Great American Baseball Adventure, Week 19: August 9th-15th, 2010

18 weeks of baseball and, somehow, someway, the Great American Baseball Adventure's still going strong! One last swing through the Deep South for Week 19 - bring your appetite for grits and catfish...

Monday, August 9th:
Springdale, AR (110 miles from Tulsa)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals (AA Royals) vs. Arkansas Travelers (AA Angels)

The Battle of Arkansas, Part Deux. Keeping score of this game becomes incredibly confusing when every Naturals player changes his name to Robert Redford. It’s fun to play on the Nats’ nickname, but not nearly as fun as the second place finisher in the ‘name the team’ contest – Thunder Chickens. Oh, the jokes that could’ve been…


Tuesday, August 10th:
Travel day. My wife will visit family in Little Rock; I’ll spend the day writing down all my Thunder Chickens jokes. We’ve got a handful of Southern teams to go, and then it’s all Midwest, all the time for the rest of the minor league season.


Wednesday, August 11th:
Jackson, TN (412 miles from Springdale)
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (AA Mariners) vs. Montgomery Biscuits (AA Rays)

You can’t have baseball without salty, fatty, disgusting, fantastic food. And a game at Pringles Park featuring the Biscuits has me in one serious artery-clogging mood. I’m parking myself down on the front row in Wink Martindale’s hometown and humming the Tic-Tac-Dough theme repeatedly while mowing down the peanuts and Cracker Jaxx. That was a long way to go for a joke, and I don’t apologize for it.


Thursday, August 12th:
Chattanooga, TN (262 miles from Jackson)
Chattanooga Lookouts (AA Dodgers) vs. Tennessee Smokies (AA Cubs)

The place now called Dodgertown, Tennessee is another promotion-rich environment; last year fans sang exactly half of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” at the 3.5-inning stretch. Hey, the economy’s got everybody cutting back, right? And apparently, you can watch the game from a barber’s chair in left field while getting your mane trimmed. Which is good, since I didn’t build a lot of haircut time into the GABA.


Friday, August 13th:
Rome, GA (69 miles from Chattanooga)
Rome Braves (A Braves) vs. Augusta Greenjackets (A Giants)

Just another part of the Braves’ master plan to put each of their minor league teams within walking distance of the big league club. Rome ain’t suburban, but it ain’t far from the ATL. Since it’s Friday the 13th, we may decide to stay in our hotel room instead of looking for Romulus, Remus, or the Leasing Tower of Pisa.


Saturday, August 14th:
Lawrenceville, GA (89 miles from Rome)
Gwinnett Braves (AAA Braves) vs. Durham Bulls (AAA Rays)

Braves’ farmhands can literally take a cab ride to the big league ballpark from suburban Lawrenceville. Advantages to Gwinnett Stadium: it’s new, it’s suburban, and it’s actually the closest minor league park to the town where I grew up. Disadvantage: at the rate Atlanta’s growing, Lawrenceville will be annexed into downtown Atlanta by 2015.


Sunday, August 15th:
Huntsville, AL (236 miles from Lawrenceville)
Huntsville Stars (AA Brewers) vs. West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (AA Mariners)

One last swing through Alabama to reach for the Stars, aka the 2012 Milwaukee Brewers. Because once Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder leave for large market bucks, somebody’s gotta replace them, right? Joe Davis Stadium’s hosted monster truck rallies before; maybe we can get lucky and catch a two-fer. Or both events at the same time. After all, it is… SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!