We put the top down on the Jeep and continued down the South Carolina Coast to visit this Yankees affiliate. This franchise and the Riverdogs venue was very reminiscent of the parent club in that it seemed straight laced and professional. Many fans at the stadium were retirees from New York who chose to move to Charleston and root for an affiliate of their beloved Yankees. It almost felt out of place in this iconic SOUTHERN city. We also felt very unsafe as the River Dogs officials chose to play through a very close lighting storm. We left in the third inning and essentially got robbed of a game at the most expensive ticket price (by far) in the South Atlantic League.
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12/10/2018 1 Comment #8 — JUNE 14: MYRTLE BEACH PELICANSIn the middle of the afternoon, a devastating thunderstorm flooded a large area around Myrtle Beach, SC. Our game that evening was in doubt and we were really worried it would be canceled Thankfully, the storm broke and we headed to Pelicans Ballpark. We had nearly an hour delay while the grounds crew worked to get the field playable, but on a Thirsty Thursday, in a place known for partying, we were destined to have a great night. The promotion went as promised (cough, cough) which also encouraged us to sample more ballpark food than we normally would. The stadium looked great with many aspects reflecting their affiliation with the Chicago Cubs. This place had all the features we look for in a baseball entertainment product.
12/10/2018 0 Comments #7: JUNE 13: BUIES CREEK ASTROSBuies Creek was the first stop on a tour to the coast. The Astros, 2018 Carolina League Champions, were playing in their temporary home at Campbell University (In 2019, this Carolina League team moves to their permanent home as the Fayetteville Woodpeckers). A unique feature I haven’t seen anywhere else is the ENTIRELY synthetic playing surface. This was the quietest game I have ever seen. Due to the low attendance, we did come away with two official league baseballs. We didn’t even stay the whole game before we needed to get on the road to make it to the next stop...
I told you Katelyn is tough, maybe the toughest person in the world. After one week in the hospital, she was discharged on June 1. Being herself, she insisted on attending the last week of school even while having daily follow ups with doctors. She has been taught that life is about answering the bell even when it isn’t the easiest thing.
Previously planned for an end of school trip was going to the Greensboro/Raleigh area to see a couple more games: Greensboro Grasshoppers and Carolina Mudcats. Katelyn approved the trip and our family healing process was allowed to begin. As expected, these games were different. We implemented a new ballpark family safety plan. More importantly, we HAD to prove that we JUST had the one unfortunate incident, a low percentage accident based on all the minor league games we attend and games I umpire that my family has attended over the years. These venues are extremely safe with more netting than most ballparks and were a great way to start bouncing back and trying to return to normal. Stadium promotions employees found us shortly after entering BB&T Ballpark and signed our children up for pregame activities on the field. We were high on life and feeling extremely blessed. We settled in our seats WAY DOWN THE RIGHT FIELD LINE enjoying the comfortable weather and were anticipating the Friday night fireworks. A slicing line drive screamed toward our seats. I lost it in a bank of lights, still thinking the ball was about to hit me in the chest. However, two seats over, I hear the thud of that baseball hitting my young daughter in the throat. The throat kept swelling internally and an ambulance had to be rushed to stadium as that swelling was a few more minutes from being fatal. Lucky for us: in the previous weeks we had visited venues hours from home... but being in uptown Charlotte, we were mere minutes from our preferred hospital. Lucky for all the other members of my family is that they never saw that baseball as it was approaching. Unlucky for me, I did. That scene replays in my mind thousands of times a day. Obviously, the story ends well and Katelyn is a hero to many, especially me. On a quick note: all the employees of the Charlotte Knights have been great to our family. Before we rushed to the hospital, team officials gave us contact information. Through that contact, several office employees visited Katelyn in the hospital and treated us to a return trip to the stadium. We made a few more visits to BB&T Ballpark later in the season and are on a friendly, first name basis with many staff members. Hard times show a person’s character. I think the Preslar family represented themselves well as did the Charlotte Knights organization. Katelyn feels famous at the Knights due to the kind hearts of so many people we met through these unfortunate circumstances.
12/9/2018 0 Comments #4 — MAY 20: DURHAM BULLSDurham being a little more than two hours from home made this possible as a one day trip. The world wide brand that is the Durham Bulls (due to the movie from the late 80’s) made for a great total presentation at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The atmosphere was crazy even on a Sunday afternoon. The playing field is one of the best in minor league baseball. Being AAA level, several Bulls were called up the Tampa Bay Rays very shortly after we attended their home game. Durham went on to win the Governor’s Cup as International League champions.
12/3/2018 1 Comment #3 — MAY 11/12: WINSTON-SALEM DASHWinston-Salem is only two hours from home, they play in a league named after our state (Carolina League), and just because we could, we made the drive to Winston-Salem, NC and watched two home games of the Dash at BB&T Ballpark. The entire area ranked very well. This small city features a lot of history, art, and culture and was an outstanding blend of big city and small town. Our stadium experience itself was outstandingly unique. For the Friday night game, we walked to dinner and the stadium from our hotel and got caught in a TREMENDOUS pop up rainstorm. We were saved by a stadium employee who had a big enough truck we could sit in and stay dry. The stadium was beautiful and the purple of the Dash’s uniforms are unique to the sport.
On our first big trip of the season, we got to the second and third professional games ever played in a beautiful, brand new stadium. Getting to this new venue about three hours from home was my top bucket list item for the season. Our family bought in. We got all the hats and shirts and other souvenirs. The new branding and merchandise matched the quality of the new stadium. We loved everything about the North Augusta, SC/Augusta, GA area and fully intended on making another trip or two during the season, but the rest of the baseball world came calling...
I unexpectedly had a high school umpiring assignment cancelled on April 5th. In our local market of Charlotte, NC opening the season at home was the Kannapolis Intimidators at Intimidators Stadium. Yes, the stadium is getting old and outdated (new stadium scheduled to open in 2020). However, I considered myself lucky that my family and I could attend any opening day at a ballpark. The weather was extremely cool that night with temperatures being below 50 degrees by end of game. As cold as we were, I knew we would miss that temperature later in the season in July and August. Opening Day featured post game fireworks. Needing to get home for an early work day, we watched those fireworks from the parking lot. One of my better memories for the season is this video showing my daughter standing up in the back of our truck watching the fireworks, stretching taller, like she was trying to catch them like a falling snow flake.
What an incredible year 2018 was for Ballpark Adventures! We saw five different minor league levels, attended opening weekend at a new stadium, and visited home stadiums of three different league champions. We saw part of our beautiful country through baseball eyes, had a near death experience and bounced back and healed as a family at the ballpark...because we love baseball. To wrap up our 2018 Ballpark Adventures, we hope you enjoy our series of entries over the next few weeks as we share with you our YEAR IN REVIEW!
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