Erie SeaWolves (DET) @ Chesapeake Baysox (BAL)
August 16, 2025
S: Carter Rustad
HR: Justice Bigbie (ERI), Kevin McGonigle (ERI), Max Clark (ERI)
Attendance: 5,125
Time of Game: 2 hours, 38 minutes
Stadium Facts
Location: Bowie, MD
Opened: 1994
Capacity: 10,000
Level: Double A
League: Eastern
Time of Game: 2 hours, 38 minutes
Stadium Facts
Location: Bowie, MD
Opened: 1994
Capacity: 10,000
Level: Double A
League: Eastern
When the Potomac Nationals moved further south to Fredericksburg in 2021, the Bowie Baysox became the closest affiliated minor league club from where I live. However, I had never been to a game at Prince George's Stadium in Bowie until last Saturday. The team changed its geographic moniker from Bowie to Chesapeake this year, choosing to go with the name of the bay that sits about 20 miles to the east. Bowie is a unique minor league location in that it is essentially a suburb of Washington, D.C., but also very close to a second big league city of the parent club Baltimore Orioles.
Bowie is a densely populated city, and Prince George's Stadium is in a very commercially developed neighborhood. However, you wouldn't know either of those things were true while inside the confines of the stadium where the seats look out to a forested area beyond the outfield. It is on the older end of stadiums I've visited the past two years, having opened in 1994. The exterior of the park around the main gate doesn't particularly give off the appearance of a baseball stadium. In fact, weirdly, the name of the stadium isn't even displayed there. I have seen photos where this was not the case though, so perhaps they are in the process of renovating this part of the park. They are definitely in the midst of constructing new team clubhouses and offices in a building down the third base line of the park. There are absolutely no outfield seats or fan areas beyond the outfield walls, which is not uncommon for the minor leagues, but pretty rare for the upper levels. The main seating area on the lower level is quite large. It is bisected by a walkway and then the main concourse is at the top of those sections. Most of the seats above this walkway are general admission bleacher sections, except for the few sections behind the plate. Interestingly, the press box is at the top of the lower level rather than on the second level which contains suites and other premium seating areas. I would think that makes this one of the closest press boxes to field level in the minors. Two of the most distinct aspects of the park are located down the first base line: a replica lighthouse and an active carousel amidst a kids' play area. The field of play seems pretty hitter friendly with it being just 309 feet down each line, without a tall wall to compensate. The fences do shoot out fairly quickly from there, but I could still imagine a lot of cheap homers down the lines each way. It is a respectable 405' to dead center though. A nice crowd took in this Saturday night game in which the Baysox took the field as the Bowie Pit Beef.
During my June trip to the Midwest, I saw a trio of top Detroit Tigers prospects playing for West Michigan. In early July, infielder Kevin McGonigle, outfielder Max Clark and catcher/first baseman Josue Briceno were all promoted to AA Erie. So I got to see all of them play again on this night at a level closer to the big leagues. Due to graduations and his own ascension, McGonigle has become one of the top prospects in all of baseball. Clark remains a consensus top 10 prospect in his own right. Both of them showed why on this evening. The only bummer is that Clark was once again relegated to designated hitter, so I'm still yet to see him play in the outfield in my three in person views. Another interesting aspect of the SeaWolves lineup for this night was starting pitcher Kenny Serwa, who is a rare breed these days as a knuckleballer. That uniqueness probably serves him well most of the time as most players are not used to seeing knuckleballs. However, on this particular evening, it may have worked against him. He was facing Chesapeake for the fourth time in just over a two month span. Therefore, many of the Baysox hitters had faced him before and it showed. They ambushed him early in the count in the first inning to the tune of five hits, including three doubles. Enrique Bradfield Jr doubled on the first pitch Serwa threw in the bottom of the first and then Max Wagner knocked him in with a double of his own on pitch number two. Pitch three resulted in a ground ball that was booted by the second baseman for an error. It turned into a rather prolonged inning from there in which the Baysox sent 10 men to the plate and scored six runs. Yet Serwa only threw 25 pitches in the frame and had a whole lot more to go after that. On the other side, the starting pitcher for Chesapeake was Juaron Watts-Brown who the Orioles acquired from the Blue Jays in the Seranthony Dominguez trade a few weeks ago. Watts-Brown was not exactly dominant either, but was effective enough after being staked to an early big lead. After the six run bottom of the first, Justice Bigbie launched the first Watts-Brown pitch of the second inning into the trees beyond left field. The Baysox got that run back with another one of their own in the bottom half with three more hits off of Serwa. In the third, the SeaWolves used the long ball again to get themselves back into the game. McGonigle crushed a first pitch fastball that appeared to bang off of the scoreboard in right-center for a two run homer to cut the Chesapeake lead to 7-3. McGonigle had a large cheering section behind the Erie dugout, a fairly short trip for friends and family of his to make from his hometown in the Philadelphia area. In the fifth inning, it was Clark's turn. He soared one the opposite way that just snuck over the left field wall for a solo home run. After Watts-Brown was replaced in the top of the sixth, Erie tacked on two more runs to cut the lead down to one. Somehow, Serwa was still in the game for the SeaWolves in the bottom of the sixth when the Baysox started to knock him around again. They picked up a pair of runs on four hits, highlighted by Wagner's second RBI double of the game. Serwa's final line is one you just never see in minor league baseball these days: 6 IP, 14 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. Only a knuckleballer would be allowed to put up a line like that. Both teams would score one more run after the sixth to end it with a Baysox 10-7 victory. While the SeaWolves stars shined, so did the top prospect in the Chesapeake lineup. Bradfield Jr had a pair of hits, runs and stolen bases to help lead the Baysox to the win.
With this game in the books, I can now say I've been to a game in every affiliated minor league ballpark that is both east of Chicago and north of Washington, D.C. I still have a visit to make to Indianapolis next month, but I already went to a game in that stadium last decade. Next up this month are a couple games in Virginia: Norfolk and Fredericksburg.
Next ballpark: Harbor Park in Norfolk, VA
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