Parkview Field - Fort Wayne, Indiana - Home of the Fort Wayne Tin Caps
The Fort Wayne Tin Caps, a reference to the (apparent) one time area local, Johnny Appleseed, have a very modern ballpark in Parkview Field. Located in the prime of Fort Wayne, I believe this is the type of location all city slicker MiLB teams (such as the Charlotte Knights) are budding for, Parkview Field being one of the early gems.
Our time at "The Orchard" - first off, I think it's pretty cool that the main parking garage is connected to the stadium in a way that you literally get to park on top the the scoreboard....like the letters in "PARKVIEW FIELD" you see on top of the video board, are about on the ledge of the top of the parking garage, making it a very original photo op (if your a photographer into those odd angles like we are).
To put some more meat on this bone, I must say, due to a blunder completely the fault of our own, this stadium became a very....interesting experience during our 2019 tour; though, when some of the other stops included mid-game fire drills and fireworks exploding over the stands, I guess it was minute. To start off our day, we made the odd decision to take only back roads to the stadium (from Cleveland, OH) for no particular reason I can remember. What I do remember though, is somewhere just over the Indiana boarder, having to drive our rickety old van through the half paved grass and brush of what I thought was the shoulder of the road - but apparently was just a long forgotten second lane ? I honestly have no idea, it was a tight road with a dashed yellow line and large trucks coming in one direction.
As we arrived, and of course, promptly parked atop the scoreboard (I saw the interesting angle on Google map Street views well planning said trip) - we made our way to the Media Entrance. Once we found it, we realized that we had our generic "National writers society" and I believe "National Media......" something...... I honestly do not remember which we were part of during our early years, ANYWAY, I realized we only had that ID always attached to our camera bags, and our printed MiLB Media rights contract (basically just a white piece of paper with bullet points outlining what we can and cannot do)....but forgot the requested verification in order to prove our legitimacy. well, lucky for us, there was a very understanding usher/employee at the gate, because he let us in no questions asked, and event pointed out the "best views" level on the elevator.
As you'll see if you view the entire photo gallery (linked above), it very much WAS the best views. We were able to hunker down just below Field level, in line with the Tin Caps Dugout, and get some absolutely amazing shots of the game.
All in all, and no, not just because of the understanding employee, the cool rock climbing wall down the third base side, or even the awesome viewpoints, The Orchard was an awesome stadium. Maybe it's just because it was one of the few I've been to at the time really centered around the city's life. Having apartment buildings who's porch was overhanging the outfield concourse, to the outfield gates letting you out to a slew of eateries and the downtown convention center, you felt like the nightlife (that there was - not saying Fort Wayne, Indiana is the new party center of America) continued on even after the game.
Speaking of after the game, on our way home from the stadium (using main roads and the highway this time) we stopped at a drive through little Caesars - which was something amazing to us, because we've never seen a drive thru pizza joint before - and proceeded to wait 45 minutes for a pre-made "Hot N' Ready" Pizza. Do with that information what you will.