Mapping the path

EASTERN MIDWEST BASEBALL

Lake Erie Crushers

Arriving in Cleveland, Dad and I check out League Park and the Baseball Heritage Museum. After lunch at Wolf Pack Chorus, we visit the Cleveland Museum of Art. Our night game is rained out, but we switch things up with a trip to see the Lake Erie Crushers.

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The selection of a driving route from Columbus to Cleveland presents many options. You can take I-71, with concrete and freight trucks dominating your experience; or you can meander up a smaller, parallel highway to the east, more relaxing and bucolic, through the small towns and farms of Sunbury, Mt. Vernon, Loudonville, and more.

Dad and I made the right choice. The three-hour drive went relatively quickly on the smaller highway. We listened to several podcasts as we watched Ohio roll by, including an older episode of Baseball by Design featuring an interview with Alan Miller, owner of the Lake County Captains, our scheduled team for the night.

The ballpark originally had 9,000 seats but was rebuilt in 1910, expanding the capacity to 21,414. The architecture firm that designed it went on to design Comiskey Park, the Polo Grounds, Tiger Stadium, and Fenway Park. Its most remarkable feature was a short right-field fence, just 290 feet from home plate but 40 feet high. Babe Ruth’s 500th career home run sailed over that fence.

It is now a public park. The baseball diamond remains, as does a slab of brick façade from the original ballpark, adorned with tributes to the many baseball stars who played at League Park.

Much more baseball history can be found in the Baseball Heritage Museum, which was moved from downtown to League Park when the ballpark was renovated in 2014. In addition to covering the people and events of League Park, the museum showcases memorabilia from the Latin and Caribbean leagues, the Industrial and barnstorming leagues, and the Negro and women’s leagues.

We stepped inside and spoke to two generous hosts who told lengthy baseball stories full of rich detail in reply to the simplest of questions.

But our needs in the afternoon are simpler. I had a (surprise!) pastrami sandwich; Dad had an enormous double-decker club that he could not defeat in one sitting.

We spent much of our time tracing the last 150 years of European and American art. I then picked up my pace to catch glimpses of the museum’s collections from East Asia, India, Africa, the Middle East, and Central America; as well as from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome.

Outside, it continued to rain. Every now and again, I checked my weather app and social media for updates on the status of our game. The rain looked to be clearing up soon, but our chances of seeing a game were increasingly dicey. It had rained for a few hours already.

We drove back to the hotel to rest. The rain stopped and appeared to be staying away. While Dad napped, I downloaded some video, charged devices, and rested a bit. I checked my phone just as we grabbed our things to leave for the ballpark. I had a private message from a ballpark fan who saw the news: Our game with the Lake County Captains had been postponed!

My mind raced. What now? It was Saturday night. We were due to see the Lake Erie Crushers on Sunday, then the Akron RubberDucks on Monday, all without leaving our hotel near Cleveland. This made it possible to switch teams and nights. I checked the Crushers social media, and their game was still on. We could go there and see the Captains the next day without skipping a beat. Off we went, a whole new ballgame ahead.

The lake-influenced soils of Avon and Avon Lake (its neighbor on the coast) were discovered to be good for both grapes and wine-making in the 1800s. By the 1880s, grapes were a cornerstone crop in the region. Prohibition devastated the industry, but a handful of winemakers persisted. Today, just a few keep the tradition going, including Klingshirn Winery (established in 1936) and John Christ Winery (established in 1946), where we stopped for a few quick photos.

Soon after, we arrived at Mercy Health Stadium, the Crushers home since 2009, when they began as an expansion team in the independent Frontier League. It seats 5,000 and was known as All Pro Freight Stadium, Sprenger Stadium, and Crushers Stadium before being sponsored by Mercy Health — because all ballparks in America will ultimately be named after health-care firms or banks.

We had no trouble exchanging our tickets for two great aisle seats. Dad and I were greeted at the front gate by a few Lake Erie players handing out bandanna giveaways — a welcome and personal touch we had seen in our other Frontier League experience with the Schaumburg Boomers.

