OT: Minor League Parks

[mybuddyinc]

Just bored with the Winter, and I know a lot of members are having cabin fever, with all the snow around. So, I decided to "warm" everyone up with a "hope Springs eternal" OT thread.

How many, and which, minor league parks have you been to ??

I'm at 23, which I'm sure is a drop in the bucket to many, but I enjoy thinking about them (North to South):


Lowell
Norwich
Pawtucket / Old, pre-renovation
New Haven / Yale Field
Staten Island / Old Staten Island University Field
North Jersey / Late 1990's NYP, Augusta, NJ
Lakewood
Trenton / Ticket guy for five years
Reading / Greatest minor league organization, imo
Harrisburg / Island Park, in use sine 1880's
Columbus, OH
Memphis / spent a lifetime there one season
Wilmington, DE
Bowie
Greensboro / Old, old, old stadium
Winston-Salem
Hickory
Kannapolis
Charlotte
Columbia / worst stadium ever
Charleston, SC
Columbus, GA
Savannah / can't wait until season starts, Go Gnats !!!


Fun, Fun, Scott

[tschock]

Cool thread! OK, how many I've been to, or how many I've actually seen games in?

Probably forgetting a few since I forgot Columbia initially (from the OP post) and Denver. Just counting affiliated minor league teams (not independent leagues). In any case:

Seen games at (15)
Burlington NC
Carolina NC (Mudcats)
Columbia SC
Danville VA (Braves)
Denver CO (Bears)
Durham (new)
Durham (old)
Frederick MD
Greensboro NC (new)
Greensboro NC (old)
Hagerstown MD
Norfolk VA
Reading PA
Rochester NY
San Jose CA

Been to in addition to the above (25 more)
Akron
Altoona
Auburn
Batavia
Binghamton
Bluefield
Bowie
Charleston
Charlotte
Delmarva
Harrisburg
Hickory
Indianapolis
Lynchburg
Myrtle Beach
Princeton
Richmond
Savannah
Springfield MO
Syracuse
Toledo
West Virginia (Charleston)
Wilmington DE
Winston-Salem (new)
Winston-Salem (old)

[kmac32]

Rancho Coucamonga quakes
Lake Elsinore Storm
Tucson Electric Park
Inland Empire 66er's San Bernardino

[bwbc917]

Canton
Akron
Chillicothe
Toledo
2 in Columbus, Oh.
Mahoning Valley
Lake County
Dayton
Louisville
Ft. Wayne
Durham
Burlington
Winston-Salem ( Shore)
Knoxville
East Tennessee
Asheville
Peoria, Ill and Az
Baseball City back in the 80's
Sarasota
Bradenton
Dunedin
Mesa
Scottsdale
Phoenix
Tucson
Surprise
Rockford
Williamsport
Pittsfield
Frederick

Used to have a list, but lost it. Bet I forgot some. Pittsfield in the 80's was the worst. Dayton and Columbus, Ohio are closest to me. Gotta go to Florence, Ky and the Frontier League this summer.

[MartyFromCANADA]

Buffalo Bisons - Coca Cola Field

Only one for me.

*Also saw the now defunct Ottawa Lynx AAA - Ottawa Stadium
-early 90's, Hamilton Redbirds Low A (St. Louis affiliate) - Bernie Arbour Stadium

[Tabe]

Exactly one:

Avista Stadium (Spokane, WA) - home of the Spokane Indians

Season ticket holder, though, so I've been there hundreds of times, LOL.

[7nohitter]

Pawtucket (Red Sox AAA)

Hadlock (Red Sox AA)

[sycks22]

Durham Bulls, played at old stadium, watched many games at the new one.
Carolina Mudcats
Winston-Salem Dash (won the air guitar showdown with my buddy between the 5th inning break, I'll do a lot for a free t-shirt)
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Asheville Tourists
Myrtle Beach Tourists
Charlotte Knights (Worst park by far)
Savannah Sand Gnats
Iowa Cubs

I love me some minor league baseball.

