I actually saw a Steelheads' game at the Nut Tree. All I remember was that one of the "promos" was a drawing that let the winner sit in a couch in the front row of the seats on the first base side. It was an independent league and I went with a family member who knew a guy who was on his last days as a player. He'd made it to AAA, but the writing was on the wall. He soon gave up playing, but I think is now a hitting coach in the bigs.

How was the game experience ? That must not have been the game where the Steelheads' owner went on the field and got into a fight with former Giants' player Kevin Mitchell. An article I read said he then had a t- shirt promotion mocking Mitchell. Bush league stuff.

I remember after his senior season former Aggie catcher/outfielder Chris Stretch played in that same league briefly, and it might have been for the Steelheads. It was odd because the Western League advertised that they only wanted players with Division I or professional experience and he had neither (unless you count those non- conference mid- week games against the likes of Sac State and St. Mary's). It was probably that they urgently needed a catcher and he could play.

Anyway Stretch played very little, but his first (and maybe only- he got very little playing time so it's possible) professional hit was off of former A's pitcher Steve Ontiveros. Later that season Ontiveros signed a Triple- A contract with the Rockies, but somehow wound up with the Red Sox, with whom he returned to the majors for 3 games after he'd been away five years- at the age of 39.

Some independent league teams have rinky- dink operations but others are class acts, like the St. Paul Saints. They supposedly have a new and fancy ballpark with a baseball museum and high- end farm-to- fork options in their concession stands. Some of the affiliated teams don't do nearly so well. I was not impressed with the ballparks for the San Jose Giants and Boise Hawks. I was really put off by the Giants' experience. They were a little elitist there. I verified with one of the ushers where my seat was. Then when some of the richy- rich regulars showed up I saw that same usher point in my direction and speak to another usher, who came over and verified my ticket again, as if I couldn't possibly be of enough means to afford an $18 ticket in the section where their valued customers sat. In my opinion Excite Ballpark is one of those places you go for a different experience and then never feel much of an urge to visit again, like the entire city of Seattle. Some people love Seattle- don't see it.

USF has such a strange ballpark. I have no idea how left fielders avoid running into the scoreboard- why did they put it on the field ? I've never seen a ballpark where they have bleachers with attached chairback seats that have no stairs alongside to climb into them. And the bleachers are only along the 1st base side. The only seating on the third base side is at picnic tables where you can only sit if you're a big donor or something. Still a better experience than Excite.