Ballpark Road Trips in Review: 2017
Over the past nine seasons, I have visited 174 Minor League ballparks (many of them more than once). This is the eighth in a series of posts, providing a season-by-season account of my “On the Road” Minor League Baseball experiences.
Previous posts in this series: 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016
2017
The well-oiled Ben’s Biz road trip machine rolled on in 2017. I visited 23 ballparks over the course of five trips, 15 of them for the first time. This left me with just three ballparks I had never visited heading into 2018; of course, the #BenEverywhere milestone was reached in 2018.
This blog migrated to Medium, from WordPress, prior to the 2017 season. This was a stressful process, and some of my posts were lost forever. The upside is that the blog posts, appearing on their intended platform, look really good. The photo sizing and quality really makes them pop. Click on the blog links scattered throughout this post if you don’t believe me.
For me, a major 2017 highlight was the debut of the Topps Pro Debut Ben’s Biz insert set. There were 15 “Ben’s Biz” cards in all, highlighting people and places from my career of ballpark traveling.
Finally, my last trip of 2017 was another career highlight. On back-to-back evenings, I met (and interviewed) Bill Murray in Charleston and witnessed an eclipse in Charleston. Read on for all the details.
Trip #1: Floating in Frisco
This was a one-team trip. To see all Frisco blog posts, CLICK HERE
April 20–21: Frisco RoughRiders (Dr Pepper Ballpark)
MiLB.com: Frisco’s Ambassador of Fun; Toros take a tour of Frisco; We all float on in Frisco
Trip #2: Going Back to Cali
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL BLOG POSTS FROM THIS TRIP
May 11: Inland Empire 66ers (San Manuel Stadium)
MiLB.com: Hernandez’s baseball odyssey
May 12–13: Lake Elsinore Storm (The Diamond)
MiLB.com: Lake Elsinore’s dynamic clubbie; The polite stuff in Lake Elsinore
May 14–15: Lancaster JetHawks (The Hangar)
MiLB.com: Standing up for the JetHawks (Captain Steve profile)
May 16: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (LoanMart Field)
MiLB.com: Rancho’s veteran Rallysaurus
ONCE AGAIN: CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL BLOG POSTS FROM THIS TRIP
Trip #3: (Most of) The Pioneer League
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL BLOG POSTS FROM THIS TRIP
June 21: Billings Mustangs (Dehler Park)
MiLB.com: Satchel McElroy loves the game
June 22: Great Falls Voyagers (Centene Stadium)
MiLB.com: Great Falls’ Hall of Fame historian
June 23: Helena Brewers (Kindrick Legion Field)
MiLB.com: A long goodbye in Helena
June 24: Missoula Osprey (Allegiance Field and Ogren Park)
MiLB.com: Osprey odysseys in Missoula
June 25: Idaho Falls Chukars (Melaleuca Field)
MiLB.com: Idaho Falls’ Mother Chukar (John Balginy profile)
June 26: Ogden Raptors (Lindquist Field)
June 28: Salt Lake Bees (Smith’s Ballpark)
MiLB.com: Klauke’s PCL culinary journey
June 29: Orem Owlz (Brent Brown Ballpark)
MiLB.com: Orem’s millennial pitching coach
ONCE AGAIN: CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL BLOG POSTS FROM THIS TRIP
Trip #4: New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL BLOG POSTS FROM THIS TRIP
July 28th: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (NYSEG Stadium)
MiLB.com: In Binghamton, a “Rowdy” Aussie
July 29–30: Hartford Yard Goats (Dunkin’ Donuts Park)
MiLB.com: A slam dunk in Hartford
July 31: Wilmington Blue Rocks (Daniel S. Frawley Stadium)
MiLB.com: Becoming Mr. Celery in Wilmington
August 1: Frederick Keys (Harry Grove Stadium)
MiLB.com: Keys’ Katz talks Classic, cleats
August 2: Reading Fightin Phils (FirstEnergy Stadium)
MiLB.com: Reading’s venerable turtle; In Reading, Edge finds his center
August 3: Altoona Curve (Peoples Natural Gas Field)
MiLB.com: Love and loyalty in Altoona (Susan and Ken Mielnik profile)
ONCE AGAIN: CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL BLOG POSTS FROM THIS TRIP
Trip #5: Carolina Eclipse
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL BLOG POSTS FROM THIS TRIP
August 19: Down East Wood Ducks (Grainger Stadium)
August 20: Charleston RiverDogs (Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Ballpark)
MiLB.com: Dancing to the beat in Charleston; RiverDogs’ Murray ponders the eclipse; Bill Murray appears in Charleston
August 21: Columbia Fireflies (Spirit Communications Park)
MiLB.com: Witnessing the eclipse in Columbia
August 22: Buies Creek Astros (Jim Perry Stadium)
MiLB.com: At the halfway mark in Buies Creek
ONCE AGAIN: CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL BLOG POSTS FROM THIS TRIP
