After going to Wichita and Kansas City, I wanted to do one more trip for a minor league game this summer. The problem was I had a tight window to do it because I had some stuff coming up. I was thinking of the Pennsylvania to New England part of the country so that I could go somewhere without flying. So I was trying to find somewhere that had a home game in my narrow window of availability that was easy to get to and had good hotel options. Nothing seemed to be working and then I thought of the Atlantic League. The Lancaster Barnstormers were hosting the Long Island Ducks. It was an easy train ride from New York and the Lancaster train station, the stadium, and a good hotel at a reasonable price were all within walking distance of each other. So I booked my trip on July 4 and two days later I was on my way to Lancaster.
I got to Lancaster around 5:00 and the game was at 6:30. So after checking in at my hotel, I went to the stadium. The Lancaster Barnstormers play at Clipper Magazine Stadium, which has been named the best stadium in the independent leagues. So I was excited to check it out. I walked around the stadium before the game and there was a pretty solid food selection and a very good beer selection. You could walk all the way around the stadium, which is something that you can’t do at some minor league stadiums. So there was a lot to like. But there was one big problem. They built the stadium facing the wrong way. Home plate faces northwest. So when you have a game starting at 6:30, every seat is in the sun until the sun sets out beyond left field. And it was 93° so it was hot. I watched the top of the first from my seat and then I had to move out to left field. There was a fence with advertising beyond left field so that was the only part of the stadium in the shade for a while. Once the sun went down, it wasn’t bad and I went back to my seat, but it was bad while the sun was still out. One thing that I noticed while I was out in the outfield was that the outfield fence was a chain link fence. You wouldn’t notice that right away because almost the whole thing is covered with advertising. So that was something that you don’t see at most places these days.
This was my view at the start of the game. It was way too hot in the sun.
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| I spent a couple of innings in the only shady part of the stadium and it was much better. |
After sitting in the shade for a little bit, I went to get food and beer. I got pulled pork mac and cheese with fries. It was tasty, but it was a lot of food and I didn’t finish it. I would have been just fine if it was just the pulled pork and mac and cheese with no fries. To drink, I got a Lemon Blueberry Shandy from the Lancaster Brewing company. It was a top notch summer beer. I would absolutely drink it again. I did some research on the internet and unfortunately it didn’t seem like I’d be able to find it on Long Island.
This was likely the best beer that I’ll have at a baseball game this year.
The game was not competitive. The Ducks scored three in the first, two in the third, and five in the fourth. They ended up winning 15-1. With the Atlantic League, you usually get some former Major Leaguers so here were some names I knew from the Ducks that played in the game: Al Albuquerque, Kevin Quackenbush, Wilson Ramos, Ruben Tejada, and Alejandro De Aza. The Ducks also used a pitcher named Jose Jose. The Barnstormers didn’t have as many recognizable names, but their lead off hitter was Shawon Dunston Jr. Of course, I remember his father playing in the Majors. Attendance for the game was 2,302 and it lasted two hours and 47 minutes.
There was a lot to like about Clipper Magazine Stadium, but sitting in the sun when it was hot was not fun. If they rotated the stadium 90° clockwise, there would be a lot more shade for the fans and that would have been better. Since this was probably my last minor league game of the season, I’ll update my minor league stadium rankings (you can click on each stadium for my post about it):
27. Arm & Hammer Park in Trenton
25. Arvest Ballpark in Springdale
23. TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, New Jersey
20. Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo
19. Isotopes Park in Albuquerque
18. TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha
17. Daniel S. Frawley Stadium in Wilmington
16. Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster
14. Greater Nevada Field in Reno
13. NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse
12. Richmond County Bank Ballpark on Staten Island
11. Dickey-Stephens Park in Little Rock
10. Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy
9. Bethpage Ballpark in Central Islip
8. Four Winds Field in South Bend
7. Riverfront Stadium in Wichita
5. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark
4. Frontier Field in Rochester
3. Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park in Charleston
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