[Lonnie]

I was doofing around with Google Earth yesterday and I got the bright idea of seeing what the stadiums our minor leaguers call home looks like from a satellite's perspective. Here's what I got:

Tacoma Rainiers - Cheney Stadium, Tacoma, WA


West Tenn Diamond Jaxx - Pringles Park, Jackson, TN


High Desert Mavericks - Mavericks Stadium, Adelanto, CA


Clinton LumberKings - Alliant Energy Field, Clinton, IA


Everett AquaSox - Everett Memorial Stadium, Everett, WA


Pulaski Mariners - Calfee Park, Pulaski, VA


Peoria Mariners - Peoria Sports Complex, Peoria, AZ
What you see here is the main park (with road circling around it), and 12 practice fields. The 6 lower left-hand fields belong to the Mariners, and the upper 6 belong to the Padres.

[Gomez]

This is a SWEET collection of screen caps, Lonnie!

Except for the decent depth to the foul poles, Cheney's depth reminds me of old Tiger Stadium. Cashman Field has a similar layout except for the shallow depth down the lines and giant outfield walls.

Wow look at how shallow the RF porch is in Pulaski. No wonder they have a lot of offense there. I don't think I previously managed to get a good satellite look at Calfee Park. I give even more credit to the pitchers who had decent seasons there, because man does it look like you can get screwed on any flyball to RF.

Everett's got some weird dimensions and a shallow RCF porch. It looks a lot more normal in person, but that's from the vantage point behind the plate. In some way, that they get a lot of offense there isn't too surprising.

[Lonnie]

Gomez, on May 15 2009, 12:18 AM, said:

This is a SWEET collection of screen caps, Lonnie!

Except for the decent depth to the foul poles, Cheney's depth reminds me of old Tiger Stadium. Cashman Field has a similar layout except for the shallow depth down the lines and giant outfield walls.

Wow look at how shallow the RF porch is in Pulaski. No wonder they have a lot of offense there. I don't think I previously managed to get a good satellite look at Calfee Park. I give even more credit to the pitchers who had decent seasons there, because man does it look like you can get screwed on any flyball to RF.

Everett's got some weird dimensions and a shallow RCF porch. It looks a lot more normal in person, but that's from the vantage point behind the plate. In some way, that they get a lot of offense there isn't too surprising.

The shot of Pringles Park is dreadful, it is actually a beautiful park in a wonderful location. The field at Maverick Stadium is every bit as ugly as the shot shows. I've seen several pictures of games there and the grass is always motled brown and green.

I've been to two of these parks (Pringles and Peoria) and I plan on getting to a couple more befor I die.

Lonnie

[senior octobre]

I like that pic of Cheney Stadium. From the writer's discription of Brian LaHair's bomb there May 10th you get a good idea of it:

Quote

LaHair demolished a Jarrett Grube fastball, sending it high over the right field wall at about 375 feet. The ball’s comet-like path was interrupted by the chain-link fence around the Foss High School tennis courts some 75 feet beyond and 30 feet above the Cheney outfield.

It was easily one of the longest home runs hit out of the stadium in recent seasons, and the longest LaHair has hit there, he said.

may 10th farm report
LaHair’s titanic homer

In the Everett Memorial pic, you can see over the left field wall on the sidewalk, at the intersection, a little plaque marking Ken Griffey Jr.'s first professional home run, as the then Bellingham (baby m's) mariners visited the everett giants. it's in the shadow of the left field foul pole.

I look forward to the upcoming everett season. a drive up the I-5 to see the aqua sox. the prices are good. It's fun watching the young guy's play.

EDIT: add a note on the local of jr.'s bomb.

This post has been edited by senior octobre: 15 May 2009 - 07:08 PM

[Vidya]

Lonnie, on May 14 2009, 11:35 PM, said:

The shot of Pringles Park is dreadful, it is actually a beautiful park in a wonderful location. The field at Maverick Stadium is every bit as ugly as the shot shows. I've seen several pictures of games there and the grass is always motled brown and green.

I've been to two of these parks (Pringles and Peoria) and I plan on getting to a couple more befor I die.

Lonnie

I'm assuming Cheney Stadium is on your list this year!

[Vidya]

senior octobre, on May 15 2009, 07:03 PM, said:

I like that pic of Cheney Stadium. From the writer's discription of Brian LaHair's bomb there May 10th you get a good idea of it:



may 10th farm report
LaHair’s titanic homer

In the Everett Memorial pic, you can see over the left field wall on the sidewalk, at the intersection, a little plaque marking Ken Griffey Jr.'s first professional home run, as the then Bellingham (baby m's) mariners visited the everett giants. it's in the shadow of the left field foul pole.

