Parkview Field, home of the Fort Wayne TinCaps (Midwest League), is the first MiLB three-time winner in our Best of the Ballparks fan vote, snaring 2019 honors over SRP Park, home of the Augusta GreenJackets (Sally League).
The final-round vote was close, with 50.4 percent of vote going for Parkview Field and 49.6 percent of the vote for SRP Park. In 2018 58,000 fans voted in the Best of the Ballparks Low-A bracket; this year over 83,000 fans voted. And while that voting pool expanded significantly, the fans still choose Parkview Field. Since the voting began in 2015, three different Low-A ballparks have snared the Best of the Ballparks honors, and they’re all from the Midwest League: Modern Woodmen Park (2015), Parkview Field (2016, 2018 and 2019) and Four Winds Field (2017). By winning the 2019 fan vote, Parkview Field becomes the first Minor League Baseball team to win three Best of the Ballparks titles.
“It is an honor to be a three-time winner of Ballpark Digest’s Best of Low-A stadium competition,” said TinCaps President Mike Nutter. “We appreciate all of the fans, media, city of Fort Wayne and supporters that voted for Parkview Field. Thanks to Ballpark Digest for all you do for our industry and the world of MiLB.
“There was some amazing competition this year and we feel incredibly blessed to come out on top,” he added. “The folks in our region have supported Parkview Field since we opened in 2009. The staff is grateful to work for Jason Freier of Hardball Capital as he always is looking to improve and re-invest into this great facility as well as the City of Fort Wayne for their desire to keep this award-winning ballpark as great as possible.”
“Parkview Field is an amazing ballpark, but what’s even more amazing is the TinCaps’ passionate fan support,” said Ballpark Digest publisher Kevin Reichard. “Fans had the choice of two great ballparks and two great organizations, and they made history with the highest Low-A vote tally ever.”
It is a grind to win this award: every Low-A ballpark is in the competition, calling for five rounds of voting. As last year’s winner, Parkview Field was awarded a first-round bye and then dispatched Appalachian Power Park (West Virginia Power), Cooley Law School Stadium (Lansing Lugnuts) and Fifth Third Ballpark (West Michigan Whitecaps) before the championship-round triumph.
The MiLB Best of the Ballparks vote continues in the High-A, Double-A and Triple-A brackets.
