Travels: The Culture of Minor League Baseball

It's been said before - there is nothing minor about Minor League Baseball.

For decades, MiLB triggered images of ratty old ballparks, long road trips, small paychecks, and large phone bills built up by long distance phone calls. And for what? Well, the grass is greener in Majors (perhaps literally too).

Though MiLB may not be as rustic as it once was, it still is not The Show. And yet, it manages to attract millions of fans each year. Where is the minor in that?

But what is the appeal of MiLB? Why do fans line up to get autographs of nobodies and has beens when they could be at a MLB game? Yes, it seems absurd. But MiLB has a certain charm that even the MLB just cannot seem to match.

Many MLB logos can be characterized by letters (sometimes interlocking) in cursive fonts; not the most exciting designs. But MiLB logos are an entirely different breed. Many are examples of superior creativity and means of representing and celebrating local culture.

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Manchester, NH) logo celebrates the fisher cat, a forest-dwelling weasel native to the state of New Hampshire. The logo features a gray fisher cat with red eyes ablaze peeking over the words "Fisher Cats" in script font.

However, a number of Manchester locals still long for when the Fisher Cats were the New Hampshire Primaries, a tribute to the first primary of the presidential election season. When the team moved from New Haven, CT to Manchester, it was first dubbed the Primaries, sparking a local furor and a desire to change the name to, well, just about anything else. The Primaries logo featured an elephant and a donkey standing back-to-back clad in Uncle Sam top hats with baseball bats resting on their shoulders with a red, white, and blue color palette.

Among other eye-popping logos is that of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Allentown, PA). The Iron Pigs salute the Lehigh Valley's legacy as a major steel manufacturing region with its fierce iron-plated pig head logo.

Up for a little southern cooking? A biscuit topped with butter is a major part of the southern cuisine, and the Montgomery Biscuits (Montgomery, AL) certainly recognize that with their logo featuring a crispy biscuit with a butter tongue peeking out from behind a yellow "M."

And some MiLb teams pay homage to their MLB parent clubs by taking their nickname and fundamental concepts of their logo. Examples include the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Moosic, PA), the Pawtucket Red Sox (Pawtucket, RI), the Tuscon Padres (Tuscon, AZ), and the Iowa Cubs (Des Moines, IA). In fact, all but one of the Atlanta Braves' MiLB affiliates - the exception being the Lynchburg Hillcats (Lynchburg, VA) - are nicknamed "Braves."

The names and logos are worth checking out. Besides, MiLB teams have some of the best cap designs. Not to brag, but I am starting to put together a pretty nice collection of some MiLB hats.

Perhaps the best part of MiLB is how it connects with fans. MiLB atmospheres resemble carnivals - fun and carefree. Not to put down MLB atmospheres, but business comes first and it is obvious. Promotions and post-game fireworks are numerous across MiLB.

Recently, the Portland Sea Dogs (Portland, ME) celebrated L.L. Bean night. The team honored the Maine-based clothing company by rewarding fans who wore their pair of L.L. Bean's trademark product, Bean Boots, with a free ice cream sandwich.

The Charleston River Dogs (Charleston, SC) are notorious for coming up with fun and sometimes absurd promotional days. Among the most recent was Lewbowski Night. It was a "Salute to The Dude" - the film character portrayed by Jeff Bridges. Silent Night was an innovative albeit strange and possibly financially irresponsible promotion of Charleston's. It forbid fans from entering the ballpark for the first few innings of the game. Nothing but the sounds of baseball - and crickets.

MiLB also has a neat way of really bringing fans closer the game, and not just physically. Players are friendly, yet serious. They are eager and determined to make it to the majors, but certainly take time for autographs. But why would anyone want an autograph from a Minor Leaguer? Because when the players make it big, fans can say they saw them as nobodies.

But let's face it, we as fans want to be physically closer to the game as well. Stadiums are small and seats are close to the action. My personal favorite? The New Hampshire Fisher Cats' digging grounds, Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, features a Hilton Garden Inn hotel built into left-center field. I have many times enjoyed a meal on the hotel patio while overlooking the baseball field. I always try to book a room overlooking the baseball field, even if there is no game being played during my stay. But that's not all, players frequently park balls during batting practice, on the patio, making it easy to snag a souvenir or two.

With all the fun one can have at a Minor League Baseball game, there is truly nothing minor about it.