Ballpark quest - 60 ballparks

  One of the poignant things about Triple-A baseball is the quiet desperation beneath the surface. Every player there is trying to make it to “The Show,” the major leagues. Some are young players streaking through the minor league system, just biding their time until their inevitable call-up. Some are those who’ve had a taste of the majors, but didn’t play well enough to stick, and are trying to prove that they deserve another chance. Some are players in their 30s who have spent a decade or more as major league regulars, some even making All-Star teams or playing in the 9 th inning of a World Series Game 7, trying to make it back for one last shot. It’s those latter two categories that fascinate me. Cooper Hummel, who was never a star, but ended up playing in 119 major league games for four teams over four seasons, is now 31, and playing in Japan. His best season (66 games) was as a rookie with the Diamondbacks in 2022. One of the notes about him that was shown regularly on the ...

    We went to a carnival last night, and a baseball game broke out. Yes, that’s shamelessly borrowing Rodney Dangerfield’s classic one-liner, “I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out.” But it’s also an apt description of an evening of St. Paul Saints baseball that was full of between-inning entertainment and snarky comments by the P.A. announcers, and ended with a walk-off win by the home team. And while there’s a lot of cynicism in the Dangerfield quote, I don’t mean to be cynical about the Saints. It was a good vibe all night. Let’s start with the carnival aspect. When we walked in, 30 minutes before gametime, the seats were almost empty, but the concourse was full. What was everyone doing on the concourse? It helped that it was two-for-one beer night, and the lines for beer were long (above), but I never heard anyone in the crowd who sounded drunk, unlike many a major and minor league   game I’ve been to (we’ll find out how much that contr...