Baseball Travel: Midway Stadium, St. Paul

St. Paul Saints / Midway Stadium

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Rating

Specifics

Address/Directions: 1771 Energy Park Dr., St. Paul. It's easy to get to Midway. If you're coming from the north or south, you'll want to get to Snelling Avenue in St. Paul. (There are Snelling Avenue exits from both I-694 to the north and I-94 to the south.) There's an Energy Park Drive exit off of Snelling, and you'll head west on it. The stadium is within a couple blocks of Snelling Avenue. If you're coming from the west on I-94, take Highway 280 north until you reach the Energy Park Drive exit. Take Energy Park Drive east for approximately two miles.
Phone: 651/644-6659.
Web: www.spsaints.com.
Online ticket sales? No.
Online broadcasts? Yes.
Capacity: 6,329.
Year Built: 1982.
Last Visited: May 23, 1999.
League: Northern League.
Affiliation: None.

Description

Perhaps the most fabled minor-league franchise in the world today, the Saint Paul Saints have been the subject of a national cable-television series, at least three books (avoid the Neal Karlen book -- it's pure dreck) and countless magazine and newspaper articles. Part of it comes from the celebrity ownership of the Saints -- Mike Veeck launched the franchise, with an investment from the actor Bill Murray -- and part of it comes from the zany on-field antics orchestrated by Veeck during the franchise's early years.

None of the antics were necessarily new to minor-league baseball. Indeed, if you spend any time in the minors, you see promotions and gimmicks on a regular basis. However, no minor-league park ever housed the sheer number of gimmicks in a single game. No between-inning break could go without some sort of sponsored game. No area in the ballpark could exist without some sort of signage. Ball-bearing pigs, massage-giving nuns...all were part of Veeck's show.

Sadly, the antics have created baseball for those with a short attention span. Most fans spend their time patiently waiting for the between-inning entertainment, generally ignoring the baseball being played on the field. The Saints have had some pretty decent ballplayers over the years -- Rey Ordonez of the Mets spent some time with the Saints after defecting from Cuba, while Darryl Strawberry did a much-publicized stint here before joining the Yankees -- but in many ways what happens on the field really doesn't matter. Which is too bad, because manager Marty Scott is one of the true treasures in baseball, and the Saints are usually entertaining from a baseball perspective as well.

From a business viewpoint, the stunts were necessary for business reasons, since there's no way the charms of minor-league baseball or Midway Stadium would attract over 6,00 fans per game. In fact, Midway is one of the poorer stadiums in the Northern League. There's no theater-style seating in the grandstand (only metal-backed seats), and the bleachers are awkwardly configured for baseball. (Midway Stadium was built by the city of St. Paul as a replacement for the charming original Midway Stadium, which housed the original Saint Paul Saints in the 1950s. The new Midway has a weird configuration because it was designed to host high-school football games as well.) The right-field bleachers are particularly brutal on a sunny evening. If you can score some grandstand seats, by all means do so; if not, head for the left-field bleachers.

The Saints front office makes a huge deal about selling out almost every home game, but this isn't true; there have been many nights when the Saints announce another sellout and there are plenty of open seats, with tickets available officially in the ticket office or unofficially from scalpers. (There doesn't seem to be an official Northern League rule about attendance figures, but only the Saints seem to announce figures that sometimes have little relationship to reality.) While it remains difficult to score tickets when there's a popular promotion or a weekend, it's less difficult on an average weeknight.

However, there are some nights when you don't want to be near a Saints game -- the last 10 days of summer, which is when the Minnesota State Fair runs in the adjacent State Fairgrounds. Hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans turn out for cheese curds and butter sculptures, and you're likely to get caught in the middle of a huge traffic jam when the Fair runs.

Concession Highlights

There are three concessions areas at Midway Stadium. The biggest is right behind home plate in the concourse area. Avoid it, since it's usually clogged with long lines. There are two smaller concession stands down the first- and third-base lines, and these are less busy. (All three stands offer basically the same food.) On the first-base side you can buy a Summit Pale Ale on tap; the third-base stand features Pig's Eye Pilsner and Pig's Eye Amber on tap.

Contrary to what you'd think, Pig's Eye is pretty tasty beer. Brewed by St. Paul's Minnesota Brewing (housed in the former Jacob Schmidt plant on West Seventh), Pig's Eye is named in honor of "Pig's Eye" Parrault, an early settler whose colorful nickname provided the name for a small settlement. Then the Papists swooped in and decided that Pig's Eye was an undignified name for a city and successfully sought for a name change to St. Paul. Today, Pig's Eye Pilsner is sold by Minnesota Brewing as a cut-rate party beer, and Gov. Jesse Ventura was a spokesman for the beer before his political days. You can find Pig's Eye Pilsner on tap throughout the Twin Cities, but Pig's Eye Amber is somewhat of a rarity, and if you're a beer lover you should check it out.

Otherwise, the concessions are fairly standard: hot dogs, brats, Tombstone pizza, nachos, et al. Dove bars are available, and during most weekend games the grill down the third-base line will be open, featuring hamburgers and other sandwiches. Meanwhile, there's a separate barbecue stand down the first-base line.

Smoking

You can smoke in any seat except the family section located down in the boondocks, in the first-base corner. Cigar smoking, as a matter of fact, is quite common.

For the Kids

Any kid who would get bored at a Saints game is in serious need of counselling. Mike Veeck's lasting legacy was to make the ballpark a really fun place to be. While current Saints management has gotten away from the high level kids-centric activity pushed by Veeck, the between-inning action and the playground area down the first-base line will keep any kid occupied for at least nine innings. Plus, I've never seen a kid yet who wasn't highly amused by the sight of a trained pig bringing balls to umpires between innings.

Parking

Parking in the adjoining parking lot costs $4, but you need to get to the game early to claim a spot. There's some street parking on Energy Park Drive, but watch the signs closely -- the city of St. Paul will tag you if you park in a no-parking zone. In addition, there's a lot at the corner of Snelling Avenue and Energy Park Drive. Gabe's by the Park runs a shuttle bus between the bar and Midway, giving you a chance to down a few before and after the game. (More on that in the following section.)

Before the Game

The reason why parking at the game sells out quickly is because many Saints fans are active and hearty tailgaters, who arrive hours early to game for the privilege of staking out an area in the parking lot in order to stoke up the grill and tap the keg. Minnesotans used to be passionate about their tailgating when the Twins and the Vikings played at Metropolitan Stadium, but the move to the Metrodome pretty much killed tailgating and professional sports in the Twin Cities, until the Saints arrived.

Gabe's by the Park (991 Lexington Pkwy. N.) is an official gathering spot for Saints fans, and it's here that you can often score Saints tickets under official and unofficial circumstances.

After the Game

The aforementioned Gabe's is also a gathering spot for Saints players and their adoring fans, many of the female persuasion. O'Gara's (164 Snelling Av. N.) combines the elements of an old-style St. Paul Irish bar with live bands designed to lure students from nearby Macalester College. On weekends, the Half-Time Rec (1013 Front Av.) features live Irish music and horrendously overpriced pitchers of Harp.

You might want to head over to Sin City -- better known as Minneapolis -- to partake of a more active nightlife. A description of downtown Minneapolis and its environs can be found here.

Where to Stay

The Holiday Inn Express (1010 Bandana Blvd. W., 651-647-1637) is within walking distance of Midway Stadium. For real luxury, head downtown to The Saint Paul Hotel (350 Market St., 651-292-9292).

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