Opening the game to the Star Spangled Banner... The first pitch... Our Coach (1986 MLB Coach of the Year) Hal Lanier... One foul ball closer to a strike-out... A strike on its way (look just above the base of the flag pole)... It's a hit (that white smudge below the 2nd Baseman is the ball) The entertainment during the rain delay, the "Jesse White Tumblers".
it is the Frontier League. ; The teams in the photos are the Normal Cornbelters (the local team) and the Florence Freedom(KY). ; The league also includes the Washington Wild Things (PA), Lake Erie Crushers (OH), Traverse City Beach Bums (MI), Windy City Thunderbolts (IL), Joliet Slammers (appropriate for IL politics), Rockford Riverhawks (IL), Southern IL Miners (IL), River City Rascals (MO), and Gateway Grizzlies (MO). ; So it is mostly in the Midwest with a couple of teams in the east. ; It is an Independent League with players usually just out of college that are trying to hone their skills before heading into Farm League System (we had a player get optioned by the Red Sox into their Farm System last year). ; The nicest thing is that it is very family friendly. ; The cheapest seats (sitting on the grass berms in the outfield) are only $5 and even the box seats are only $11 a person. ; They even have some rocking chair and adirondack chair seat options. ; I just wish I could make it to more games, but my work schedule always makes that a problem.
