Photos from Clinton - Part Five

Hot dogs and Cracker Jack not good enough for you? Stop by Granny's Sugar Shack for Mini Donuts, Fried Oreo's, and Funnel Cakes.


Bored with the LumberKings game? Head down the left field line, turn around, and watch a little league game behind you. This may be the only place in the league where you can watch two baseball games at once. Beloit has a similar setup, but I'm not sure the view is as good.


The shot of the stadium from the left field lawn section. In addition to the backstop net, a fence extends over the roof of the stadium, keeping more balls from leaving the stadium. I'm sure this is a protective measure to keep the church in the background from getting pelted with foul balls. And yes, that is the steeple of the church you see, but it is being worked on right now so a lot of scaffolding surrounds it.

Photos from Clinton - Part Four

Although looking through some trees in left field, that's the riverboat casino that sits behind center field. Again, it actually extends above the top of the batters eye, thus making it difficult for a player to pick up the ball out of a right handers arm. Then again, it didn't seem to impact the Hawks last night, as they had no trouble finding the ball.


The left field lawn section/picnic area. Two things to notice here: 1) The left field wall has an S curve in it. 2) Odd looking light towers, and they are awfully low compared to other fields.


Kids play area down the left field line. Apparently some of the bark has spilled out onto the sidewalk. Clean up in aisle 5.


Another view of the S curve wall in left field. Why not just make the wall straight out there? If I was a left fielder, I'd be annoyed by this. But I'm not, so I won't complain.


The LumberKings bullpen mound and a general shot of the stadium from foul ground in left field.

Photos from Clinton - Part Three

A picnic garden down the left field line. The only thing I don't like about this area is that some of the tables sit in places where you can see the plate/mound area because of the seating bowl. The tables right along the fence are fine though and give you a good view of everything going on.


The same picnic area, from a different angle. Again, if you were sitting in the tables on the far left of this picture, there is no way you can see the field.


I was standing up in the Silver Hawks dugout when I took this picture. Unlike most other dugouts, this one doesn't really have a way to see the field without looking through a chain link fence. Only one person on each end of the dugout can stand on the stairs and see the field without the fence in front of them.


This is the batters eye. You can't tell from this picture, but the wall is actually about 20 feet tall. It's probably the weakest excuse for a batters eye in the league. If you look at it from the plate, there is actually a white riverboat casino that sits directly behind it, and thus makes it hard for hitters to pick up the ball out of a right handed pitchers delivery.


The view from the Lumber Lounge beyond the right field fence. I could enjoy watching a game here.

Photos from Clinton - Part Two

This is the "Lumber Lounge" as you can see, and it's located beyond the right field wall. It is built entirely out of wood (aka lumber), and has a lot of picnic tables. A great area for group outings and picnics. It gives you a good view of the field too, which you'll see in a minute.


The Hawks taking batting practice. Just a general view of the stadium as well.


Does this picture look familiar? It should. I used it on the website last night for the game story. Hey, these pictures don't just automatically appear on the website...some of us actually do some work to get them up there. I wish I could put an action photo up for the game stories each night, but traveling by myself, I can't leave the booth and take photos during the game obviously.


Down the right field line, shooting back towards the plate area. Again, notice how the entire seating area is covered by a roof.


This is an example of one of the walkways that you take from the concourse up to the seating area. I chose section E to take a picture of, but I can't really explain why. There's also an A, B, C, and D. Imagine that!

Photos from Clinton - Part One

We start our journey outside the seating bowl. Believe it or not, when I took this picture I was actually inside the stadium. This is the concourse, behind the seating area. The awning on the left side is a concession stand (although I took the picture before the windows were open). Alliant Energy Field does not have an "open" concourse, meaning you cannot see the game from the concourse area.


A view of the press box. The windows on the left (under the Midwest League logos sign) is my radio booth.



From inside the booth, taken through a window looking at the seating area. You can see how the seats are all covered by a roof. A lot of protection from the weather for the fans. Good on rainy days, bad on days with beautiful weather.


The view from my booth, although this shot is angled a bit towards the left field line. I actually sit directly behind the window on the left and look straight towards home plate. The next picture shows my actual view a lot better.


This is my actual view....what I see when I'm calling the game. You can't get a great idea from this picture, but I am very close to home plate. In fact, I'd have to say that I'm closer to home plate in Clinton than at any other ballpark in the Midwest League.