Another new round in our Best of the Ballparks: Help us choose the noteworthy facilities in the rookie-level Pioneer and Appalachian Leagues.
The Pioneer League launches Thursday, while the Appalachian League starts next week. The brackets — at the bottom of this page — are a little wonky because there are only 18 teams at this level. So this first round of voting is essentially a play-in (thanks, NCAA, for the inspiration!) with only two contests. So jump in and vote:
We know from marketing/user research stats 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.
We have seen some fans aggressively register their preferences for the Best of the Ballparks by voting over and over. Don’t bother: we filter by IP address, so only your first vote counts.
Voting for this round has ended.
Here is our ranking of rookie-level ballparks:
1. Dehler Park (Billings Mustangs; PL)
2. Pioneer Park (Greeneville Astros; AppL)
3. Lindquist Field (Ogden Raptors; PL)
4. Melaleuca Field (Idaho Falls Chukars; PL)
5. Burlington Athletic Stadium (Burlington Royals; AppL)
6. Suplizio Field (Grand Junction Rockies; PL)
7. Ogren Park at Allegiance Field (Missoula Osprey; PL)
8. Hunnicutt Field (Princeton Rays; AppL)
9. Centene Stadium (Grand Falls Voyagers; PL)
10. Hunter Wright Stadium (Kingsport Mets; AppL)
11. Calfee Park (Pulaski Yankees; AppL)
12. Bowen Field (Bluefield Blue Jays; AppL)
13. Boyce Cox Field (Bristol Pirates; AppL)
14. Howard Johnson Field (Johnson City Cardinals; AppL)
15. Legion Field (Danville Braves; AppL)
16. Home of the Owlz (Orem Owlz; PL)
17. Kindrick Field (Helena Brewers; PL)
18. Joe O’Brien Field (Elizabethton Twins; AppL)
