Arizona Fall League recap: Oct. 18, 2018
It’s rare that a minor-league stadium survey fails to include one of the White Sox’ affiliates parks at the top, but Benjamin Hill of MiLB.com found other stadiums to praise. After completing the set by visiting all 159 active affiliates, he listed his favorite stadiums for each level.
I’m pointing it out because he goes deeper into detail about Asheville, a stadium I found both charming and highly warping due to the right-field wall being 297 feet away from home plate, and center being just 373.
In 1926, after an exhibition game at McCormick Field, Babe Ruth had this to say: “My, my, what a beautiful place to play. Delightful. Damned delightful place.” Over 90 years later, the Bambino’s sentiment still applies. Nestled into a hilly landscape south of downtown Asheville, McCormick Field is an anachronistic charmer. Ruth is not the only legendary slugger who played there; in “Bull Durham,” Crash Davis broke the Minor League home run record as a member of the Tourists and scenes from the movie were filmed at McCormick Field. The concourse, bursting with cartoonishly decorated concession stands, exudes the sort of funky charm that Asheville has become known for. Crowds are liable to be the biggest for “Thirsty Thursday,” a promotional idea that was first conceived (and later copyrighted by) the Tourists. It’s a fitting claim to fame for a team that plays in a region where local breweries abound to the extent that the club occasionally changes its name to the “Beer City Tourists.”
The Glendale Desert Dogs are still winless. This time, they scored the first run of the game in the 10th inning … except they were the road team, and Salt River scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the 10th to walk it off.
Salt River 2, Glendale 1
- Luis Basabe went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Zach Thompson: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
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