PCL Day Trips: MGM Park -- Biloxi, Miss.

View from the home radio booth at the MGM Park.

One of my favorite minor league teams as a child was the Huntsville Stars. They were the double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics and all the great young players developed came through Huntsville. One of the first minor league team sets I ever purchased was the 1985 Huntsville Stars, with Jose Canseco, Stan Javier, Luis Polonia, Eric Plunk, Tim Belcher and Terry Steinbach.

Joe W. Davis Stadium (named after the city's former mayor) was considered "the crown jewel of the Southern League" when it opened in 1985. The ballpark grew old, renovations only helped a little, and eventually it became an old relic. The A's left Huntsville after the 1998 season and the Milwaukee Brewers were there ever since.

An ownership group led by Ken Young, who also owns the Albuquerque Isotopes, bought the Huntsville franchise and moved it to the oceanside city of Biloxi, Miss. Construction of the new ballpark was not ready by the start of the 2015 season, so the Biloxi Shuckers played 54 straight road games to begin the season, including games at their old stadium in Huntsville, which will reportedly be demolished sometime soon.

Isotopes general manager John Traub has assisted with the new franchise getting started, taking countless trips to Biloxi. With the Isotopes in New Orleans, Traub invited me to get a tour of MGM Park just before it opened.

This is one of the ballpark's main entrances, down the left-field line.

It's about a 90-minute drive from New Orleans to Biloxi. This allowed me to check off another state visited. [The only states I've yet to visit are now Alaska, Maine, Alabama, North Dakota, Idaho, Montana, North and South Carolina and West Virginia.]

The location is fabulous. It's basically across the street from the ocean, right off the freeway leading into town, and smack in the heart of the casinos and tourist destinations. Even the visiting hotel will be across the street, just beyond the first-base side of the ballpark.

When I visited, it was less than two weeks from the ballpark opening. It was close to being ready, but still a lot of work needed to be done.

Getting a tour with Traub and the construction foreman was an eye opener on all the things you take for granted when inside a ballpark, yet need to be done in a certain way for fan safety, enjoyment and overall aesthetics.

The visit definitely provided a new level of appreciation for what it takes to make a ballpark a reality. Thanks to John and everyone else for the tour. I look forward to returning when the ballpark is complete.