On June 13, I was in Stockton to see the Stockton Ports play the San Jose Giants. Stockton is an Oakland A's affiliate and San Jose Giants are affiliated with that San Francisco team. The field is in downtown Stockton and is rather unassuming from the street, but beautiful inside. Officially named Stockton Ballpark, the field is locally and more colorfully known as Banner Island Ballpark.
It was a hot day and my seat, just behind the third base dugout, was in full sun. So, I spent much of the game standing in the shade, which actually was a fine place to watch the game. Turned out it was also a fine place to meet fellow travelers. For a couple of innings I hung out with a North Dakota State professor who had driven out to visit his Northern Cal family and was taking in ballgames along the way.
In the name of cooling off, and in honor of John Steinbeck, I enjoyed the Hops of Wrath, a great IPA from Dust Bowl Brewing in Turlock.
I got a fist bump from Splash, the Ports' mascot. During my tour, I gained great respect for team mascots. Except Tipper, they always have a smile on their face. And they work like crazy wearing those big suits. It was a blazing hot central valley day and Splash was out there nearly every inning walking the stadium, playing with kids or doing something silly. He did a hilarious dance routine at the start of the game. In fact, I would say Splash is hands down the best dancing mascot in the California League.
One of the truly beautiful parts of Banner Island Stadium is the view from the berm behind the right field fence. As you can see above, the field and stands are nicely laid out below the berm. But, when you turn around....
Most stadiums have space along a main corridor where they hang grease boards listing the line ups for the day, league standings and sometimes league batting or pitching leaders. Hitting second for the Ports was Tyler Soderstrom, who signed for a ton of money out of high school It was fun to watch him play.
Two more things that stood out:
First, the stadium announcer really adds to the experience. You get a ship horn for home runs. And, best of all, when the Ports are hitting, the announcer plays the batter's favorite "walk up music." But, when the visitors are at bat, the announcer plays children's tunes as the visiting batters walk up to the plate. So, I heard a lot of Sponge Bob music when the visiting Giants were at bat. Very funny.
Second, I did not know this when I visited, but the current site of the stadium has a tie to important baseball history. Back in the 1800's the area was known as "Mudville" and many Stocktonians hold that their local Mudville team inspired the famous poem, Casey at the Bat. The poem's author, Ernest Thayer, was a sportswriter for the San Francisco Examiner and, in 1888, the poem first appeared in that paper. An alternate claim, though, comes from Hollister, Mass., which has a neighborhood named Mudville and is nearby where Thayer grew up.
By the way, here are the Northern Division standings as of June 13. It would appear that the Mighty Ports have struck out, or at least had a very tough season. They are in last place in these standings, ten games out of first. They would go on to finish the season in last place, 33 games out of first.
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