Minor League, Major Fun
Ball clubs from the Lake Erie region.
Each of these coastal Lake Erie baseball towns has a diamond in the rough just waiting for you to discover it. If you think these gems just aren’t as shiny as their more talked—about counterparts, think again. The Minor League version of baseball is fun, economical and stress free—and the play on the field at every level is excellent (even the lowest professional baseball player is, after all, professional).
The Toledo Mud Hens team is one of the oldest continuing baseball franchises. The team has used the Mud Hens nickname since 1896. Coincidentally, the Mud Hen is an actual bird with short wings and long legs. The Hens made a new nest in 2002 with the opening of Fifth Third Field, a beautiful downtown Toledo ballpark. This is Class AAA baseball, the highest level of the Minor League hierarchy, a twisted ankle or a sore arm by a player on the big league roster are all that separates a Mud Hen from making the short drive to Detroit, the Major League affiliate.
Fifth Third Field
406 Washington Street
Toledo, Ohio 43604
http://www.mudhens.com/ | 
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| |  | The Lake County Captains team is the newest franchise on the Lake Erie shores; players began pitching and catching in Eastlake, Ohio, in 2003. The Captains are a Class A franchise of the Cleveland Indians which means players are in their first or second year as professional players. These young warriors are working hard to become full-fledged tribesmen and are worth the watch.
Classic Park
35400 Vine Street
Eastlake, Ohio 44095
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The Erie Sea Wolves play in Jerry Uht Park, a beautiful Erie, Pennsylvania, ballpark that seats a cozy 6,000 fans. The baseball at this level is Class AA; this places the players in the middle of the baseball ladder. These players have advanced from Class A (Lake County Captains), but have not graduated to Class AAA like the Mud Hens. Before the new stadium and the new nickname, this team played baseball as the Erie Sailors in historic Ainsworth Field.
Jerry Uht Park
110 East 10th Street
Erie, Pennsylvania 16511
http://www.seawolves.com/
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| |  | The Buffalo Bisons traditionally tally huge attendance figures, occasionally outdrawing even Major League franchises. Like Toledo, this is the highest level of Minor League baseball with a storied past (the 122nd year). The Bisons play in a massive 20,000-seat stadium, Dunn Tire Park.
Dunn Tire Park
275 Washington Street
Buffalo, NY 14203
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Even if baseball is not really your game, a minor league baseball game offers non-stop entertainment for all with promotions and shenanigans between innings, a smorgasbord of gastronomic delights at the concession stand and friendly fans sharing warm evenings in the outdoors. Of course, if you like you baseball Major League style on the shores of Lake Erie, the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers are options, as well, but if you want to catch the players on the way up, where wacky fun and a laid back style are on the scorecard—hit the Minor Leagues, Lake Erie Style. It’s Major fun.
To learn more about the history of baseball, visit the Great Lakes Science Center beginning April 7th for the exhibit Baseball As America. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is taking its treasures to the road for the first time in history on this 2007 tour, which will remain in Cleveland until September 3, 2007.
http://www.greatscience.com/
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