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Best of the Ballparks 2016: Rookie, Finals

Ballpark DigestIt’s an all-Pioneer League matchup in the final round of the Best of the Ballparks vote for Rookie-level facilities, as fans selected Dehler Park and Suplizio Field to square off for the championship.

Fans chose the Grand Junction Rockies home over Pioneer Park, home of the Greeneville Astros, by a wide margin — 68%-32%. It was a closer vote in the other bracket, where the home of the Billings Mustangs won over Calfee Park, home of the Pulaski Yankees, by a 53%-47% margin.

So with the two finalists in place, you know what to do: Vote!

The 18 Rookie ballparks comprise some of our favorite small ballparks in all of Minor League Baseball. Small-town stalwarts, these facilities are certainly worth a visit on your part and worthy of attention from any serious baseball fans.

We began this year’s Best of the Ballparks vote in May with fans asked to choose their favorite Triple-A, Double-A, High-A and Low-A affiliated ballparks. The second round saw fans asked to select their favorite independent and MLB ballparks. This final round covers Rookie and Short Season A facilities.

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.

Please note: votes are filtered by IP address, so we’re limiting folks to one vote. (Feel free to hit that reload as many times as you want, but multiple votes will be filtered out of the final tally.) You can vote here:

Voting for this competition has ended.

Here is our ranking of Rookie-level MiLB ballparks. The two finalists in last year’s vote, Melaleuca Field and TVA Credit Union Ballpark (formerly Howard Johnson Field), are the honorary top two ballparks in this ranking. As you’ll recall, Melaleuca Field was the winner.

1. Melaleuca Field (Idaho Falls Chukars; PL)
2. TVA Credit Union Ballpark (Johnson City Cardinals; AppL)
3. Dehler Park (Billings Mustangs; PL)
4. Lindquist Field (Ogden Raptors; PL)
5. Pioneer Park (Greeneville Astros; AppL)
6. Burlington Athletic Stadium (Burlington Royals; AppL)
7. Calfee Park (Pulaski Yankees; AppL)
8. Ogren Park at Allegiance Field (Missoula Osprey; PL)
9. Suplizio Field (Grand Junction Rockies; PL)
10. Centene Stadium (Grand Falls Voyagers; PL)
11. Hunnicutt Field (Princeton Rays; AppL)
12. Hunter Wright Stadium (Kingsport Mets; AppL)
13. Bowen Field (Bluefield Blue Jays; AppL)
14. Boyce Cox Field (Bristol Pirates; AppL)
15. Kindrick Field (Helena Brewers; PL)
16. Legion Field (Danville Braves; AppL)
17. Brent Brown Ballpark (Orem Owlz; PL)
18. Joe O’Brien Field (Elizabethton Twins; AppL)

Here are the brackets for the Rookie vote:

Best of the Ballparks 2016

Click on the image for a larger version.

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