| St. Cloud River Bats / Dick Putz Field | |
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Phone: 320/240-9798. Web: www.riverbats.com Online ticket sales? No. Online broadcasts? No. Capacity: 2,200. Last Visited: August 1998. League/class: Northwoods League.
That's why the stadium's designers never anticipated crowds of over 2,000 -- when Dick Putz Field was built in the 1980s, minor-league baseball of any sort in Minnesota was a distant and unanticipated dream. Though the small seating capacity of Dick Putz Field, as well as the reluctance of city officials to offer a rent-free lease to the league, scared away the Northern League in 1993, the limitations didn't faze the owners of the St. Cloud River Bats, playing in the Northwoods League, a college-development league centered in the Upper Midwest. St. Cloud hadn't seen minor-league ball since 1971, when the original Northern League and the St. Cloud Rox folded, and Rox Park was torn down in favor of a Shopko store. Still, St. Cloud is a baseball-crazy town, and the locals took to the River Bats with a passion, as the team averaged 1,716 fans per game in 1998 -- an attendance figure that many affiliated minor-league teams would love to have. The one great failure of the Northern League has been to ignore St. Cloud. Structurally, Dick Putz Field (named for a longtime St. Cloud area baseball booster) is nothing special, and the last few years the city has contemplated plans for changing it. The concrete grandstand features metal bleachers (no backs) and a small press box. There are metal bleachers down each line, and the outfield fence is covered with ivy. But you're not at a River Bats game to admire the ballpark -- you're there to enjoy the ambiance of baseball on a warm summer night. And on that count Dick Putz Field exceeds. Below: my sister Julie, my nephew Chris and my son Sean at the River Bats playoff series in August 1998. 
A tap between the first-base bleachers and the grandstand serves Grain Belt Premium on tap. That area proved to be quite popular in 1998, as the River Bats held a standard K-Man promotion featuring half-priced beers when the ordained batter struck out. The promotion proved to be too popular, as the city forced the River Bats to give up the promotion. Instead, the River Bats' K-Man promotion now features a free can of Coca-Cola from Little Dukes stores (a local chain of convenience stores) when a batter strikes out. If he strikes out twice, all fans get a 20-ounce bottle of Coca-Cola. For a third strikeout, every fan gets a free candy bar in addition to the bottle of Coke.
Still, there are a few nightspots in St. Cloud, mostly due to the presence of St. Cloud State University near downtown St. Cloud. The Red Carpet Lounge attracts some very good bands from the Twin Cities, and several bars in the general vicinity attract their share of college students as well. If drinking with college students doesn't appeal to you, consider a visit to the Stearns History Museum (235 33rd Av. S.; 320/253-8424). There are some excellent exhibits on immigration, natural history, granite, and automobile legend Samuel Pandolfo. There's a small admission charge, but it's well worth it.
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| Last changed June 12,
1999. Copyright 1999 Kevin Reichard. All rights reserved. All logos are the right of their respective copyright holder. |
