Date: 14 June 2019

Location: Chillicothe, OH

Stadium: VA Memorial Stadium

League: Prospect League

Level: Collegiate Summer

Teams: West Virginia Miners at Chillicothe Paints

I absolutely love visiting this stadium.  This trip is my 4th time overall, first for the 2019 season.  The Paints were an original franchise in the independent Frontier League. When the league started moving into larger market cities, the Paints owner move the team into the Prospect League.  The home stadium is old, built in 1954. But the charm of this stadium is, for me, when you walk into the grandstand and look out onto the field I feel like I’ve traveled back in time. It gives me the impression of what baseball was like at the height of the game when it truly was the national pastime.

The Miners got out to a quick 6-0 lead in the first three innings. Afterwards the Paints offense took off scoring 17 runs in the next five innings to win with a final of 17-6.  I lost count, but between both teams there were at least eight home runs hit.

This was my first ever Prospect League game. I had only discovered this league 2 weeks prior. I did some checking and discovered that this league, along with several others, have teams that college ball players can sign with for the summer, and get paid, as long as they have eligibility remaining. So, essentially, this is a summer job for these students. I love this concept.  With two other Prospect Leagues teams within an hour of my home, this will not be my only league game this season.

On to Stadium #8