05.22.09 Carb Day / 05.23.09 Little 500 / 05.24.09 Indy 500 Side Trip

Well, I took a little break from the Summer of Minor League Baseball and headed to Indianapolis for a weekend of motorsports as hosted by my friends, Shawn and Ellen Collinsworth and their two sons.


Shawn and I started the memorial Weekend off by heading out to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Carb Day. We took up position in turn 4 and settled in for a day of racing. Weather in the mid to upper 80's and anticipation of the same weather for race day lead to a busy Carb Day practice session. Lots of drivers out on the track trying to dial in their race day settings.

Part of the Carb Day festivities include the Indy Lights Freedom 100 race, kind of the minor leagues of the Indy Racing League. I guess that keeps with my theme of minor leagues. The picture above is the cars approaching the starting line. They only go two wide for the Freedom 100...they are still learning.

Freedom 100 field entering turn 4 during at speed racing.

Saturday night found us trekking up to Anderson, Indiana to the Anderson Speedway for the Little 500 Sprint Car race. This little 1/4 mile track is classic small town racing. There is a documentary on HBO about the racing at Anderson Speedway. The documentary pretty much nails the scene there. We took seats in turn 3 and risked our lives on the rickety old grandstands. I just kept thinking I would end up on the news due to a bleacher collapse. Luckily the grandstands held up for the whole race.

Here you can see the push trucks queuing up to push start the sprint cars. The sprint cars can not get started on their own so they need the assistance of a push truck to get them going. Obviously, I need to figure out a way to get my suburban involved in this at some point. Another interesting thing about the Little 500 is the fact that the race is 500 laps which is long for sprint cars. This means they have to make pit stops which is not normal. You see all kinds of makeshift pit arrangements and yes the push trucks have to coordinate and get the cars out of the pit stops too. Its kind of non-so-organized chaos.

Sprint cars gridding up behind the pace car. Just like at the Indy 500, they get into 11 rows, three wide to take the green flag.

Lots of cars in a little space. As could be expected, they made it about 20 yards past the start line before the first wreck. The racing was exciting, but by the halfway point they were down to 13 cars. At that point it became a sprint to the finish. Dave Steele, crafty veteran of sprint car racing made a crucial pit stop for new tires and reeled in the field and won going away.

B-24 bombers performed the fly over at the Indy 500 to commemorate the Tuskegee Airmen who were being honored for their service.

The pre-race balloon launch.

Our race day seats were in turn 2. The cars lining up behind the pace car, led by the Penske cars. Helio Castroneves ended up winning a solid race and his third overall, followed by Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick.

Had a great time, took in three races, one parade and one terrible concert (3 Doors Down on Carb Day) and had a good time with good friends. Now its time to get back to baseball and the keep the summer going.

05.17.09 #4 West Michigan Whitecaps vs. Great Lakes Loons

For those following along, Game #4 was visit to the western part of Michigan for the aptly named West Michigan Whitecaps, Single A affiliate of the home state Detroit Tigers vs. the Great Lakes Loons, Single A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. We had great weather for a Sunday afternoon game game after a quick drive up from Kalamazoo, where I had spent the evening with the Eldridges the night before.



The entrance to Fifth Third Ballpark. You enter the park on the concourse which is at the top of the seating area and then walk down toward the field inside. There are also luxury suites above. Fifth Third Ballpark has the look and feel of a Triple A ballpark. The people of Grand Rapids have a really ice ballpark and come out and support their team.


The view from the parking lot, where for the first time on the tour, I had to pay for parking. $4 to park right at the stadium. That's still not bad.


I got tickets to the Whitecaps game online the day before since we needed seven and I scored seats in the first row behind the visitor's dugout. Great weather, sunny and warm so close to the field, we were out of the wind. When we got to the game we found out the night before was a sellout and they had 11,000 there to see Jeremy Bonderman of the Tigers pitching a rehab start. Too bad we missed out on that, but our game was a much more relaxed atmosphere and a perfect Sunday afternoon.

The programs at Fifth Third are free, which I guess offsets the parking.


The home team takes the field with youngsters in tow, where they join the players during the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner.


A view of the outfield as one of the mascots takes the field and gets the crowd fired up for the start of the game.


A view of the field from behind home plate. Fifth Third Field holds 10,700 according to the books, but they announced 11,000 for the night before. Must have been standing room only for Bonderman's appearance.

The view from our seats, as we waited for the game to begin.

Highlighting the blue at the ballpark. Lots of blue, under the blue sky.

The visiting team, the Loons step to the plate and to the on deck circle. Gotta say, they Loons road gray uniforms are pretty sharp. Might have to pick up a Loons jersey before the summer is over.


The Whitecaps are another team that goes with the high cuff and stirrup look, team wide. Sporting the alternate home blue jerseys today.

Close up of a Whitecap at the plate.

Whitecaps get on the board first.

Franky the Swimming Pig and Crash, the team mascots. Crash is #99 and Franky is #8 oz. The mascots were pretty lively and made the rounds through the crowd and were very active in the mid inning promotions.

A staple of Minor League Baseball is the between inning entertainment and promotions. Franky and friends came out with the standard issue three person sling slot and proceeded to launch what I thought were t-shirts into the crowd. It took a few minutes to realize they were actually having the pig launch hot dogs into the crowd. That's the first time I have seen that.

