With baseball season under two weeks opening night on April 5th and opening day on the 6th I am really pumped. Today has been one of those recovery type days, a couple of busy weeks, travel and just being tired and run down, It also rained, so there isn’t much to do. So I put on one of my favorite baseball movies Bull Durham.
For anyone who has travelled about the south watching minor league ball or had the meandering career that I have the movie is really fun. I’ve seen a lot of Carolina, Southern and International league games. I probably have seen almost all of the teams in those leagues play at least once and seen a few games in the South Atlantic league as well. There is something about minor league ball in the South. A lot of the teams are in small and out of the way places, just like the movie, Durham now, which is in the International League is in one of the larger cities. To get the real feel of Carolina ball one needs to go to places like Kinston and Ashville. These are single A teams. The Kinston Indians are the Advanced Single A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. They play in Grainger Stadium in Kinston just north of downtown. The town is one that has seen better days as much of the textile industry has disappeared, but the Indians, or the K-Tribe as they are known are a great show. The field is immaculately taken care of, the stadium has been modernized since it opened in 1949. It seats 4100 people, tickets for reserved seats are $6, $4 if you are military or a senior citizen. It measures 335 feet down the lines and 390 feet to dead center. The outfield wall is interesting, on left field it is low but a series of stair steps makes it higher in right field. I’ve been able to throw out the first pitch there twice.
Ashville is the home of the historic Ashville Tourists of the South Atlantic League. They play in McCormick field which opened in 1923. Though the grandstand has been rebuilt the playing field is the same as it was when it opened. It measures 326′ down the left field line, 373′ to center and 297′ down the right field line. This is a magical place especially at night. The outfield backs up to a tree covered hill and home runs almost disolve into darkness. The team is affiliated with the Colorado Rockies. The field played host to various major league exhibition games in the 1920s and 1930s and Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb played there. On one visit Ruth remarked “My, my, what a beautiful place to play. Delightful. Damned delightful place!” Ruth actually developed a severe stomach ailment arriving in the town in 1925 and was erroneously reported to have died by the media. He did recover and after a long stay in the hospital started the season late. The inicident is sometimes known as “the bellyache heard around the world.” The tie in to Bull Durham is where Kevin Costner “Crash Davis” drives up to the stadium and hits his minor league record home run before retiring from the game.
Carolina baseball is magical, it touches the soul. The small towns, relaxed atmosphere and many times historic ball parks each having their own particular charm make it a wonderful place to fall in love with the game again. I’ll have to take a trip to Kinston this year. Until then I will settle down in section 102, row B seat 2 at Harbor park to cheer on my own Norfolk Tides. God is good, and basball one of Her most wonderful gifts to us. As George Will noted “Baseball is Heaven’s gift to mortals.” Peace, Steve+
The Inglorius Padre Steve's World 