The Crushers name was determined in a contest that did not just encompass the nickname but also the place name. Contenders to “Lake Erie” included Avon, Cleveland, Lorain County, and Ohio; and “Crushers” went up against the Groove, Ironmen, Red Tails, Artichokes, Walleyes, and Woollies. I think they made the right choice on both accounts.

Travis Hafner and Coco Crisp are technically Crushers alumni, but each appeared in just one game after their Major League careers were over. Others include Ryan Feierabend, who finished a 19-year baseball career in Lake Erie after pitching in parts of five Major League seasons in Seattle, Texas, and Toronto, playing for 14 different minor league squads, joining another independent club, and appearing for teams in Korea, China, and Venezuela.

He still had it in 2021, starting 18 games for Lake Erie and putting up a 2.79 ERA with 108 strikeouts and just 12 walks.

Lake Erie’s team store is called “Fan-Attic,” which is pretty good. Given the wine-making theme, “Fan-Addict” might be better but was understandably not considered.

The Crushers have great colors, and their bat-wielding angry grape is fun. But there were really only two great choices for hats — purple on purple, or purple on white. I was so determined to buy the latter that I got one that was comically large for my head.

The two teams on tap for our game were battling it out for the lead in the Frontier League’s West division, with the Crushers at 27-15, a half-game behind their opponent, the Washington Wild Things. Both would make the league playoffs. The Crushers would advance as a Wild Card team, beating the Gateway Grizzlies before being swept by the Wild Things in the best-of-three division series.

The Wild Things would advance to the Frontier League championship, winning the first game but losing the next three to the Québec Capitales, who took the title.

It was Country Night at the ballpark, and a handful of fans took part in a line-dancing session down the third-base side.

I began scouting our options at the concession stand. The food at Mercy Health Park is pretty straightforward — hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken, plus the Bibibop Asian Grill, serving chicken and steak bowls.

I stopped at the Hot Dog Wally’s stand and studied the menu. Within seconds, Wally himself — Walter McPeek, owner of Hot Dog Wally’s — was standing next to me and offering free hot dogs for me and Dad. Wally had started his business working Ohio State games in Columbus and has since partnered with the Cleveland Cavaliers, minor league hockey’s Cleveland Monsters, and the now-defunct Cleveland Destroyers of the Arena Football League.

Wally attested passionately to the dogs’ homemade quality. Despite the complete mess I made in the photos, they were terrific.

The game got underway with a quick run from Washington off Crushers starter Anthony Escobar. Lake Erie, on the other hand, came out cold, with each of the first eight batters failing to reach base.

Hitting in the ninth spot, Crushers second baseman Walner Espinal broke up the no-hitter in the third inning with his first home run of the season, tying it up 1-1. The 24-year-old Venezuelan had not made it out of the rookie Gulf Coast League with the Miami Marlins and was now playing for his fourth independent team in as many seasons.

There was a smattering of fan games on the field between innings, including a man trying to hit a baseball off a tee and through a hula hoop, a son weakly power-washing his dad, country music karaoke, and the ever-popular knockerball. (Watch the episode!)

The Crushers tacked on runs in the fourth and fifth to take a 3-1 lead, thanks to two doubles from third baseman Logan Thomason, playing in his first year as a professional after a solid amateur career at Eastern Kentucky University.

The sun began to set behind the third-base side, bringing some welcome color to a gray day. Lake Erie put the game well out of reach in the sixth inning, batting around and adding six more runs to their tally. The onslaught included a single from Thomason, his third hit of the night. Lake Erie was crushing the Wild Things, 9-1.

I walked out to the outfield berm, where kids tumbled down the grass on what turned out to be a beautiful night for baseball.

Escobar left the game after 6 2/3 innings, having given up just the first-inning run. The bullpen took it from there, keeping Washington off the board for the rest of the game. The Crushers cruised to a 9-1 victory.

After the game, I had a quick chat and a photo with Crushers Marketing Manager Julia Fulk, who had been following our road trip. I think I could have fit a family of songbirds in the extra space of my over-sized hat.

Our fireworks fortunes continued: The shift in schedule meant a bonus night of pyrotechnics. We were treated to great show — this time with a country music theme — to end another wild day on the road.