Back in Tennessee and the surrounding area to finish up the rest of the Appalachian League. Today’s first game was at Howard Johnson Field, home of the Johnson City Cardinals. The Cardinals are obviously the affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, and over the weekend they had the World Series trophy on display from the 2006 World Series. It looks exactly like it does on tv, and although I wasn’t able to touch it, I was told it weighs about 30 pounds. Did you know—the trophy was first awarded in 1967, when the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Boston Red Sox.

Howard Johnson Field is a nice older ballpark that is over 50 years old. The most interesting feature about the ballpark is the hill located in right field. If you are familiar with the ridiculous hill in center field at Minute Maid Field in Houston, the hill at Howard Johnson Field is somewhat similar except for the fact that it stretches across the entire right field wall, and is at least 20 feet deep. Players have to spend a few games getting used to “how to play the wall”, as it can be quite tricky to run up the hill and catch a fly ball.

On Friday the Tour headed to Salisbury, MD to see the Delmarva Shorebirds. The name “Delmarva” is derived from the three states that are east of the Chesapeake Bay: DELaware, MARyland, and VirginiA (source: Wikipedia). We couldn’t really have a raffle because all of the Shorebirds players were wearing special jerseys that were being auctioned off during the game, essentially dwarfing our raffle for a team signed baseball. The Shorebirds play their games at Arthur Perdue Stadium, which features a rare picnic area right behind home plate. The land was donated by the Perdue family, and Arthur Perdue was the father of the famous chicken seller, Frank Perdue.

As for the current RFK, it is probably the stadium (both Major or Minor) in the worst physical condition. The seats are as old as the hills, and the playing surface is in terrible shape. There are huge sections of grass missing from the outfield, and the most of the grass looks like it’s dead or soon to die. It’s hard to see if you are ever watching the Nationals on tv, but it really is a terrible ballpark. It also doesn’t help that the place seats 60,000 and usually less than 20,000 show up for any particular game. Tonight’s attendance was slightly higher with a bunch of Phillies fans coming down to the game. Even with the strong Phillies fan presence, the Nationals beat the Phillies 4-2.

Also according to Wikipedia: “The park was also the site of the eight-hour and 15-minute, 27-inning marathon between the Burlington Indians and Bluefield Orioles on June 24-25, 1988. The WBBB-AM radio play-by-play call of that game by Indians’ announcer Richard Musterer stands as the longest continuous single-game solo broadcast in baseball history.” Impressive.

The next day brought the Tour to Greeneville, TN—not too far from the Kingsport Mets. Unlike most other ballparks in the Appalachian League, Pioneer Park has a more modern and well-designed feel to it—having been built in 2004, it holds over 4,000 total fans. For the past three years, the Astros have led the league in attendance, averaging just over 1,500 fans per game. We were all set to do a raffle tonight, but there were a few factors that prevented us from having an overly successful night. Right before the game a big thunderstorm came down and scared off potential fans, with only the most dedicated fans holding out to see the game. Those fans who stuck around to see the start of the game were not rewarded by the home team. By the 6th inning, it was 19-0 in favor of the Elizabethton Twins. Meanwhile, I was trying to raffle off a baseball that was signed by the Astros. I couldn’t have given away the ball—and selling raffle tickets to these fans for a chance to win this prize was like trying to sell ice to an Eskimo. The final score ended up being a very lopsided 22-3, so at least the Astros got a few runs on the board. Thanks to Stephen for all the help tonight!

While I was there, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Rick Ankiel, the former Cardinal pitcher turned power-hitter who played for the Redbirds. Unfortunately a few days before the Tour got to Memphis, Ankiel was called up to the Cardinals. Before he was called up, the former pitcher had hit 32 homers and knocked in 89 runs for Memphis. Sure enough, in his first game back in the Majors, Ankiel hit a homerun and added two more a few days later for the St. Louis Cardinals. You can read more about his story here.

Some interesting facts about AutoZone Park: It features the largest video board in minor league baseball, a 23-by-30 foot screen. The video board can produce 16.2 million different colors and is 127 feet (or 13 stories) above the playing field. Also, some 350 tons of clay and 5,000 tons of sand were used to build the playing field. 100,000 square feet of sod cover the outfield. Whoa! No wonder this place cost $80 million to build.

Another day, another long drive. Hard to imagine that at this time last week the Tour was in Lakewood, New Jersey and now the Tour has brought us to Pearl, Mississippi. Holy smokes is it hot in Pearl. How hot exactly? The starting game time temperature on the scoreboard read 105 degrees. They say it’s not so much the heat as it is the humidity. The Braves had a good first half of the season, but like all good teams they lost 13 of their 22 or so starters, as they all got called up to the next level of the Minors. It would then be no shock to hear that the current Braves team in Pearl is doing quite poorly, losing almost all of their last 16 or so games. Ouch. Tonight was no different, as the visiting team jumped out to an early lead and didn’t look back. The picture above is our raffle winner Daniel, who just recently lost his mom to cancer and used the $5 he got from working for his brother to buy some raffle tickets. With a little bit of luck, one of Daniel’s tickets was pulled at the end of the night so he got to take home an autographed Braves bat, signed by the whole team. Thanks Daniel, and I hope you enjoy your new bat.