As a faithful Cleveland Indians fan since the early 1960’s it’s always been fun to watch as new players each year made the big league roster and attempt to make their mark on Major League baseball. Throughout the years, Tribe fans have seen the likes of “Easy” Roy Foster, Gomer Hodge, Joe Charboneau and Beau Allred come up and had fans envisioning them as the next Hall of Famer ( well maybe not Beau).
How successful these players were or were not going to be is not important for this discussion but rather the route they took before they made it to up to Cleveland. As opposed to NBA and NFL stars that come right from college to the top level, most baseball players start their career in the minor league baseball system. A small minority of those players ever make it out of the system and reach the big league team. So where do these players spend their summers and who are the ones that are going to replace our current stars like Corey Kluber, Francisco Lindor and Trevor Bauer.
Well those that follow Burning River Baseball know that the contributors are keeping on eye on each of the minor league teams that are associated with the Tribe and are reporting on the progress of our baby Indians. Did you ever think about taking a peek at these youngsters yourself?
Back in 2015, I decided to make the effort to do just that. Since my son, Kevin, went to law school in Columbus, Ohio it was easy to make that 2 hour drive down I-71 from Cleveland to watch the Clippers play. The Clippers are Cleveland’s Triple A representative in the International League. My wife and I had done that a couple of times in the past and had always enjoyed the stadium, the atmosphere, the reasonable prices and most of all the ability to see the talent that was on the horizon for the Indians. Current Major Leaguers Jesus Aguilar and Erik Gonzalez were two that I recall spent some time with Columbus that year before reaching the Show ironically now for two other teams, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh respectively.
We had also been able to get to a few Lake County games in nearby Eastlake, Ohio. That year the Captains roster included players like Bobby Bradley, Greg Allen, Yu Chang and Francisco Mejia. Great stadium and wonderful baseball.
I got the idea early in the season that I wanted to see all of the minor league teams that year and made plans with Kevin to visit Lynchburg, Va and see the Hillcats play. Lynchburg was our High A affiliate in the Carolina League. Although one of the games was rained out we had the good fortune to watch Bradley Zimmer, Clint Frazier and Mike Papi play in one game and couldn’t wait for those players to advance their way to the big time. Obviously, Zimmer and Frazier made it but We’re still waiting to see what Papi does.
My trek continued that summer with visits to see the Akron Rubber Ducks and the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Akron is a Double A team and the Scrappers are the Tribe’s Single A Short Season team. I went with co-workers to see those teams and had the pleasure in Mahoning Valley to be there for C.C. Sabathia bobblehead day. Willi Castro and Sicnarf Loopstok played for Mahoning Valley at one time that year. I mention Sicnarf because in Lynchburg he threw me a souvenir ball and I’ve been fascinated with the reverse Francis name. In Akron, Zimmer had already been promoted and joined Yandy Diaz in the game I saw.
Of course I also went to a few major league games in Cleveland and for good measure threw in a visit to see the Tribe play the Pirates in Pittsburgh.
As I think back on that year, I feel fortunate that except for the trip to Virginia, all of those minor league cities were right here in Ohio. Only Columbus was much more than an hour long drive. How many fans of major league teams can make that statement? I thought I would find that out.
I decided to calculate the cumulative driving miles from each Major League city to their AAA, AA, and both single A locations.
As it turns out, the drive respectively from Cleveland to Columbus, Akron, Lynchburg and Eastlake totaled 677 miles. Surprisingly, that was only the second lowest amount in the majors beaten substantially by the Baltimore Orioles whose fans only have to drive 433 miles to visit their minor league affiliates. The longest drive is to their AAA team in Norfolk, Va. They benefit by having the other three right there in Maryland. The only other franchise under 1,000 miles is Atlanta at 928. The Braves AAA team is only 31 miles away in Gwinnett, Ga.
There are nine teams whose fans would have to drive over 4,000 miles to see their affiliates. If you’re driving a lease and watching those over limit miles, those vacations are out for sure.
The top five in most miles away are of course on the West Coast and suffer because of the lack of double A and single A teams in their areas. Here’s the teams putting their fans on the road the most:
- Seattle 5,676
- San Francisco 5,665
- LA Dodgers 5,099
- Colorado 4,778
- LA Angels 4,570
So if you’re a real baseball fan in Cleveland and don’t want to just see the Major League stars, pack up the family and see what the future stars are doing. It’s guaranteed you’ll have a great time and it won’t break the wallet.
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