WE'VE MOVED!!!!  Please click here and head to our new home, paulsballparks.com--then follow the handy-dandy menu to the ballpark you want so see!

    It had rained all morning the day we headed to Alabama, but cleared up significantly in the afternoon.  I went back and forth all day on whether there would be a baseball game played that night.  Even as I walked up to the stadium, I thought that maybe there was a shot at a game.  The lawns surrounding the stadium were dry to the touch.  But the game was cancelled--unplayable fields.  Which led my wife and I to speculate:  how could the field be unplayable when the lawn outside was nearly dry? 

    Our conclusion:  in spite of the forecast, somebody must have forgotten to cover the infield before the rain began.  Not impressive.

    The Stars were running a promotion that day where fans could get in free with a donation to a local food bank.  Workers for the food bank were outside taking canned food and exchanging it for tickets to future games.  These nice people said I could probably find someone to talk to at the ticket office.

    I wanted to ask for two things, both of which were longshots.  First of all, I wanted to see if I could get a refund for our tickets.  In the past, efforts to do this had been a mixed bag, but I was deeply appreciative last year when the folks in San Diego offered refunds for their freak rainout for anyone from out-of-state.  I understand that baseball teams have to make a buck, but this seems a reasonable policy to me.  Secondly, I wanted to see if, after all of that effort to get there, somebody might let me into the ballpark to take a few pictures.

    There was nobody from the Stars anywhere to be found.  (They should take a customer service lesson from the food bank people, who were all over the place.)  That's strike two--they forgot to cover their field, and now they're nowhere to be found.

    The next morning, while on the road to Nashville, I called the Stars and talked to a staffer.  While she stated that they couldn't offer a rebate, even to an out-of-stater, I was disappointed but not surprised.  She offered me an exchange for merchandise at their store, but I had already left the state.  Oh well. 

    What followed was breathtaking.

    ME:  "Do you work with any charities that my wife and I can donate our tickets to?"

    HER:  "No."

    ME:  "You don't work with any charities?"

    HER:  "Not that I'm aware of."

    ME:  "Not Big Brothers/Big Sisters?  Not the Boys' and Girls' Clubs?  Nobody?"

    HER:  "Hold on...let me check."  Long pause while she checks with co-workers.  She then returns.  "Sir?  We don't work with any charities."

    Net result:  we decided to send the tickets to a Huntsville charity on our own.  And, as beautiful as I found the Huntsville area (gorgeous country there in northern Alabama), you can bet that I won't go back for a Stars game.  When I return to officially cross Alabama off the list, I will do so in Birmingham, Montgomery, or Mobile.

Next stadium (chronologically)

Back to minor league stadiums page

To Major League stadiums page

Email me

Written October 2006.