Nettleton Stadium

One of only three remaining teams from the inaugural 2005 season, the GBL's Chico Outlaws are always among league attendance leaders, benefitting from being several hours away from the nearest major league -- heck, or affiliated minor league -- market. The Outlaws have played home games at Nettleton Stadium since 2005.

It's a fun place to check out a game, and over the last five years has always featured crazy promotions and high-energy crowds. And even when the crowd noise isn't *too* loud, a frigging locomotive chugs past the right field wall, which always riles up the Chico faithful. Take a look around "The Nett" in the latest ballpark tour series.



Past Ballpark Tours
Estadio Revolucion - for 2 games "at Yuma"
Desert Sun Stadium - Yuma Scorpions
Telus Field - Edmonton Capitals
Foothills Stadium - Calgary Vipers
Royal Athletic Park - Victoria Seals

Bruce Hurst Field - St. George RoadRunners

Estadio Revolucion

This was -- um -- an adventure to say the least. The Flyers played a pair of games at Estadio Revolucion, a 1,500-seat facility in San Luis, Rio Colorado, Mexico. Orange County played "at Yuma" here in San Luis for two game of the June 21-24 series against the Scorpions, giving the GBL a chance to test the facility and the market in case the Tijuana Cimarrones are unable to return to their 18,000-seat -- yes, 18,000 -- home in TJ after a month-long road trip to Canada.

It's not exactly the perfectly manicured playing surface you'd find as an NCAA D-I school like Cal State Fullerton or at a former Triple-A park like Telus Field. No, no. This is definitely a unique experience. From music and announcements being made during at-bats (like through the swing of the batter), to stray dogs running through the concourse, Estadio Revolucion was an experience unlike any other we've had this season.

Bienvenidos...



Past Ballpark Tours
Desert Sun Stadium - Yuma Scorpions
Telus Field - Edmonton Capitals
Foothills Stadium - Calgary Vipers
Royal Athletic Park - Victoria Seals

Bruce Hurst Field - St. George RoadRunners

Desert Sun Stadium

In the latest edition of the ballpark tour series, we check out Yuma's Desert Sun Stadium, home to the GBL's Yuma Scorpions. The ballpark used to be home to the San Diego Padres spring training. The 10,000-seat facility is just a few hours away from San Diego in the heart of the Sonora Desert in Yuma, right on the border between California and Arizona.

Check it out...


Past Ballpark Tours
Telus Field - Edmonton Capitals
Foothills Stadium - Calgary Vipers
Royal Athletic Park - Victoria Seals

Bruce Hurst Field - St. George RoadRunners

Telus Field

Telus Field was built in 1995 as the new home for the Triple-A Edmonton Trappers, who played in the PCL from 1981-2004. When the Trappers were purchased and moved to Round Rock, Texas, as a new Texas League franchise, the independent Northern League expanded north of the border in 2005. While also picking up a new marketing in Calgary, the Northern League added the Edmonton Cracker Cats, who moved to the GBL in 2008.

The team changed the name from Cracker Cats to Capitals in 2009 as a nod to the capital city of the province of Alberta. Take a look around Telus Field (and maybe a bit of the West Edmonton Mall, too) in the latest Ballpark Tour.



Past Ballpark Tours
Foothills Stadium - Calgary Vipers
Bruce Hurst Field - St. George RoadRunners
Royal Athletic Park - Victoria Seals

Foothils Stadium

Calgary's foothill's stadium was built in the 1980s to house the Triple-A Calgary Cannons of the Pacific Coast League. The Cannons played here from 1985-2002, but when the PCL left town, the ballpark was filled three years later by the upstart Calgary Vipers of the Northern League.

Since that time, the Vipers moved from the Northern League to the Golden League in 2008, and last season they brought a championship to the Stampede City. Here's a look around Foothills Stadium, affectionately known as The Snake Pit, in this week's ballpark tour.



Past Ballpark Tours
Bruce Hurst Field - St. George RoadRunners
Royal Athletic Park - Victoria Seals

Royal Athletic Park

Here's our first in a new video series of GBL Ballpark Tours that we'll be doing from the road this season. Enjoy...

Bruce Hurst Field

The Flyers are getting ready to play the third game of a four-game season-opening series against the St. George RoadRunners at Bruce Hurst Field, tucked away in the southwest corner of Utah. Here's a few snapshots of the place that has played home to the first two wins of the Flyers 2010 season...

View from the first row of club-level seats

The field-level suites added to Bruce Hurst Field after the 2007 season.

A look at the main seating area of chair-back club seats under the press box.

A picturesque view over the right field wall

Nothing but plateaus and clear skies in the distance ... not a bad view at all.

UPDATED 5/29/2010, 10:34am

So here's the first of what I plan on making a season-long series of looks at the other ballparks in the GBL. We begin this journey in St. George, Utah, at Bruce Hurst Field, the home to the RoadRunners and the Dixie State College.

This quaint, 2,500-capacity ballpark gives all fans a quasi birds-eye view without the big-league nose-bleed seat strain. With the first row of seats raised about 15 feet off the field level, set above the dugouts, Bruce Hurst provides amazing sightlines for wherever you're seated. The club seats are located between the dugouts with a steep stadium layout that means no big oaf in front of you will block your view. The seats go up 8-10 rows in the main seating area, and metal bleachers provide general admission seating on top of the dugouts.

Some of the best premium seating in the GBL this side of the Telus Field Home Plate Club (Edmonton) can be found in St. George. The RoadRunners have just under a dozen field-level boxes that were added to the ballpark after the 2007 season where fans can enjoy the game with a view to rival that of the managers. Fans can hear the chatter in the dugout and smell the fresh cut grass.

The concession stands are all right. I wasn't a big fan of the hot dogs, but the burgers were can't-miss. And the soft-serve yogurt made me forget all about the famed 25 Main cupcakes of years past. Of course, the sodas are available in regular humanoid sizes as well as a jumbo 44oz that will provide any fan with diabetes with one refill.

As for the actual games played at Bruce Hurst Field, the ball is known the carry further than other ballparks in the league. Maybe it's the 2,000' elevation or the fact that the wind typically blows out to left field making it a haven for righties. In the past, the RoadRunners have compensated with a 24-foot wall in left field and a 20' wall that acts as a batters eye in center field. The formerly 24-foot wall in right was taken down this off-season for a 12-foot fence, which would be a scary prospect if the RoadRunners still had lefty slugger A.J. Valentine.

The road trip to St. George is always a great destination for fans of a visiting team, as the dozens of area golf courses and hiking trails provide plenty of outdoor enjoyment, but bring plenty of sunblock. This map-dot town tucked away in the southwest corner of Utah can hit triple-digit temperatures on a regular basis during the summer months, but don't be shocked with a thunderstorm rolls through with 30mph gusts of wind either.