Ballparks
Minor league news is slow this week. BA has suspended its prospect reviews until next week, and John Sickels is taking some personal time following the release of his annual prospect book to the publisher and the death of his grandmother. So let’s talk about minor league ballparks.
I prefer to attend a game at a minor league ballpark over the majors. You’re typically closer to the action, the crowds are usually smaller but the fans who do go are usually more into the game, the management is more visible and tends to be more cooperative, and if you wander down behind home plate you can usually spend some time chatting with (or listening to) a couple of the scouts before the game starts, and pick up some knowledge about how they operate. I typically enjoy trips to the minor league parks a lot more. (It doesn’t hurt that I’ve got about 10 or 12 options within a few hours of here!!)
My favorite places to watch a game:
1. Coastal Federal Field, Myrtle Beach, SC. The cheaper seats actually have better sightlines than the more expensive seats down lower in the bowl, but there really isn’t a bad seat in the place, and the team’s management knows how to promote without being obnoxious about it. Very limited parking available; park across the street at Broadway at the Beach and walk over.
2. Five County Stadium, Zebulon, NC. Has gotten better every year since I first started going in 1998, as the stadium has undergone a series of improvements almost every offseason since. You couldn’t ask for a better management team, the support staff is uniformly friendly, approachable, and informative. Oh yeah - and the new restaurant (Cattails) is outstanding if pricey. The upper seating bowl is pretty steep (almost like a major league ballpark) and the fans are pretty quiet, so when the park isn’t crowded it’s not particularly vibrant. Best Independence Day fireworks in Wake County, too.
3. Ernie Shore Field, Winston-Salem, NC. Well kept up older ballpark. You enter the park at the top of the seating bowl and go down to the seating area. Another park where the sightlines are excellent no matter where you sit.
The two AAA ballparks in NC (Charlotte and Durham) are not among my favorites. Durham doesn’t do much to make attending a game at the DBAP a special experience for the fan, and far too much of the ballpark is enclosed. Knights Stadium is OK, but nothing special, and the games are not particularly well-attended.
Ballpark sites abound on the Internet. A couple of good ones, some of which I wish were updated more often, include:
BaseballParks.com
Gary Jarvis’s Minor League Ballparks
Small Parks
Baseball Pilgrimages
Mike Emeigh
Posted: January 19, 2006 at 10:53 AM |
30 comment(s)
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I like Five County, but I haven't been since it opened.
Frawley Stadium (Wlimington, DE) is a nice park, though it is situated underneath I-95, which doesn't do much for the atmosphere.
Harbor Park (Norfolk, VA) is a very nice park, situated on the river and has MLB quality amenities.
The Diamond in Richmond was a dump, same for War Memorial in Fayetteville.
The Toledo Mudhens' new-ish park is the closest to a major league park that I've seen in the minors, with a second deck, luxury boxes and the like. It's still pretty fan friendly, except for a lack of parking. Also, there isn't really much to do before or after the game. But it's Toledo, so you can't really expect much.
My favorite is the Portland Beavers' park in Oregon. It's offbeat, and the sightlines are certainly not the best in some seats, but it's small enough and has enough cool features like a beer garden down the 1st base line and a weird mini Green Monster type left field wall. Check out some pics here: http://www.ballparkwatch.com/visits/portland.htm
Whats really stupid is that technically CHarlottes Stadium isnt even in NC, its across the border in Rock Hill, SC. I dont know why the team has to keep calling itself Charlotte.
And as far as just the ballpark itself, regardless of the team "making it a special experience", I do like the DBAP.
Other random venues:
Asheville, though its been awhile since i was there, was nice.
Greenville, SC (now closed) was a dump.
Oklahoma City's is real nice looking but i was never there during a game. They have a nice restaurant in LF that has a great view of the field both indoors through thte glass window and out on the patio. Its the Brickyard area of town.
Rome, GAs is ok...nothing outstanding. For i think 10 bucks you can get both a dinner buffet and seats right behind the plate to eat your meal at, which is nice though the food is shaky.
I used to go there back in '96-'97 when the Rockies' Northwest League (short-season A) team played there. It's probably been upgraded since it's now a AAA stadium. The old carpet was very threadbare.
One thing I loved was the "dog racing" (like very, very low-tech Dot Racing), where people carried poles with huge dog heads on them on the sidewalk behind the "Green Monster." You could just see the dogs' heads above the wall. Hilarious!
Cheers,
Alan Shank
Billings, Montana (Pioneer League) has a great setting for a stadium. Too bad the one they have is a dump.
My favorite parks:
Blair County - Altoona
Canal Park, Akron
and here.
Boshamer Stadium is better than a number of Class A facilities. Gene Hooks Stadium at Wake Forest (Hi Bunyon!) is a nice facility, also, and with the renovations at Doak Field, it's getting up there as well.
-- MWE
Veteran's Memorial - Cedar Rapids. I could not believe that it was a low-A park - would be significantly above average AAA park.
Memphis - does this (and OK City) even count? They're essentially big league parks. MEM has the option of watching games from office towers.
