Oklahoma City, OK

Park # 23

What I Remember

I remember wondering “Is this what it looks like before a tornado?” We were amped up after Nolan Ryan’s no-hitter and had started our drive north the night before so we arrived in Oklahoma City on a hot sticky Thursday morning. The sun was out at All Sports Stadium and the team’s staff gave us a tour. We got shots of the field too but the clouds thickened as the afternoon went along and by late afternoon the local radio stations had posted tornado watches and it began to pour.

We knew this day would come, it was a little surprising that we made it through April without a postponement but Oklahoma City became the first rain out of what would ultimately be eleven that season and we headed off toward Wichita.

In retrospect, Nolan Ryan’s no-hitter would have been a tough act for any game to follow, perhaps it was better to set the reset button and I did see a game at Oklahoma City’s lovely new Bricktown ballpark on my 2003 Extra Innings Tour.

The Game(s)

Denver Zephyrs @ Oklahoma City 89ers ppd. rain

The Box (Click on the arrows to see more images)

The Trip

A look at the space between the dots on this map tells the story of the changing nature of this part of our Excellent Adventure. The average drives in the California League were two to three hours, the Texas League and American Association stops were often twice that.