Short Season A Ball

Thursday I took an evening and experienced a game between the Single A New Jersey Cardinals (affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals) and Williamsport Crosscutters (Pirates). Skylands Park is located just outside Newton, NJ, which is hardly an urban center. Still, the team draws well marketing its base throughout Sussux County.

From the outside, the park resembles something not unlike a barn. Walking in, the park feels more like a state fair than your usual ballpark. Let me link to a separate review page that has a few images...

http://www.ballparkreviews.com/nj/nj.htm

The game itself was quite nice. I am used to going to a ballgame familiar with the top prospects, and who to keep an eye on. This game featured many players not even a week into their professional careers. The game did not feature any draft picks from the top two rounds, so there was nary a name to be found. So instead of scouting the players, I resolved to simply enjoy the game. This turned out to be a wise decision, as the P.A. announcer was less than current regarding the announcement of substitutions.

I have said this many times, but it bears repeating. If you are tired of what you perceive as the me-first attitude of today's "high priced" players, take a trip to a minor league game. Any walk-up ticket is likely to place you much closer to the action than a ticket for a major league game purchased months in advance. The players are more accessable, and in fact the club posted a player at the information booth to meet fans and sign autographs before the game.

The big problem at Skylands Park is the prices. $4 for parking, expensive concessions, and ticket prices are higher than what I have seen either at AAA Scranton, or AA Binghamton. Concessions were higher than Scranton/Wilkes-Barre across the board. Later this summer I will see Williamsport so I will have a better idea how Skylands compares to other parks in A ball. For my money however, there are better deals in Scranton and Binghamton.