Minor League Ball

Since the demise of the Newark Bears where is the best place (any place) to see minor league ball around MSO? 


We really enjoy going to the Somerset Patriots games.  Its a very family-friendly stadium and they have a fairly decent beer selection.

We haven't yet gone to Montclair to see the Jackals.


We enjoy Montclair quite a bit.  Fun games, and very family oriented.


I have yet to go but I hear Skylands stadium in Augusta NJ is apparently a great place to catch a ball game. http://skylandsstadium.com/baseball-back/

 A lot depends on the quality of play you want to see. For the higher level play, I like the Trenton Thunders for pretty good quality baseball. But as a Mets fan I need to warn you that they are now double A affiliate of the Yankees. 

I've never been to the Somerset team either but besides what EBennet said I've heard the same positive things from others too.


To follow up on Wendy's post, the Jackals, the Miners (scheduled to play in Augusta, NJ in 2015), and the Somerset Patriots are independent minor league teams.  The teams that are affiliated with major league teams include the Hudson Valley Renegades (Tampa Bay Rays), the Brooklyn Cyclones (NY Mets), the Staten Island Yankees (single "A" affiliate), the Trenton Thunder (double A affiliate of the New York Yankees), and the Lakewood Blue Claws (Philadelphia Phillies).

The Trenton Thunder club has a tradition of featuring a bat dog, which can be fun to watch. The nice thing about an affiliated team, even if you are not a fan of the major league team, and especially if you are, is that you could see a future Mike Trout type of player in the making.  It is not as common for an independent league player to be picked up by a Major League club.  The affiliated teams are not as close by, so there would be some travel expenses, but it might make for a fun day trip

Here's a link to the story about the Trenton Thunder's bat dog:

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/04/trenton_thunders_newest_bat_dog_rookie_2015_season.html


And to follow up on ebr95's post - ;-)

We celebrated my son's then 8th or 9th year birthday down at the Thunder's stadium (it may have been a Red Sox affiliate then) bringing him and about 8 friends (divided into 2 cars if I recall) to the game. I was very impressed with the stadium and all that went with the game. I didn't notice the batdog but perhaps the 9 or so boys we had to deal with prevented me from focusing on those early innings. Great article! 

But getting to the point above about seeing future players at this level of play. It doesn't have to be a future Yankee either. Flash forward to my son's internship for SNY back in 2012 working on Mets Weekly and he and the crew were sent to Trenton to interview then Wheeler, and former Met den Dekker (likely down from Binghampton). There's also the Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets affiliate. My son actually interviewed Plawecki (and Brandon Nimmo) when they were both playing in Brooklyn.



In order to add a comment – you must Join this community – Click here to do so.