Dave Wolf – WSJM Sports Director
Like most kids around the country, I grew up on baseball. We went to major league baseball games occasionally in Detroit or Chicago, we ended up in Cincinnati more than a few times. But even back then, going to games for a family of four back in the 80’s was a luxury that we really only could do once a year.
We were introduced to minor league baseball in the late 80’s when the South Bend White Sox started playing games at what is now known as Four Winds Field, then Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium. The name was a fitting description of a ballpark, when it was built was just as cold and lifeless as their parent club’s replacement for the old Comiskey Park. But the thing was, we could make regular visits to the park and see games, and not have to spend the same money to sit in the upper deck of a major league stadium, we could be right along the rail of the field and spend maybe $20 for all four of us.
After getting my license and a car, my brother and I made plenty of trips to South Bend to see games while on our summer vacations. We weren’t necessarily fans of South Bend, we just enjoyed going to watch games. While the park was still kind of new, it was still one of those cold lifeless structures that had no character or life to it. It was what it was, a Class Single A level ballpark.
But things were happening in baseball. Baltimore’s Camden Yards was really the first, but then huge “Cookie Cutter” multipurpose stadiums like in Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis were being torn down. While Tiger Stadium had character it was essentially a big box. And you couldn’t see outside that box. They were all replaced by open air parks with views of downtown, or the river, or the arch in St. Louis. A new stadium seemingly opened up every year in the majors.
It wasn’t long after that the trend made it’s way down to the minor leagues. In the Midwest League, West Michigan’s LMCU Ballpark, originally known as Old Kent Park, in Grand Rapids. Jackson Field, in Lansing (original Oldsmobile Park). Fort Wayne had an almost prison like stadium when they were the wizards, it was a giant pile of cement and steel. Now they have a beautiful stadium downtown and with an amazing view of the skyline.
New parks also opened up in Midland, where the Great Lakes Loons play, Dow Diamond’s view maybe of the Dow Chemical plant, but the stadium itself is beautiful enough to make your forget about it.
An historic park in Toledo, Ned Skeldon Stadium was replaced, and Fifth Third Field opened up.
The move to make retro ballparks was too late for the Chicago White Sox, but the team renovated new Comiskey Park, and Guaranteed Rate Field was born.
Which brings me back to South Bend. South Bend changed their name to the Silverhawks, before becoming the South Bend Cubs, with the new name and new affiliation, South Bend completely transformed “The Cove,” from a cold lifeless Stadium, to a ballpark, and park is the key word. It maybe called Four Winds field, but the park is the inclusive term. You have a field, where they play the game on. The rest of the park, has the amenities that major league stadiums now feature.
In Grand Rapids, the Whitecaps announced earlier this spring that they will spend the next three years renovating the park. Not only to keep up with standards by Major League Baseball. But to make fans enjoyment better.
I’ve been to Major League Stadiums in Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and Cleveland. I’ve been to minor league baseball stadiums in West Michigan (Comstock Park), South Bend, Fort Wayne, Lansing, Midland, Toledo, Indianapolis. You don’t necessarily have to cheer for one of the teams. South Bend is the Cubs affiliate. West Michigan and Toledo are the Tigers affiliates so if you’re a fan of those teams it certainly doesn’t hurt.
I would just say these stadiums are perfect places to watch baseball. Fort Wayne, Midland, Lansing, and South Bend are beautiful parks, West Michigan will soon be again. These are all within driving distance, and they won’t cost you an arm and a leg to see one of the greatest things about growing up during the summer…. Baseball.
