After a Round of 32 competition that saw multiple votes decided by very slim margins, voting is now open in the MLB Partner Leagues Best of the Ballparks fan vote.
How slim? Fans chose Bosse Field (Evansville Otters) over Shaw Park (Winnipeg Goldeyes) by a single vote. Fans chose Jimmy John’s Field (USPBL) over Wild Health Field (Lexington Legends/Wild Health Genomes) by three votes. Fans chose Impact Field (Chicago Dogs) over Suplizio Field (Grand Junction Rockies) by six votes. And fans chose Haymarket Park (Lincoln Saltdogs) over U.S. Steel Yard (Gary SouthShore RailCats) by eight votes. The ballparks receiving the most votes in the Round of 32: Clipper Magazine Stadium (Lancaster Barnstormers), Franklin Field (Milwaukee Milkmen), Wisconsin Brewing Company Park (Lake County DockHounds), Appalachian Power Park (Charleston Dirty Birds), UCHealth Park (Rocky Mountain Vibes) and Legends Field (Kansas City Monarchs).
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 2022 ranking of MLB Partner League ballparks. This is an extremely difficult list to seed: This list is a combination of former independent-league ballparks as well as a wide range of former affiliated facilities, ranging from Triple-A to Rookie ball. Honestly, there’s not a lot of difference between many of the ballparks in this competition, and there are plenty of arguments for most of these ballparks deserving a higher rating. Results of last year’s vote also played a large part in our seedings, as well as improvements entering this season. Occupying the top spot is Clipper Magazine Stadium, home of the Lancaster Barnstormers and last year’s champion. 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.
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 at the bottom of this page in the form of brackets. Vote below:
