Tulsa Drillers 7 at Arkansas Travelers 1 (Texas League) - May 5, 2016

My Texas League trip continued on Thursday with a game in Little Rock, about 3 hours from Springdale. Once again Google Maps suggested the quickest and dullest route, I-49 South to I-40 East. A much more enjoyable drive is through the Ozark National Forest - I took US-412 east and then zigzagged along State Highways 23, 16, and 21 before hitting I-40 at Clarksville. The winding roads are very scenic and devoid of traffic, making them a fun way to test your driving skills a little bit.



After a short rest at my downtown hotel, I made my way across the Arkansas River to North Little Rock, where the stadium is actually located. There are two bridges that span the waterway, but the Broadway Bridge, which leaves you right at the ballpark entrance, had both sidewalks closed. This forced me to use the Main Street Bridge, which is nice enough, but at night rather dark and deserted for the return trip. The detour did bring me past the Old State House (above), which is the oldest standing state capitol building west of the Mississippi River and now a museum. (There is free parking right by the stadium, but I was close enough that it didn't make any sense to drive.)



The stadium was opened in 2007 to replace Ray Winder Field and is celebrating its 10th season. It is named for a pair of Arkansas brothers: Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Dickey and his brother George, who also caught in the majors, and businessmen Jackson T. and Warren R. Stephens, who donated the land. There are four plaques just to the left of the main entrance honouring these men (above).



The main entrances look more like railyards than a ballpark, but once inside, it much like any other AA stadium. As you can see below, there is a small walkway between six rows of lower seats ($13) and the upper reserved sections ($9). There is also a $7 beer garden area for those who want to socialize, as well as a GA ticket for the same price. Ushers don't check very aggressively, so as usual, buy the cheapie and sit where you want once fans have settled in.



The first thing to check out is the small Travelers Museum just behind home plate. It is free and has two large display cases with a lot of memorabilia, an old desk and some stadium chairs inside and alcove and photos of past Travs teams on one wall. The team has been around since 1963, and before that the Little Rock Travelers played in some form since 1902 (missing a few years here and there) so you will be surprised at the amount of interesting material inside.



With so much in the museum, there isn't a whole lot inside the stadium itself. Food options are pretty bland - the most unusual thing I saw was a Razorback Steak Snack, which is jerky, and a stand selling 8 strips of bacon for $6.



The view of downtown Little Rock behind right field is quite nice, but there are really no bad seats in this ballpark.



There are some tables along the third base concourse where you can stand and enjoy your meal; I spent the first three innings here before moving to a seat behind home plate.



Overall, Dickey-Stephens Park has a lot to offer, but it is concentrated in the museum. There isn't a large Road to the Show display on the concourse like in many other venues, and few other amenities. This is not a complaint as I prefer the simpler ballparks and Dickey-Stephens is just that. If you are in Little Rock during the summer, try and check out a Travelers tilt.



The Game

It was a AA battle of LA with Tulsa in town. Chase De Jong started for them; Blue Jays fans will remember that he was their 2nd round pick in 2012 before being sent to the Dodgers in return for some international bonus pool slots (he is now LA's 18th-ranked prospect). He faced Troy Scribner, an undrafted free agent working his way up the Angels chain. Andrew Toles (3rd round in 2012 by Tampa Bay), making his AA debut for Tulsa, homered in the first and that was all De Jong would need. He retired the first 13 he faced before giving up a single to Cal Towey (17th, 2013). The only other blemish was a lead off walk in the 6th as De Jong completed seven very strong innings to take my Player to Watch award. The Drillers offense added 3 runs in the 5th including a 2-run homer from Paul Hoenecke (24th, 2012, my PTW from the game in Tulsa) and singletons in the 6th, 7th, and 8th. An RBI double by Traveler Chad Hinshaw (15th, 2013, Angels #9 prospect) ended the shutout but Tulsa held on for the 7-1 win.

Coincidentally, Arkansas lost the game I saw in Springfield 7-1 as well, scoring their only run in the 9th inning then too.

Notes

It was Cinco de Mayo, a holiday that gets more exposure in the US than in Mexico. The Travelers did not have a promotion for it, but some fans dressed up in sombreros.



There were two other promotions however, with the first being "Strike Out Stroke Night" with a large walk-through brain outside, and Star Wars Night, with many fans dressed up in costumes from the film series, including a Tusken Raider below.



A sad note: the stadium is where Tulsa first-base coach Mike Coolbaugh was killed by a line drive in 2007. It was this unbelievable tragedy that led to all field coaches wearing helmets in baseball.