I look forward to the upcoming everett season. a drive up the I-5 to see the aqua sox. the prices are good. It's fun watching the young guy's play.

EDIT: add a note on the local of jr.'s bomb.

Past the right field fence is a driveway to the parking lot, but beyond that is a steep hill that used to be known as "Cheepskates Hill." People used to sit up there and watch the game for free. Security has been increased at the high school, and the fence has been added. The fences are high, and it is impossible to hit it out to straight center field with the monster wall there.

The coolest part so far this year for me was watching Prentice hit out over the RF wall in his first AB, then hitting one over the LF wall in his second AB. The wind was blowing out to RF that day, but not LF. Both were powerful blasts.

[senior octobre]

i'm not a southsound guy, but it seems that there is a slot that runs thru there on the path of highway 16, which cheney is close by. continuing on towards the bridge to the nw and se tacoma the other way. am i close on my guesstimate here ?

i'm also guessing that during the warm summer months it blows in from the nw and on cold and rainy conditions it comes from another. i should check the wappler doppler !

[Vidya]

senior octobre, on May 17 2009, 04:42 PM, said:

i'm not a southsound guy, but it seems that there is a slot that runs thru there on the path of highway 16, which cheney is close by. continuing on towards the bridge to the nw and se tacoma the other way. am i close on my guesstimate here ?

i'm also guessing that during the warm summer months it blows in from the nw and on cold and rainy conditions it comes from another. i should check the wappler doppler !

Cheney Stadium borders SR 16, a limited access highway. I usually take the highway to the 19th St / Orchard St. exit. I turn right and take 19th St. east. Across from Fred Meyer's is an entrance to the ballpark. The road goes by the high school parking lot towards the LF foul pole. It then winds around the outside of the stadium, LF, CF, then RF and into the parking lot. There's also an entrance to another street that does not have highway access. I usually go out that way because that's the most direct route out of the stadium.

SR-16 begins at I-5 near the Tacoma Mall, then goes past Cheney on the way to the Tacoma Narrows bridge. There is currently construction on the west bound ramps entering SR-16 from I-5, and the ramp from I-5 northbound is almost always very congested. I-5 southbound is not so bad.

The winds generally come out of a westerly direction, but it could be anywhere from the southwest to the northwest. When it's coming directly from the west like it did that night it blows directly out to right field. If the wind is blowing directly from the south, it goes out to left field. From the north it blows in from left filed.

[Napi]

Pringles Park appears to have several pracitce fields right next door, that's not something you see at every ballpark.

[Lonnie]

Napi, on Jun 22 2009, 07:15 AM, said:

Pringles Park appears to have several pracitce fields right next door, that's not something you see at every ballpark.

Those are actually softball and little league fields. It's a rather large complex built for the community and not just for the Diamond Jaxx. I was there last year and the whole complex is beautiful, much more so than the satellite shot shows.

Lonnie

[Huindekmi]

When are we going to see shots of the DSL and VSL parks?

[Lonnie]

Huindekmi, on Jun 22 2009, 01:38 PM, said:

When are we going to see shots of the DSL and VSL parks?

The 32nd of Neverember I will be at both location...

Lonnie

[Pirata Morado]

I seldom visit this part of the forum. Nice images Lonnie!

[Lonnie]

Pirata Morado, on Aug 17 2009, 03:04 PM, said:

I seldom visit this part of the forum. Nice images Lonnie!

Thanks Pirata, I just thought that this might be a cool idea when I did it.

Lonnie

[Gomez]

Have I got a treat for you folks: Here are photos of the home parks for the last two Mariners affiliates, in the VSL and DSL.

The VSL Mariners home complex in Aguirre, Venezuela:




The DSL Mariners home field in Yamasa, Dominican Republic. Note the awful condition of left field. Hopefully this was just a random flood and it's not always like that:

[shields]

Hard to believe this is the same place shown above. Gorgeous!

[Harrison_Crow]

THIS, is an awesome thread! to all!

This post has been edited by Harrison_Crow: 01 March 2010 - 04:17 AM

[Lonnie]

shields, on Mar 1 2010, 02:20 AM, said:

Hard to believe this is the same place shown above. Gorgeous!

The same thing with Pringles Park in Jackson, Tennessee. The satellite shot just doesn't do it justice!

Lonnie

[Vidya]

I'm going to try to use up my tickets before Mid-August and take a field trip east. We've having a family reunion in Michigan Labor Day weekend. I've got to put Tennessee and Virginia on the itinerary.