[7nohitter]

Originally Posted by sycks22

Durham Bulls, played at old stadium, watched many games at the new one.
Carolina Mudcats
Winston-Salem Dash (won the air guitar showdown with my buddy between the 5th inning break, I'll do a lot for a free t-shirt)
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Asheville Tourists
Myrtle Beach Tourists
Charlotte Knights (Worst park by far)
Savannah Sand Gnats
Iowa Cubs

I love me some minor league baseball.

Hi Pete,

What made the Charlotte park the worst?

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by sycks22

Durham Bulls, played at old stadium, watched many games at the new one.

Were you with the Bulls or with somebody else?

[BicycleSpokes]

Only one: Boise Hawks


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[z28jd]

Nobody has been to Quad City? Love the view at their ballpark(pictured below). Plan to go someday during a trip I have mapped out.

I also like Bluefield, old school stands and a great view in the outfield

[BrettHoneycutt]

I've been to the following:

--- Durham, NC (old park)
--- Charlotte, NC (3 different parks, one where Ripken played, one where Sam Horn played and the new one that opened in 2014)
--- Asheville, NC (1980s)
--- Gastonia, NC (1980s)
--- Zebulon (Five County Stadium), NC (1990s)
--- Winston-Salem, NC (old park, 1980s)
--- Kannapolis, NC (2000s)
--- Greenville, SC (old park, 1980s)
--- Spartanburg, SC (1980s)
--- Myrtle Beach, SC (old park, 1980s/1990s, and new park, 2000s)
--- Florence, S.C. (1980s)
--- Columbia, SC (1980s where the Columbia Mets played)
--- Memphis, TN (newest one, 2000s)
--- Lynchburg, VA (1980s old park, and new version when they refurbished it in the 2000s)
--- Richmond, VA (the Diamond, 1980)
--- Hagerstown, MD (1980s)
--- Vero Beach, FL (1980s)
--- Osceola, FL (1980s)
--- Bradenton, FL (1980s)
--- Fort Myers, FL (1980s)
--- Lakeland, FL (1980s)
--- Oneonta, NY (1985)
--- Utica, NY (1985)

***There may be a few more, but those are all of the ones I can think of right now.

[drmondobueno]

San Bernardino Spirit
Reno Aces
Salt Lake City


I like the minor league parks much more than the new corporate major league stadiums. MLB won't be seeing any of my money, mainly because the closest parks are 260 miles away buried in the middle of hellacious traffic. Guess I've turned into an I hate L A curmudgeon but I like more intimate settings.

[edjs]

If parks no longer hosting a minor league team count, then:

Jay Littleton Ball Park, Ontario, California

This is such a nice ball park, it was built in 1935, and was used for spring training games by the Pacific Coast League Angels. It is the ball park you see in many films, including Eight Men Out, The Babe, A League of Their Own, and The X-Files. If you are ever in Ontario, California, and want to see what a ballpark felt like back in the 30s, this is the place to go. I used to play Pony League games here, it felt like you were really part of something playing in this park. Center field wall is 402 feet, so it really is a tough field.

[triwak]

Only two:

Springfield, MO Cardinals (Hammon's Field)
Portland, OR Beavers - their final year there.

[Joshchisox08]

Well holy crap. I'm well behind.

New Britain Red Sox (behive)
New Britain Rock Cats (was most recent/new)
New Haven Ravens

Saw plenty of players grow through the Twinkies minors.

Mauer
Milton
Ortiz
Jacque Jones
Personal Favorite Torii Hunter (he ran up to me when I was hanging over the railing at a Ravens game and signed my program)
Doug Mientkiewicz
Lew Ford
Terry Tiffe
Radke
Cuddyer

And probably forgetting a shit ton of players.

Ravens I remember seeing

Alex Rios who was playing under the name Alexeis Rios back then that was a playoff game vs the Rock Cats in New Haven Mauer played Milton made a rehab start. Rios hit a bomb off Milton.

[Bobbycee]

Originally Posted by mybuddyinc

Just bored with the Winter, and I know a lot of members are having cabin fever, with all the snow around. So, I decided to "warm" everyone up with a "hope Springs eternal" OT thread.

