After a 64-ballpark marathon ballot in the first round, we’re on to the second round of the summer collegiate Best of the Ballparks 2019 vote, with a more manageable 32 ballparks on the docket. So you know what to so: vote!
There is an amazingly wide variety of ballparks used in summer-collegiate leagues across the United States and Canada. We began with 64 noteworthy summer-collegiate ballparks, ranging from WPA facilities and ballparks hosting Negro Leagues games to former Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A ballparks. (Yes, we did take history into account when compiling this list.) We began this competition with last year’s winner–Corbett Field, home of the Souris Valley Sabre Dogs–and randomly generated the rest of the brackets. With almost 14,000 voters participating, the first round of voting narrowed the field to 32, and those 16 brackets are presented for your input.
Interestingly, Clemens Field, which survived the first round, is not hosting Hannibal Hoots baseball the rest of the summer. When we began the competition, the ballpark had been flooded but there were still plans to play there. However, last Friday it was announced the damage was so extensive that the remainder of the Hoots season would be played at QU Stadium in Quincy, IL.
We know from marketing stats that 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 are running the contest with seeded brackets, so there will be plenty of action in coming days. Here’s our schedule for the Best of the Ballparks 2019 summer-collegiate vote:
First Round: Completed
Second Round: Now – July 1, 3 p.m. Central
Third Round: July 1, 3 p.m. Central – July 8, 3 p.m. Central
Fourth Round: July 8, 3 p.m. Central – July 13, 3 p.m. Central
Fifth Round: July 13, 3 p.m. Central – July 18, 3 p.m. Central
Final Round: July 18, 3 p.m. Central – July 23, end of day
Here’s our schedule for Best of the Ballparks 2019 vote:
MLB: Completed
Low A: Completed (Fort Wayne TinCaps)
High A: Completed (LECOM Park)
Class AA: Completed (Hodgetown)
Class AAA: Now-June 30
Short Season A/Rookie: Now-July 12
Independent: Now-July 8
Summer Collegiate: Now-July 23
Some things to note. First, you are allowed to vote multiple times, but you can only vote once per day. Second, you don’t need to fill out a full slate: partially filled lineups will count. A running tally of the vote will be presented. Signing up for the Ballpark Digest newsletter means you’ll receive regular updates on the votes.