Clinton LumberKings
We visit NelsonCorp Field, another historic ballpark in Iowa, to see the Prospect League Clinton LumberKings battle the Danville Dans.
When Minor League Baseball reorganized in 2021, two Iowa franchises located in towns on the Mississippi River — the Clinton LumberKings and the Burlington Bees — were removed from the rosters of affiliated baseball. This led to both teams joining the Prospect League, where the O’Fallon Hoots and 17 other teams play collegiate summer league ball in five states across the Midwest, plus Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
I made Clinton and Burlington requirements for this trip, wanting to see two historic ballparks that were good enough for Minor League Baseball in 2019 but not in 2021, and to get a sense of how they have handled the transition from hosting top prospects to collegiate hopefuls.
The Clinton LumberKings play at one of those historic ballparks — NelsonCorp Field (originally Riverview Stadium), a Works Progress Administration project completed in 1937. The ballpark’s construction not only provided jobs in the community, but it also helped bring professional baseball back to Clinton after a 19-year absence. It’s a ballpark of its time — three rows of bucket seats, the rest benches with backs, a covered grandstand, and a tiny press box perched on the top row.
Its first tenants were the Clinton Owls of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League, who were affiliated with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants over their five-year existence, ending at the start of World War II.
A new Clinton franchise affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates emerged in 1954 and continues to this day, despite a multitude of transformations, becoming the White Sox, C-Sox, Pilots, Dodgers, and Giants, and shifting affiliations to 12 different Major League teams after the Pirates. The club joined the Midwest League in 1956 and were the longest-tenured team in the league when they were removed from Minor League Baseball in 2021. In that time, Clinton won two league titles, as the C-Sox in 1963 and the Giants in 1991.
Prominent alumni in that long Minor League run include a long list of Major League stars: Don Money, Frank Taveras, Tom Kelly, Darrell Porter, Gorman Thomas, Jim Leyland (Manager), Ron LeFlore, Dave Stewart, Mike Scioscia, Steve Sax, Orel Hershiser, John Burkett, Matt Williams, and Grady Sizemore.
The franchise adopted the LumberKings name in 1994 and has retained it through the transition to collegiate summer league baseball.
NelsonCorp Field has an official capacity of 5,500. The LumberKings averaged 2,329 fans per game in 2025, tops in the Prospect League.
We made our promenade through the team store, finding not just the LumberKings merch but also hats and jerseys for two alternate identities: the Clinton Shadflies, paying homage to the thousands of flying insects (commonly known as mayflies) who descend upon NelsonCorp Field in the late innings; and the Elotes, a Latin persona and a remnant of the team’s involvement in the Copa de la Diversión program while they were an affiliated Minor League club.
The LumberKings were off to an 8-5 start to their 2026 season. They would do well enough the rest of the way to earn a spot in the playoffs, where they beat the Bees in the first round, then lost to the eventual Prospect League champs, the Cape Catfish.
Clinton would be taking on the Danville Dans, from Danville, Illinois. They came into the game with a record of 4-5 and would miss the playoffs.
Most of the early arrivals settled in the group seating area down the left field line.
Back under the grandstand, we saw Dean Packer, who has given me a ton of great advice over the past few years on the ballparks and sights we have been planning to see on our travels. He came to see us at our Akron RubberDucks game in 2024 after dispensing many tips on the Eastern Midwest, and we loved seeing him again.
A young lady did a pleasant rendition of the national anthem, then nearly sprinted off the field. We were underway.
Right-hander Jaqsun Tejada took the bump for the LumberKings. The freshman committed to Northern illinois would put up a shaky 5.44 ERA over 41-plus innings for Clinton in the summer of 2025, but he began this start with three scoreless innings.
Danville sent University of Alabama right-hander Anthony Pesci to the mound, and he too kept the game scoreless through three. Pesci would finish his summer in Danville with a nice 3.12 ERA in 40-plus innings.
I went to the straightforward concession stand in search of dinner. The LumberKings offered hot dogs, brats, burgers, pulled pork sandwiches, BBQ pork fries, King nachos (beef or pork), walking tacos, grilled chicken sandwiches, and chicken strips.
I had a very juicy pulled pork sandwich. Dad liked his brat, which I may or may have not smothered in far too much mustard and relish.
As I waited, I got acquainted with LumberKings mascot Louie, who was looking pretty svelte for a man in his 30s.
The dam broke for Pesci in the fourth, with Clinton scoring one on a single and two more on an error by Danville shortstop Michael Farina.
The home team added four more runs in the fifth. Pesci gave up three singles to start the inning and was replaced by left-hander Nolan Decker, who allowed two singles and a walk. The LumberKings led it 7-0 after five.
There were just a few games between innings, and I only caught two: a knockerball battle, and the emcee tossing rubber chickens to a girl in left field to catch in a laundry basket. (Watch the episode!)
During the game, I got a message inviting me to spend some time on the air with LumberKings broadcaster Andres Tejeda. A native of Chicago, Tejeda has worked in the independent Frontier League, has called multiple sports for the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames, and has worked as a pre-game host for the Rockford IceHogs, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Tejeda handled the in-game interview like a pro, and we had a nice chat about baseball and travel.
The Dans put together a passel of singles in the sixth and made a game of it, plating four runs to make it 7-4 LumberKings.
I ventured to the outfield lawn beyond the left-field fence and found plentiful examples of the aforementioned shadflies.
Clinton scored three more small-ball runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 10-4 lead and seal the deal.
On my way back to our seats, I passed a heated discussion underway in the bullpen that seemed to revolve around the distinction between the words “burger” and “hamburger.” Points were made, theories disputed. It’s the kind of thing that demands thorough examination in the late innings of a six-run game.
I saw LumberKings General Manager Nate Vander Bleek watching the final outs and introduced myself. Before taking the GM role, Nate had performed a variety of jobs over seven seasons with the LumberKings — whatever was needed: groundskeeper, PA announcer, broadcaster, anything it took to help keep this historic franchise rolling.
LumberKings closer Camden Clewett came on in the ninth to make it official. The Baylor freshman faced four hitters and did not allow a batted ball in play, walking one and striking out three.
Another win for the home team, our fourth in a row. Once again, we took advantage of a short drive between ballparks — this time, from Clinton to Davenport, Iowa — to get ourselves to our next hotel for a much-coveted two-night stay.