How many, and which, minor league parks have you been to ??

I'm at 23, which I'm sure is a drop in the bucket to many, but I enjoy thinking about them (North to South):


Lowell
Norwich
Pawtucket / Old, pre-renovation
New Haven / Yale Field
Staten Island / Old Staten Island University Field
North Jersey / Late 1990's NYP, Augusta, NJ
Lakewood
Trenton / Ticket guy for five years
Reading / Greatest minor league organization, imo
Harrisburg / Island Park, in use sine 1880's
Columbus, OH
Memphis / spent a lifetime there one season
Wilmington, DE
Bowie
Greensboro / Old, old, old stadium
Winston-Salem
Hickory
Kannapolis
Charlotte
Columbia / worst stadium ever
Charleston, SC
Columbus, GA
Savannah / can't wait until season starts, Go Gnats !!!


Fun, Fun, Scott

Great post Scott! I love when these old threads get revived.
I worked as an intern for the New Britain Red Sox in the summer of 1991. The year after Bagwell left. Team was operated by Joe Buzas, who also owned Reading Phillies and Utah Buzz. I loved working for him. I only saw the home games at Beehive Field that year.

In 1992, I worked for the Auburn Astros of the NY Penn League. Falcon Park was THE worst ballpark in the Minors. The visitors clubhouse had a dirt floor, and many teams refused to set foot in that dungeon. As GM of the team, I was able to ride the bus with the team to other ballparks: Niagara Falls, Pittsfield, Geneva, Elmira, and a couple of others. Back in the early 90's, Major League Baseball hadn't put in the tough ballpark improvements yet, and many small town ballparks were iffy.

In 1995, I worked for the NJ Cardinals for 12 years at Skylands Park. I see a few people on this thread who listed attending games there. Thanks for going. I hope it was a good experience!

[Butch7999]

Here enjoying the little anecdotes and vignettes about some of the stadiums even more than we're being impressed
by some of the lengthy lists of stadiums visited. Embarrassing, then, to have such a short list of our own to offer, but
we'll bet we have one or two to which no one else on board can lay claim...

Buffalo NY
Civic Stadium / War Memorial Stadium
All-High Stadium
Pilot Field / Dunn Tire Park / NorthAmericare Park / Coca-Cola Field / Sahlen Field

Niagara Falls NY
Hyde Park Stadium

Allentown PA
Coca-Cola Park

The ballfield at War Memorial -- "The Rockpile" -- was laid out inside a football stadium, so it was about 500 feet
down the leftfield line, 600 to center, and maybe 95 feet to the rightfield foul pole.
The Bisons played night games in Niagara Falls after the East Side riot of 1967 because middle-class white folks
became too scared to go to that part of town. Ironically, a couple of us wound up living for many years within
walking distance of War Memorial about twenty years later.
We remember Hyde Park as being basically a high-school ballpark with poor lighting and lots of chain-link fence.
We might be mistaken about All-High, but we all have a fuzzy recollection of attending when the Bisons played
exactly one game there in the late '60s.
Pilot Field ... > Sahlen Field has been a top-notch facility since the day it was built, the inspiration for Camden Field
and all the other retro-style MLB stadia ever since, and a key element in Buffalo's downtown revival.

We've been at (but not inside) Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, so the only "out-of-town" park at which we've actually
attended a game is the Allentown facility. Small but very nice, great atmosphere, great fans.

[jerseygary]

Louisville Slugger Field in Louisville, KY is a great ballpark to visit. To sweeten the pot, on September 2 the Louisville Bats are doing their Negro League tribute and are giving away a special baseball card I did of Louisville native and Negro Leaguer star third baseman/manager Felton Snow. Here's a pre-production look at the card (I still have to add the logos of the sponsors):

snow_actual_size.jpg

[tedzan]

1949....Ruppert Stadium....Newark Bears
----


1995....Trenton Thunder


2002....Reading Phillies


TED Z

T206 Reference
.