The next promotion may have be the most ridiculous promotion to date. They brought two kids out with blindfolds on and a two person cow costume. The blindfolded kids had to listen to the ringing of a cowbell to find the cow and tip it over. A cow tipping contest and it wasn't even in Indiana. The best part may have been when the kid that tipped the cow over pulled off his blindfold and taunted the cow. Prima donna in the making.

While the Loons were at bat, a foul ball came back off the screen. I actually got one of the Loons players to toss me the ball which I gave to seven-year old Alex who came with us. His eyes got as big as saucers. First ball of the summer.

Crash, the primary mascot then jumped up on the visitors dugout and started dancing. This was a big hit with the kids with us and an even bigger hit when he came and sat down next to me.

And just when I thought it couldn't get any better for the kids, an enterprising young Alex even got Crash to sign the foul ball I gave him.

Fifth Third Ballpark has made a splash in the world of minor league concessions with the introduction this year of the Fifth Third Burger, anchored with an 8-inch bun and five 1/3 pound patties. As you can see in the picture, it is completely insane and I did not attempt it, to the chagrin of several of my co-workers who were hoping to get a first hand report. Over 4,800 calories in one sandwich. Price $20.

Instead, I opted for the traditional Swimming Pig. After all, this sandwich even has its own mascot. The Swimming Pig is an 8 oz pork chop sandwich with the pork chop cooked while "swimming" in barbecue sauce. I got it smothered with grilled onions and peppers. Solid sandwich.

The Whitecaps crowd, Justin Gatz, Alex Eldridge and myself in the front row and Tim Gatz, Noah Gatz, Pete Eldridge and Mitchell Eldridge in the back row. Thanks to the Eldridges and Gatzes for making the trek from Kalamazoo for the game.

The Whitecaps held on to win the game 5-4 after a furious late inning rally by the Loons. The home teams are now 2-2 on the season during my trips.

Sadly the Whitecaps do not wear white caps. They opt for the navy blue cap with the wave logo. Another classic minor league logo.

As mentioned at stop #2 in Clinton, I also enjoy lighthouses and had the opportunity to stop at the lighthouse in St. Joseph, Michigan on the way home and took this picture at sunset of the inner pier head light.

05.12.09 #3 Kane County Cougars vs. Burlington Bees

Game #3 on the tour took me out to Geneva, Illinois and to Philip Elfstrom Stadium to watch the Kane County Cougars, Class A affiliate of the Oakland A’s take on the Burlington Bees, Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. This also marked my second time seeing Burlington as the visiting team. The Cougars entered the contest in first place in the Western Division of the Midwest League.

Philip Elfstrom Stadium was built in 1991 and currently has a capacity of 7,400. They just completed a second deck with luxury suites in time for Opening Day this year. Decent stadium with group seating in the outfield and lawn seating down the lines near the foul poles. Box seats make up the first dozen rows and then reserved seating on aluminum benches with backs. General admission is available on the grassy knolls.



How could I visit Elfstrom Stadium and not take a picture of the award winning, environmentally friendly parking lot. Why would I take a picture of the parking lot? V3, the company I work for, was involved in the design and construction of this parking lot and utilized some new techniques and methods for reducing runoff during rainstorms should you have any interest in that kind of thing..

$10 tickets for reserved seats.




Managers delivering the lineup cards and getting ready to start the game.

Burlington at bat. The visitors sit on the third base line here at Elfstrom. As usual, the entire Bees team is sporting the high cuffed pants and classic stirrup look.


View from behind home plate.

Sun still up in the early innings.

Sun down and baseball under the lights in the later innings. Great night to catch a game and the wind was blowing out pretty hard to left.

Tonight’s promotion at the ballpark happened to be one of the nights that Jake the Diamond Dog was making an appearance. Jake is seen here delivering water and snacks to the umpire between innings. Jake also serves as a bat boy, retrieving the home team bats and foul balls. He is a big hit with the kids and frequently seen throughout Midwest minor league parks. The big down side of the Jake appearance was the multiple times "Who Let the Dogs Out" was played. However, the person running the PA was rather witty with some of their other choices including a little Marc Cohn "Walking in Memphis" and Aerosmith "Walk This Way" when the home team drew walks.
Sadly, there were no cheeseburgers on a stick to be found even though they had been listed on the team website. Instead I opted for the barbecue pork chop sandwich and a Two Brothers Ebel Weiss beer to wash it down.

As I have a trip to the Indy 500 coming up over Memorial Day Weekend, I started getting in the mood with the between innings race from third base to first base with the grounds crew closely dragging the infield behind them. The race was close and the middle girl actually won at the wire.

My buddy Mike mentioned that due to the wind, he doubted anyone would hit a ball out tonight. I realized I had not yet seen a home run through the first two games. Mike was obviously wrong as Ozzie the Cougar is seen celebrating Jeremy Barfield’s third home run of the game. Yes, Jessie Barfield’s son went yard three times and his fourth at-bat was a shot to the deepest part of center field that the center fielder had to go up on the wall to get. He was really in the zone and rang up seven RBIs. The first place Cougars offense was alive and they put up 13 runs to the meager 1 run that the Bees managed. Kane County is on a tear putting up 31 runs in their last two games and Ben Hornbeck (3-0) has now beaten the Bees three times to account for all his decisions.

The Game #3 crew included my co-workers Daren Ellefson, Greg Mack and Josh Reinke in the front row and myself, and friends Michael Heuser, Kevin Jessen and Erin Whitehead in the back row. Our crowd of seven easily surpassed the previous game high of two.


Home team hat #3. Noticing a lot of black home team hats.