BOWLING GREEN, KY (2/15/12) – It is the middle of February. Typically, in Western Kentucky people are huddled down trying to keep warm or shoveling snow. This February is unseasonably mild – even reports of daffodils blooming. With such anticipation (and some looming fear in the background), it is entirely appropriate to discuss a real family opportunity coming up in April.
Minor league baseball has become a real cottage industry for many mid-sized communities. Bowling Green, Kentucky is clearly one of the success stories. Hank Fuerst has the enviable job of handling media and broadcast duties for the Bowling Green Hot Rods. The Hot Rods are a Class A Affiliate (Farm Team) of the Tampa Bay Rays. There are 140 affiliate teams across the United States according to Fuerst.
Fuerst has been making the rounds during the off season. He recently talked with the Rotary Club and SurfKY News. “The City of Bowling Green built the stadium as the first leg of downtown redevelopment” Fuerst said. “We are the Bowling Green Ball Park home of the Hot Rods”. The park has had exceptional results with increasing attendance each of the past three years. In 2011, the average attendance was 3,600 in the ball park with a capacity of 4,559.
Fuerst said that the success of the park was in no small part due to the support of the community and surrounding counties. “There is a lot of community pride in our park” Fuerst said “we blow Nashville away.” The team plays 140 games per year and made the Midwest League playoff. “In 2011, we had our best home record of 48 wins and 22 losses.” Fuerst said.
For more information about the Bowling Green Hot Rods and ticket information, visit www.bghotrods.com.
Following is the list of conference teams from Wikipedia – includes team name, affiliate, city, park, and capacity.
Eastern Division
•Bowling Green Hot Rods Tampa Bay Rays Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green Ballpark 5,700
•Dayton Dragons Cincinnati Reds Dayton, Ohio Fifth Third Field 8,200
•Fort Wayne TinCaps San Diego Padres Fort Wayne, Indiana Parkview Field 8,200
•Great Lakes Loons Los Angeles Dodgers Midland, Michigan Dow Diamond 5,500
•Lansing Lugnuts Toronto Blue Jays Lansing, Michigan Cooley Law School Stadium 11,000
•Lake County Captains Cleveland Indians Eastlake, Ohio Classic Park 7,273
•South Bend Silver Hawks Arizona Diamondbacks South Bend, Indiana Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium 5,000
•West Michigan Whitecaps Detroit Tigers Comstock Park, Michigan Fifth Third Ballpark 11,123
Western Division
•Beloit Snappers Minnesota Twins Beloit, Wisconsin Harry C. Pohlman Field 3,500
•Burlington Bees Oakland Athletics Burlington, Iowa Community Field 3,500
•Cedar Rapids Kernels Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Cedar Rapids, Iowa Veterans Memorial Stadium 5,300
•Clinton LumberKings Seattle Mariners Clinton, Iowa Ashford University Field 4,000
•Kane County Cougars Kansas City Royals Geneva, Illinois Fifth Third Bank Ballpark 7,400
•Peoria Chiefs Chicago Cubs Peoria, Illinois O'Brien Field 7,377
•Quad Cities River Bandits St. Louis Cardinals Davenport, Iowa Modern Woodmen Park1 4,024
•Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Milwaukee Brewers Grand Chute, Wisconsin Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium 5,500
Ron Sanders
SurfKY Sports
Copyright © 2012 SurfKY News Group, Inc. all rights reserved. SurfKY.com is an eNewspaper providing local news FREE to Kentucky 24/7. Read Statewide Kentucky News, Sports, Obituaries and more for Kentucky covering: Calloway, Christian, Daviess, Henderson, Hopkins, McCracken, Muhlenberg, Warren, and Webster Counties as well as the Kentucky Lakes Area.