Best,

Sean

Northwest Arkansas Naturals 7 at Tulsa Drillers 5 (Texas League) - May 1, 2016

Day 2 of my Texas League trip began early as I had to make the four-hour drive to Tulsa for a 1:05 start. Highways were clear and the weather was good, and I arrived in downtown Tulsa just after noon, giving me plenty of time to check out ONEOK Field, the new home of the Drillers.



The ballpark was opened in 2010 to replace Drillers Stadium, which I visited in 2001. The new venue is located north of downtown, right next to I-244 that encircles much of the city. There are parking lots nearby, but I found a spot on the street just a couple of blocks away and wandered over. There wasn't much of a crowd, so rather than wait for a freebie, I forked over $5 for a lawn seat and made my way in.



The stadium is quite typical for this level, with a single seating bowl from foul pole to foul pole, and a suite level above. Party areas and berms are in the outfield, though some sections were closed off on this day. There are ushers at each section, but they generally weren't checking tickets as long as it is not behind home plate.



The concourse is quite wide, and the poles have pictures of past Drillers, such as Pudge Rodgriguez. The team store is located near the left field entrance and is one of the largest I have ever seen in the minor leagues. The smaller souvenir stand is called Drill Bits, a nice pun.



You can complete an entire circuit of the field, something that is quite common nowadays and allows you to capture the views from many different angles.



The best part of the stadium is the Tulsa Skyline beyond right field. For this reason, sitting along third base is somewhat better than first base. The picture below was taken while a weather phenomenon known as cloud iridescence was visible.



The netting here does not extend to the entire dugout, unlike the ballpark in Frisco. With the sun out and shining brightly, I chose to sit further back as the last two rows are shaded by the overhang.



Later on I moved to the seats behind home plate, where there were several scouts watching. Again, quite a nice view.



The mascot here is Hornsby, a blue buffalo with a great baseball name (Rogers Hornsby began his career in Hugo, Oklahoma, a town about 160 miles south of Tulsa). Hornsby is quite energetic, below challenging some of the visiting Northwest Arkansas Naturals to a boxing contest before the game.



If you are looking to grab some food, try Franx, a stand that sells five varieties of specialty hot dogs. The other thing to note is the mascot race, which is sponsored by a local hardware or appliance concern, and features a toilet with a mustache (I missed the name so please supply your own joke), a furnace (Bernie) and an air conditioner (Breezy). We need a list of all mascot races across minor league baseball because nearly every team has one these days and some of them are very creative.



Overall, I really enjoyed the afternoon here. This is a simpler stadium with a more sedate crowd than that in Frisco, but its downtown location and backdrop, plus very cheap tickets and friendly staff, make it a great place to watch a ballgame.

The Game

This was my third time seeing the Naturals in the past two weeks after I watched them in Midland a couple of times. The team is loaded with prospects, including Matt Strahm (21st round in 2012, now KC's #10 prospect, below) who started. He pitched five solid innings, striking out 8 and walking none while yielding a single run. His offense managed 4 runs off Tulsa (Dodgers affiliate) starter Brock Stewart (6th, 2014), with Raul Mondesi's 2-run double the key.



Bubba Starling added a homer in the 7th, but Tulsa replied when Erisbel Arruebarrena (a Cuban who spent a few games with the Dodgers in 2014) hit a 2-run shot in the bottom half. Starling doubled to lead off the ninth to start a small rally that resulted in two more Natural runs and a 7-3 lead, runs that were absolutely necessary when Paul Hoenecke (24th, 2012) hit a 2-run shot in the bottom half. Arruebarrena followed but fouled out to first to end the game as Tulsa dropped a 7-5 decision.



This was actually a very good game, with no walks issued by either side, a rarity in the minors. I like it when pitchers pitch and hitters hit, and the game moved at a great pace, finishing in 2:28, with a PPM (pitches per minute) of 1.78.

Player to Watch

Strahm is the obvious choice, but I try to avoid picking top prospects here, so will go with Hoenecke, who was 3/4 with the dinger and the only Driller to not strike out.

Notes

This was my 650th venue lifetime and 240th ballpark.

Arruebarrena was suspended for the rest of the season a couple of days later, so this might have been his last game. Not sure why, but it is the second time he has been so disciplined.

I didn't have time to explore Tulsa this time as I needed to drive to Springfield for a game Monday morning. More on that in the next post.

Best,

Sean