Ryno runnin' the show
Going to minor league games is something I got hooked on as a kid. My mom would take us to see the Lookouts and we’d have hotdogs, we’d scramble for foul balls, and we’d wait in line for autographs. I loved it. There’s nothing quite like eating ice cream out of a tiny baseball helmet.
It’s something my husband and I have in common, as he is a die hard baseball fan. He grew up a Phillies fan, going with his beloved grandfather. His family also went to the area minor league games and the Tampa Bay games, when they lived in Florida. He even had his bachelor party by renting out a skybox at a Smokies game!
We go see the Smokies, our minor league team, as often as we can, and we usually catch a couple of Phillies game each year. Just yesterday we got to see the Smokies clinch their division (we even got featured on the Kiss Cam!). There weren’t that many people there, which I expected since it depended on the other games whether or not they played. It’s hard to plan an outing around uncertainty.
I rarely hear of people outside my circle of baseball friends even going. I really don’t understand why more of my parent-friends don’t take their kids.
Our friend Jared, with one of the Smokies mascots
Well, that’s not all true; I know part of it is because the stadium is about 20-25 minutes from
Knoxville. It’s such a shame really. When I first moved to Knoxville, the stadium was near downtown (not more than a couple of blocks from where I now live). It would seem the city didn’t really think it was very important to keep a minor league team so we “lost” them to Sevierville who was willing to build a new venue for them. So now, it’s the Tennessee Smokies instead of Knoxville. I don’t think as many people go as would if it were here in town, and Knoxville is missing out on the money that would be generated as well as what it would have done to help with downtown revitalization.
They do have a really nice stadium though.
Chris with Slugger and Diamond
I sure enjoys me some Smokies baseball. Give us a shout next time you guys head up there.
By: John Wright on September 18, 2009
at 10:13 am