Editor’s Note: Local teacher Ben Fawbush is sharing his adventures through the Reds organization via a Lilly grant with WZBD. Follow along with each post as he takes an inside look at professional baseball in America.
By BEN FAWBUSH
Special Report for WZBD
My son and I arrived in Indy yesterday (7/31) to stay the night so that we wouldn’t have to leave Decatur at 4 a.m. in order to park, get checked in, and through TSA before 7:15 a.m. for a 9:15 a.m. flight to Daytona this morning. The flight on Southwest Airlines was one of the smoothest flights I have ever been on to Orlando…and one of the fastest (1 hr 39 min).
We touched down at 11:04 a.m., waited on our luggage for about 30 minutes, and then got in our Turo rental and drove to Daytona Beach to eat and check in at our hotel on the beach.
My initial thought of Daytona Beach Shores isn’t great, but not bad. Hotels, condos, houses, and businesses side by side like the opening roll on Full House.
Not a lot of people around…maybe cuz it’s hot and humid and we are the “smart” ones who decided to take up residency for a few days.
After we used our Olive Garden gift card, courtesy of Ahead of the Curb Driving Academy, we drove into Daytona to see the home team Tortugas (Low A minor league club of the Reds) take on the Port St Lucie Mets.
Being a Mets fan is always tough, and watching this group of players they have after just one day made me cry a little bit more hoping something changes after these trades we just made. The Reds players, on the other hand, really played well for the most part. They won 11-2 and really set the tone early both offensively and defensively. Sal Stewart (1st round compensatory pick in 2022), who I will be interviewing tomorrow, went off and had a great game. When he bats he has a little shimmy like Jack Parkman from Major League 2.
It is very weird watching professional baseball and being around the Tincaps and then seeing these guys play down here. Even though the level of play is only one step lower than what Fort Wayne produces, these players genuinely look like kids. When I saw them play, 75% of them looked like seniors on a high school team. It was just really weird looking at them, seeing their young faces, and watching them play ball at a professional level.
The tour of Jackie Robinson Stadium was short, but sweet. The oldest minor league stadium to date is named such because Jackie Robinson played his first major league spring training game there in 1946 as a Montreal Royal. This is the same field where, if you have watched the movie 42, Jackie got on base and a police officer came on the field and made him leave because blacks weren’t allowed to “play” with whites.
The stadium has obstructed views just like Wrigley Field does (this was the home of the Cubs’ minor league team for many years). When I got the full view of the field, it reminded me of A League of Their Own when the women are playing and they pan to the crowd and the military men, Mr. Harvey, and Mr. Lowerstein are shown talking and cheering them on. The background just looks so familiar like they could have shot part of the film there. It is very nostalgic and very informative on the history of Jackie Robison.
The clubhouses, which are usually under the stadium, are separate buildings like Bellmont has for the football teams currently. The visitors have theirs outside the playing field just off of the right field fence and the Tortugas have theirs, along with video room and workout area, outside of the left field fenced area. They (Tortugas brass along with city and county leaders) are in the process of building a new, combined facility (like Bellmont has) in centerfield along with a bigger team store – the current one is smaller than a college dorm room, no joke. The front office staff will also have a place in the new facility instead of having to play Frogger across the highway to get back and forth on game day from their current location.
My son (Ryne) and I were able to walk in left field. The entire field is turf now due to damage from Hurricane Nicole last year and the lack of drainage even before that. The turf was mighty hot. We almost got hit by some baseballs because I was watching the Mets outfielders and not the hitters during BP. We were given a set of tickets for free courtesy of the Tortugas for all 4 games through Friday evening. They were general admission tickets on the 3rd base side bleachers (sore butts were had!), but free is free and I am not complaining.
Day 2 is the day I am looking forward to the most – interviewing the players.
Check back on WZBD.com for the next installment and more photos.
About the Author
