Play Ball!

The two words that "springs" eternal in Ohioans... "Play Ball!" The hope that maybe this year, after 162 games, their team will be playoff bound. For Cincinnati Reds fans, it's been a long time since the days of the "Big Red Machine" in the 1970s and for Cleveland Indians fans, a long drought lasting to 1948 when the Tribe won it all. Opening day in Ohio can be brutal, as witnessed by game time temperature for today's Red's home opener: 40 degrees. Two years ago the Indians home opening series was shifted to Milwaukee's domed stadium due to 12" of snow.

But Ohio is unique, in that you have a lot of baseball within the state lines, at every level from division-contending professional teams through just about all levels of the minor leagues and even independent league teams. On any given summer day you can take in a little league game somewhere. (see right, click to enlarge)


You will not lack for a chance to watch a ball game, at some of America's best venues. Only New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida and California offer professional baseball parks. From April to October, there's lots of baseball to take in.

As I grew up in the '70s, Cleveland's Municipal Stadium wasn't much of a stadium by modern means. But it was all I knew. Nestled along the lake and next to Burke Lakefront Airport, some of my fondest sports memories are here. It was a time when you could get up and close... for cheap. Somewhere in my memorabilia is a faded Polaroid picture of a 10-year old (or there about) sitting on the knee of Jack Brohammer, behind the outfield fence on a picture day promotion (see picture left, click to enlarge -note: it may not be Brohammer pictured!). It was set in a cute gigantic baseball-shaped card with the Indians logo on it.

My children will only know Municipal Stadium from the Western Reserve Historical Society (see left, click to enlarge), which displayed two rows of the seats preserved from the stadium and the gargantuan neon Chief Wahoo that welcomed you to Gate D. (see above right, click to enlarge)



The standing joke was that "today is opening day... and that means the Indians have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs." So you could buy a ticket in the nose-bleed section of the upper deck general admission and by the 4th inning could be sitting behind the dugout. A popular boredom buster those days was for folks to spell things in block letters using the empty seats of the open sections in the outfield upper decks.

But things changed about 15 years ago as Cleveland built one of the gems of modern sports architecture, in what will always in my mind be, Jacobs Field (now renamed for financial purposes, Progressive Field). Modeled in purpose after the retro-style hit, Camden Yards (still one of the top parks in the world), Jacob's Field opened to a team on the rise. It spawned baseball development around Northeast Ohio.

If you plan your week right, you can today catch the Indians and their farm teams on a tour of top flight facilities around the state. Minor league baseball allows you great seats up close to the action for a much smaller price tag. Sure, most of the players you see will not make it to the major leagues, but some of them will. (see right, click to enlarge)



Start with the short-season Class A Mahoning Valley Scrappers (map, web, ballpark). This is where some of the current draft picks and younger players get their feet wet. It's a small park but offers intimacy and is financially friendly. Your next stop is a just over an hour's drive from the Youngstown area to Willoughby/Eastlake and to the longer-season Class A Lake County Captains (map, web, ballpark). Nestled amongst a busy strip of businesses and retail stores, this can be a bustling and busy park depending upon the game you catch.

Another hour's drive down I-271 to Route 8 will land you in Akron, home of the Double A Akron Aeros (map, web). The gorgeous urban stadium is best attended on a Fireworks Friday night, but get your tickets early as they often sell out the 9,000-some seat stadium. At this level you are sure to see some of tomorrow's big league stars in their youth and inexperience. You can easily leave a game thinking "he's supposed to be a big time prospect?"



New in 2009 is the Indians AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers. Playing for decades on the west side of Columbus at Cooper Stadium, Clippers recently separated with their parent organization, the New York Yankees and after one short season as the Washington National's highest level farm club, struck a deal with Cleveland. The brand new Huntington Park is another urban gem of a sports stadium, elbow to elbow with downtown stadium brethren Nationwide Arena (home of the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets) and Value City Arena (home to Ohio State University athletics).

Not to be outdone, you can catch other minor league baseball games in Dayton and Toledo. The Mudhens (ballpark), made famous by proud native Jamie Farr through his character in the TV series M*A*S*H, are the AAA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. The Dayton Dragons (ballpark) are the Class A Midwestern League farm team of the Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds played in one of the least attractive stadiums during their glory days in the 1970s, the cookie cutter circular stadium (once known as Riverfront, then corporate-ized as Cinergy Field) that had clones in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and St. Louis. But as the retro-trend of ballparks get steaming through the country in the 1990s, Cincinnati upped the ante with one of America's most unique stadiums. Known as the Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati's history with the river and steamboats plays a central theme in the stadium. Giant steamboat smoke stacks grace the viewing lines towards the river and Kentucky beyond.

Each year, thanks to Interleague Play, the Reds and Indians go head to head in a three game series in each city. A five-hour drive can put you in either city and with a stop in between in Columbus and perhaps an extra day or two beyond in each city's suburban sprawl you can find take in a few minor league games as well.

And if you think you still have what it takes to play the game... there are independent leagues and teams in the area. The Lake Erie Crushers are part of the legendary Frontier League and the Chillicothe Paints (ballpark) a part of the Prospect League while cities such Canton (former Thurman Munson stadium) have hosted teams in this league or minor league baseball in the past and have stadiums that are still active and spacious. Even the smaller venues have fan-friendly promotions. Shoot, even the big league parks let your kids run the bases these days! (see right, click to enlarge)

Buy yourself some peanuts and Cracker Jack at a stadium not far from your spot in Ohio!

- J.