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
I have never been to or through Chattanooga, Tennessee before, so I was a mix of excited and hesitant to make the 7.5+ hour drive down there; hesitant because of not knowing anything about the area, but excited because I get to watch AA baseball and interview a high draft pick of the Reds.
Day 1: The plan was to leave Decatur at 6 a.m. and get to our hotel at 2 or 3 p.m., but I guess leaving at 8 a.m. and arriving at 5 p.m. was more in line with how things worked out. The drive was long, but scenic and honestly went by fairly quickly. We arrived at the hotel, checked in, and left for the ballpark.
AT&T Field, home of the Chattanooga Lookouts – Cincinnati Reds AA minor league team – doesn’t really have any “close” parking to it like I am blessed with at Parkview Field in Fort Wayne. The nearest parking facility was probably six to eight blocks away, which isn’t bad until you factor in the 95 degree weather and humidity…but hey, I get to watch baseball and experience something new, right?
The stadium is on a hill and you have to take an escalator up to it before walking up a decent set of stairs to actually enter the facility. Once in the stadium, I immediately think back to Memorial Stadium where the Fort Wayne Wizards played. There were a bunch of plain concrete walls, banners of “Then and Now” featuring former Lookout players who are now, or have been, in the Major Leagues, and a posterboard that had the starting lineup for each team written in Expo marker.
The team shop was small, but amazing. The choices of food to eat was similar to Parkview Field (hotdogs, brats, pretzels, drinks, pizza, etc).
The prices were definitely lower than what I was expecting. I had a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich and the philly cheese chicken nachos. Today, we sat off to the right of home plate and observed as much as possible about the stadium and the scenery. Rhett Lowder, whom I will be interviewing Saturday afternoon, is on the hill hoping for his first win of the AA season (he got it).
While looking around the field/stadium I keep telling myself that we are lucky in NE Indiana to have a few stadiums that are amazing. Fort Wayne (Tincaps), Dayton (Dragons), and South Bend (Cubs) have some of the nicest stadiums I have been to. AT&T Field wasn’t bad, but I feel a AA team should have a better looking stadium; maybe it’s just me. Tonight, the place wasn’t packed. Maybe…MAYBE 70% full. Once the sun went down behind the scoreboard in left field it was actually quite nice and relaxing.
Dan Kopf, head of Media and Public Relations, invited us up to the 4th level where the main operations of everything in the stadium takes place. It was pretty amazing; the view, the wind, seeing people operate the music, the PA, the scoreboard, etc.
The Lookouts won 12-3 tonight. It was neat seeing a new stadium (I will describe the field itself on Day 2) and watching different players hit home runs – one player had multiple home runs. The stadium workers were very pleasant and hospitable; Southern charm and hospitality at its finest – they can pick out visitors right away!
That was it for a day full of travel and baseball. Tomorrow, we will go to the zoo, hit a sports card shop, and then head out to the ballpark again.
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