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Published: October 7th 2023
"Baseball is like church. Many attend… but few understand." - Leo Ernest Durocher
As the fall air approaches us here in northern Illinois, the days grow shorter, the air is cooler and the leaves are just hinting about changing colors. With that, the baseball season is coming to a close. The major leagues have a few weeks left, but for the majority of the minor leagues, the season is over, the stands sit empty and all that’s left are memories of the season concluded.
Dave is working one last contract and we’re staying in a smallish city about 25 miles west/southwest of the city with big shoulders, Chicago. We arrived in early May and will be here until November. We knew there was a lot do given our location, but we were pleasantly surprised to learn that there are minor league teams aplenty within an hour or two from our digs.
Merry Jo has continually enjoyed attending games over the years as there is a lot to take in at the various parks we have visited. So, we decided to make this “the summer of baseball.” Sure, there is the famed Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs and
two other major league parks, but there are also the smaller, cuter and cozy confines of the minor league parks.
For the benefit of our non-American friends, understanding this sport can be quite challenging. Dave grew up playing baseball as a kid and still remains a big fan of the sport, so he has a good grasp of the rules. He will tell you that explaining the rules is a difficult task and will regale you with the time we were in Barbados and Dave walked up to the hotel bar for a beer and saw a cricket match on the television. He asked the gentleman seated at the bar a few questions about the rules. After about 45 minutes, he walked away, more confused than when he began the conversation. He will tell you he now knows how non-Americans feel when someone attempts to explain baseball to the uninitiated.
At any rate, we took in a dozen games this season and truly enjoyed the experience. Friday and sometimes Saturday nights at the ballpark. Getting a hot dog and a cold beer just enhances the experience.
"A hot dog at the game beats roast beef at the
Ritz." - American Actor, Humphrey Bogart
Baseball is as American as apple pie. A day at the ballpark is filled with runs, hits, and errors. The aroma of hot dogs and hamburgers fill the air. With a cold beer in hand people watching becomes a secondary sport. The United States has over 170 million baseball fans so it has become big business. Although many would tell you that American football is the national pastime, baseball still holds a lot for many.....maybe it's the pastoral pace of play, the green grass on a sunny spring day or perhaps it just reminds us that getting out to watch grown men try to hit and catch a small ball is reminder of our youth....
"I never had a job. I just always played baseball." - Satchel Paige
The game has changed quite a bit in the past 50 to 60 years. It was once full of men who played ball from March to October, then went home and found second jobs in their home towns just to help make ends meet for their families. Even the greats of the games would be selling cars or hawking other products....just waiting for
Spring Training to begin. Now players are paid quite handsomely. In 1965, Henry Aaron, arguably one of the finest players ever, made $61,000 a year (about $595,000 in today's wages). Sounds pretty good until you consider that the minimum salary today in baseball is $720,000. That's right...in theory the worst player in the major leagues today makes more that the best player in the major leagues in 1965. Many are making tens of millions with the highest paid player making $58 million a year.....let that sink in.
Ticket prices have soared as well. The average baseball ticket today ranges from $69 dollars in Miami, to $209 in Los Angeles. This is before parking, food and drink. It's become big business and unfortunately, it isn't available for the average fan and their family. The rich get richer in this business model. The fans pay through the nose.
This is the main reason that we love minor league baseball. The most we paid for a ticket this year was $15 for prime seats. The parks are cozy, the crowd watching is fabulous, and the hot dogs are generally quite above average. After sampling the goods from 12 different parks, most
were pretty good. Pair that with a cold beer and you've got yourself a true ballpark meal!
Many mathematicians embrace sports and especially baseball due to all the statistics. Many use numbers to determine how batting averages, fielding percentage and earned run average. If you are raising children who struggle with math you can get them interested in baseball and it will give them an insight to the practical application of math! The book and movie MoneyBall focus on the probabilities of these equations. Mathematics is used to analyze the speed a batter swings the bat and the velocity which the ball comes off the bat. The average speed of a baseball is 93mph.
But still for us, there is an allure...something that calls us to attend. Baseball on a warm summer evening, cold beer and a hot dog....take me out to the crowd!!
When we arrived in town we didn't realize we would get to see some many baseball games. Here is the list from this summer.... it was grand!
Major League Baseball: we lived in the area 29 years ago and have not been to these 3 ballparks since that time. It 
The ballpark in Davenport, IA.
Yep...that's a Ferris Wheel over the fence.was fun to walk down memory lane.
May 29th: The Chicago Cubs vs. the Tampa Bay Rays in the world famous Wrigley Field. It was a big night because Macrus Strohman pitched shoutout against the Rays.
June 11th: The Milwaukee Brewers vs. the Oakland A's.
August 27th: The Chicago White Sox vs. The Oakland A's.
Minor League Baseball: some minor league teams have strange names. May 26th: The Windy City Thunderbolts vs. The Florence Y'alls. Crestwood, Illinois
June 1st: The Joliet Slammers vs. The New Jersey Jakels. Joliet, Illinois
June 9th: The Kane County Cougars vs. the Lake County Dockhounds. Geneva, Illinois
June 16th: The Chicago dogs vs. the Kansas City Monarchs. Rosemont, Illinois
July 3rd: The Gary South Shore Railcats vs. Lake County Dock Hounds. Gary, Indiana
July 15th: The Quad City River Bandits vs. The South Bend Cubs. Davenport, Iowa
July 16th: The Peoria Chiefs vs. the Wisconsin Tiber Rattlers. Peoria, Illinois
August 13th: The Schaumburg Boomers vs. the Windy City Thunderbolts. Schaumburg, Illinois
Our previous baseball blog:
https://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-637932.html Our favorite baseball movies:
Major League
Field of Dreams
Money Ball
A League of their Own
Bull Durham
Mr. Baseball
Our favorite baseball books:
You gotta have Wa (great book about Japanese baseball)
Moneyball
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