It's the home of the Texas League's
Tulsa Drillers.
Supplemental notes were added
to this post at a later date.
These notes might offer trivial factoids,
irrelevancy, or generalized mishmash.
ONEOK is an okie natural gas company
that has generated $10+ billion
in annual revenue every year since 2005.
Okies dislike it when ONEOK
is phonetically pronounced as "on-E-ock".
They also dislike the term "Okie".
The Drillers are part of the
Texas League's North Division
(along with the Naturals, Travelers,
and Springfield Cardinals).
(It's odd that none of the North Division teams
of the Texas League are located in Texas?)
The tower in the background was designed
by a very prominent architect
using recycled blueprints.
The Tulsa version of twin towers
was halved, to include only a single tower.
The overall height was then quartered.
The BOK Tower was completed in 1976,
three years after the completion of the 'twins'.
It's a perfect quarter-scale replica
of the once dominating twin towers of NYC.
The Drillers recently switched their
AA team affiliation from the
Colorado Rockies to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Oklahoma is now a central hub
for Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball.
The Dodgers' AAA team plays in OKC.
No word -as of yet- that the Dodgers'
single A team is moving to Tahlequah.
ONEOK Ballpark is right
downtown with several nearby hotels.
Walking to the ballpark
saves parking money & traffic hassles.
The Fairfield Inn & Suites is the best
place to stay in Downtown Tulsa*
*We were not compensated by the Fairfield Inn,
and our opinions are seldom influenced.
However, the desk manager did give us
an eight minute exception to the
free breakfast buffet time rule.
The Naturals didn't win the game.
But, it was close.
The Drillers may have cheated.
Okies are a proud people.
Before the Drillers bat
in the 8th inning,
the entire stadium stands
and begins a rousing rendition
of the theatrical anthem "Oklahoma!"
It's pretty cool.
Well, actually, it's kinda awesome.
Or, to be more accurate... it's OK.
Who's ready for fireworks?
Davis is.
Sorta.
We noticed the "pyrotechnic professionals"
setting-up the launchers inside
the ballpark.
What the what?
"Maybe it's just going to be
some of the smaller fountains
set-off from the outfield."
"Surely, the bigger stuff will
be launched further away."
Nope.
Was the fire marshal compensated
with a premium luxury suite
when this BAD IDEA got approved?
"Is everyone OK?"
We had a wall between us
and the field, but most of the
crowd did not.
Everyone was OK.
And, all of the windows in the suites
were closed -to keep out the ash and other
debris from the close-range fireworks.
Crazy.
If we ever return to ONEOK Ballpark,
it will be on a non-fireworks night.
And, we'll be early for the
breakfast buffet at the wonderful
Downtown Tulsa Fairfield Inn & Suites.