U.S. Steel Yard

Gary SouthShore RailCats, American Association

7/10

This is yet another park that is a victim of the great camera disaster of 2012. Never forget.

I drove straight here from Wrigleyville after an afternoon game for a night game here, with plenty of time to spare. Chicago traffic turned an allegedly 45 minute drive into something....a little longer. A Friday night matchup saw the Gary SouthShore RailCats taking on the Fargo-Moorehead Red Hawks(this game would have needed a bigger poster).

The first thing that struck me rolling into Gary and probably my biggest problem with the park is the city itself. Gary is very economically depressed, and has seen the population fall by over 100,000 people in the last 20 years. The result is a city with numerous abandoned buildings. The area around the ballpark is not much different. I don't mean to complain about it too much, but the surrounding neighbourhood is a particularly important part of any ballpark to me. When it's neutral, fair enough, but when it's a minus, that's a problem. I can't think of a similar example in my travels. Still, the area was well patrolled by local police and it likely attracts whole crowds of people from the numerous other cities and towns in Indiana's chunk of the metro Chicago area. I didn't even consider staying here and ended up around 25 minutes away.

Now, enough urban geography. The park itself is pretty good. It has the concourse at the back, with full view of the field and all stadium seating. Concessions were around average. The atmosphere was relatively pleasant. Mine was a bit different, as small children and empty seats resulted in a crowd swarming the section like bees most of the game. Still, I did almost see one of them break another's hand, which was entertaining and I did get a forced apology from one of their minders. I enjoyed things a bit more from the section over. I ended up seeing a relatively entertaining game though, but 18 innings was enough for one day. The whole experience was acceptable, but I didn't really have anything about it stick out. I would go back if it was good for my schedule, but won't go out of my way.

Update 2016:  I have nothing new to offer about this one, so it'll be a 5 minute update. Food, atmosphere and the park are all pretty average, with the park being the closest to an upgrade. I will get back here with my camera at some point, but am in no hurry.

Linescores
2012-07-27
                                                  123    456   789   R  H E
Fargo-Moorhead Red Hawks         002   401   004   11 14 2
Gary Southshore Railcats             000   030   000    3  6 3
Temp: 75F  Time: 3:12  Att:  4,343