Spring in the minors. It finds some teams opening new ballparks, some changing cities in search of greener outfields and others attempting to re-cultivate the love affair between a market and a team that has, for a variety of reasons, cooled off in recent seasons. MLN, in association with Baseballparks.com’s legendary Joe Mock, author of Joe Mock’s Ballpark Guide takes you on the 2005 tour of the best ballparks in the minors. If you like the trip, take one yourself! The Top Ten is also available as a tour at the new MLNTravel sports travel store.
In generating this year’s list of the best Minor League parks, we looked at several factors, some different from previous years (See our 2003, 2004 rankings). First, what is the game-day experience like at the park? Are the fans treated well and entertained? Second, is the stadium itself noteworthy? Third, have the team’s efforts and the allure of the park itself translated into success at the box office?
The fan-approval rating has caused a change in the list from previous years, with us saying so long to some great places to watch a game, either for the location or its historic significance, which may appeal to the more hard-core baseball fan. We invite you to look those up in the previous rankings.
Using these criteria, we’ve formulated our fourth-annual list of the best places to see a game in the minors. This ten-park list includes four from the Triple-A level, two from Double-A, three from Single-A (one each from High A, Low A and short-season A) and one from an independent league. We also felt compelled to include an “honorable mention” park this year.
The big winner of the 2005 MLN Top Ten Ballparks is Mandalay Sports Entertainment (MSE). Two of their five minor league franchises, the Frisco RoughRiders and the Dayton Dragons are top ten parks!
No brand-new parks are being considered for our Top Ten List this year. Look for some of them to appear in our list for 2006! Four new stadiums make the list for 2005. The top stadium in the country? It moves up from No. 3 in 2004 to No. 1 today.
The MLN 2005 Top Ten (10) Ballparks:
