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Best of the Ballparks 2017, Independent Baseball: The Depot at Cleburne Station

The Depot at Cleburne Station

The Depot at Cleburne Station, home of the American Association’s Cleburne Railroaders, was voted by fans as their favorite independent-baseball ballpark in the annual Ballpark Digest Best of the Ballparks vote, winning 2017 honors.

Fans selected The Depot over Rent One Park, home of the Frontier League’s Southern Illinois Miners, in the finals of a bracketed online competition. The margin in the final round of voting: 51 percent (15,731 votes) for The Depot at Cleburne Station, and 49 percent (15,120 votes) for Rent One Ballpark. This is the first year of operation for The Depot at Cleburne Station. Over 330,000 voters participated in this year’s Best of the Ballparks fan competition for spring-training, college, Minor League Baseball, independent and summer-collegiate facilities.

“The Cleburne Railroaders have certainly resonated with fans this season, and it’s clear that The Depot at Cleburne Station is a big reason why,” said Ballpark Digest publisher Kevin Reichard. “With plenty of fan-friendly touches and a very accessible design, The Depot at Cleburne Station is a great addition to the baseball world.”

“The victory is a testament to the support of this community, the vision of the Mayor, which includes design features that incorporate the history of the city, and the Mayor’s father who, as design architect, added some insight to the overall great design that Populous brought to life,” said Railroaders President/GM Robbie Fenyes. “As an operator we could not be more proud to call the Depot home of the Railroaders. The facilities, playing field and fans are the best in the game. My thanks to our great staff in the park for making this the place to be.”

As noted, The Depot at Cleburne Station opened this season as home of the Cleburne Railroaders. The latest addition to the American Association’s ballpark scene, The Depot at Cleburne Station features many of the modern amenities fans have come to expect. It offers a fixed seating capacity of more than 1,750, with additional ticketing options like berm seating—located down the first and third base lines—and bleachers. There are also several premium and group areas throughout the ballpark, including the Conductor’s Club, Farmers Insurance Party Deck, First Financial Bank Picnic Plaza, Brakeman’s Bar, and luxury suites.

Voters were asked to choose amongst 32 top independent-baseball ballparks in five rounds of voting. Since the voting began in 2015, TD Bank Ballpark, home of the Atlantic League’s Somerset Patriots, won the first two fan votes.

Other 2017 Best of the Ballparks winners:

MiLB Triple-A: Huntington Park
MiLB Double-A: Dunkin’ Donuts Park
MiLB High-A: Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium
MiLB, Low-A: Four Winds Field
College: McKethan Stadium
Spring Training, Grapefruit League: LECOM Park
Spring Training, Cactus League: Salt River Fields at Talking Stick 

Photo courtesy Visit Cleburne.

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