Indiana’s plethora of minor league sports teams occasionally offers some road trip-worthy, major league entertainment—from a car race so hazardous that crashes are literally part of the program, to a three-day salute to Indiana’s official unofficial sandwich.
May 9
The Evansville Otters celebrate their 30th anniversary this night. What better time to visit their vaunted stadium, Bosse Field? Opened in 1915, it’s the third-oldest park still hosting professional baseball (after only Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago). If it looks a bit familiar, it’s because a chunk of the 1991 movie A League of Their Own was filmed there.
June 12-14
The Fort Wayne Tincaps minor league baseball team will spend this three-day stand saluting Indiana’s unofficial state sandwich by playing as the Hoosier State Tenderloins. Yes, the big-as-a-hubcap, thin-as-a-tissue sandwich will be available at the concession stands.
July 4-5
Every summer sports team offers fireworks, but the Independence Day spectacle put on by the South Bend Cubs is so big it serves as the entire city’s unofficial pyrotechnic display. The spectacle runs about 12 minutes, making it one of the longest shows in Da Region.
July 26
If the loss of Jimmy Buffet (and his regular summer concerts at Ruoff Music Center) has left you with a bad latitude, grab tickets to the Indianapolis Indians’ Margarita Night, featuring a beach towel giveaway and a pregame concert by the guitar- and steel drum-intensive Tropicool Duo.
August 8-9
The Indianapolis Indians combine America’s pastime and the greatest show on earth with Circus at the Ballpark, featuring magicians, stilt walkers, acrobats and lots of other big top-themed activities. Sorry, no circus peanuts at the concession stands.
September 4-6
If hauling a cooler to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a little too high-class for you, the Indianapolis Speedrome would like to offer a minor-league alternative—the World Figure 8 Championship 49th Annual 3-hour Endurance Race. Dozens of drivers scream around a figure-8 track that’s roughly the size of a Denny’s parking lot, sideswiping and t-boning their way to the checkered flag.
