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

Community Field

Burlington Bees, Midwest League

8/10

First of all, this is the first of 5 reviews from my 2012 Midwestern swing, where on the way home, my camera, loaded with all my photos, absconded, never to be heard of again. A lengthy investigation on my part, proved fruitless. I am now borderline OCD when it comes to downloading photos ASAP. Anyhow.....

I swung through Burlington, Iowa as part of a 6 game/5 park/5 day/6 state Midwestern swing and I'm glad I did. The city itself is apparently the smallest, full-season market in the affiliated minors, checking in at just over 25,000 people in the city proper. The local economy is apparently somewhat depressed, as the local mall, right across from Hotel #1(more on that later), featured numerous empty stores.

As for the park itself, it is a total gem. Renovations in 2006 bought the Burlington franchise some more time in town. This particular franchise has had the same name since 1973, when it was the affiliate for the Kansas City Athletics. The team was affiliated with the Oakland A's when I passed through, I don't believe that that's continuous, but am not sure(Checked in 2016, it's not). Now, the team is with the LA Angels.

The Monday night game I saw featured the hometown Bees, stocked with Oakland farmhands, in an all-Iowa matchup, taking on the Cedar Rapids Kernels, who at the time, were the LA Angels affiliate. I had come down from Bloomington, Minnesota, just outside of Minneapolis, taking the scenic route to stop in Dyersville, Iowa, and the Field of Dreams movie site, which I highly recommend if you're able to stop by.

The layout is a relatively simple grandstand. The seats stop just past third base on one side, and well before first, which has an area with several picnic tables. Concessions are pretty simple, but some of the lowest prices I've ever encountered. I took advantage of the low prices on everything to pick up a t-shirt(which I am wearing as I type this), as well as a program. The concourse(or what passes for one) features banners referring to past Bees logos and affiliations, with a few simple staircases leading to the seats. The ambience is baseball-first, primarily because that's all there is. There's no bouncy-castle, or mascot, or too many wacky sound effects and if there were, they didn't stick in my mind at all.

The most memorable thing about Community Field is that it lived up to it's name. A largely middle class group of apparent season ticket holders were out in force, providing subtle comments such as "Hey ump, you from Cedar Rapids?" in just the right tone of voice. Numerous fans seemed to know at least which players on the team looked to be progressing towards a promotion. But the best moment had to be when a draw for a child's baseball glove didn't have an answer. The team employee asked everyone within ear shot, "Hey are the X's here tonight?" to which some random voice replied, with a perfect local accent "I think they just went to the bathroom."

After the game, I walked back to HoJos, to discover the accommodations were so Spartan, that I actually checked out and went somewhere else.

Overall, I liked Community Field a great deal. The low prices, small-town community feel of the team and baseball first ambience were a welcome addition to my trip. I would gladly go back, if for no other reason than to get some good photos.

Update 2016: Both these teams swapped affiliates after 2012, with the Angels taking the Bees and Cedar Rapids ending up with Minnesota. The A's ended up with the Beloit Snappers of Wisconsin. A new ratings system doesn't change the rating here, the atmosphere earning a full point, but nothing else, leaving the score at an 8.

Linescore
2012-07-30
                                                123      456    789   RHE
Cedar Rapids Kernels(LAA)         000     000    000   061
Burlington Bees(OAK)                100     010     000   280
Temp: 90F   Time: 2:52    Att: 881