The first round of voting at Double-A for the Best of the Ballparks is done, and we’re down to the round of 16 after some interesting upsets, setting the stage for a second round of voting. We want to hear from you!
The first round of voting for Texas, Southern and Eastern League ballparks was a mixed bag when compared with the seeding, with several upsets. First, fans preferred AT&T Field, home of the Chattanooga Lookouts, over a wide margin over ARM & HAMMER Park, home of the Trenton Thunder. Second, fans preferred Hadlock Field, home of the Portland Sea Dogs, over Hammons Field, home of the Springfield Cardinals. Third, fans preferred Peoples Natural Gas Field, home of the Altoona Curve (shown above), over Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, home of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. And, finally, fans preferred MGM Park, home of the Biloxi Shuckers, over the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, home of the Jacksonville Suns.
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 7,600 respondents.
Voting in this round has ended.
About Best of the Ballparks: we structured the voting by classification, so the competition is broken down into MLB, 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 Monday at 10 p.m., with the third round beginning Tuesday at 9 a.m.
Here’s our ranking of Double-A ballparks, combining Texas, Southern and Eastern League facilities:
1. Regions Field (Birmingham Barons; SL)
2. Pensacola Bayfront Stadium (Pensacola Blue Wahoos; SL)
3. Dr Pepper Ballpark (Frisco RoughRiders; TL)
4. Dickey-Stephens Park (Arkansas Travelers; TL)
5. FirstEnergy Stadium (Reading Fightin Phils; EL)
6. Smokies Park (Tennessee Smokies; SL)
7. Whataburger Field (Corpus Christi Hooks; TL)
8. ONEOK Field (Tulsa Drillers; TL)
9. ARM & HAMMER Park (Trenton Thunder; EL)
10. Riverwalk Stadium (Montgomery Biscuits; SL)
11. Canal Park (Akron RubberDucks; EL)
12. Metro Bank Park (Harrisburg Senators; EL)
13. Hammons Field (Springfield Cardinals; TL)
14. Bragan Field at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville (Jacksonville Suns; SL)
15. Northeast Delta Dental Stadium (New Hampshire Fisher Cats; EL)
16. Arvest Ballpark (Northwest Arkansas Naturals; TL)
17. Trustmark Park (Mississippi Braves; SL)
18. Peoples Natural Gas Field (Altoona Curve; EL)
19. MGM Park (Biloxi Shuckers; SL)
20. Hadlock Field (Portland Sea Dogs; EL)
21. Security Bank Ballpark (Midland RockHounds; TL)
22. The Diamond (Richmond Flying Squirrels; EL)
23. The Ballpark at Jackson (Jackson Generals; SL)
24. AT&T Field (Chattanooga Lookouts; SL)
25. Wolff Stadium (San Antonio Missions; TL)
26. Jerry Uht Park (Erie SeaWolves; EL)
27. Prince George’s Stadium (Bowie Baysox; EL)
28. Henry Aaron Stadium (Mobile BayBears)
29. New Britain Stadium (New Britain Rock Cats; EL)
30. NYSEG Stadium (Binghamton Mets; EL)
