Four of the Indians’ six developmental teams play in the Buckeye State and feature young, hungry prospect players hoping for the call to the majors and the opportunity to play in Cleveland. The Indians’ front office has even put together an “Around the Horn” ticket-and-travel package-featuring exclusive access to games of each of the Indians’ Northern Ohio affiliate teams, including the triple-A Columbus Clippers.
Like most Minor League Baseball destinations, Northern Ohio’s options live up to the intimate, friendly and bucolic reputation mapped out in the 1988 romantic comedy film “Bull Durham.
Add the rare opportunity of following the Tribe’s many developmental levels of play and a few extra base hits, and you, too, can realize the region as a near-perfect baseball destination:
Lake County Captains
Classic Park
35353 Curtis Blvd. in Eastlake
440-975-8085
CaptainsBaseball.com
In terms of proximity, this Eastlake-based Minor League Baseball affiliate serves as the Indians’ next-door neighbor. The Class-A Captains play in the Midwest League and host all their home games at Classic Park in Eastlake-a suburb east of Cleveland. The Captains’ young talent pool has introduced Indians fan favorites including Fausto Carmona, Jhonny Peralta and Rafael Pérez; the team has also featured marquee Tribe players C.C. Sabathia, Jake Westbrook and Omar Vizquel in rehab games with the Captains after injuries. Classic Park holds more than 7,200 fans and is known for its sightlines of the game.
Akron Aeros
Canal Park
300 S. Main St. in Akron
330-253-5153
AkronAeros.com
Akron’s Canal Park hosts the Tribe’s Class-AA affiliate Aeros-formerly the Canton-Akron Indians-named for the Ohio’s history of aerospace innovation. Canal Park holds prime real estate in the center of downtown Akron, boasting a design by the world-renowned H.O.K. architectural firm, capacity of nearly 9,100 fans and the largest free-standing scoreboard in all of minor league baseball. But the team is truly as impressive as the park: The Aeros play in the Eastern League and have held the title of Minor League Baseball’s “Team of the Year” by Baseball America magazine. They are also two-time Eastern League champs.
Lake Erie Crushers
All Pro Freight Stadium
2009 Baseball Blvd. in Avon
440-934-3636
LakeErieCrushers.com
As minor league baseball in Northern Ohio goes, the Lake Erie Crushers are the proverbial new kid on the block. They’re not playing that way: The Crushers won their Frontier League championship in their inaugural season, defeating the River City Rascals after losing the first two games in a best-of-five series. The team plays in Avon-west of Cleveland-and is not affiliated with either Major League Baseball or its formal Minor League system. But what Frontier lacks in association, it makes up in pure regional charm. The other 11 league teams are headquartered in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri and Pennsylvania.
Mahoning Valley Scrappers
Eastwood Field
111 Eastwood Mall Blvd. in Niles
330-505-0000
MVScrappers.com
The city of Niles-roughly 10 miles outside Youngstown-serves as home to another Indians affiliate. The Mahoning Valley Scrappers play in the Pinckney Division of the Short-Season A classification New York-Penn League, and are managed by former Tribe third baseman Travis Fryman. The Scrappers play at Eastwood Field (formerly Cafaro Field), which has seen an attendance average of 4,000 fans a game. Heads-up: Tribe starting pitchers seem to take regular turns with the Scrappers for rehab and mechanics (i.e., pitching motion) work; former Scrapper pitchers Jensen Lewis and Aaron Laffey have been a part of recent Tribe bullpens.
Toledo Mud Hens
Fifth Third Field
406 Washington St. in Toledo
419-725-4367
MudHens.com
Recognize the name? The Mud Hens came to national prominence with Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger (actor/Toledo native Jaime Farr) on the legendary TV series “M*A*S*H*.” Klinger mentioned the very real team regularly, wearing Mud Hens gear on the show, too-provided by then-manager Gene Cook. The team plays in the International League and has affiliation with Major League Baseball’s Detroit Tigers (they were affiliated to the Indians during Klinger’s heyday). The team has won the Governor’s Cup championship twice in the last five years, and draws between 8,000 and 10,000 fans per game based on proximity to Detroit and nearby University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University.
League Park
6601 Lexington Ave. in Cleveland
LeaguePark.org
Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Ty Cobb, Bob Feller and many other baseball legends made history at League Park. The field once held up to 9,000 spectators and served as the home to Cleveland’s Spiders, the Negro American League’s Cleveland Buckeyes, the National Football League’s Cleveland Rams and the Indians, the latter until 1946. The flagging site has been adopted by the League Park Society, a nonprofit established to work with the city of Cleveland for a colossal site refurbishment. The ball is due to get rolling this summer. For now, fans can visit the remaining brick facades and – with the right timing – watch the vintage Cleveland Blues baseball team play there on April 24 in honor of League Park’s 100-year anniversary. (Note: For you road-trippers, the Indians host the Oakland Athletics that weekend, too).
Society of American Baseball Research
812 Huron Rd., Ste. 719, in Cleveland
216-575-0500
SABR.org
The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) was established in Cooperstown, N.Y., (home of the Baseball Hall of Fame) nearly 40 years ago with the mission to study the history of America’s pastime. But SABR’s offices, their Baseball Heritage Museum and the Seymour Medal Conference-honoring the best baseball book of the last 12 months-are all in Cleveland. From April 30 through May 2, 2010, SABR’s Seymour extravaganza is held at the Radisson Hotel in the Gateway district, adjacent to the Indians’ Progressive Field. Registration is required for the weekend conference, but the Baseball Heritage Museum hosts a no-cost public mixer on April 30 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. before the Tribe takes on the Minnesota Twins, for you trip planners keeping score at home.
Sources:
www.minorleaguebaseball.com
www.leaguepark.org
www.wksu.org/news/story/22381
www.loopnet.com/looplink/org/ohio/st07.html
secure.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100302&content;_id=8644380&vkey;=news_road&fext;=.jsp
www.cleveland.indians.mlb.com/cle/ticketing/around_the_horn.jsp
www.sabr.org/sabr.cfm?a=cms,c,3017,3,158
