The design of Aces Ballpark is a very distinctive combination of new and classic. The basic structure is brick and dark green steel, but the colors in the seating are a warm sand and brick-red color – appropriate for the West. FAST FACTS Year Opened: 2009 Capacity: 9,100 Cost: $50 million Dimensions: 338L, 410LC, 423RC, […]
Archive | Visits
Ballpark Visit: Elfstrom Stadium / 3
We visit Elfstrom Stadium, the home of the Kane County Cougars. Concessions If your hunger and thirst cannot be slaked at Elfstrom Stadium, your tastes are truly bizarre or obscure. For starters, there's the standard ballpark fare: hot dogs (regular and foot long), Chicago red hots, Angus burgers and cheeseburgers, brats, chicken tenders, corn dogs, […]
Elfstrom Stadium / Kane County Cougars
Note: Elfstrom Stadium was renamed Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in 2012. This visit was filed in 2009. The stated goal of the owners and management of the Kane County Cougars is a simple one: operate a county fair that happens to have a ballgame in the middle. And now that county fair has a new […]
Ballpark Visit: Dutchess Stadium / 1
When Dutchess Stadium opened in 1994 as the new home of the relocated Erie (PA) franchise, it was a watershed moment for the league. Just like the folks around Augusta, the folks in the Hudson Valley were thrilled to have a team to call their own. This, too, was a place that had always been […]
Parkview Field / Fort Wayne TinCaps
You can never accuse Parkview Field of being a cookie-cutter ballpark. The home of the Class-A Fort Wayne TinCaps, Parkview Field is one of the most intricately conceived and immaculately designed ballparks to come down the pike in years. The level of attention to detail is astonishing; it’s designed to be a place where a […]
Huntington Park / Columbus Clippers
With a stunning design, strong sense of history and the latest in fan comforts, Huntington Park comes close to being the perfect baseball facility. FAST FACTS Year Opened: 2009 Capacity: 10,000 (7,600 seats, 1,200 specialty seats, 1,200 lawn/SRO spots) Number of Suites: 32, with 42 loge boxes Owner: Franklin County Architect: 360 Architecture Naming Rights: […]
Bowling Green Ballpark / Bowling Green Hot Rods
Bowling Green bills its downtown as historic, complete with a picture-perfect town square ringed by quaint shops and restaurants. So it’s only natural that Bowling Green Ballpark, the new home of the Bowling Green Hot Rods, features a brick-clad design and a nice combination of the modern with a classic feel. It comes close in […]
Greer Stadium / Nashville Sounds
Herschel Greer Stadium is an older ballpark that gets lost in the mix. Its original intent was to create a place to play baseball (interesting concept), and while the Sounds have done what they can to keep up with the Minor League Baseball boom by building patio decks and adding children’s play areas, it’s the […]
Fox Cities Stadium / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
There’s a certain similarity to newer ballparks in the Midwest League and the Upper Midwest. That uniformity can be seen at Fox Cities Stadium, the home of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Class A; Midwest League). In most ways this is a ballpark that serves the residents of the Fox Valley (which includes Appleton and Green […]
Raley Field / Sacramento River Cats
Raley Field isn’t really a downtown ballpark, being 15 minutes away and across the river from downtown Sacramento. It’s definitely not a suburban ballpark, located in a disused warehouse/industrial area. Let’s just say it’s an urban ballpark and leave it at that — besides proclaiming Raley Field a great ballpark. FAST FACTS Year Opened: 2000 […]
New Britain Stadium / New Britain Rock Cats
If you find yourself in New Britain, Conn., you’re in the hometown of Stanley Works, which, if your house is like mine, manufactured your tape measure, your hammer, and probably a lot of toys and gadgets in your toolbox. If you find yourself in New Britain, you’re in a central Connecticut town that’s proud of […]
Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium / Omaha Royals / College World Series
Writing about Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium is really a two-pronged deal. The ballpark must serve two masters — the College World Series and the Omaha Royals — and as a result it doesn’t serve either particularly well, especially the needs of the O-Royals. FAST FACTS Year Opened: 1948 Capacity: 23,100 (17,700 grandstand, 5,400 general admission) Architect: […]
McCoy Stadium / Pawtucket Red Sox
Age is relative when it comes to baseball stadiums — a point well exemplified by McCoy Stadium, the home of the Pawtucket Red Sox. In theory, McCoy Stadium is one the oldest ballparks in the International League, first opening in 1942. So a visitor unfamiliar with the recent history of McCoy Stadium would expect a […]