Turtle Creek Stadium

June 18, 2023
Turtle Creek Stadium (Capacity: 3,518)
Blair Township, MI
Traverse City Pit Spitters vs Rockford Rivets
Final Score: 8 – 3

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Our first stop during a vacation to Michigan was to head “Up North” as we visited beautiful Traverse City. Located in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula, the city sits at the beginning of Grand Traverse Bay. Although the population is just 15,000, it is part of a four-county area that is home to 150,000. TC is known for their cherry production and they have a very popular festival honoring that fruit in July. There are also many wineries in the area. In 2006, a stadium was built for a relocated team in the Frontier League as they moved to Traverse City and became the Beach Bums. The team was then sold in 2018 and a new franchise set up shop in the Summer-Collegiate Northwoods League. Named the Pit Spitters with a cherry theme, they won the league title in 2019 and 2021. Turtle Creek Stadium has a wonderfully unique ballpark design that I’m thankful still has a team playing in it.
Prestige Ranking: 3.5 out of 5

Location

The ballpark is actually not in Traverse City, it’s a good distance from the city boundary as it lies 7 miles and 15 minutes to the south of downtown, putting it squarely in Blair Township. This non-descript area is open for development and you can see a lot of land movement and construction in the space around the ballpark as sporadic condos, apartments and business parks pop up. The main road nearby (Route 37) features a spread out mix of stores with a few restaurants and fast food joints. Definitely spend some time in Traverse City as the attractions combine with a vibrant downtown that naturally blends into Clinch Park on the Bay. It’s a resort town and there are many that come up here to take in the outdoors. Also consider making a visit to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, about 45 minutes away.
Location Ranking: 5 out of 10

Accessibility / Parking

It’s a fairly remote location in Michigan and that generally means a lot of driving from any major city. There’s no interstate access to the area, but there are highways, with the closest one being US-131. Two-lane roads are then needed before reaching Route 31 and the stadium is just off of that. Signage is limited, but where to go is obvious. Despite all the land nearby, the paved parking lot doesn’t look like it holds a lot, maybe a thousand cars at best. I did see some people (season ticket holders) directed to a lawn area adjacent to the main lot. Regardless, it seems the main lot is enough for most nights. There were no traffic issues coming in and getting out wasn’t bad either.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7 out of 8

Exterior

On approach, my wife asked “where’s the ballpark” and I replied, “do you see what looks like houses up there?”. This design is so cool as they made the stadium resemble an area beach resort with soft blue siding and white trim. Even though the theme was for the old Beach Bums team and we’re not close to the water here in Blair Township, it still works very well for the region. The outside literally looks like connected beach houses, even with triangular rooftops and a little second story. The main entrance has an indent as people arrive and the box office has literal windows. It is a fantastic design.
Exterior Ranking: 10 out of 10

Concourse

More on the suites in the next section, but they cover about half of the concourse as closer to the bowl, it is open to the outside. This seems to provide more space than usual and while many white support beams separate the two, it wasn’t obtrusive as I felt the closer half acted as a walkway and the back half acted as to do something (get food, bathroom, promotional table). Ropes helped keep lines organized and they moved efficiently. The look remains awesome as again you feel as if you’re at a beachfront cottage. Even the windows to the concession stands are like you are walking down a boardwalk. There are a couple bars inside cutouts of this concourse and they were good spots. Corners open up space and that leads to the outfield with a paved walkway going around the perimeter, in front of grassy seating. I thought this area was quite plain and more could be done to make it attractive. The right field corner has a playground with sand (fun for kids, annoying for parents).
Concourse Ranking: 4.5 out of 5

