Mik's Mini Bat Collection: Cashman Stadium

Dad and I got Mik a Cashman Stadium mini bat for his collection when we went to the Las Vegas 51s game back in June.  This is a field photo style that is similar to a lot of the ballpark ones in his collection.

The Bobblehead Museum at Marlins Park

The Bobblehead Museum is located inside Marlins Park.  It is on the main concourse near the home plate entrance.  It is a cool collection of bobbleheads from all MLB teams including many mascots, too.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Marlins Park Inaugural Season

The ball I choose when we went to the Marlins Park back in May was an Inaugural Season one.  Since it has the new Marlins logo on one side I did not get a separate ball for the new logo like Mik did with the mini bats.

Mik's Mini Bat Collection: Miami Marlins

One of the mini bats Mik got when we went to Marlin Park back in May was with the Miami logo.  He mostly has stopped collecting logo bats, since he has most from the ballpark trip, but he wanted this one since the team changed its name to the Miami Marlins when they moved to the new ballpark.

Mik's Mini Bat Collection: Marlin's Park

One of Mik's Mini bats he got when we went to the Marlins Park in May features the Marlins Park logo.

Seeing Strasburg Pitch in Nats @ Dbacks Game - August 10, 2012

All year we have been wanting to see a Washington Nationals game with Strasburg pitching.  Earlier this year at the last minute we tried to catch a game in Atlanta on the way to seeing the new Miami ballpark, but by the time we knew the day Strasburg was pitching there were no handicap tickets available to purchase.  Since then Mik and I were desperately hoping he would pitch one of the three games the Nats were at the Dbacks this season.  Mik was really hoping for the bobblehead Saturday game, but finally on Thursday it was confirmed that Strasburg was the pitcher for the Friday game (it was not official, but we unofficially were sure for about a week just by guessing the rotation stayed the same).


Usually we do not like sitting close to the action because for one it is expensive, but it is also hard to see the whole field and all the action.  However, this time we were mainly going to see a pitcher, so we decided to try and sit in the section that is right next to the visitors dugout.  We sat here right by 1st base years ago when we bought tickets day of game for a last minute decision to see a Cubs game.  That was actually the first time we ever got handicap seats.  Mik loved it back then, although he was too young to now remember ever sitting that close to the game.  Thus, he was not all that excited about the seating I choose because he really wanted to dine in the Arizona Baseball Club instead, as that is the best experience he remembered at Chase Field.

We ended up sitting on the other side of the visitor's dugout (Section GW), which at first I was not sure about, but it actually turned out way cooler, as we were right behind the Nationals on deck circle.  Thus, we really got to see the player's up close during the game, although during batting practice we could see nothing, but their feet viewed by looking underneath the vehicles.  Of course, it was also a great view for watching the pitching.

Getting down to the section was a little confusing with the first elevator we got to have an employee say it would get us were we wanted to go, but we actually had to go to a different one.  At least the elevator operator checked our tickets and sent us in the right direction before we went down to the wrong area.  The actual elevator requires an escort to take you to the section, as you go across the tunnels that lead to the clubhouses.  Once at the section, though, there are restrooms including a family/companion one and it appeared you could have food and drinks delivered to your seat in this area.


The game itself was pretty good in my opinion, as Strasburg pitched 6 innings and only allowed one hit, although he did walk several batters leading to the one hit allowing a run to score.  Plus, we got to see Bryce Harper.   We ended up leaving right after he did not come back out for the 7th inning, but the Nats went on to win 9 to 1.  Thus, Mik was not so happy with the end result, although he had fun and was glad we left before the Nats scored the last 4 in the 9th and the post-game fireworks.

Cashman Stadium: Las Vegas 51s

Dad and I went to a game at Cashman Stadium since we were in Las Vegas for a bowling tournament and the Las Vegas 51s were in town on June 16, 2012.  Now that we are all up-to-date and will be for at least the foreseeable future on MLB ballparks we are going to start trying to hit Triple-A ballparks.  Not really going to try to hit them all anytime soon, but we are going to try to work them in when we can, which really means when we are traveling without Mik, since he is done with any baseball besides his Dbacks for now.

Cashman Stadium is an interesting one with it being quite multipurpose like a lot of stuff in Vegas.  They have a theater and a conference center on one side of it, so it was kind of odd to park on the theater side of the ballpark and it not even looking like you are at a ballpark.

We opted for the cheapest seats, which is called the reserved section, but is basically bleacher seating on the baselines.  It was hot (not much different than a Tucson Padres game, though) and the plaza seating for a few bucks more looks tempting with its shade and misters.  However, it is all behind the home plate netting, which I hate, so kind of a toss up if it would have really been better, except that it would have been because the reserved bleacher seating was extremely uncomfortable and usually I like bleacher seats.

Overall Cashman Stadium was kind of a bore.  Yeah, I do not expect much from a Triple-A park, but there was not much to like, especially with the game being mostly a lot of walks, hit-by-pitch, and just dumb luck that anyone was scoring.  The food selection was also pretty disappointing, as it was mostly hot dogs, although they had quite a few different preparation styles.  The garlic fries sounded good, but ended up very oily and not really garlicy.  However, they did have Ben & Jerry's and Dippin' Dots, which is nice for hot games.  If your into alcohol at a ballgame, though, they do have a full bar.  Better yet, they totally do cutoff people they think are getting drunk, although that led to the guy next to us being a totally jerk for an inning before he finally decided to just leave.  I guess the only really interesting thing about the ballpark is that they sell inflatable aliens.