by Erin Knowles
What do Mark Grace, Albert Pujols, Coco Crisp, Joe Girardi, Rafael Palmeiro, and Yadier Molina have in common? If you guessed they are, or were, major league baseball players, you would be correct. But if you said that they are all former players for the Peoria Chiefs? I would say that you know your baseball history and would be most impressed!
Ninety miles to the west, Peoria is home to the Chiefs, a Class-A minor league affiliate team of the St. Louis Cardinals, which competes in the Western Division of the Midwest League. The Midwest League plays a full season of 140 games, and is made up of a mix of players, each with a player development contract with a major league team, early in their professional careers,
For families, the Peoria Chiefs organization has so much to offer. Dozer Park (formerly, as in weeks ago was known as O’Brien Field until Caterpillar, Inc. which is headquartered in Peoria, invested in the team) is an intimate stadium without a bad seat in the house. There is a Kids Zone area behind center field that includes a bounce house, pitching game, and playground. With plenty of room to roam around for the kids who find sitting in their seats too much, you can stretch out in the berm seating (a grassy section near the outfield), enjoy your food in the Picnic Plaza (behind right field), or wait for a long ball in the left field landing.
Each time we’ve gone to a game, families seem to make up a majority of the crowd. The Chiefs’ Homer Kids Club is a free program for children 12 and under, and it includes one box seat ticket to six pre-selected games throughout the season, the ability to run the bases after every Kids club game, and other super cool opportunities to participate in activities on and off the field (including chances to meet the players!).
The entertainment during (and after) the games is also quite entertaining. Oversized tricycle races, flat-screen TV giveaways, base-running races against Homer, the Dalmatian dog mascot, and fireworks are just some of the fun you will have. The night we went was 25-cent hot dog night, and why we didn’t think to just eat our dinner at the ballpark is beyond me! This might be the night your family can start a hot dog eating contest if you so choose: the cap for purchase is EIGHT hotdogs per trip (to the concession stand), so take advantage of this opportunity and let us know how you do, would you?
Tickets are $10 per person (including kids), and $11 the nights they have fireworks. Lawn seats are $7. Quite often they run specials in which kids 12 and under get in free, and with parking set at $5 (and easy to come by right next door!), rooting for the regional hometown team is a fun and exciting summertime activity.
You can find out more about specials and what’s happening at the games by checking out their Facebook page, or see live, game-time status updates via Twitter.
Erin Knowles made the leap from full-time employment to work-at-home entrepreneur. While her business is lifestyle photography, she is an artist who holds a camera. Erin is also active in the community, serving on the Orpheum Children’s Science Museum Board of Directors as well as being involved in the UP Center of Champaign County. Erin and her partner of 18 years, Cari, are parents to Henry (5) and Millie (3), who never cease to make life interesting. Her favorite quote from the week comes from her son to Cari: “Mommy, even if there was a better mom out there I wouldn’t want her because you cook the BEST food!”