The return of the road trip: Minor league fun from Little Rock to Manchester

The year 2020 was tragic for many reasons, and while there were plenty of more serious things to be upset or sad about in the world, my family and I did lose something very important: the ability to drive to baseball stadiums.

As you can explore on my blog’s Ballpark Chasing tab, my family and I have driven to all 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) stadiums. It all started with a trip to Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, and from there we took off on seven cross-country road trips that took us from the Green Monster in Boston to McCovey Cove in San Francisco and everywhere in between.

In 2018, my dream of seeing all 30 MLB ballparks came true in Seattle. As happy as I was to accomplish a major goal, I could not help but feel sad. How could I just stop traveling to ballparks? Thankfully, there was no need to stop. In 2019, I went with my mom and my brother Adrian on a road trip across the South to see Minor League Baseball (MiLB) stadiums. We saw eight stadiums across eight states in just 12 days, and along the way we discovered the pure fun that is MiLB.

After discovering these new adventures we could take, I quickly began planning our next trip. I had schedules printed, routes ready and dates set by March of 2020 when suddenly the world came to a halt. COVID-19 forced every major professional sport to pause their seasons, including baseball. While MLB came back in the middle of the summer to play in front of no fans to salvage some semblance of a season, MiLB did not return. That meant no ballparks for the Yancelsons to drive to.

As things improved in the United States earlier this year thanks to swift vaccine distribution, hope returned for yet another baseball road trip. MiLB announced a shorter than usual season, but all that mattered was that a season would exist at all and fans would be welcomed back to ballparks. The trip I had planned for 2020 now took shape in 2021.

Taking off earlier than ever in May, my mom, Adrian and I once again embarked on an amazing journey to MiLB stadiums. In many ways, this road trip was unlike any other. For one, my puppy Camden joined us, meaning we had a dog with us on the road for the first time ever! Another huge difference, of course, was that COVID-19 still impacted the country, forcing us to wear masks or sit in socially-distanced stadiums in many places. Lastly, this time my mom and I were not only driving for fun but also driving towards work, as we planned to take a brief summer job up in Maine (story for another day :))

By the time my mom and I returned home at the end of June (with Adrian having left Maine earlier), we drove more than 6,000 miles across 21 states to see 10 MiLB games in eight stadiums. This trip was long, crazy and incredibly fun, but most importantly, it revived my love for the road. There is so much you can see when driving across the country watching baseball, and from now on only a global pandemic will ever stop me from traveling to ballparks.

Read below to get a glimpse of every ballpark we got to watch a game in.

Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock, Arkansas: Home of the of Arkansas Travelers, Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners

We usually don’t see games on the first day of our road trips, but this time we somehow made it to a Travelers game after a nine-hour and nearly 600-mile drive from San Antonio to Little Rock. Joining us for the first time ever at a game was Camden, who was allowed in the ballpark because it was Dizzy the Dog’s birthday. Dizzy is the beloved dog who belongs to the ballpark’s superintendent, and he roams around the stadium every night. Since it was Dizzy’s birthday, dogs were invited to celebrate, and we took advantage by bringing Camden. There was a lively atmosphere at game, and the ballpark was incredibly dog friendly. Camden got a cookie and a Travelers ball, plus he got to run around with other dogs in the leash-free area. Taking care of a six-month old puppy with loads of energy at a game on the same day we drove 600 miles was pretty tiring, but overall we enjoyed Dickey-Stephens Park, and it will always have the distinction of being Camden’s first ballpark.

Prince George’s Stadium, Bowie, Maryland: Home of the Bowie Baysox, Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles

While the Orioles are terrible this year, there is a very bright future thanks to a massively improved minor league system. Knowing about this excitement in the minors, we wanted to take advantage of Maryland being on the way to Maine to see as many of the Orioles’ affiliates as possible. The first of these stops brought us to Bowie, Maryland. The day before we arrived, the game got postponed due to rain and created a doubleheader on the day we planned to watch a game. That meant double the fun! While the stadium itself is pretty basic, I was in awe the whole time. The best Orioles prospects were literally right in front of me. Mike Baumann and D.L. Hall started each game of the doubleheader, and the top prospect in all of baseball, Adley Rutschman, homered twice and started behind the plate. The fans were super into the game, and I even got to meet Rutschman! Bowie proved to be so much fun that on the way home we returned for yet another game, this time with Camden as it was “Woof Wednesday.” I loved Prince George’s Stadium and can’t wait to see the talent rise from here to Camden Yards soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium, Aberdeen, Maryland: Home of the Aberdeen, IronBirds, High-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles

Next up on our little Birdland road trip were the Aberdeen IronBirds. Home of the Ripken Baseball complex, this ballpark lives up to its iconic namesake. The turf field gives the ballpark a very modern feel, as do the flashing LED lights that go off anytime the IronBirds scored, and everything feels crisp and clean. Camden could not attend this game, but luckily we stayed right across the street at a hotel on the the Ripken complex, allowing me to check on Camden in between innings. We also got to meet Jordan Westburg, another top Orioles prospect who went to New Braunfels High School just up the road from San Antonio. Who could have ever thought you’d see a Unicorn in Aberdeen?!

