EAST OF ALLEN

    On September 18, we were in Fresno to see the Fresno Grizzlies take on the San Jose Giants.  The Grizzlies are the low single A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The players here are looking to move up the Rockies farm system to the high A Spokane Indians, double A Hartford Yard Goats and triple A Albuquerque Isotopes.  

Chukchansi Park is owned by the City of Fresno who sold naming rights to the Chucksansi Resort and Casino. This is by far the most spacious park I visited. Built off of downtown Fresno, the ballpark was designed to jump start development interest in the area. Looked to me like the plan may be working — we saw some interesting restaurants and shops nearby and a sizeable farmers market/flea market was busy as we made our way to the stadium.  We arrived a bit early for the game and a line had formed at the entrance.

    

Ironman and many of the Avengers were on hand to meet and greet as we walked in the gates. Nice to see Tony Stark made the trip up from Malibu for the game. I suppose flying to Fresno is easier than driving up the 99.     

    This was the view from our seats.  For a larger ballpark, we still had the feel of being close to the game.  There is an excitement about the park the night we were there and fans seemed active and engaged.  Added bonus was that we saw the Giants 2021 first round pick throw some couple of innings.   

    Parker T. Bear is the Grizzly’s mascot and here he is leading three of the game’s youngest fans, dressed in Parker costumes, on a first to third jog.  Actually, the park is set up well for entertaining kids. They have a cool water feature called splash park down the right field line.

    Here we are, Marcia and I, with the grizzly bear after the game. Overall, we had a great experience at Chuckchansi Park.  We missed pictures with the Avengers. But, I did walk away with a beer bat that formerly held Tioga-Sequoia IPA.   

    While in Fresno, we visited Forestiere Underground Gardens, which is rated by Trip Advisor as the number 1 of 44 things to do in Fresno. The tour was excellent and the grounds really unique and interesting. I don’t recall what the other 43 things are you can do in Fresno, but this was a very worthwhile stop and I recommend it.