It’s a matchup of Midwest and New Jersey teams, as the Ballpark of the Ballparks moves to the Final Four for independent ballparks — and we want to hear from you!
There were some definite voting blocs in place here, which we noted as we scanned the vote logs. (Yes, we do eliminate the same votes from the same IP address. We take these results very seriously, and reloading a vote 500 times won’t yield 500 votes for your ballpark.) Many voters selected the three New Jersey ballparks — Skylands Stadium, TD Bank Ballpark and Yogi Berra Stadium — and were successful in pushing the Somersets Patriots and New Jersey Jackals to the Final Four. Voters, however, decided to move CHS Field and Sioux Falls Stadium to the finals as well. That sets up an Midwest final and a New Jersey final.
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 13,000 respondents. Third-round voting ends Saturday at 10 p.m., with the fourth round beginning Sunday at 9 a.m.
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. And we will disqualify teams and ballparks where there is clearly vote cramming.
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, rookie, summer collegiate and independent.
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 Thursday at 10 p.m., with the third round beginning Friday 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.