Heartland of America League

Dan K
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Heartland of America League

Post by Dan K » Sun May 03, 2015 1:34 pm

The new Heartland of America Independent Baseball League plans to start in June with ten teams playing out of Price Cutter Park in Ozark, Missouri.

http://www.news-leader.com/story/sports ... /25490113/

http://www.heartlandofamericabaseballleague.com

mbond
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Post by mbond » Thu May 07, 2015 5:58 pm

Interesting concept. It may work for a few years and save on startup costs , but I could see other towns in the region wanting to take a team to help boost their cities in the summer. Good luck to this league, and I hope it makes it!

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Post by nksports » Thu May 07, 2015 8:15 pm

While Price Cutter Park is a nice facility (and one of the best high school, small college and summer college baseball parks in the region), the reason the Ducks no longer exist and the stadium is used that way is when Springfield built a bigger stadium and brought in the Cardinals' Class AA team, everyone involved with Ducks knew it was over (it's not like they were making big money). Just more dreamers thinking people will fall all over themselves to watch this, when the area already has a number of summer college teams with actual prospects (MINK League is strong in the area), along with the wealth of independent pro leagues.
Also that many games in that facility (and it's pretty heavily used) would force Chen to buy artificial turf.
Last edited by nksports on Tue May 12, 2015 6:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

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patmc16
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Post by patmc16 » Sun May 10, 2015 8:31 pm

I just visited Price Cutter Park 1 week ago today. I think it needs some work (mostly cosmetic) to bring it back into "nice" status. I was surprised to find that after 10 years and only 1 season in the league, there are still references to the Frontier League at the stadium. The stadium is like a time capsule from 2004. The Ducks logo (with paint peeling off) is sill above the Price Cutter name on the front of the stadium. The structure holding up the sign is either rusting or has rust colored paint under the peeling white paint. There are signs at the entrance that say "Frontier League prohibits....". There are very faded Frontier League logos on the outfield wall just outside of each foul line. There are some newer ads on the outfield walls, some of which are peeling off to reveal older, faded ads beneath them. The Ducks logo is also still on the scoreboard, which still has "Visitors" and "Ducks" on it. The field had been cut but is probably more weeds than grass at this point. If they plan on playing 90 games there this summer, turf would be the way to go. I was able to walk onto the field as the service gate in center field was open, unsecured, swinging in the wind. Luckily, apparently no one with bad intentions had taken advantage of that fact (I used it to get some pictures from the inside). That is unless you count the large flock of geese that ere occupying the infield, certainly doing their "business" there.
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preeths
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Post by preeths » Mon May 11, 2015 2:59 am

Would love to see those pictures.

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patmc16
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Post by patmc16 » Sat May 16, 2015 4:52 pm

Let's see. It has been a long, long time since I have done this so I am sorry if it doesn't work right.

Here is the front of the stadium:

Image

Close up of the sign:

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The Frontier League signs still at the entrance:

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The scoreboard:

Image

To be continued on next post due to picture limits.
Former Motor City Mechanics & Macomb County Mustangs season ticket holder.

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patmc16
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Post by patmc16 » Sat May 16, 2015 4:57 pm

More pics:

View from inside the center field fence:

Image

1st base dugout. You can kind of see the condition of the turf in this one:

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Scoreboard & outfield wall (zoomed in so not as clear, sorry). You can see one of the peeling ads below the right side of the scoreboard. The faded Frontier League logo is just outside the foul line:

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It wasn't my intention to take pictures of Price Cutter's "warts". It just happened as I was taking the pics. When I travel, I visit any and all baseball stadiums I can. I added 5 to my list this trip. Price Cutter was last of 5 on this trip and number 160 overall in 29 states + Ontario, Canada.

BTW, it is for another forum, but I also visited Becker Stadium in Joplin, MO on the same day. With about 2 1/2 weeks from my visit to opening day, there is no way it is ready in time. I can post the pics in the AA forum if there is interest (and I did it right and these pics appear correctly).
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preeths
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Post by preeths » Sun May 17, 2015 8:52 pm

Yes, please post those Joplin pics. I can't explain it, but I really find this fascinating; like a step back into the not-too-distant past.

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Pix

Post by Fez » Mon May 18, 2015 6:17 pm

Those pictures are great. Thanks for posting. I love seeing these stadiums. I hope this new league can find a way to make it work.
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patmc16
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Post by patmc16 » Sat May 23, 2015 4:35 pm

I posted pics of Becker Stadium in the AA forum.

On this trip, I also visited Warren Turner Field in Joplin (new home of the Joplin Outlaws of the MINK league), Hammons Field (Springfield Cardinals) and caught my first Texas League game at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, AR (Northwest Arkansas Naturals).
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