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    Can't think of a more appropriate day to start the Minor League Ballpark Quest than the 4th of July, or a better way to start it than on a road trip with the cool and awesome girlfriend Michelle.  And get this:  it was her idea.  I had a think-out-loud moment where I said I wanted to go to a minor league game in all fifty states, and within minutes she wanted to do a road trip.  Michelle's a bit of a baseball fan--competitive in my fantasy baseball league and a former employee of a minor league team, so she likes spending some days at the ballpark.  So I was glad to have her come along to get things going.

    They've done nice work in Spokane with Avista stadium.  I'll admit they started with a fairly lame promotion...the will-call window is inside a pickup truck.  (Get it?  The ticket pickup window?  Yeah, I know, lame.)  But once you get inside, there are multiple positive attributes to the stadium.  For starters, they have a real sense of minor league baseball history.  There's an entire museum exhibit with the history of minor league baseball in Spokane.  Two things I did not know:  one, Spokane was the Dodgers' first farm club after moving to Los Angeles, and that Maury Wills and Steve Garvey and other folks played there, and Tommy Lasorda managed there.  The other is that the Spokane Indians were the victims of the worst accident in American professional sports history when nine members of their team perished when their bus slid off a snowy road in 1949.  I like that there's a little baseball museum inside the park to teach me stuff like that.

    Other nice bits about their fantastic pavilion were clear listings of the lineups (and the fact that I wasn't the only one copying them), some fine music, programs for only a buck, and energetic hawkers.  Once I got into the stadium, I found a similar situation to Everett Memorial Stadium in that there were section leaders, mostly perky and attractive college kids,  welcoming you, telling you their names, and volunteering themselves to help in whatever way was necessary.  It made for a fine experience.  In truth, the only drawbacks to the experience were the game (Spokane gave up 8 runs in an endless sixth inning) and a few fans with anger management problems.  Some bastard kept yelling at the umpire during Yakima's big inning, saying "Ladies and gentlemen, our home plate umpire, born and raised in Yakima!!!"  Does he think he's clever?  Does the think he's interesting?  Is he aware how stupid he looks?  Chill out, man, it's the minor leagues.  If the ump's bad (and he wasn't), he'll be gone soon enough anyway, and this idiot fan will be getting an ulcer about something else.

    But I won't let that override a fine experience, with multiple mascots (Otto the "Spokane-a-saurus"--decked out in patriotic duds and a white beard!--and a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty), a bunch of promotions, and free American flags.  The latter led to a pretty funny moment--Spokane's right fielder, Brandon Simon, ran out to his position with a flag in his hand in a patriotic gesture, but appeared (to me) to realize, once he was out there, that he had nowhere he could respectfully put the flag.  So, after a second of aimlessly meandering with his flag, he had to run back to the dugout to hand it to a teammate.

    Also, Spokane looked to me to be a fine place--a place I could imagine living happily if ever I decided to leave the big city.  Nice riverfront walk--a good place to spend the evening watching fireworks.  It was a much smaller city than I'd imagined...I know it's the biggest city between Seattle and Minneapolis, but of course, I never stopped to think how little else there is between Seattle and Minneapolis.  But it felt cozy.

    A great place to start the ballpark quest!  I imagine, when I finally cross the 50th state off and finish my quest, when I'm middle-aged and graying, it'll still be near the top of my list. 

BALLPARK SCORE:

BASEBALL STUFF I'VE SEEN HERE:

   Spokane's Andrew Wishy gets 4 hits, including a home run, in a losing cause.  Kevin Richardson also homers for Spokane.  Jamie D'Antona homers for Yakima.  The top of the sixth features 8 runs, 7 hits, two errors, three walks, a hit batsman, a passed ball, and a balk.  That there is short-season A baseball!

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Written July 2003.  Updated May 2005.