In 2017 we stumbled on the Greeneville Astros, a Rookie League club based in East Tennessee. That fortunate accident birthed our love for minor league baseball and our appreciation for the Houston Astros Organization. 2017 was also a breakthrough year for the entire franchise. At the major league level, years of frustration were erased when Houston finally won the World Series. That year also marked when the organization pulled their Advanced A affiliation out of the California League and became an expansion team across the country in the Carolina League. 

The team picked the city of Fayetteville, NC as home. Fayetteville hasn’t hosted affiliated minor league baseball since the Cape Fear Crocs (Low A, South Atlantic League) moved north after the 2000 season. The Astros have signed a 30 year lease with the city and are the owners of the franchise. For two years, the now Fayetteville Woodpeckers played as the Buies Creek Astros at nearby Campbell University.

Finally, the home of the Woodpeckers was to open in 2019. With our increasing relationship for the entire organization and our gratefulness for their investment in North Carolina, we cleared our schedule to take part in the INAUGURAL OPENING DAY.

Over the last few years we have grown to love the Astros organization. This passion of ours was birthed by stumbling on the then Greeneville Astros while on vacation in Tennessee. We loved how they made Pioneer Park home with banners of former players now in the major leagues. Many of the current World Championship team came through East Tennessee. Last season, we followed the organization to Buies Creek and saw a game at Campbell University. While we appreciated that outing, we really look forward to the presentation that is to come in Fayetteville, NC in 2019... with the addition of a brand new 5,200 seat ballpark downtown!

As baseball fans, we love exploring new ballparks and are anxious to see what Fayetteville Ballpark has to offer. Fayetteville is the top destination in our semi local market. We have kept our eyes on the rebranding and looked forward to sporting Woodpeckers merchandise in the stands. ​

​Then we read about signing the beam in City Hall! 

Our year was full and exciting; from one really crappy low to a lifetime of highs and long lasting memories. We have had a blast and can look back fondly on all the things we did together in 2018. Some of our adventures were with the children and some without, we took in 26 games at 18 venues, 14 of which were new to us at Ballpark Adventures. On top of all these special minor league memories, I umpired a ton of baseball which included my first year working high school and middle school baseball in the greater Charlotte area. While my family is not the most athletic and I never played past high school, I feel incredibly lucky we can enjoy baseball together. Baseball may never be full time employment for any of us, but this is really turning into a family business.​

We already have big things in mind for next year. A planned destination includes the new stadium of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (formerly the Buies Creek Astros). Another new stadium is being built in High Point, NC and will host a team in the Atlantic League (unaffiliated and independent professional baseball). Another on my outlandish wish list is the new stadium being built in Las Vegas. We also have another crazy trip that will take us to the Midwest... more details to come!

Hopefully 2019 will be a little more safe but still filled with family memories, love and laughter.

As time allowed, we made a few more stops at BB&T Ballpark with our friends at the Charlotte Knights. These outings were a little different. We weren’t concerned about our normal grading criteria. Our objective was to simply have fun. We went to enjoy the surrounding city, take advantage of awesome promotions, and see top rated prospects. We found restaurants we love nearby the ballpark. We saw a game that featured two of the top three rated players in all of minor league baseball. We went to a game with a noon start time where the Knights provided waterpark style attractions behind the outfield wall for children. This also gave us a chance to connect more deeply with the staff. Nobody with the Knights had seen or heard from us since our redemption game on June 22. On our August 4th return, which we went to without the kids, several members of the staff stopped us and asked us about Katelyn and how the rest of us were doing since the incident. We really figured that our business was done and our family would be figuratively swept under the rug. These people seemed to genuinely care about us and we are very grateful on how they helped us cope. BB&T Ballpark won the attendance championship in all of minor league baseball. For that team alone, my family hit the turnstile 18 times, helping be a part of that distinction. Again, we are thankful for the relationships we built with the great staff members of the Knights in 2018.

This is the South Atlantic League affiliate of the 2018 World Champion Boston Red Sox. An enticing attraction in Greenville is that the stadium is a near replica of Fenway Park. The outside of the Fluor Field is a big city full of dining and attractions. There really is a Major League feel in the atmosphere around the park. However, when the gates opened, the inside of the stadium failed to deliver. In my opinion, the Greenville Drive matched the stiff feeling of the Charleston River Dogs. I feel like this was another low level minor league franchise that was trying a little too hard to be “big league.”

Another return trip with a better experience in 2018: McCormick Field. Our 2017 visit left us unimpressed with the people and atmosphere in Asheville. Our 2018 adventure was much more fun. We came the day after a rainout. Therefore, the team hosted a double header that started very early in the day. This time, we also purchased tickets just a few rows behind home plate. All of this allowed us to really settle in and get intimate with McCormick Field. With two games, we enjoyed the food and beverage and had the tallest helmet cup of soft serve ice cream we have seen at a ballpark. 2018 was also the 30th year anniversary of BULL DURHAM. At the end of the movie, Crash Davis is cut by the Bulls and signs with the Asheville Tourists. At McCormick Field, Crash hits the home run that breaks the minor league home run record. The cover of Asheville’s game programs for the season commemorates that famous, fictitious, cinematic piece of history.

We headed through Bristol, where one side of the street is Tennessee and the other side is Virginia. Quite a sight to see opposing state flags lining the buildings on this main stretch of highway. As we continued to Salem, VA, a suburb of Roanoke, we saw our most beautiful stadium in terms of natural scenery: Haley Toyota Field at Salem Ballpark. Every seat in the park had incredible views of rolling mountains as you looked out past the outfield wall. To my personal liking, this stadium paid homage to great players that have passed through Salem on the way to Major League stardom. One of the most notable names depicted is Mookie Betts, the 2018 American League MVP who led the Boston Red Sox to the World Series Championship.