Security Service Field

The day following the game at Coors, we headed down to Colorado Springs to check out their AAA affiliate, the Sky Sox, at Security Service Field.   Admittidley, we've begun following the Rockies' entire organization more closely, living with their AA affiliate in our own backyard.  Also factoring in, was my (alleged) obsession with Scott Beerer, who had been promoted from Tulsa to Colorado Springs about a month ago.  To give a little background on this so-called obsessions, Beerer played at Texas A&M as our LF/closer while I was in school, so following his career since we moved here has been fun.

We arrived at the stadium in our Drillers gear about an hour prior to first pitch as a light drizzle was falling to find a tarped infield and an empty playing field.  It looked as if we might be in for a long night.  Shortly after finding our seats, the rain stopped. The grounds crew removed the tarp, and the players took the field to warm up.  Luckily, we were able to catch Beerer as he headed out, and he graciously signed what we had brought and chatted us up a bit.



Beerer and I pregame

Tangent over.  Let's get down to the stadium...

Promotions:
Keeping with MiLB tradition, it was Thirsty Thursday.  In lieu of $1 domestic beers, the Sky Sox offered a select $3 microbrew.  On the night we attended, local restaurants were competing to see who had the best wings in Colorado Springs.  Each restaurant was offering free samples of their wings.  Unfortunately, we did not learn about this until after the fact.  Grade: B.

Concessions:

At Security Service Field, the usual suspects are all available.  However, there were a few highlights.  One stand offered funnel cakes and garlic fries.  Jenny got an order of the garlic fries, and they did not disappoint.  As a bonus, the batch we got was freshly out of the fryer and seasoned as we waited.  Although we did not sample everything the stadium had to offer, it seemed like it was a tough one to beat.  I ordered was a "Chicago style" hot dog and was clearly out-ordered.  The hot dog was good but was not what I would call "Chicago style."  Although good enough, there were no peppers, pickle, tomato slices or poppy seed bun to be found.  Helping to bring up the score was the stand featurinng the Colorado Springs local micro brewery, Bristol Brewing Company.  Grade B+.

Hooray microbrews!

Overall gameday experience:

Opened in 1988, Security Service Field has a couple of claims to fame.  The first, at 6531 feet above sea level, it sports the highest elevation of any professional baseball stadium.  At a capacity of only 8500, it is the smallest venue in all of AAA baseball. 

As far as MiLB experience goes, it delivers.  Due to the fact we were there an hour before game time, one of the ushers asked us if we'd be willing to participate in one of the on-field promotions between innings.  Our objective: Race one another to complete a relay in which we had to construct a giant foam hamburger.  Due to this, we decided to hold off on beer/food until after we were finished sprinting at altitude.  The race was pretty close, thanks in part to an assist to the Sky Sox mascot, Sox the Fox, setting a pick on me during the final layer.  Obviously, the between innings promos gets high marks from us, even though they were fairly standard.  The aforementioned Sox the Fox is another reason to come out to a game in Colorado Springs.  It's safe to say he's the most popular mascot we've seen this season as kids were badgering him all night for autographs and photos.  He's pretty athletic, demonstrating profeciency in a pre-game back flip and making leaps between the stands and dugout all night long. 

Because of the pregame wing competition, he also got to work his game with some of the local Hooters girls.

Clearly, they're impressed

 As with Coors Field, everyone at the stadium was very friendly.  Ticket prices are also very reasonable.  We purchased our tickets 2 days before the game and were able to snag tickets 5 rows behind the Sky Sox dugout for only $12/each.

 

The one final small nitpick we have with the Sky Sox, is their lack of discression in retiring numbers.  He managed the team for a total of 4 seasons, but for some reason, Brad Mills was able to get his numbers placed among the Sky Sox elite.



Apparently, he was able to coach young players effectively at one point...



Although lacking in some of the amenities provided by MiLB's newer parks, Security Service Field is able to present Minor League Baseball in its intended simplicity in an enjoyable setting. (yes, we may be slightly biased since we were part of the show).  Grade B+.