After an Elite Eight round that saw three of the four contests decided by 100 or fewer votes, we’re on to the Final Four round of the Best of the Ballparks 2020 MiLB Triple-A fan vote, surely with more close votes in the offing.
Last year’s winner, Las Vegas Ballpark (Las Vegas Ballpark), rallied for a 89-vote win over Louisville Slugger Field (Louisville Bats). Other close decisions: Riverfront Stadium (Wichita Wind Surge) eked a win over Southwest University Park (El Paso Chihuahuas) by just 80 votes, and Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (Oklahoma City Dodgers) over Durham Bulls Athletic Park (Durham Bulls) by 65 votes. Southwest University Park ended up with the second-highest vote total in this round, but had the bad luck of going up against the most popular entry, Riverfront Stadium. More people have cast votes in the first three rounds of the Triple-A vote than did in the entire Triple-A vote in 2019: 94,329 this year and over 43,000 in this round alone.
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.
Here’s our ranking of Triple-A ballparks, combining International League and Pacific Coast League ballparks. This was an extremely difficult list to seed: This is the top level of Minor League Baseball, and the quality of the facilities reflects that standing. Honestly, there’s not a lot of difference between most of the ballparks in this competition, and there are plenty of arguments for most of these ballparks deserving a higher rating. New this year: Riverfront Stadium, new home of the Wichita Wind Surge (Pacific Coast League). The new Wichita ballpark came about after the move of the New Orleans Baby Cakes. As we have done throughout the 2020 competition, we have placed the new ballpark in the middle of the rankings. Results of last year’s vote also played a part in our seedings, as well as improvements entering this season. Occupying the top spot is Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the Pacific Coast League’s Las Vegas Aviators. We don’t expect the voting to follow our seedings: our readers can be independent. and they share a love of ballparks and the fan experience. This is by far the most difficult bracket to seed.
1. Las Vegas Ballpark (Las Vegas Aviators; PCL)
2. First Horizon Park (Nashville Sounds; PCL)
3. Victory Field (Indianapolis Indians; IL)
4. Truist Field (Charlotte Knights; IL)
5. Southwest University Park (El Paso Chihuahuas; PCL)
6. Huntington Park (Columbus Clippers; IL)
7. Durham Bulls Athletic Park (Durham Bulls; IL)
8. Louisville Slugger Field (Louisville Bats; IL)
9. Coca-Cola Park (Lehigh Valley IronPigs; IL)
10. Dell Diamond (Round Rock Express; PCL)
11. AutoZone Park (Memphis Redbirds; PCL)
12. Fifth Third Field (Toledo Mud Hens; IL)
13. Riverfront Stadium (Wichita Wind Surge; PCL)
14. Werner Park (Omaha Storm Chasers; PCL)
15. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (Oklahoma City Dodgers; PCL)
16. Sahlen Field (Buffalo Bisons; IL)
17. Cheney Stadium (Tacoma Rainiers; PCL)
18. Greater Nevada Field (Reno Aces; PCL)
19. Isotopes Park (Albuquerque Isotopes; PCL)
20. Smith’s Ballpark (Salt Lake Bees; PCL)
21. Frontier Field (Rochester Red Wings; IL)
22. NBT Bank Stadium (Syracuse Mets; IL)
23. Chukchansi Park (Fresno Grizzlies; PCL)
24. PNC Field (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders; IL)
25. Sutter Health Park (Sacramento River Cats; PCL)
26. Coolray Field (Gwinnett Stripers; IL)
27. Principal Park (Iowa Cubs; PCL)
28. Harbor Park (Norfolk Tides; IL)
29. McCoy Stadium (Pawtucket Red Sox; IL)
30. Wolff Stadium (San Antonio Missions; PCL)
IL = International League
PCL = Pacific Coast League
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 2020 Triple-A vote:
First Round: Completed
Second Round: Completed
Third Round: Completed
Semifinals Round: Now through July 6, 3 p.m.
Finals: July 6, 3 p.m. through end of day, July 10
Here’s our schedule for Best of the Ballparks 2020 vote:
Spring Training: Completed (winners: Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium and Salt River Fields)
Low A: Completed (Whitaker Bank Ballpark)
High A: Completed (The Diamond)
Class AA: Now-July 8
Class AAA: Now-July 10
Short Season A/Rookie: Now-July 17
Independent: Now-July 16
Summer Collegiate: Now-July 20
MLB: July 19-August 14
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.