This week, WCCO Radio's summer-long One Tank Trips series highlighting some interesting spots for a quick getaway that won't take much more than a tank of gas to get to, takes you to the Mini Met in Jordan, Minnesota.
Every spring and summer, just off Rice Street and the banks of Sand Creek in Jordan, Minnesota the Mini Met comes to life with a little help from the Jordan Brewers amateur baseball team.
The Mini Met, built in the 1930s, stretches eight acres and sits beneath trees towering above the first base line, running all the way to the right field corner.
It's one of Minnesota's baseball staples, in a town of just under 6,700 people.
"It's pretty much an icon here in the town. Whenever someone talks about Jordan, they talk about the Mini Met," said Scott Hollingsworth, a player/manager with the Jordan Brewers. "It's that old school feel. This grandstand was actually used when this location was used as the fairgrounds."
In fact, the Mini Met was the site of fairgrounds park according to Jordan native, Paul Buss, who started playing with the Jordan Brewers back in 1981.
"I remember when they held the fair here because the Ferris wheel was out in centerfield, so the fair pretty much dug-up the park," Buss said. "They wanted to change that, and it became a very good park."
Today, the park is known for its family-friendly prices and the quality baseball played by the Jordan Brewers, who are part of the River Valley League of the Minnesota Baseball Association.
Whether it's the (cash-only) $3 admission price, $1.50 hotdog, or $2.50 beer the Mini Met brings people to the ballpark whether they're baseball diehards or not.
"We've always had good luck with fans," added Buss. "We've had a good following. I've seen a lot of fans come and go. That's what makes it worth it. They love to come down and watch the game."
Having a top-tier ballpark takes a lot of work, however. Jason Chalupsky joined the Jordan Brewers as a sophomore in high school and has been with the team for 27 years. He and the rest of the Brewers work to maintain the city's longstanding baseball tradition.
"When you play at a park like this, it makes it pretty easy and you play with the tradition that Jordan has over the past years it makes it pretty easy to come to the ballpark," Chalupsky said. "A lot of other things come with that tradition and a ballpark that you have to take care of. You have to be here early and you have to be here late."
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Whether it's the hill down the left field line in foul territory where fans line up in lawn chairs, the wooden bleachers down the third base line, or concrete seats in front of the press box behind home plate, a bad seat at the Mini Met is nearly impossible to find.
One of the best seats actually isn't much of a seat at all and can be found by making a short climb up a ladder attached to the manual baseball scoreboard in right field. When you reach the top, you'll likely find Jay Kroyer, the Brewers longtime scoreboard operator, keeping tabs on the game.
"It's a fun way to watch baseball," Kroyer said. "It's something to do and keeps me part of the team."
John Breunig is best known as the Brewers' general manager, or business manager. In his 40 years with the team, there probably isn't a job Breunig hasn't done, whether it's cutting the Mini Met's grass, working the concession stand, or doing other field work.
"Everybody is equal at the ballpark," Breunig said with a laugh. "Everybody eats the same hotdogs and gets the same stale peanuts. I think that's one of the draws of small town baseball."
Breunig started his Brewers career by managing the team for a couple of years, but opted to look for another role with the team after that.
"They just needed help and I happened to be there," he added.
For Bruenig, the Mini Met and the Brewers are special.
"When I first started paying attention they were just starting to get excited about improving this place and they decided they wanted to host a state tournament," Breunig said. "If you saw our ballpark in the 1960s, you wouldn't have thought that was possible."
Bruenig says the state tournament in 1969 forever changed how the field was cared for and regarded in Jordan.
"I saw how important it was to those people and a lot of those people are gone now. I could feel how much it mattered to them and somehow it ended up mattering to me."
Memories at the Mini Met make each season just a little more special.
"The first couple games of the season you think about the people who have gone before you and now aren't here because they passed on," Breunig said. "You're kind of carrying out what they were trying to do. So much of this was handed to us and we're just trying to take it one step further."