I admit the primary reason that I make the 95-mile trip on 90 to Beloit is convenience. ABC Supply Stadium is the closest minor league ballpark to Casa de Bob since the Cougars went indy.

I’m 90% sure that Pohlman Field never appeared on the cover of the Beloit: Official Visitor’s Guide. I’m not suggesting that ABC’s on the cover of the glossy magazine means that baseball is thriving in Beloit. Rather, the Sky Carp (fna Snappers) have finally gone corporate and almost by accident the crowds are bigger.

Even though I didn’t get there earlier enough to indulge, the neighborhood around ABC is much nicer and quite walkable. Since, last year’s initial full-season, the Sky Carp haven’t made any material changes in the park itself. They have settled on distinct menus and devoted stands, but they also don’t do a great job of highlighting the prices. They might expect every fan to use the dreaded QR code.

While I couldn’t easily figure out the prices, I think beer is a little cheaper (domestic 16 oz draft $7.38). From what I could see prices for the various comestibles is more pricey. I did indulge in an order of jap-laden, stadium nachos that were much better than those at Wrigley. Other than the indoor, club seats, 110% of the seats are in the sun. People wishing to escape the heat congregated on the concourse behind home plate.

Unlike the halcyon days of Snappy and Pohlman, the Sky Carp don’t rely heavily on nice giveaways. They do have a couple alternate jersey games-which means auctions of said jerseys.

While the kids don’t understand the beer-themed, when a specific opponent strikes out everyone wins gimmick, the locals do like the added incentive to root against the enemy. The team may have gone big time, but small town touches like that are fun. And for the first time in the history of the team, they are starting to monetize the parking. There is plenty of free, street parking within a mile of the ballpark.

Even though there is netting blocking most of the bleachers, the rail along the outfield is a great place to watch the game. I enjoyed my nachos from a seat in dead left field. The quality of the graphics, statistics and picture on the lonely video-scoreboard in left has improved since last year.

I don’t have any strong feelings for the Marlins, but the relative proximity of the ballpark makes Beloit somewhat attractive and I expect to see a few games there every season. I might eventually do an overnight and hope to write a feature about their new manager and hitting coach.