Chattanooga Lookouts 12 at Knoxville Smokies 1 (Southern League) - April 16, 2025

In 2000, the Knoxville Smokies moved to suburban Kodak, about 20 miles east of downtown, leaving the city without professional baseball for the first time since 1972. Of course, the University of Tennessee has baseball but they are a spring team, with the season ending in early May. So if you wanted to see the 'Boys of Summer', you had to drive a bit, which I did in 2016 as part of my quest to complete all 160 minor league ballparks. By that time, Knoxville native Randy Boyd had owned the Smokies for three years and had already begun planning to move them back to the city, having bought several properties in Old City, a neighborhood on the northern edge of downtown. A few years later, the move was announced and was expected to happen mid-season in 2024, but the realities of a post-COVID construction market forced them to delay the opening until the start of the 2025 campaign. I'm glad they did because it allowed me to combine my visit to Spartanburg on the same trip.

The new stadium is Covenant Health Park and its inaugural game was the day before we attended, thus allowing us to miss the opening day 'zoo' as one usher called it. We were staying downtown and made the short walk through Old City, with its eclectic collection of bars and restaurants (the Tennessee cheesecake at Barley's Taproom is fantastic), as well as a new mural welcoming the Smokies home along Jackson Avenue.

We arrived an hour before first pitch, just as gates were opening. We were greeted by a couple of tube men wearing the new uniforms (the team was the Tennessee Smokies while they were in Kodak).

There is an impressive sculpture honouring the Payne Avenue Little Leaguers of 1951 that is one of seven statues unveiled the week prior. The other six recognize members of the Knoxville Giants of the Negro Southern League who played here between 1920-32 are can be found at various spots around the venue.

The box office is here right next to the team store, and the cheapest ticket is $18 to sit down the lines ($4 more will get you behind the plate, while kids are two bucks cheaper). With my daughter in tow, I was hoping for a berm or general admission ticket at a reduced rate, but none was to be found. It took them several minutes to figure out some computer problem and then when I asked for a printed ticket, they refused, despite having a ticket printer with ticket stock right next to the computer. Minor league baseball used to be family friendly, now it is just another frustrating sporting event where fans come second. At least concessions were somewhat reasonable, but still, $18 to get into a AA game? I guess inflation has left me behind. (I considered going again on Friday but prices were even higher, though there were SRO tickets at $21.)

Before entering, we walked down the street to look at the exterior where a rather unlikely claim could be spotted. First, the ballpark opened the day before so any declaration about its friendliness is debatable; second, this ballpark is not so friendly to my wallet.

Inside the main entrance, a staircase with Knoxville in the team script takes you up to the main concourse.

Having visited the Salt Lake Bees new stadium exactly one week before, I felt a bit of deja vu here. With so many new minor league and independent ballparks popping up, it's natural that they are going to use the best features of those that came previously; it's essentially an evolution that has reached its pinnacle. Pretty much every new ballpark has green seats extending midway down the lines, a section or two of benches, an upper deck of suites and a party area, picnic areas in the corners, a social area or bar in the outfield, drink rails, a berm or other general admission section, and a kids area or playground. Of course, they are not identical and each has a unique feature or two, but still, the age of the quirky ballyard has passed.

This is not a complaint either, just an observation. Minor league baseball is now a big business and each franchise must provide the local community with the best ballpark experience they can muster. Since most fans will only visit a few other stadiums, if any, so they will not experience the repetitive ballpark blahs that I am sometimes get on these trips.



Looking around the stadium, you will see several residential developments that are still being constructed. When complete, this neighborhood will be even more vibrant in the summer and will turn Old City into something new. 

Just like in Salt Lake, the third base party deck was not being used, so anyone could go up. The two pictures above and below are taken from essentially the same spot, just the one below is from the upper deck. As you can see, the sun sets behind first base, but by the time the game starts at 7 p.m., all seats down the lines are in the shade.

The picnic area in left field will have to wait an inning or two for shade, but that shouldn't be too much of a hindrance as you can wander around and stand at one of many drink rails if the sun is too much.

In center field you will find a very cool playground, near which I spent a great deal of the game. Before first pitch, it was rather empty but when we returned in the 4th inning, it was packed with kids and my daughter spent about 90 minutes here making friends while I watched the game from the above the center field fence.



The bullpens are here as well, and put the concourse farther back from the fence, making home run balls a bit more unlikely.

The unique feature here is First Creek, a small waterway that extends beyond the outfield fence and requires a bridge to traverse. The shot below is from the other side of the creek, and I guess a few home run balls will find their way into the water. As well, this might be the farthest point from home plate in a minor league park.

The right field bar area is your best bet if you want a souvenir as the game saw three homers hit here, sending beer-bellied boosters jogging after the balls.

Along the third base line there is a large alcove where you can find a giant inflatable chair that seems to be a lawsuit waiting to happen. A concession stand near here offers Smokies helmets filled with ice cream for only $6, a bargain these days.

There is also another one of the statues here; this one represents William M. Brooks, who was a founding executive of the Negro Southern League and the first manager of the Knoxville Giants in 1920. 

Capacity here is 7,000 and for the historic first game, 6,451 were in attendance. For the second game, only 3,410 came out, but of course, it's a midweek affair with a late start time and kids are still in school.

The scoreboard is shaped like Tennessee but there were still a few kinks to be worked out. Players with long names like Hector Rodriguez saw their surname excluded, though this was fixed midway through the game.

The above picture was taken from a drink rail and if I was solo, I would have stood here for most of the game. I enjoy and admire all ballparks and this one is no different, but I would enjoy it even more if there was a cheaper ticket option for us tightwads. Still, the location is fantastic and there are plenty of options for pregame and postgame libations, while families with young kids will appreciate the playground. Which is where the smart people were because the game was over early.

The Game

It was an NL Central battle at the AA level as Cincinnati's affiliate Chattanooga were visiting to take on the Smokies, whose parent club is the Cubs. Hunter Parks (8th round, 2021, below) started for the Lookouts, while Nick Hull (7th, 2022) took the rubber for Knoxville. Unfortunately, Hull was awful as the first inning went single, single, pickoff, single, stolen base, triple, strike out. This brought Austin Hendrick (12th overall in 2020) to the plate and he homered to right to make it 4-0 'Nooga before the Smokies had a chance to bat.

Knoxville did score a run in the bottom half, but the Lookouts matched that in the second. In the third Hendrick singled and advanced on a throwing error and then Austin Callahan (18th round, 2021) homered to make it 7-1. Hull finally had a three-up, three-down inning in the fourth, but he was replaced by Tyler Santana in the fifth. Santana walked the first two batters he faced, got a force out, and then served up a gopher ball to Hendrick that made it 10-1. The scoreboard was unable to register the fact that Chattanooga had double digits in hits, though this too was corrected later.

Parks was also replaced after four frames, with Brooks Crawford (29th, 2019) taking over and tossing three scoreless stanzas, giving him the win. The Lookouts added two more off Santana in the 7th and held on for the 12-1 thrashing. Even the ribbon scoreboard couldn't show the right score but we stayed until the end and even watched the fireworks. 

It was a fun experience despite the result and certainly a lot cheaper than the Volunteers, whose weekend set against Kentucky saw seats starting at $79! They are the defending champions, so I guess it is worth it, but I couldn't justify that price for myself and my daughter.

Notes

Hendrick was drafted in between Garret Crochet (who played at Tennessee) and Patrick Bailey, and is widely considered a bust due to his high strikeout rate. He started strong this year and is only 23, so the Reds haven't given up on him but I would think this is his last chance.

Best,

Sean