2021 California Leage Tour -- Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

    On August 17, I was in Rancho Cucamonga to see the Quakes play the visiting San Jose Giants.  The Quakes are the Dodgers' low A affiliate minor league team.  

    This was the view from my seat on the second level behind home plate.  The scene here is one that has been repeated millions of times across the country and never gets old. Players and fans facing the flag over the outfield fence while a local talent signs the National Anthem.  When she was younger, my favorite photographer was part of a kids' choir that sang the Anthem at Quakes game. In fact, yesterday, the Quakes held auditions for anyone interested in singing the National Anthem before a game.

    I will always think of the stadium as the Epicenter, but was renamed LoanMart Field.  The stadium opened in 1993 and is part of a recreation complex that includes softball diamonds and an enclosed soccer facility named Goals.  The Quakes team is owned by a group that includes Hall of Famer George Brett.  I have been to the stadium many times and it is always a great experience.  

    We got a fist bump from Tremor the Rallysaurus. Tremor and his sometime sidekick Aftershock always put on a good show.  

    The stadium concourse has areas where the team line-ups are posted along with the California league standings.  Here, you can see that the league is split into north and south divisions with the Quakes ahead in the south and the Grizzlies leading the Giants in the northern division.

    

    Hat Connections:  One thing I learned on tour was the power of the hat to engender conversation.  Invariably, if I wore my Durham Bulls hat, people would ask, "Hey is that a Durham Bulls hat?"  Of course, I would say yes, and then ensued a swapping of stories about going to Durham to see a game.  As it happened, while I was in line to get a beer, a guy behind me noticed my hat and then regaled me with his Durham Bulls story.  Seems in college, he and some classmates took a road trip to Durham to see the Bulls.  One of the guys knew the lady who operated the outfield scoreboard and the Bull. According to the guy in the beer line, he got to run the Bull -- to make its eyes light up and smoke come out of its nostrils. Don't know if any of that was true, but it was an interesting way to pass the time in line.