Ben's Biz: Dancing like a chicken in Memphis

This is an excerpt from the latest edition of the Ben's Biz Beat Newsletter, bringing Minor League Baseball business and culture news to your inbox each and every Thursday. Check out the full newsletter HERE.

The following ballpark road trip recap is presented by Wyndham, proud sponsor of Minor League Ballpark Guides. Plan your road trip today, and check out the Memphis Redbirds Ballpark Guide HERE.

U.S. Route 72 -- which begins in Chattanooga and ends in Memphis -- is the only highway in the United States to begin and end in the same state but pass through other states in between. I drove the bulk of it on June 20, traveling from Huntsville, Ala., to the route’s western terminus in Memphis, Tenn.

It was an unremarkable drive, but my ultimate destination was anything but. Welcome to AutoZone Park, home of the St. Louis Cardinals’ top farm team, the Memphis Redbirds.

The Redbirds, members of the International League since 2021, were established in 1998 as an expansion team in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. They replaced the Chicks, a Double-A squad that operated from 1978-97. After two seasons at since-demolished Tim McCarver Field, the Redbirds played their first season at AutoZone Park in 2000. Since 2018, the facility has also served as the home of the Memphis 901 FC soccer team.

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Despite being nestled in the heart of downtown Memphis, AutoZone Park has a large footprint and is architecturally indicative of a time when Minor League ballparks were larger (especially at the Triple-A level). The original capacity was approximately 14,000, but renovations over the years have removed seating in favor of group and berm areas. Capacity is now closer to 10,000, and there is plenty of room to move throughout two levels of seating and a wraparound concourse.

I was in town for a Throwback Thursday ballgame, in which the Redbirds played as the Chicks. This name, originally shortened from Chickasaws, has professional baseball roots in the city dating back to the early 20th century. Among the most famous players to have suited up for the ’78-97 iteration of the Chicks was Bo Jackson, who played 53 games for the club in 1986 before being promoted to the Royals. At AutoZone Park, this press box newspaper collage pays tribute.

On the field prior to the game, I met Chicks mascot Blooper, whose species appears to be unclassifiable. The team’s regular mascot, Rockey the Rockin’ Redbird, had the night off.

In doing an initial lap around AutoZone Park, I came across a strange sight: A single red chair situated in the right-field berm (or, as the team calls it, a bluff. Memphis’s nickname is Bluff City).

Of course, there’s a story here, which I later heard from Redbirds president Craig Unger. In the year 2000, Albert Pujols, playing his first professional season, received a late-season promotion to Memphis and stayed with them for the playoffs. On Sept. 15, facing the Salt Lake Buzz in Game 4 of the PCL Finals, he hit a 13th-inning home run that delivered the league title to Memphis.

The chair that Pujols’s home run ball hit, located just past the right-field foul pole, was painted red to commemorate this heroic feat. Then, when the team removed the seating in that section in favor of the bluff, the chair was re-installed. “We GPSed the location,” Unger told me.

Pujols, of course, never hit another Minor League home run. He was with the Cardinals to start the 2001 season and never looked back.

Memphis faced off against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on this fine (once the sun went down) Thursday evening. With the game underway, I ambled into the seating bowl to speak with AutoZone Park’s most distinctive fan. I was under the erroneous impression that he went by the alias “Birdman,” but he said to just call him by his given name, Kerry Clay.

Kerry told me that he doesn’t think that baseball fans are loud or enthusiastic enough, and he was on a one-man mission to change this. All game long he can be heard razzing the opposing team and cheering on the Redbirds, often using his customized megaphone. If there’s a Minor League fan out there who’s better dressed than Kerry Clay, I want to know who it is. That outfit is impeccable.

And if there’s a better on-field dancer than me, I’d like to know who it is.

A 45-year-old traveling Minor League Baseball writer is asked to compete against local youth in a @memphisredbirds Chicken Dance competition.

What happens next will shock you: pic.twitter.com/FU271Zw6zm

— Benjamin Hill (@bensbiz) July 8, 2024

Between that Chicken Dance and throwing out the first pitch in Rome two nights previous, this trip was a revelation. I had told myself that I had retired from such things, as a result of (take your pick) being over 40, becoming a dad, having already been to every ballpark, and no one caring. But to quote Al Pacino in Godfather III: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” I now realize that this is not only my career, but my destiny. If I’m going to visit ballparks, then I’ll be ready to jump in and make a fool of myself. I must embrace my fate.

Those fowl dance moves were a brief distraction from what I was really focusing on at that juncture of the evening: Ballpark food. Assisting me in these endeavors was my Designated Eater, Joe Christie.

Joe, a lifelong St. Louisan and therefore lifelong Cardinal fan, made the four-hour drive to Memphis so that he could sample the Redbirds’ concession specialties. He’s been known to do that sort of thing, having visited 29 MLB ballparks in addition to another two dozen or so Minor League stadiums. He’s also an accomplished food consumer, having achieved “third place in multiple rib-eating contests.” He may have been slightly biased against the Redbirds offering, as he emphatically declared that “St. Louis has the best barbecue in the world and if you think otherwise, you’re wrong.”

In the above photo, Joe’s got a pair of Memphis specialties. First, the world-famous Rendezvous BBQ Nachos.

These nachos, so named because they utilize sauce and dry rub from nearby Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous restaurant, are (no hyperbole) the most beloved and best-known nachos in all of Minor League Baseball.

Joe was a fan of the nachos but curbed his enthusiasm because it’s “hard to live up to their reputation. Still really good, though.” He was more effusive about the second item he tried, a sausage and cheese plate. These are a Memphis staple, served as a premeal snack at bars and restaurants throughout the city. As you can see, peppers and pickles are part of the mix as well.

Joe was an acolyte of the sausage in particular, calling it “thick without being too dense” and praising its “good smoky flavor.” A bit later in the evening, after my shockingly successful Chicken Dance, we reconvened for a final item.

The Memphis Dog is bacon-wrapped and topped with barbecue sauce, jalapenos, slaw and cheese. Joe declared, “That alone was worth the trip” from St. Louis.

Also worth the trip from St. Louis, or anywhere: AutoZone Park’s beautiful views of downtown Memphis. It’s tough to beat a late-game meander around the outfield concourse, taking in the scenery. The world-famous Peabody Hotel, known for the ducks that reside in its fountain, looms beyond home plate.

The Redbirds -- excuse, me, Chicks -- went on to defeat the Jumbo Shrimp, 3-2. It was a beautiful night in Memphis.

The good vibes continued into the next day. Before leaving town, I ducked into an alleyway around the corner from the ballpark in order to patronize an iconic restaurant.

After Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous ribs for lunch, I drove to Little Rock to see the Travelers.

Special thanks to Kathryn Skeean, an MLB “Content Creator” who accompanied me at AutoZone Park and took many of the photos seen above. And, of course, thank you for reading. Get in touch anytime.

My upcoming road trip itineraries can be found HERE.