Food

I was hoping for a little variety as the Pit Spitters failed to deliver much more than standard stadium food. There were steak sandwiches, wings and Nashville Hot Chicken (huh?) to go along with burgers, hots, pulled pork and pizza. I did give the “Colossal Cherry Sausage” a try and it indeed was colossal. I was hoping for more cherry stuff as that was reserved for sweets (ice cream) and drinks. Even though they weren’t in-season yet, give me some real cherries. What’s a Pit Spitters game without actually pit spitting! For drinks, there were plenty and the Cherry Cider sounded great. The local Whiskey Company was present, as were several local beers on tap like Shorts Brewing Company (with their refreshing Soft Parade fruit ale) and Cheboygan.
Food Ranking: 5 out of 8

Interior

The suite level is what really makes the inside standout as the consistent beach house theme provides a great backdrop above the bowl. They are so true to form that the seats nside are all in front of the windows as there are no exposed seats in front of the suite. It’s not the most ideal if you are actually in the suite, but be realistic, most in there are present to schmooze and hang out as opposed to watch. Another nice touch is behind the seating bowl, where patio tables lie. Four comfortable white seats provide a backyard-like feel to watching the game ($27 each). It also is the best perspective at Turtle Creek Stadium as the seating bowl below features spaced apart rows at a small incline. There are 12-15 rows that go a little beyond the infield and the shape features angled turns (generally done well). The blue chairs themselves were wide and comfortable, yet surprisingly dirty. Terraced picnic sections are found at the end of the bowl. The view in the outfield is plain with a handful of spruce trees over the Batter’s Eye. Looking back from the the other side, you can see the township’s water tower peaking over the stadium.
Interior Ranking: 10 out of 14

Scoreboard

In left field is a scoreboard that looks old. It is light blue and features the line score and count in the lower half. Above that, are ads and a small board in the middle that is solely used for a static graphic.
Scoreboard Ranking: 1 out of 4

Displays

I am a fan of how prominent the league championship banners are as they stand out nicely on the façade at the entrance and inside the park. Unfortunately, that’s all there is.
Displays Ranking: 1 out of 6

Cost

Parking is $6, which is out of touch given the level of baseball and in comparison to the other Michigan teams in the Northwoods League that offer free parking. Tickets are $14 for a seat and $10 for the lawn. Generally typical to what you’d find in other places. Most games, you shouldn’t have an issue buying a $10 ticket and then moving to a seat by the second inning. Concession prices are average ($5 for a Hot Dog, $7 – $10 for a beer).
Cost Ranking: 7 out of 8

Fan Support

Attendance decline was stated as a reason for the sale/league switch and Traverse City is now part of a league with a shorter season. The crowd size on this Father’s Day seemed ok until you looked at the seating bowl and saw more than half the seats were empty. The fabricated announced numbers put the team towards the top of the league for attendance. I may say that partially in jest, but the Pit Spitters probably are one of the more popular teams in the Northwoods League and the ballpark occasionally gets full. Playoff game attendance depends on the weather and a notable achievement was the 2019 Championship Game that brought a packed house to see the Pit Spitters walk it off for a title.
Fan Support Ranking: 4.5 out of 8

Atmosphere

The crowd seemed more interested than they normally are for non-MLB games and I thought they had a decent pop for good plays. It wasn’t quite loud per se, just responsive. If the game was closer late, I think they would have it in them for a helpful atmosphere. There were many that stood for the final strike as they wrapped up a home win.
Atmosphere Ranking: 8.5 out of 14

Other Stuff

The stadium was originally named Wuerfel Park, after the first team owners (and also owners of Hotel Resorts in the area). Naming rights were then purchased by Turtle Creek Casino…..There were some creative in-between inning contests. I loved human bowling as Pit Spitters players came out and were the pins, making it look good. The grape stomping contest was messy and unique as kids used their feet to make the most juice…..When DH Zach Johnson came out, fans would sway their hands and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s something with his walkup song?

Game

This one was played in a nice, tidy 2 hours and 19 minutes as the Pit Spitters were in control most of the way. They scored in five of the first six innings and finished with 8 runs total.

Stadium Experience Ranking: 67 out of 100