Results tagged ‘ Peoria Chiefs ’
2010 Baseball Trip: Day 3-Peoria, IL
Peoria Chiefs vs. Clinton LumberKings: We didn’t have a whole lot of time to celebrate the Kernels victory before hitting the road again to Peoria. We made it to O’Brien Field about 30 minutes before game time, which is good enough to get our merchandise, grab a brew, and get ready for more baseball. It was Monday, and unfortunately not much of a crowd. We missed the big crowds over the weekend with Star Wars night and a Little League ceremony. Still, half price tickets should be drawing the people in anyway. O’Brien Field is nicely fit into downtown Peoria, and the Chiefs share their home with the NCAA Bradlay Braves. It was a beautiful night for baseball, but a quik game tied at 1-1 in the ninth. The Chiefs sent up a pinch hitter with two outs who hit a walk-off homer with the bases loaded for the win. Pretty exciting at the end. Final: Chiefs 4, Lumber Kings 1. Worst: The scoreboard. One half never worked, the other half only part of the time. Best: Half priced seats every Monday.
Photos property of MIB
Baseball Trip Finalized for 2010: Is this Heaven? No, it’s…
I finally got things finalized for next years baseball trip. This might sound obsessive on my part, but where I work we have to have our vacation leave picks submitted by the first of the year. I actually needed the dates and times of games to garauntee I can go. Here’s the rundown.
The Games: Day one of next years trip starts at the college level in DeKalb, IL watching the Central Michigan Chippewas face the Northern Illinios Huskies. I’m really impressed with the college game, and glad we’ve added these to our trip. From there we have to make haste to Davenport, IA to see the Quad Cities River Bandits host the Burlington Bees (Class A). The Bandits home field is right on the Mississippi River, and is gorgeous at night. Day two takes us to Des Moines, Iowa to see the Triple-A Iowa Cubs host the Omaha Royals. Triple-A ball is always a good chance to see future MLBers. Day three takes us back east to see the Cedar Rapids Kernels face the Kane County Cougars. The game’s at noon, so plenty of time to check out Cedar Rapids. Day four will take us to Clinton, Iowa to watch the LumberKings host the Beloit Snappers. Our trip ends on day five, and starts out in Burlington with the Bees taking on the Cougars. From there we’ll head to Peoria to watch the host Chiefs play the Kernels. There you have it-seven games in five days. But the games are only a part of the trip.
Bob Feller Museum: Just west of Des Moines is the Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter Iowa. This should have some great memorabelia of the this HOFers career. One piece I know they have on display is Feller’s bat that Babe Ruth used to hobble out onto the field at Yankee Stadium in 1948. We’ll go here on day two before the Cubs game in Des Moines.
A touch of Hollywood: On day three on our way from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids we’ll be stopping in Norway, Iowa. This is the setting of the film The Final Season based on the true story of the high school baseball team there that won 20 state baseball championships despite being one of the smallest schools in the state. It’s a great movie and a greater story. If you havn’t seen the movie yet, I do recommend it for all baseball fans. I believe they just opened a baseball musuem there this year, too.
On day four we’ll be heading north of Cedar Rapids to Dyersville to see the movie site of a film most reading this have seen many times:
‘This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be good again. Oh people will come. People will most definately come.’ -Field of Dreams.
That’s right, Darth, you guys build it, and I’ll be there. The site is open to the public to play catch, take a few swings, or just sit and enjoy the setting. I can only imagine this being some sort of sureal experience. The games mixed in with the other sites should make for a memorable vacation. I’m sure when I get back, though, it will be awhile before I eat any corn.
Bless You Boys! Tigers Honor 1984 World Champions
Monday night the Detroit Tigers will honor the 1984 World Championship team in a pre-game ceromony. All the greats will be on hand including HOF manager Sparky Anderson, MVP Allan Trammell, Lance Parrish, Kirk Gibson, Willie Hernandez and more. It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since the Tigers won it all. Detroit had the best record in baseball that season with 104 wins on their way to the World Series. This is one of my favorite memories about being a baseball fan as a kid.
Luckily, I’ve had a chance to meet some of my childhood heroes through my Minor League baseball trips. A lot of these guys like to give back to baseball and coach in the Minors. It’s great seeing them instruct a whole new generation of players. So far off the the 1984 team I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Tom Brookens (West Michigan Whitecaps), Lance Parrish (Great Lakes Loons), Doug Bair (Dayton Dragons), and Barbaro Garbey (Peoria Cheifs). We also had a chance to meet John Wockenfuss this season, who was traded in 1984 in a deal to the Phillies to bring Willie Hernandez and Dave Bergman to Detroit. We got to meet pitcher Jack Morris, too, but he wasn’t coaching, just signing at a store opening in northern Michigan. Still, he has the most wins of any pitcher in the 80′s, so it was great meeting him. I can’t wait until next years trip to see who we can meet along the way.
Tom Brookens of the Whitecaps signs for the kids in 2007
Lance Parrish of the Loons signs some cards for the kids in 2007
Photos property of MIB
Tigers and Fun in West Michigan
There’s no better way to spend your birthday than at the ballpark. This year my dad, the kids and I went to the Whitecaps game. We started off at Chuck E. Cheese’s in Grand Rapids so the kids could expell some energy.
At the game, the rain held off and we had a beautifull night. They were playing the Peoria Chiefs again this time. Last year we got to meet Ryne Sandberg while he was managing there. This season former Tiger Barbaro Garbey was in town so he signed some cards for the kids. Garbey was on the Tigers 1984 World Series Championship team, and is currently the hitting coach for the Chiefs. It was also Tiger Friday, so John Wockenfuss was on hand to meet the fans and he signed some cards for the kids, too. They were also giving away bobbleheads to the first 1,000 fans. In the end, the ‘Caps won 9-0 and we had a great time. I don’t know if I’ll be able to catch another game in West Michigan this year or not, but we’ll be going to Appleton, WI next month to watch the Timber Rattlers.
Photos property of MIB
Whitecaps Pound Peoria
July 17, 2009-Comstock Park, MI: The West Michigan Whitecaps beat up on the visiting Peoria Chiefs 9-0. The onslaught starting in the first inning, when center fielder Ben Guez hit a two run homer to put the ‘Caps up 2-0. Guez ended up going 3-5 on the night, with three RBI’s. Also helping out was second baseman Mike Gosse who was a perfect 4-4 with a double, two runs scored, and 2 RBI’s. Third baseman Brent Wyatt went 2-5 with a double, triple, RBI, and run scored. All around good offensive game by the Whitecaps. The fact that Peoria had three errors helped out, too.
On the mound Brayan Villarreal pitched a solid five innings. He struck out six and didn’t give up a run. He gave up six hit’s, but he was able to pitch himself out of trouble with the help of his defense. His ERA is now a measly 1.06.
Rain threatened the game, but it turned out to be a beautifull night. After some first inning mist, the rain held off and it actually warmed up a bit. It was also Tiger Friday, so former Tiger John Wockenfuss was there to sign autograpsh. That’s another entry, though.
Photos property of MIB
Minoring In Baseball
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