Pohlman Field

Beloit Snappers, Midwest League

6/10

The main entrance is pretty unremarkable, this is just inside the fenceline.

A cloudy, damp, overcast day saw the Snappers and Timber Rattlers playing two to make up the night before.

A patio seciton with a grill looks back on the largely empty seating area.

I rolled into Beloit in the late afternoon after seeing an afternoon game in Milwaukee, the first pitch was at 4:30 and I was walking up to the park as the game was starting. The game the previous evening had been rained out, so they played two 7 inning games instead, which meant I was here for the better part of 5 hours. The matchup saw the Beloit Snappers taking on their cross state rivals, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. This park is not new, but is much newer than it looks, having only been built in 1981. Recently, it's been in jeopardy of losing it's team, not only because of the facility, but even the field itself. The Brewers were the parent club for many years, but left for the other franchise in Wisconsin because of the park. Minnesota was next for 8 seasons, but also left when the chance arose. Oakland, a team that constantly seems to get the last minor league city available, ended up here as of 2013 after being in Burlington before that. If the team wasn't community-owned, it almost certainly would have left town by now.

The two 7 inning games were both one run games, with the weather seemingly favouring pitching. A crowd announced at just under 600 may have featured half of that, as people wandered in and out over the course of the twin bill. It was all locals, who seemed to mostly know each other and kept the noise down.  Concession is limited to a small stand under the bleachers and a BBQ area in right field.


As much as I respect a venue and small market like this keeping a team for so long, the ratings just aren't kind. Firstly, the facility is wholly inadequate for full-season affiliated baseball with metal bleachers with a few bucket seats in a smaller grandstand, that on a cool, damp and windy day, offered pretty much no protection from the weather. Concessions were actually a notch better than I'd have expected in a place like this, but nothing too memorable. The atmosphere was flat, with well under a thousand people as announced attendance. The only reason there were as many as there were is because the Wisconsin starting pitcher for Game 2 was a Beloit native.  I ended up taking a point off for the facility and a half for the atmosphere.

There's been a positive development since I went to my games here, as another locally based group of investors has made a proposal to buy the team and build a new park in the centre of town as of September 2018. Hopefully this will be the case and this franchise can get a shot in the arm, instead of be just another team in a smaller city to move on. I'll absolutely come back if there's a new park, but as for this one, I feel like it isn't worth a return trip.



Linescores

2017-05-24
Game 1
                                                        123  456  7   RHE
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (MIL)          000   000  1  150
Beloit Snappers (OAK)                        000   001  1  261
Temp: 58F Time: 2:04 Att: 588

Game 2
                                                        123  456  7   RHE
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (MIL)          022 000  0   460
Beloit Snappers (OAK)                        001  000 2  331
Temp: 58F  Time: 2:04  Att: 588