We’re down to the Sweet Sixteen round of polling in the 2019 summer collegiate Best of the Ballparks vote, as a list of 32 is whittled down to a strong slate of 16 contenders. So you know what to do: vote!
Over 35,000 fans weighed in during the first two rounds of voting, with ballparks representing six summer-collegiate leagues still in contention. 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 over 20,000 voters participating, the second round of voting narrowed the field to 16.
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: Completed
Third Round: Now – 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 (PNC Park)
Low A: Completed (Parkview Field)
High A: Completed (LECOM Park)
Class AA: Completed (Hodgetown)
Class AAA: Completed (Las Vegas Ballpark
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.