Dunkin’ Donuts Park, Hartford, Connecticut: Home of the Hartford Yard Goats, Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies

We arrived to this game at the very last minute, but I am so glad we did. Dunkin’ Donuts Park is in downtown Hartford, creating an amazing atmosphere with lots of fans attending what felt like a MLB stadium. To our surprise, there were actual live goats behind center field, and they were adorable. Oh, and I should probably mention that the Bowie Baysox just happened to be playing the Yard Goats when we happened to go. No actually, it was a total coincidence, and an amazing one at that. Out of all the teams to see again, the Baysox were at the top of the list. We got to see Rutschman once again, and we also got to see Grayson Rodriguez, the top pitching prospect in all of baseball, make his Double-A debut. This was quite a treat and made the experience at this beautiful ballpark even better.

Delta Dental Stadium, Manchester, New Hampshire: Home of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays

For Adrian’s last game of the trip, we traveled from our newly established base in Wells, Maine to Manchester, New Hampshire to see Adrian’s beloved baby Blue Jays. It was a Sunday day game, and it was HOT. However, we found seats in the shade where we stayed almost the entire time. The ballpark was pretty nice, but nothing out of the ordinary. A sparse crowd meant we got to go down to the first row and be close to the players, and fun games on the video board kept us entertained. I have to say, the baby Blue Jays losing was also pretty entertaining. 🙂

Hadlock Field, Portland, Maine: Home of the Portland Sea Dogs, Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox

We could not be in Maine for an extended period of time and not catch a Sea Dogs game. Hadlock Field looked like a mini Fenway Park, with a replica Green Monster in right and bleachers open for general admission. I loved how classic the ballpark felt, as you could tell this was a ballpark meant for baseball and nothing else. We had great company, as my friend Jordan from Trinity joined us with his girlfriend Adeline, and they made fun of my mom and I for having sweaters once the sun went down. Baseball in Maine was a fun experience!

Harbor Park, Norfolk, Virginia: Home of the Norfolk Tides, Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles

Our first game on the drive home proved to be a blast. Harbor Park was downtown and welcomed a pretty big crowd, and the Tides almost pulled off an amazing comeback that would have created a frenzy. We enjoyed some delicious barbecue, met a fellow Ballpark STAMPeder and sat in the same section as the players’ girlfriends, which proved to be very entertaining. This was one of the bigger MiLB stadiums we had seen, and the views of the harbor made it one of the nicer ones as well.

MGM Park, Biloxi, Mississippi: Home of the Biloxi Shuckers, Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers

You didn’t forget about Camden, did you? Unfortunately only Bowie and Arkansas had welcomed my baby boy in up to this point, but our final game in Biloxi landed on “Bark at the Park” day, meaning Camden could join us one more time! Camden made lots of friends in the right field grass, including a dog named Budweiser who belonged to a fellow STAMPeder. MGM Park sat right across from the Beau Rivage casino, and you could see the Gulf of Mexico from the ballpark, so there were amazing views. Shuckers outfielder Tristen Lutz dropped a fly ball, prompting a fan to make fun of him and then nearly get into a right with Lutz before the game went to extra innings as a result of that error. The Mississippi heat did not stop our fun, and Camden had now been to three ballparks as just a puppy. That’s more ballparks than dog parks for him, just in case you were wondering.

 

BONUS: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland: Home of the Baltimore Orioles

The focus of this trip was MiLB, so we did not feel the need to go to a game at Camden Yards, especially with how poorly the Orioles were doing. However, we chose to try something unique. Instead of going to Camden Yards, we watched a game from the Hilton hotel across the street. It was hard to be right there in Baltimore, my home land, and not see an Orioles game, so this workaround allowed us to watch a game without technically going to the ballpark. Plus, Camden got to see why his name is Camden! I highly recommend the Hilton in downtown Baltimore. The view from your room can literally be The Ballpark That Forever Changed Baseball!