With four brackets decided by fewer than 10 votes in the Sweet Sixteen round, the 2023 MiLB Single-A Best of the Ballparks fan vote moves on to the Elite Eight round, where we expect more close votes.
The close votes were fascinating. We saw BayCare Ballpark (Clearwater Threshers) prevail over Atrium Health Ballpark (Kannapolis Cannon Ballers) by two votes, with Five County Stadium (Carolina Mudcats) edging Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium (Lakeland Flying Tigers) by the same margin. Pelicans Ballpark (Myrtle Beach Pelicans) edged Segra Stadium (Fayetteville Woodpeckers) by three votes, while Jackie Robinson Ballpark (Daytona Tortugas) won by nine votes over Hammond Stadium (Fort Myers Mighty Mussels). For those scoring at home, the current eight-ballpark field features five Carolina League ballparks, two Florida State League ballparks and one Cal League ballpark.
This is by far the most eclectic level of ballparks in Minor League Baseball; besides the many facilities designed for Single-A play, it also includes a variety of spring-training venues as well as former Triple-A and Double-A facilities. Because the choices are all over the map, the vote can be a little unpredictable, to say the least.
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 Single-A ballparks. This was an extremely difficult list to seed: 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. 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 The Diamond, home of the Lake Elsinore Storm and last year’s champion, followed by 2022’s runner-up, Atrium Health Ballpark (Kannapolis Cannon Ballers). 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 a very difficult bracket to seed.
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:
Here is the schedule for all the 2023 Best of the Ballparks fan votes:
- Grapefruit League, Completed (winner: Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium)
- Cactus League, Completed (winner: Camelback Ranch-Glendale)
- College Baseball, Completed (Larry H. Miller Field)
- MLB, Completed (winner: PNC Park)
- Triple-A, Completed (winner: Polar Park)
- Double-A, Now-May 27
- High-A, Now-June 11
- MLB Partner Leagues, June 9-June 17
- Single-A, Now-June 20
- Summer Collegiate, June 10-June 25
- MLB Summer Collegiate, June 9-June 21
