Are you looking to knock your kids’ summer out of the park without breaking the bank? Why not take the kiddos out to a Minor League ballgame?
Metro Detroit’s first independent professional baseball league, The United Shore Professional Baseball League, offers all the fun of Major League Baseball at a fraction of the cost, without the hassle of city traffic and costly parking lots.
The four teams within the league, the Utica Unicorns, the Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers, Eastside Diamond Hoppers and, new for 2017, the Westside Woolly Mammoths, go head-to-head with one another every Thursday-Sunday from May until September at Jimmy John’s Field Baseball Park in Utica.
“I designed it to play in the best Michigan weather and on the best days of the week for families,” says Andrew Appleby, chairman and chief executive officer of parent company General Sports and Entertainment in Rochester. “Thursday through Sunday are perfect because moms and dads aren’t working.”
Tickets start at $6 for lawn seats and range to $35 for front row club seats. Parking is free of charge.
Need more convincing? This year, the park adds on a bunch of family-friendly promotional entertainment on game days including a human cannon ball, helicopter candy drops, fireworks and a chance for kids to run the bases on Fridays. They’ve even re-vamped the concessions for the 2017 season to include freshly smoked barbecue, Philly Cheese Steak Nachos, foot-long hot dogs and garlic fries on top of beloved classics like peanuts and Crackerjacks.
Tickets Jimmy John’s Field Baseball Park is located on Auburn Road in Utica. Tickets are sold online or at the park box office prior to the game.
More about the Jimmy John’s Field Baseball Park
Address: 7171 Auburn Road, Utica
Seats: 4,500 fans/game
Tickets: $6-$40/game
Phone: 248-601-2400
When are the games?
Thursdays: 7:05 p.m. May 11-Sept. 7
Fridays: 7:05 p.m. May 12-Sept. 8
Saturdays: 7:05 p.m. May 13-Sept. 9
Sundays: 1:35 p.m. May 14-Sept. 10
Plus Monday July 3 and Monday Sept. 4 at 1:35 p.m.
This post was originally published in 2016 and has been updated for 2017 by Christina Clark.
