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The Facility

For those who've been around the NoL, "The Phil" is a "mix of The Wade and Mayo Park. It has the age (built 1939), roof, copious bench seating, and hard concrete outfield of the Wade. It has the openness, standard (flip-down) seating in the front rows, and many of the building limitations of Mayo Park. Like both it faces southeast putting the sun in the left fielder's eyes.

Unlike either it had a lot of home town pride written into its walls with an "SJ" formed into each wall section (both sides) that can easily be confused as dollar signs ($).

The Field

The Phil has some clearly unusual quirks for it's age. One is the field dimensions: 320 - 420 - 320. The deep center field means a lot more running for balls over the fielders' heads.

Then there are the four outfield light towers and flag pole which are all in the field of play. The light towers are about 1 yard square box girder constructions with padding about 8' from the outfield fence --which has none. The flag pole is just to the left of center and 6' from the wall. All of these have yellow line markings indicating that balls hit above them are "out of play" and home runs (which I saw during my first game there).

The playing surface is very good but has its own quirks. Clearly 60+ years of limited professional use has lead to a lot of inconsistencies that may not be address without major re-landscaping. The grass is in great shape but, besides slowing down ground balls, it hides many minor uneven spots leading to unexpected hops.

Another quirk is that the infield is somewhat "elevated" with the outfield clearly several inches to a foot lower than it. Sitting at ground level it's easy to see the foul lines sink away to the middle of the outfield. If that's not clear enough, try seeing player's ankles when warming up before the game from the same places. Once a ball gets past the infielders it's a slight downhill run. Of course one upside to this is that the infield, being high ground, should drain well.

Atmosphere & Crowds

The fans in St. Joe are still taking to the club. The crowds at the ballpark are vocal (this is definitely not Canada) and interested in the game. The problem is that many don't know how good their club is this season and some still miss watching the "college boys."

Worth the Trip

The Phil is a great place to see a game. The openess of the grandstand helps cool things off more quickly after a hot day.

We can hope that in future years better concessions and more amenities get added. There are no real clubhouses, only one set of rest rooms and limited concessions.

Directions

Phil Welch Stadium is basically at 28th St and SW Parkway. The most common and quickest way to get there is from I-29:

1. From I-29, take US Hwy 36 exit West
2. Take the second exit for 28th St.
3. Turn left at the stop sign and go South on 28th st. -- There is a small wooden sign pointing for the ballpark.
4. After a few blocks you'll come to a stop sign and make a slight left to continue on 28th.
5. When you get to the bottom of the little creek valley the ballpark will be on your right.
6. Turn right to go west on SW Parkway to get to the east side of the ballpark to find the main entrance and ticket booth
7. Paved parking is on both sides of the parkway


Spare Time & Lodging in St. Joe

Other than a linear park, some sports facilities and a golf course to the east, there is little to do near the ballpark. Most everything commercial (restaurants, motels, cinemas, shops & malls) are on Belt Highway (US 169) with runs a few blocks parallel to the east of I-29. Most motels are clustered around the Frederick Ave. exit off I-29.

St. Joe attractions mainly center on two major historic events of the late 1800's: The Pony Express and The Death of Jesse James.

These are celebrated in several small museums in the downtown area. There are blue signs (with white arrows and lettering) directing you to the these sites.

The Patee House (admission charged) is the largest with a somewhat eclectic collection of various historic artifacts and donated collections (such as a case full of glass elephants). Parts of this collection are organized as a indoor main street with seemingly complete collections creating the workplaces of various professions including that of Dr. Cronkite DDS -- father famous CBS announcer Walter Chronkite who was born in St. Joe. Also in the collection is a steam train engine, several cars, and couple rooms full of toys.

For those interested in carousels (aka Merry Go Rounds) a must see/ride is in back. A local artist donated many amazing custom "horses" including a full-winged unicorn, a monstrously oversized hummingbird and an American eagle bench. Each of these has a name and description at its base.

On the Patee House ground is the Jesse James House (separate admission) with the sign saying "See the Hole." The hole being the "hole" where the shot that killed Jesse James reputedly went through him. Jesse lived quietly in St. Joe until a bounty huntered took the opportunity to shoot him in the back while he adjusted a crooked picture on the wall.

The Patee House may have been the headquarters of the Pony Express during its short life but the best museum for that story is in the stables. The Pony Express Stables (admission) are a few blocks away. The museum describes the short history of the service with some exhibit areas encouraging visitors to pick types of horses, try saddles, and understand the nature of the 2,000 mile trail used by the mail service.

For something more out of the ordinary you can go to the Glore Psychiatric Museum (addmission) housed in a wing of the former state institution. The exhibits show now disused equipment used to treat mental illness including shock and water therapy, various restraints and several different boxes to "calm" patients. This museum is part of a complex that includes a very nice collection of native american artifacts and a small museum recounting the contributions of the African American community in St. Joe.