 |
From the new to the tried and true, MLN presents the best of the best in baseball’s minor league shrines to the national pastime. Some ballparks make their second appearance on the top ten. Selected this year by the experts at Baseballparks.com, they offer a mix of the nostalgic and the new, whether you travel or just drop in to have a brew.
Joe Mock
|
Top Parks: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
What makes a stadium eligible for the Top Ten? The park has to have some specific feature that you won’t find anywhere else. The other factor is more emotional, and depends a lot on who you are.
The core fan, who will sit on anything, eat anything, and use facilities designed by and for Romano man just to watch baseball, is a vanishing breed.
The casual fan is the name of today’s game in the sports business. Shiny new edifices have opened in the last dozen years that offer an incredible array of diversions to lure people who will attend a few games as much for the hot dog and the conversation as for the game itself.
Merry-go-rounds, playgrounds, sport courts and moon bounces abound at these new minor league parks. Fresno’s stadium, which opened last year, even uses live burros to pull the kiddies around in its version of a merry-go-round.
The older ballparks have an appeal that many newer ones can’t touch. Rickety wooden bleachers, decades-old roofs over the grandstands and players meandering among the fans to get to the field bring richness to the experience that no shiny new park can possess. Walk through many of these stadiums and you can feel the presence of the major league stars that rose to stardom, or remember the days when your dad brought you to see your first game.
Avoiding the Middle Ages
There are plenty of parks in each category that are truly noteworthy.
Stadiums built in between the “classic” ballpark period and the “retro-modern” period seem so forgettable. Many of the parks built in the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s are now being replaced with fancy new stadiums.
When the parks of Charleston, WV (1949), Montgomery, AL (1950), Jacksonville, FL (1955), Albuquerque, NM (1969) and even Richmond, VA (1985) opened, who could have imagined that they would seem so sterile and out-of-date by now? Yet all of these have either been replaced with new structures, or are about to be.
Many stadiums from this period suffered from "internal" illness. The minors have changed. Indoor batting cages, exercise and rehab facilities, and other spaces demanded by the modern minor leaguer have also pushed some of these facilities, built with locker rooms and other facilities for the far lower expectations of decades past, into extinction.
Still with us are many of the classic old parks. Ones with charm and character to which, in the design of modern parks, architects like HOK Sport pay homage.
Treasures like Bowman Field in Williamsport, PA (1923), Centennial Field in Burlington, VT (1922) and Bowen Field in Bluefield, WV (1939) can never be replaced.
MLN presents five each from the early and late periods, assuming you count the gem of Vero Beach’s as part of the “classic” period.
|
[Top of Story] |
Courtesy Baseballparks.com
1. SBC Bricktown Ballpark
Oklahoma City, OK
(1998)
Of all of the newer Minor League parks, this one might have the most beautiful exterior. It has caused a renaissance within the Bricktown section of Oklahoma City, now a neighborhood that features plenty of fantastic restaurants. You’ll also enjoy the statues of Oklahomans Mickey Mantle and Johnny Bench, as well as the wonderful landscaping and functional, aesthetically pleasing interior. This is one gorgeous park, but to be fair, of the really large parks built recently for AAA teams, the ones in Indianapolis, Louisville and Memphis are not far behind.
Rank Last Year: 9
|
|
[Top of Story] |
Courtesy Baseballparks.com
2. Rickwood Field
Birmingham, AL
(1910)
Some of you might think it’s cheating to include this park, since only one Minor League game is played here each year. Ahh, but to leave it out would be to exclude one of baseball’s true treasures.
Starting in 1910, Rickwood has hosted, with stateliness and charm, the Minors (Birmingham Barons) and the Negro Leagues (Black Barons).
When the Barons moved south to a new park in the suburbs, that didn’t mean the end of Rickwood. The Barons play there annually to raise funds to restore the historic park (This year, the game will be on June 11th.)
An organization called the Friends Of Rickwood oversees the upkeep and renovations of this gem, restoring aspects of the park to the glory of their bygone days.
These restorations include the clubhouses, the pressbox “gazebo” on the roof, the old-style light standards and the manual scoreboard.
.
It’s worth a trip from anywhere to take this step back in time and see a game in a ballpark that’s over 90 years old – and beautifully looks it!
Rank Last Year: NR
|
|
[Top of Story] |
3. The Diamond
Lake Elsinore, CA
(Opened 1994)
About five years ago, I happened to run into a salty old guy in Orlando who claimed to have attended over 4,200 baseball games over the previous 30 years. If you count only the pros, he’d attended games in over 280 different parks. Wow! I asked for his favorite, and he replied, “That one in Lake Elsinore in California. That's about the nicest I've seen.”
Who am I to argue? Its entryway behind home plate is as pretty as there is, but what really sets it apart is its setting near the lake itself, which sits at the base of a massive peak. Simply gorgeous.
