Memphis, TN

Park # 26

What I Remember

Of all the minor league cities that we saw on the 1991 Excellent Adventure few had undergone as dramatic a transformation by the time I went back 12 years later, as Memphis had. The Memphis Redbirds I saw in 2003 played in the nicest park in the minors at the time, AutoZone park was like Camden Yards fitted for a Triple-A team. It was right downtown, drew great crowds…it had everything

The Memphis Chicks team we saw on a Sunday evening 30 years ago today were a throwback. The team played in the Double-A Southern League and its ballpark, venerable Tim McCarver Stadium, was five miles to the southeast, near the Liberty Bowl stadium.

Aside from the fact that the game was the longest we had seen to that point, 13 innings, the thing I remember about McCarver Stadium was that there was an historic marker of sorts in the outfield bleachers. It marked the spot where Bo Jackson had hit is first home run in Memphis five years earlier.

The Game(s)

Memphis Chicks 5 Jacksonville Suns 4 (13 Inns)

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

The Memphis Chicks had been having a woeful season when we arrived, they had won just 5 of 22 games. However, the home team won this one and we both kept score all the way through the long Sunday evening game.

The Trip