After an exciting first round of voting with a few significant upsets, we’re moving on to the second round of Best of the Ballparks voting for independent ballparks — and we want to hear from you.
The first round of voting for independent ballparks yielded a few upsets worth noting. First, fans chose Skylands Stadium, home of the Sussex County Miners, over Newman Outdoor Field, home of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. Second, fans chose Sioux Falls Stadium, home of the Sioux Falls Canaries, over Santander Stadium, home of the York Revolution. In a squeaker, fans chose Regency Furniture Stadium, home of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, over Provident Bank Ballpark, home of the Rockland Boulders. Finally, fans chose Yogi Berra Stadium over QuikTrip Park at Grand Prairie, home of the Grand Prairie AirHogs.
But that round is history. Below you’ll find a form for submitting your votes (desktop users see the entire slate; mobile users see one poll question at a time). The first round of voting generated more than 8,400 respondents.
Voting for this round is now closed.
About Best of the Ballparks: we structured the voting by classification, so the competition is broken down into Triple-A, Double-A, High A, Low A, short season A and rookie (which both begin June 17). The summer collegiate and independent brackets will encompass what we consider to the top 32 ballparks in their classifications. And, of course, the MLB parks stand on their own.
We know from our marketing/user research a third of our readers work in the baseball industry, so we’re tapping into that collective expertise. And we know from our research that a third of our readers sell to the baseball industry, so that expertise will be valuable as well. The remaining third — fans, media, government — will certainly have a different view on things as well. We can’t wait to see what our readers — whom we consider to be the smartest folks in baseball — say about the best of the ballparks.
Second-round voting ends Tuesday at 10 p.m., with the third round beginning Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Here’s our list of the top 32 independent ballparks:
1. CHS Field (St. Paul Saints; AA)
2. Shaw Park (Winnipeg Goldeyes; AA)
3. Constellation Field (Sugar Land Skeeters; AtL)
4. U.S. Steel Yard (Gary SouthShore RailCats; AA)
5. Le Stade Municipal (Quebec Capitales; Can-Am)
6. QuikTrip Park at Grand Prairie (Grand Prairie Airhogs; AA)
7. Boomers Stadium (Schaumburg Boomers; FL)
8. All Pro Freight Stadium (Lake Erie Crushers; FL)
9. Newman Outdoor Field (Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks; AA)
10. Provident Bank Park (Rockland Boulders; Can-Am)
11. Clipper Magazine Stadium (Lancaster Barnstormers; AtL)
12. Santander Stadium (York Revolution; AtL)
13. Haymarket Park (Lincoln Saltdogs; AA)
14. Rent One Park (Southern Illinois Miners; FL)
15. TD Bank Ballpark (Somerset Patriots; AtL)
16. Wuerfel Park (Traverse City Beach Bums; FL)
17. Bosse Field (Evansville Otters; FL)
18. Community America Ballpark (Kansas City T-Bones; AA)
19. Bethpage Ballpark (Long Island Ducks; AtL)
20. Lawrence-Dumont Stadium (Wichita Wingnuts; AA)
21. Sioux Falls Stadium (Sioux Falls Canaries; AA)
22. T.R. Hughes Ballpark (River City Rascals; FL)
23. Regency Furniture Stadium (Southern Maryland Blue Crabs; AtL)
24. Skylands Stadium (Sussex County Miners; Can-Am)
25. Stade Fernand-Bédard (Trois-Rivières Aigles; Can-Am)
26. Uni-Trade Stadium (Laredo Lemurs; AA)
27. Yogi Berra Stadium (New Jersey Jackals; Can-Am)
28. GCS Ballpark (Gateway Grizzlies; FL)
29. The Corn Crib (Normal Cornbelters; FL)
30. Silver Cross Field (Joliet Slammers; FL)
31. Potter County Memorial Stadium (Amarillo Thunderheads; AA)
32. Albert Park (San Rafael Pacifics; PacAssn)
Figures refer to percentage of votes cast.
