L.P. Frans Stadium- Hickory Crawdads

The Hickory Crawdads proved to be a very classy organization when we came through town. We knew we would be there on an early Saturday morning. We called a couple of weeks ahead of time to make sure the gift shop would be open, and that they would be able to let us see the place. They assured us that they would be around when we would be there.

Well, we drove to the area, and the place was packed! We wondered if maybe they were having some college game or other event going on. We hoped it was not some sort of private event.

We went to the front game entrance. People were mingling everywhere- there was a lot of excitement.

We went on in and noticed that Crawdads posters, magnet schedules, and pocket schedules were being handed out to everyone that would accept them! Pretty cool! Really, any team hosting a non-baseball event at their venue should be doing this sort of thing.

The team shop is near the front of the park, and we noticed that it was not open for business. There was a very kind young girl handing out posters up front. I told her that we had called about stopping by and were told the team shop would be accessible. She went to see if someone could open it up for us and came back giving me a thumbs up.

The Crawdads have a smaller gift shop, but they have many more unique items than other teams. We picked up a cool t-shirt with one of their logos (it is a claw holding a baseball). they also sold game used balls!

The stadium was hosting a 5K run on the day we were there. We actually stuck around to watch some of it. They had a good crown and a full parking lot. The race ended at home plate.

The park has a nice rural feel to it. This is a park I hope to catch a game at some time. A nice community feel is going on in the area.