I’m not a big sports fan and that includes baseball. However I love going to Peoria Chiefs games at Dozer Park. The game is kind of secondary to me and I’ll show you what I enjoy through the magic of the MBIP Camera! And away to Dozer Park we go!
Dozer Park
This is an impressive baseball stadium. It’s been standing here in downtown Peoria since 2002, You can read all about the history of this Peoria landmark right here.
People Part One
A Peoria Chiefs game is an ideal spot for people watching and for meeting people. I always meet new people out here and see old friends as well. Here’s some of the people I ran into at the start of the evening. I met a group of people from the painter’s union outside of the park posing with Homer, the Chiefs mascot. That’s my friend Mike Starcevic below that posing with Homer. Mike works out here so he knows everybody at these games! We went in and this nice lady took my ticket and then I got a shot of Homer and some of the people working at Dozer Park for this evening’s game. There’s a picture of the 2017 Peoria Chiefs and lastly there's the statue honoring the original owner of The Peoria Chiefs, Pete Vonachen.
Thristy Thursdays
Beer is just two bucks a can on Thirsty Thursday nights and this is the last one for this season. Here’s this woman serving up a two dollar can with a pretty smile!
Food Part One
The food out here is really great and there’s a lot of choices to be had. I’ve never eaten at The Dog House cart and I took one look at the grill and knew this is where I’m having my baseball dinner tonight! They had foot long hot dogs, Polish sausage and bratwursts. I decided on the Polish Sausage and got it with grilled onions and slathered mustard on top of the onions. This was so delicious! The sausage was crisp on the outside and so juicy and savory inside. The onions added a nice flavor and the bun was steamed and bakery fresh! I’ll definitely stop by here again next season!
People Part Two
After I scarfed down the Polish sausage I ran into more people at the park! Up at the top is Peoria Chiefs President, Rocky Vonachen with Steve Roach who was working in the stands. There’s Mike with Artie Fowler who we were meeting for the evening. Mike, Artie and I all worked at Fleming Potter back in the day. Right after I took that picture we ran into another alum from Fleming Potter, Gary Ibeck with his wife Paula. Next we ran into Bill Confair who’s posing with Mike, we met Bill at the last Chiefs game and it was great to see him again. As you can see the seats were filling up for this game and in the last photo is Bill who came all the way from Colorado to see the Chiefs in action!
The Bud Girls!
It’s always fun to go and hang out with the Bud Girls over there! That’s Abby, Jessica and Kasey representing Budweiser and handing out free swag like Bud beer koozies and sunglasses. They also had some drinks to sample and Mike and I tried the Peach-A-Rita and it was really delicious. Very peachy!
Food Part Two
I was still full from the Polish sausage from The Dog House, but Artie wanted to try a Philly Cheese Steak from this stand, so we went over and he ordered one and they proceeded to whip it up for him! This guy is a master on the grill and he had the sandwich good to go in a matter of minutes. How tasty does that monster of a sandwich look? Artie would’ve given it a thumbs up, but he was too busy devouring it to give any critical response. He did say it’s one of the best sandwiches he’s ever had!
People Part Three
As the night wore on I ran into my old friend, Bill Molleck. We’ve been friends since high school and it was fun to catch up with him. Bill’s in real estate and you should check out his facebook page for the best deals in houses in Peoria! I turned around towards the field and holy guacamole, take a look at that...I’m talking about the camera! Get your minds out of the gutter people! (I took more photos of people but the MBIP Camera was acting up and not all of them turned out. So I apologize if I snapped your photo and it’s not here, I’ll look for you next season!)
Oh Yeah, There’s Also A Baseball Game Going On Here!
Sometimes while drinking, eating, chatting with people and hanging out with the Bud Girls I kind of forget there’s a baseball game going on here, but there was and here’s some shots of it as the early evening faded into darkness. This was an important game too because if they won it, then they’re going to go to the Western Division Playoffs! And win it they did! Sadly the MBIP Camera’s battery went out before the end of the game so I didn’t get any photos of the players celebrating the win.
I did however get some screen shots from a YouTube video and here’s the Chiefs celebrating with champaign on the field. Congratulations on the win and good luck in the playoffs!
The 2017 Playoffs
The playoffs start tonight with the Peoria Chiefs versus the Quad Cities River Bandits. It’s a best out of three series and this is the only home game of this series. The game starts at 6:30 tonight at Dozer Park. So go and cheer the Chiefs to victory tonight if you can! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
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730 SW Jefferson Avenue
Peoria
309-680-4000
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Related Posts: Tuesday Night @ Dozer Park and Thursday Night @ Dozer Park.