Maybe it was a forgone conclusion that I would grow into a baseball fan – my mother’s family emigrated to California the very same year that the then New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) decided that the 31st state of this nation held the key to future fandom and success for their storied franchises. Ending up in San Francisco, my family naturally ended up rooting for the Giants, a love which that easily transferred to future generations. The only regret of that fandom, I suppose, was that my grandmother died shortly before she could see her “Boo-Boo Giants” (her nickname for a team that gave her and our family a lot of heartbreak over the years) take their very first ever World Series as a West Coast franchise.

Luckily, I ended up marrying an equally ardent baseball fan, who has endured her own long-time suffering with her Cleveland Indians (now Guardians.) Especially now as we’re slowing down a bit, we enjoy the more relaxed nature of baseball games in person (a fine-tuning of the rules to encourage more a more crisp pace has been a welcome addition, however) for not only both of our home teams, but also games of both major and minor league franchises all around the country.

We were a bit undecided on what should be our delayed April-time anniversary trip should focus on, and we figured baseball was about a good a theme as we could come up with. We have an unofficial goal of visiting all the major league baseball parks – two more notches on that list plus three more minor league excursions sandwiched in between would provide our recommended daily allowance of innings for a good while.

Interestingly, we started off our trip in the city (Chicago) that ended Cleveland’s last attempt at the World Series, though it was not the South Siders’ favorite team (the White Sox) which performed that bit of heartbreak. Guaranteed Rate Field isn’t too much different than parks like the Guardians’ current stadium, or even the Cincinnati Reds’ (another ballpark we’ve visited) field for that matter – they’re perfectly fine ballparks but don’t wow you considerably (the iconic skyline of Chicago could’ve upped the wow factor a bit, but the stadium is built so that most of the higher seats with a view outside the stadium see Lake Michigan’s southern end instead.)

I get the impression the rivalry between the fans of the north side Cubs and south side White Sox dwarfs the divisional one between the White Sox and Guardians; in fact, the Sox fans around us shared an equally healthy dose of sarcasm towards their team’s quality as the Guardians’ fans that made it in for this getaway day scrap had for theirs. Indeed, the White Sox could not pull off the sweep, even playing against what seemed to be a depleted Guardians (their All-Star player Jose Ramirez was out of the lineup) roster. Overall the experience was nice, with even some casual tailgating amongst the locals before the game.

We enjoyed our first experience with Independent League baseball back in 2014 at a home game of the Traverse City (Michigan) Beach Bums of the Frontier League. Back then, it was quite evident that many of these players for both teams were truly playing for the love of the sport – while we are not professional baseball scouts, we could tell that the level of play was somewhere in the AA range of MLB-affiliated minor league teams, and the odds were long indeed for any of the players on the field that day to see MLB glory.

Fast forward nearly a decade – the Beach Bums are no more (replaced by the Pit Spitters), and the MLB-Team affiliated minor league teams have been whittled down in number by 45 in 2020. However, MLB has also partnered with these traditionally independent baseball leagues such as the Frontier League as a way to help develop potential talent and as a way to try to minimize the effect that consolidation would have on towns and cities that may lose their teams.

Baseball at these lower levels, however, is still not a money-making endeavor for the players themselves, no matter what their relationship is to MLB. For many, it is still a pie in the sky endeavor that is akin to Don Quixote’s tilting at windmills. And that aspect adds just that extra touch of enjoyment to see players try to become the next Kaleb Ort, the Joliet Slammers pitcher who made the Boston Red Sox’s roster in 2021.

Our three games (two Frontier League clashes between the home-standing Joliet (Illinois) Slammers vs. the Empire State Greys, and the Schaumburg (again, Illinois) Boomers hosting the New York Boulders, plus an American Association game pitting the Lake Country Dockhounds (Oconomowoc, WI) and the visiting Gary (Indiana) Rail Splitters) showed that these developments have upped the talent level in these independent leagues. We had several pitchers in each of these games who had consistently hit the low-90 mph range (no one we saw back in 2014 came close) and the overall level of play was more in the high AA to solidly AAA range.

One thing that remained confirmed – independent league games are often more entertaining for us than their MLB or MLB-associated minor league games, mainly due to these teams’ homespun support and those teams reciprocal appreciation for those fans. Each game screamed local, from the local craft breweries to home stadium food specialties, a gaggle of local sponsors and at least one unique event which was as much a snapshot of their surrounding area as it was for the fans who came to the game.

Our final game ended up back in the MLB realm, with the homestanding Milwaukee Brewers playing host to the team I’ve traditionally rooted for in the San Francisco Giants. Similar to the White Sox and Guardians, the Brewers and Giants are undergoing somewhat middling seasons right now, though the Brewers are still leading the rather mediocre National League Central division at the moment.

American Family Field provides a very distinguishable landmark in the Milwaukee metro – its retractable roof (which was closed on the day of our visit) gives the impression of stacked arches positioned on an otherwise fairly standard-issue faux-old-timey brick-styled stadium. Our ushers proved quite friendly in welcoming visitors, and we found ourselves in a section behind home plate which seemed split 70/30 Brewers to Giants fans.

Like the Sox-Guardians game, we had a pleasant experience with the both the fans and the game itself, where the Brewers couldn’t make hay despite whacking four doubles in a 5-0 loss. In fact, it turned out to be a very successful road trip for us personally all around – our MLB teams both won on the road, and the home teams for all the Independent League teams we visited ended up winning their games.

We’ll definitely be catching more baseball games in the near future, but one thing we’re still undecided on: which ballgame had the better costumed race. We think a good argument could be made for either.

Chicago White Sox (MLB) | Address: 333 W 35th St, Chicago, IL 60616 (Guaranteed Rate Field) | Website: https://www.mlb.com/whitesox | IG: whitesox

Milwaukee Brewers (MLB) | Address: 1 Brewers Way, Milwaukee, WI 53214 (American Family Field) | Website: https://www.mlb.com/brewers | IG: brewers

Joliet Slammers (Frontier) | Address: 1 Mayor Art Schultz Dr, Joliet, IL 60432 (Duly Medical Group Field) | Website: http://jolietslammers.com | IG: jolietslammersofficial

Schaumburg Boomers (Frontier) | Address: 1999 S Springinsguth Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60193 (Wintrust Field) | Website: https://www.boomersbaseball.com | IG: boomersbaseball

Lake Country Dockhounds (American Association) | Address: 1011 Blue Ribbon Cir N, Oconomowoc, WI 53066 (Wisconsin Brewing Company Field)| Website: https://www.dockhounds.com| IG: dockhoundsbaseball