Rank Last Year: 6
|
|
[Top of Story] |
Courtesy Baseballparks.com
4. John O'Donnell Stadium
Davenport, IA
(1931)
The home of the Quad City River Bandits has a stunningly beautiful view of the Mississippi River.
If you sit in the top rows of the covered grandstand behind third base, I guarantee you will spend more time watching the steamboats and other river traffic than the game.
The Centennial Bridge that towers over right field is spectacular, especially at night.
Try to see a game there this season, because massive renovations will be made to this flood-prone park prior to the 2004 campaign – and one of the changes will be a flood wall which will diminish the view of the river.
Rank Last Year: NR
|
|
[Top of Story] |
Courtesy Baseballparks.com
5. Campbell's Field
Camden, NJ
(2001)
Home to the Camden Riversharks of the independent Atlantic League, Digitalballparks.com awarded this facility “Park of the Year.”
The architecture is very pretty, certainly nicer than the surrounding neighborhoods! The setting along the Delaware River is quite nice.
It’s what you see beyond the outfield walls, though, that takes your breath away. The massive, ornate Ben Franklin Bridge dominates the view, and the skyline of downtown Philadelphia shimmers beyond.
Rank Last Year: NR
|
|
[Top of Story] |
Courtesy Baseballparks.com
6.Wahconah Park
Pittsfield, MA
(1892)
Retired as an affiliated baseball shrine for the New York-Penn League's Pittsfield Astros (see article) after decades in different organizations, rustic Wahconah Park now finds itself as the home of the Berkshire Black Bears of the independent Northeast League.
For a long time, it was thought that the place dated back to 1919, but recent research shows that baseball has been played here since 1892, making a case for Wahconah being the oldest standing baseball park anywhere.
Yes, it’s the sense of history that makes this place unique, but as the sun sets during night games in the summer, you’ll also discover something else. You see, the park faces due west, meaning the setting sun blinds the batter, catcher and ump, sometimes forcing “sun delays” during games!
Rank Last Year: NR
Feature Article, June 30, 2001
|
|
[Top of Story] |
Courtesy Baseballparks.com
7. Franklin Covey Field
Salt Lake City, UT
(1994)
Franklin Covey Field makes the top-ten more for the stunning view that sets the home of the AAA PCL's Salt Lake Buzz apart from many other parks.
The snow-capped Wasatch Mountains east of the city provide the gorgeous backdrop, and as the sun sets, the lovely “alpine glow” of the peaks is nothing short of breathtaking.
To be fair, Pioneer League parks in nearby Ogden and Provo also have views of these mountains that are spectacular.
Rank Last Year: NR
|
|
[Top of Story] |
Courtesy Baseballparks.com
8. Ray Winder Field
Little Rock, AR
(1932)
When you step into the home park of the Arkansas Travelers of the Texas League, you may feel a sense of déjà vu. There’s nothing else like it, with its huge screen on top of the outfield wall, much like LA Coliseum when the Dodgers used to play there. R.W.F. also sports one of the few authentic organs left in the minors. By the way, it’s pronounced “WIN-der,” not “WINE-der.”
Rank Last Year: NR
|
|
[Top of Story] |
9. KeySpan Park
Brooklyn, NY
(2001)
Home of the New York-Penn League Cyclones, KeySpan Park debuted on the MLN Top Ten at number five in its inaugural 2001 season, and was named best new ballpark by Baseballparks.com.
The Coney Island theme was carried out brilliantly throughout the park, especially with the colorful lighting that was installed.
The beach of Coney Island is beyond right field, and beyond left there’s a busy amusement park, complete with the famous Cyclone Roller Coaster.
Rank Last Year: 5
|
|
[Top of Story] |
Courtesy Baseballparks.com
10. Holman Stadium
Vero Beach, FL
(1953)
Nestled in the middle of the incredible baseball and golf complex known as Dodgertown, there really is no other park like Holman anywhere in baseball.
Trees and flowers grow within the seating areas; the dugouts have no roofs; there are only "theater-style" seats (no benches or bleachers anywhere).
There is even a pond called "Dodger Lake" within the confines of the park.
They don't build 'em like this any more! Not only do the Florida State League Dodgers play here, this is also the spring home of the LA Dodgers.
Vero Beach oozes memories of the greats of baseball: Koufax, Drysdale, Robinson, Valenzuela. Visit during pre-season, and you may see some of the Dodger greats who make the pilgrimage for the rites of Spring.
The Dodgers first started training here in 1953, long before Los Angeles beckoned.
Rank Last Year: NR
|
Joe Mock is the publisher/editor of Baseballparks.com, one of the best resources for fans interested in baseball travel, stadium history, or stadium architecture.
