A Loud Memorial

Fans are encouraged to stomp their feet on the aluminum construction to rally the home team.

The unspectacular view toward center field.

Chronological Tour: Stop 88

• Location: Bauhoff Park, Allen Avenue at 23 Street S.E., Canton, Ohio (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1989
• Home team: Canton-Akron Indians, Eastern League (1989-96); Canton Crocodiles (1997-2001), Canton Coyotes (2002), Frontier League; Malone University Pioneers, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
• Capacity: 5,700

Rating: 1 baseball

When they went to build a stadium in Canton to host a Cleveland Indians farm team in the Eastern League a few years later, it was only fitting that it be named in memory of Munson.

It’s just a shame that the stadium itself is so lacking in character. It’s almost all aluminum, which makes it a loud, echoey place even with less than a capacity crowd. Earplugs become necessary when the stands are totally filled – perhaps good for the home team, but potentially damaging to spectators. When Akron came up with a proposal for a new park, the Tribe jumped on it.

For six years, teams in the independent Frontier League inhabited the park. Among their players over the years has, appropriately, been Thurman Munson’s son. However, the last team, the Coyotes, a transplant from London, Ont., moved to Columbia, Mo., for 2003.