Work travel sent me to Wisconsin this week so I decided to go a couple hours out of the way and catch a Kernels game in Cedar Rapids. After seeing several games in Beloit last year, it was easy to see why the Twins were so keen to change their affiliation to the Kernels

 

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Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium is a much nicer stadium. You enter via a gate in left field and are greeted by a lovely green field with a lawn and party area to the left and standard stadium plastic seats (with cup holders!) around the infield. Bleachers in right field complete the seating. The concourse is open to the field and nice and wide. Concession stands were ample and a big plus over Beloit, they take credit cards. The team store is accessible from inside during games and outside otherwise.

 

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They had a stand setup on the concourse for players to sign for fans before the game. Hudson Boyd and Tyler Duffy were Monday's players. The team had picture sheets for those people who didn't have items to sign or for the kids. I had my Twins Prospect Handbook with me so had each sign their section.

Berrios was the starting pitcher. He went 6.2 strong innings with 8 strikeouts. He has some heat and hit the mid 90's with regularity as well as off speed pitches in the 70's and 80's.

 

Buxton was name I'd been hearing constantly since the Midwest League Season got underway. He didn't disappoint. After a strikeout in his first plate appearance, he would later walk, and

New to Perfect Game Field this year is a new bright shiny scoreboard. It allows for video segments, player profiles with pictures and the lineup to be shown. And on Monday night show a lovely 9-1 Kernels win.

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If you like to watch minor league baseball, I highly recommend heading south to Cedar Rapids. And go soon, in case Buxton gets promoted. He's worth the trip.

Full picture set is loaded on Flickr.

Thanks for sharing! I'm really glad you enjoyed your visit and that you got to see both Berrios and Buxton show a little bit of why everyone raves about them. Of course, getting to see a win just makes it that much better!

I had a benefactor for a ticket so that made it even better

Boy, the players get younger every year, don't they? You sure those are Boyd and Duffey, and not a couple of middle-schoolers?

Looks like Buxton went from home to 3rd in about 10 seconds, 2nd to 3rd in about 3 seconds. He didn't take the best route either, which isn't to knock his base running skills but to point out how fast he is. He's like a track star when he gets in high gear.