College, on the other hand...
1. Auburn - beautiful, even has a mini-monster
2. Florida - the outfield grass is like a fairway.
3. Nebraska
4. Wichita St. - more for tradition reasons than anything else.
5. C. Michigan - facility and surface would rival many SS and Low-A parks.
...
1007-1016. Any Big 10 park - Purdue and Michigan are especially bad.
Does anyone know of a semi-comprehensive list of minor league parks throughout history, at least for the higher classifications? For example, if we wanted to know all the parks of the Western League in 1920, or the International League teams in 1935, or what park Toledo used in 1912?
This site has a lot of them.
For example, this link has the history of the Pirates' affiliations, listing the cities and ballparks.
-- MWE
I've never seen a game there, but I was very impressed when I drove by it once. So much so that pulled off the highway to go check it out. I knew CR only had a low-A team, so I couldn't believe the facility they had there.
And, it's not like the Charlotte Knights play in Columbia. Fort Mill is a Charlotte suburb located all of 15 miles from Uptown. Personally, I don't like it but this whole "why is a Charlotte AAA team located in S.C." seems pretty stupid to me.
Boshamer Stadium is better than a number of Class A facilities. Gene Hooks Stadium at Wake Forest (Hi Bunyon!) is a nice facility, also, and with the renovations at Doak Field, it's getting up there as well."
Really? im not that much of a fan of the Bosh. Not an especially nice setting (its kindve crammed into campus) and theres nowhere to watch the game from past the dugouts or in the OF- I rather like fields with some grassy area to sit on out there. I do envy those kids in the dorm past CF who could probably watch the game from their walkway with some binoculars.
I dont know much about the facility-i assume its fine-but id love to see a game at LSU for the atmosphere they get
"And, it's not like the Charlotte Knights play in Columbia. Fort Mill is a Charlotte suburb located all of 15 miles from Uptown. Personally, I don't like it but this whole "why is a Charlotte AAA team located in S.C." seems pretty stupid to me. "
Oh i know, i wont deny thats its a silly complaint-it just irritates me for whatever reason.
BHN Field is really nice, both in appearance and amenities. I really need to get out there a few times this season, I've only been there once since it opened. The 2006 Big East baseball tournament will be held there.
Jack Russell was a dump and Dunedin Stadium isn't very nice either. Al Lang is ok but nothing special.
I've been amazed at some of the quality parks in the Midwest League. Dayton, West Michigan, Peoria and Appleton all have AAA-quality parks. I haven't been to Cedar Rapids, but it sounds like they've got the same. South Bend has a decent park even if it's not well-run.
I hadn't heard that, but I'll ask. I think it would be very difficult to find the money to do so, given Wake County's other problems at the moment.
-- MWE
Sad to say, it still is.
There is a movement afoot here to build a new park in Shocoe Bottom, the Bohemian area of Richmond east of I-95 on the flats by the James River. The project is rather expensive so hasn't gotten off the ground yet.
I think Shocoe is not a good site for a park for the simple reason that the James River floods periodically and the park would probably get ruined by floodwaters within 10 years of being built.
Having all those cute coeds around doesn't hurt either.
How can you not have been to Legends Field?
I'm not sure they'd tell you. It seemed odd to me that they had so few seats in the lower deck, and I can't think of a better explanation.
I have some "friends with friends" who can usually find out anything that I want to know WRT Five County.
-- MWE
It certainly has charm though. You gotta love that the "box" seats are folding chairs in the grandstand.
I'm pretty spoiled. The three Cal League teams near me have pretty nice stadiums.
The coolest minor league stadium I have been to is Victory Field in Indianapolis. It has a second deck and some nice views of downtown Indy.
I'm not really a stadium enthusiast like most of the others in this thread. I live in the St. Pete area so I have no interest in driving 35-40 minutes to see a minor league game there.
Plus, the Yankees suck. ;-)
I really like Boshamer too (UNC), though that's partially for sentimental reasons. They need to clean the aluminum bleachers more often, though.
Least favorite minor league parks are Burlington NC (smell = very yes) and Potomac. Worst park I actually like is in Wilmington NC (used by the college team, low-A and AA ball in recent years) - it has a stupid layout and is inconvenient to get too, but I always have fun there.
The parking sucks big time, too.
The Dodgers' affiliate that is now the Columbus (GA) Catfish was in Wilmington for a year. They had been promised a new facility, but when Wilmington couldn't get a financing package in place they took off for greeener pastures. IIRC, the move took place in February.
-- MWE
Knology Park (FSL Dunedin (FL) Blue Jays and ST for Toronto) has got a lot of character, even if it's looking a bit worn down lately.
My favorite park is Cobb Field in Billings, MT. Home of the Pioneer League (Rookie-level) Billings Mustangs (Reds affil.). I went to my first ever pro baseball game in that park, so it's really more sentimental than anything else for me.
don't remember the games much :)
Thats Portland, OR. home of the beavers < insert Peter giggle here >
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