexington Legends 2016- Lexington Kentucky

There was a time when I would go to AT LEAST 30 baseball games a year.  I still love going to see minor league teams when I can, but my trips to the park have really decreased the last few years.

When we first got to Lexington, we would see the Legends at least once a week in the summer.  I still like what they are doing, but I am doing different things with my time.

I did make it out for what will likely be my only visit this year.  Here are some photos!

Adventures in New York City Part 13- Yankee Stadium

Yeah, I love baseball, and I have visited around 80 professional parks in my travels, including about half of all of the Major League ones.  You know Yankee Stadium was big on my list of parks to see!

It was funny, most of the people on our tour said they weren't Yankees fans, but they wanted to visit the Stadium while in town.  You could put us in that category.

I may have said this before, but I really appreciate being at a minor league game over one in the Majors.  The crowds are smaller, parking is usually easier, and the whole experience, to me, is simply more enjoyable.

Still, getting to visit any park is always a treat.

So, we didn't actually see a baseball game while we were there, but we did do a stadium tour.

The ticket to do the tour was $25, on the high end for a simple stadium tour.  It is the New York Yankees though, so this is to be expected.

As far as stadium tours go, this one was frankly weak.  I mean, I was happy to be at Yankee Stadium, and I am glad I did the tour, but the "tour" covered 3 basic areas.

First, we went in to the New York Yankees Museum.  The museum was pretty cool.  There are World Series Rings and Trophies.  Jerseys worn by legends, along with bats and balls.  Items associated with Ruth, DiMaggio, Berra, etc are on display.  It is all very cool, but the museum felt small.  Considering that this is the home of the Yankees, I just expected more POP. 

Here are a handful of baseball museums that I thought had a LOT of POP- Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame and Museum, The Atlanta Braves Museum and Hall of Fame, Sports Legends at Camden Yards, the HUGE Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, the very well done Babe Ruth Museum in Baltimore, Van Meter Iowa's Bob Feller Museum, and Georgia's Ty Cobb Museum.

After that we went to Monument Park, which is a section of monuments and retired numbers associated with past members of the Yankees.  This is a nice area behind the outfield wall.


From there, we did walk through the concourse, and visited the Press Area.  This was cool, and it did give a nice view of the field.

That was it though.  Again, it was nice getting to see Yankee Stadium, but as far as baseball stadium tours go, this one was not the best.  I have taken tours in other places that included a quick peak into a locker room, a brief walk through a dugout, etc.  There really wasn't any "behind the scenes" kind of stuff on this tour.

We did have a great tour guide (who looked a bit like a young Babe Ruth).  Also, they gave out Yankee Stadium key chains at the end of the tour, which was a nice bonus.

Smokies Stadium in Kodak Tennessee

I have mentioned the Tennessee Smokies baseball team a number of times on my now dormant blog on baseball.  Go here, here, here, here, and here if you want to check out my old entries on this team and park.

This is one of my all time favorite locations to catch a game.  I love the team, the area, the park, and the general vibe at the games played here.  You have the AA Cubs on their way up, playing near the Great Smoky Mountains.  Seeing a game here after enjoying the park or the sites in Gatlinburg makes for a perfect day.


I love their team shop.  Other minor league teams could learn a lot from this team.  Have a nice, organized and clean shop.  AND, exploit the heck out of a cool logo!

We were here on their special Star Wars night.  This attracted a lot of fans (we found out later that they broke their attendance record on this particular night).  We loved the Star Wars goofiness, but the crowd was a bit out of hand.  The vibe on this night was much more comparable to a AAA or major league game.  We were going to try to have dinner at the park this night, but we changed those plans.  The concession lines were long and slow!

We enjoyed the heck out of the Star Wars themed night.  Players wore jerseys with Han in carbonite on them.  Chewbacca, Darth Vader, and other characters mingled with fans.  Players from the other team appeared as Star Wars characters as they were announced on the scoreboard!

A tree hugging friend jokingly scolded me when I got back to Kentucky since I took time out from my trip to the National Park to visit a ballpark.  I get that.  There are some areas where going to a ballgame really takes away from your time to do historic and nature related things in an area.  There are some minor league ballparks not worth your valuable vacation time- but that isn't the case here.  The Tennessee Smokies baseball team and park are meshed in with the local history.  That relaxed Smoky Mountains green vibe is felt while you enjoy the play on this AA diamond.  Part of the experience of going to see this region of Tennessee is catching a game at this ballpark.

Dell Diamond- Home of the Round Rock Express, Round Rock Texas

We stopped by the Dell Diamond in Round Rock Texas, home of the Round Rock Express!  Baseball season had not yet started while we were there, but the good people with the Express were very kind about letting us take a peak at the park.

This is the home of the AAA Texas Rangers, and while we were there, there was some excitement, as they felt that Josh Hamilton might be starting out the season here!

The Express have a nice gift shop, and a very roomy park for game days!  Check out my photos!