DISCLAIMER: This review will probably not be a very popular opinion. But keep in mind that this is a PERSONAL baseball blog, and I am entitled to my opinion. As with all posts on my blogs, any and all nasty, spiteful comments will be deleted, and the commentors face a possible ban.

Okay…now that we got that out of the way…

This is one ballpark that Mike and I are unlikely to visit again. LeLacheur Park is the home of the Lowell Spinners, the Class A (short season) affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. There is nothing wrong with the ballpark itself, it is actually pretty nice. There is a beautiful view of the river from it. But when I hear someone talk about what a great place it is to watch a game, it makes me go “HUH?”

Now, I know that minor league baseball is designed to be a family-friendly experience. But, to me, “family-friendly” should mean “friendly to ALL”. But, in my experience, LeLacheur is WAY more friendly to kids than it is to adults, to the point where kids can pretty much do anything they want there, and we adults who just want to watch a game seem to have NO RIGHT to complain.

We’ve given this place several chances, and it was the same each time. Free-range children running rampant in the stands was the rule of the day each time we attended a game. And the ushers see this, and do NOTHING.

These children like to use the seats and the railings as their own personal jungle gym. When going up and down the steps, to go to and from the restrooms/beer stand/whatever, I need to hold on to the railing, since I do have a problem with my leg that keeps me off-balance. Yet using said railing at this place is next to impossible, because the young *fans* seem to think that it was put there as gymnastics equipment. I say *excuse me*, and they just laugh and ignore me. Once, I was trying to get by with a beer, and one of these little brats did a flip on the railing, and knocked the beer out of my hand. Of course, there were no parents in sight to own up, make their kid sit down, and reimburse me for my lost beer. But there was an usher right there, who saw the whole thing, and did nothing. I didn’t expect the usher to buy me a new beer, but I did expect her to make the kids go and sit in their seats.

We have also had food and beer knocked over by kids pushing their way through the row that we were sitting in…no *excuse me*, no waiting for us to get up to let them by, no nothing. They would just come barrelling past, not caring who or what was in their path. Once again, most of these ill-behaved brats had no parents in sight. Also, on several occasions, I have been kicked in the head by kids who were climbing on the seats behind me.

I have a theory as to why they tolerate this. The Spinners are a VERY popular draw for families in the Lowell area, they sell ut just about every game. But are they afraid that if they correct these ill-behaved brats, that the parents will suddenly re-surface from wherever they were hiding, and boycott the games? It seems to me that they are catering more to these parents who think that the ballpark is free babysitting, than they do to fans like us who just want to sit and watch a game without being physically assaulted by some kids who are acting more like monkeys on crack.

The owners of the Spinners, Drew & Joann Weber, also own the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Class AA affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays). When I learned this, I was a bit hesitant to go to a Fisher Cats game, when that team first started up. But I did give them a try, and was very pleased that the Fisher Cats run things better than the Spinners do. They don’t allow the running rampant of kids that the Spinners seem to. When the ushers at MerchantsAuto.com Stadium see kids doing this sort of thing, they go right up to them and make them stop. The way I see it, The Fisher Cats provide quality baseball, with other forms of entertainment on the side, including lots of stuff for kids to do. The Spinners, on the other hand are running a big kiddie park, where there happens to be a baseball game going on…if you can actually watch it without kids running in front of you so you can’t see the field, or getting kicked in the head, and all.

I sort of feel sorry for the guys who play there, as the focus seems to be more on the kiddie stuff than on the actual game. But if this is what makes money for the Spinners, than so be it. All I can do about it is to choose not to go there again.
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But if you can get tickets and want to check out a Spinners game, here are a few tips (wear a helmet???). Most games start at 5:05PM or later…they don’t do many afternoon games. My guess is that this is due to the fact that LeLacheur Park has NO roof whatsover, thus, no shield at all from the hot July/August sun. This is my one gripe about the physical aspects of the park itself. Anyway, since the games are later in the day, it is easy to just get there early to find a place to park, especially on weekends. I don’t know much about during the week, but on weekends, you can park for free on the street. When we went, we got there a few hours early and went to hang out at a place called The Brewery Exchange, which is a short walk from the ballpark. That place has some good microbrews, and decent food. I’m glad that we liked it, because we’d always end up going back there when we couldn’t stand the kiddie assault at that ballpark any longer.. We have NEVER stayed there for a complete game, that is how bad it was. We’d just end up hanging out at the brewpub, where we could have a couple of beers that didn’t get knocked over by rampaging kids. And then, after we knew that the game was letting out, we’d just wait for the traffic to let up, and then head home ourselves.

If you can’t park on the street, I’m afraid you will have to pay. Most lots we saw were around five bucks. Not bad, but I prefer to avoid having to pay when possible.

There is also another reason to eat someplace BEFORE the game. The concessions are not very good at this ballpark. It seems that they are always out of something, like hot dogs or French fries, and I have always had to wait for them to make more. As a former restaurant professional, this is unacceptable…they shoud KNOW about how many people to expect, how much they sell each night, and prepare for that. They sell out for every game, yet it seems to me that they are trying to cut corners by prepping up as little food as possible at a time, and also not having enough people to bring backups of food to the stands.

Beer selection is okay. They do have some brews from the aforementioned Brewery Exchange on tap, but other than that, their taps are wasted on swill like Budweiser and Miller Lite. For other micros, you have to get it from a bottle, which is not as good. Beer afficianados know that all brews taste better on draught. Yes, a lot of people drink Bud, and it would be stupid NOT to have taps for that, but how about a few more for other micros? I do give them points for having some of the local brews, though.

As I said before, we have given this place several chances…as it might have been possible that we just hit it on a bad day. But sadly, the experience was not good on subsequent visits, so we gave up and won’t go there again. They did not respond to any of my complaints and concerns, so I guess that the family business is more important to them than ours is.

So, there you have it folks…in my humble opinion, LeLacheur Park = the Chuck E. Cheese of ballparks. This is bad, or good, depending on how you look at it!