Can you believe that high school fall sports teams begin official practice within the next three weeks in preparation for the upcoming season’s schedules? July 29th will be the first session for both boys and girls golf squads, with all other fall sports set to start on Saturday, August 1st. The first football games kick off the week of August 17th, with most contests teeing it up on Friday the 21st.
In what will be an uncommon situation, Darke County gridders will see Friday Night Lights the evening of the Great Darke County Fair’s opening day. With the latest possible date for the Fair’s opening (the third Friday of August) and the OHSAA moving the first round of football games forward a week this year, local fans will face the choice of entertainment either at the fairgrounds or area gridirons. I have the feeling that attendance at the Fair might be a little down the evening of the 21st!
Speaking of the fairgrounds, I drove past the annual Farm Power of the Past gathering the other day. Lots of older farm equipment of all sorts, reminding me of my days growing up on the family Jersey farm south of Greenville. I knew I was becoming a man when I was able to spin the flywheel and start the engine on the old John Deere B!
Earlier in the week, Kathy and I stayed in downtown Fort Wayne for a few nights, providing transportation to and from a “theater camp” for our almost nine-year-old granddaughter, who is well-suited for the stage, being naturally expressive! While there, our hotel was adjacent to Parkview Field, home of the TinCaps minor league baseball team. Here’s the trivia question of the day—why is the nickname “TinCaps”? As a hint, who was John Chapman?
Parkview Field, in my opinion, is at least the equivalent to Day Air Ballpark, home of the Dayton Dragons, an affiliate of the Reds. Both Dayton and Fort Wayne, part of the Padres farm system, are members of the Class A Midwest League. While I can’t attest to the quality of the fan experience at Fort Wayne, having never attended a game there, in comparison to the great family entertainment provided by the Dragons, I will say that Parkview Field is also top-notch.
Opened in 2009, Parkview has fixed seating for 6,500 fans with a total capacity of 9,200 if you count lawn seating and standing room. The entire concourse around the stadium is fan-friendly with concessions and other features, including the TinCaps gift shop. In left field is a commercial/residential building overlooking the ball diamond, while in right field is the end of a parking garage with built-in bleachers (think both Camden Yard in Baltimore, home of the Orioles, and Petco Park, home of the Padres, and the building that is part of the left field fence). Anyhow, an impressive minor league stadium that’s within reasonable driving distance, particularly for you readers in northern Darke County and points north!
Staying with baseball, let’s take a look at the MLB standings as the All-Star game takes place in Philadelphia Tuesday night. Beginning in the American League East, the surprising Tampa Bay Rays hold a four-game lead over the Yankees, who’ve struggled without injured Aaron Judge in the lineup. The other two divisions, the AL Central and AL West, are examples of “competitive mediocrity”. You basically can shake the die and roll ‘em out because only the White Sox and Guardians in the Central and the Rangers in the West have barely recorded winning marks at this junction. There are a lot of teams hoping for one of the three wild-card berths this fall!
Meanwhile, in the National League, the Braves have lost most of a large early-season advantage in the past few weeks, holding on to a three-game edge over the Phillies and the Marlins (the Marlins!!) in the East. The NL Central has four teams with .500 and better records, with the Brewers the class of the division, with a commanding advantage over the Cubs and Cardinals. The highest payroll in the majors has paid dividends for the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers as they’ve run away from the rest of the NL West. Look for a dogfight for the wild card spots in late September!
Congratulations to the two Reds representatives selected to the NL All-Star team. Sal Stewart and Chase Burns have both been impressive in this their first full seasons in “The Show”. But no Elly de la Cruz?
On this weekend in 1798, the United States Marine Corps was formally established by a Congressional Act. “From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli,” the Marines have served our country well, establishing a reputation of being among the world’s finest military forces. “Leathernecks” earned their stripes at such places as the Battle of Belleau Woods in WWI; Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima in the Pacific Theater of WWII; the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War; the Battles of Hue and Khe Sanh in Vietnam; and have since been part of the war on terrorism throughout the Afghanistan period as well as the Iraq Campaign having been involved in several major battles. Here’s to “The Few, The Chosen”, the US Marines!!
John Chapman was better known as Johnny Appleseed, the American gardener best known for planting apple orchards across hundreds of thousands of square miles in the Midwest in the late 1700s and first third of the 1800s. Chapman settled in Fort Wayne for the latter part of his life before passing away in 1845. Known for his eccentric appearance, which included ragged clothes, bare feet, and a coffee sack shirt with arm holes, he also sometimes wore a tin cooking pot as a hat, hence the team nickname the TinCaps!! Today, Parkview Field features the Appleseed Pavilion in right field, while there is the Johnny Appleseed Educational Center and Museum located in Urbana, Ohio, housing the “world’s largest collection of memorabilia and information” about the legendary figure!
Enjoy what shapes up to be another warm week here in West Central Ohio!! Stay active and healthy!
