Today’s first stop was in Kansas City to see the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Originally built in 1973, it was actually the sole baseball-only facility built in the majors between 1962 and 1991—most of the stadiums built were those horrible multi-sport concrete bowl structures during that same time. Although Kauffman Stadium does resemble those same multi-sport facilities from the 1970s, it has a lot of its own charm and character. The fountain and waterfall display in the outfield stands at 322 feet, making it the largest publicly-funded fountain in the world. The stadium originally had AstroTurf installed for the playing field, but after 20 years grass replaced the turf and remains there today. It really is a great place to see a game, but unfortunately the Royals only draw around 20,000 fans on any given day. Next time you find yourself in Kansas City, go see a Royals game—it’s affordable (most expensive ticket: $27) and a great park to watch a game.

After the Royals game we headed down to Springfield to see the Cardinals play at Hammonds Field. Unfortunately we did not connect with the organization, so this post will be lacking in details about the ballpark. I will say that if you plan on driving to the stadium, try to carpool—as the parking is probably one of the more expensive in all of Minor League baseball, and could cost more than the price of your actual ticket into the game. Why is the place called Hammonds Field? Probably because it was bankrolled entirely by local businessman John Q. Hammonds, who is known for developing over 200 hotels during his time. The cost of the ballpark—a cool $32 million. It has been ranked as one of the top Minor League parks in the past few years.