Wilmington Blue Rocks (South Atlantic League) @ Judy Johnson Field at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium (Wilmington, DE)

26 IN 26 STOP 12

*This trip occurred on May 2, 2026,.

Founded in 1993 when the Peninsula Pilots moved from Hampton, Virginia¹, the Wilmington Blue Rocks were named after a former minor league team in Wilmington and a long-time Carolina League member (which is mildly odd given how far they are from the Carolinas) until the 2020 MiLB realignment, when they "moved up" (as the Carolina League became Low A level) and became a South Atlantic League team. As a member of the Carolina League, the team was decently successful both on the field (five Carolina League championships) and in the stands (usually in the upper half of the Carolina League - at least for the 2010s).

However, their attendance has dipped considerably since joining the SAL and is near the bottom of the league's rankings². While there are probably a few reasons for the attendance drop, one notable reason may be because the 2020 realignment that "promoted" them to the SAL also saw them become a Washington Nationals affiliate after spending all but two years of their existence as a Kansas City Royals affiliate³ - a rather tough affiliation to "sell" given that Wilmington, DE is very firmly in the Philadelphia media market.

Their home - Judy Johnson Field at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium - was opened in 1993 and named after Judy Johnson (a Negro League player from Delaware) and Daniel Frawley (a former mayor of Wilmington who was instrumental in the founding of the current Blue Rocks). Parking here is free (super nice), and unlike Reading, it's one big lot dedicated to the stadium and the adjacent convention center (the lot I parked at in Reading was shared with an office building).

However, before we talk about the stadium, I want to discuss one other thing I found out about while researching the stadium: the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame! It's a museum/Hall of Fame located at Frawley, and it is free and open before games. I decided to head to the stadium early to check it out, and I thought it was actually kinda interesting (though one of its more interesting exhibits - a supposed conversation between a kid and Judy Johnson - did have a weird anachronism)⁴.

As for the stadium itself...it's VERY similar to Trenton Thunder Ballpark if I must be honest. Street level entrances to an elevated concourse, a seating bowl with upper and lower sections separated by a small walkway, and a team store on the concourse and INSIDE the ticketed area. However, one thing that separates it from Trenton: a general admission bleacher area high on the third base side (similar to the general admission areas at Hudson Valley Renegades games). These are the only seats OUTSIDE of the main seating bowl (as in they're the only seats above the main concourse), and a bunch of children were running all up and down around here.

One other thing I noticed: the team hasn't updated its scoreboards in some time. There's an "old school" electronic scoreboard (i.e. not a fully digital display), and the video board was VERY small, still in 4:3, and had "fixed ads" (i.e. ad boards that don't change) around it.

Initially, I wasn't really sure if I wanted to come here: it's two hours from where I live (much like Reading, PA), which is a bit of a stretch (especially in 2026 when gas prices are rather volatile). In addition, going east/north across the Delaware Memorial Bridge on a Sunday is notoriously awful (especially in the summer with Maryland and Virginia beach traffic); sure, you could just stick with 95 (in either/both directions) and go through Philly to see civilization, but that's apparently a bit longer and has also has the potential for getting caught in traffic (I thought about going from Washington, DC to New Brunswick, NJ via Philly one time, but the traffic report basically said don’t do it). However, speaking of Philly...this game almost didn't happen (sorta).

Originally, I WANTED to take advantage of the Savannah Bananas playing against the Texas Tailgaters in Philadelphia by going to Wilmington first for a quick merch stop back in 2025 (it’s only about half an hour from Wilmington to Philadelphia); circumstances prevented me from leaving the house on the specific day I was going to do this, so I ended up going to Philly the following day - when the stadium in Wilmington was closed. Still thinking about making a visit, I thought about going to a game, but it didn’t really feel right (due to the things mentioned above), but eventually, thanks to the 26 in 26 challenge, this game here became reality.

This game was a pitcher's duel for a while, but once the visiting Asheville Tourists went to their bullpen in the seventh inning, everything broke loose, and eventually, the Blue Rocks won. The game also featured a "flop contest" between innings where the contestants were trying to flop "like Sidney Crosby receiving his first embellishment penalty" (a reference to something that happened in the NHL playoffs in case you forgot about which major sports market Wilmington tends to support...)

Finally, I should note that this Saturday night game was NEVER originally my intention. I wanted to do a Sunday afternoon game, but then things got complicated around the date I had in mind (read: threat of rain), and not wanting to wait for Memorial Day Weekend (where I have other things I'd like to do), I picked this date - partially because...

MERCH

The team has Saturday as its giveaway day (as in they give away things every Saturday) - and this game featured something I was actually fairly interested in: a Blue Rocks soccer style jersey! It's actually quite nice if I do say so myself.

Anyway, like I said earlier, the team store here is only accessible from the concourse, but it seemed a bit bigger than Trenton's (though a large part of that is it having double doors as opposed to a single door). While it doesn't exactly have much outside of "the ordinary", the team did unveil a refreshed visual identity for 2026, but the replica jerseys on sale were still from the prior look (I think I've mentioned this before, but I feel like MiLB teams sometimes struggle to sell older items).

The store also had a bunch of game-worn jerseys available, but also had old nameplates taken from old jerseys (which you'd have to attach to the jersey yourself if you were so interested) as well as a patch featuring this obscure old Kansas City Royals logo.

ON DECK

I'm FINALLY going to be able to post about a stadium I actually like quite a lot...hopefully.