When I last saw Parkview Field, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had just finished off the Fort Wayne TinCaps to win this year’s Midwest League championship.

Fast forward three months to today. The Fort Wayne field definitely has an offseason look to it right now, as you can see in this photo that was tweeted earlier by TinCaps play-by-play man Mike Couzens:

The snowy scene at Parkview Field this morning.

Opening Day 2013 at Parkview Field will be on Thursday, April 11.

Scales to speak at Bees winter banquet

The Burlington Bees entered into a new major-league affiliation deal this offseason, aligning with the Los Angeles Angels through the 2014 season. Thus, the featured speaker at the team’s 2013 winter banquet will be Bobby Scales, the new Angels director of player development.

Scales was hired in that capacity last month after a long career playing baseball, mostly in the minor leagues but also in 61 games with the Chicago Cubs. He played for the 2000 Fort Wayne Wizards, hitting .283 with 1 HR, 27 RBI and 14 SB in 81 games. His most notable teammate in Fort Wayne was Jake Peavy, who went 13-8 with a 2.90 ERA and 164 strikeouts in 133.2 IP.

Also expected to attend the banquet is new Bees manager Jamie Burke. The former major-league catcher managed the Cedar Rapids Kernels the past two seasons. Burke also played for the Kernels in 1994, hitting .264 with 1 HR and 47 RBI in 127 games. The Kernels were affiliated with the Angels when Burke played for them.

The Bees winter banquet will take place Friday, Jan. 11, at the PZAZZ! Convention & Events Center in Burlington.