Surprise Stadium

Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals (Spring Training)

9/10

The third base gate is used more for leaving than entering, the front door isn't much more notable.

The view from behind home plate for 2011 Fall League action.

The view from centre field shows the grandstand, press boxes and a bit of the 2nd level seating.

I first came here in 2010 for a Cactus League contest and as of 2015, have been a total of 7 times, for 6 Cactus League games and one Fall League game in 2011, which featured a young Bryce Harper.

As the name suggests, the park is in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise, about 40 minutes northwest of downtown. The Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers have been training here since 2003. 2005 saw Golden League baseball here as well, with the Surprise Fightin' Falcons lasting just the one season. It's more of an AAA style ballpark than one of the bigger stadiums built lately. It's pretty well laid out, with a ton of shade in the infield, a pretty wide concourse, that is a little dark, but nothing too wild. The two sections of upper deck seating are popular and are well shaded with a good sight line. The quirkiest plus of the park is the unique design of the roof, which has circle-shaped depressions in it to stop foul balls from rolling back down and landing on spectators. 

Concessions here are pretty good too, embracing the local tastes of the two teams. Kansas City naturally features BBQ, which in this case, meant a pulled pork sandwich. I believe that Tex-Mex also featured prominently, as do usual ballpark favourites.

Atmosphere here is subdued, rarely crowded, but always interested in the action on the field. There's no mascot or promotions as far as I can remember.

Overall, I am generally so engrossed in enjoying a game and the experience that I remember little else about it. This is among about 5 parks in the Cactus League that I would go to anytime, just a very enjoyable ballpark. A point for concession, plus a half point for the park and atmosphere gives it a 9.

Update 2026: Both the Royals and Rangers have been in Surprise for over 20 years now. There are some Facebook photos of the field itself being renovated in 2019, but I can't see anything more obvious. I have a total of 6 Cactus League and one AFL game here. I've added the scores as best I can.

Linescores

2010-03-25

                       123 456  789  RHE

Seattle            031  200 100 7

Kansas City   101  000 105  8

Time: N/A Temp: N/A Att: 4,510

2011-10-05                           R

Scottsdale Scorpions            1

Surprise Saguaros                10

2012-03-31

                         123  456  789   RHE

Arizona             101  040 400   10 

Kansas City       100 000  110   3

Time: N/A Temp: N/A Att: 5,997

2013-03-24

                       123  456 789  R H E

Cincinatti        000  000  020  2 5 0

Texas               100  200 04x  7 12 0

Time: N/A Temp: N/A Att: 7,117

2013-03-28

                       123   456  789  R H E

Arizona            000  040 401  9 11 3

Texas                100  000  101  3 7 3

Time: N/A Temp: N/A Att: 7,269

2014-03-22

                       123  456  789  R H E

Texas              000  000  130  4 9 0

Kansas City    050  020  01x  8 11 0 

Time: 2:42 Temp: N/A  Att: 9,341

2015-03-21

                     123  456  789   R H E

Milwaukee   120  003  600   12 19 0

Texas           000  010 100    2  7  0

Time:  N/A  Temp: N/A  Att: 8,027

Serauxmen Stadium

 Nanaimo NightOwls, West Coast League

This is the closest thing it had to a facade.

This is the closest I could get to behind home plate without climbing on someone.

From this angle, it's a cute little ballpark.

This was the only new park I made it to in 2025. The Nanaimo entry in the West Coast League set up in 2021. It sometimes, but not always, serves as a "travel buddy" for Victoria, with teams headed to Vancouver Island to play both. 

The park is in something of a sports complex, with a football/soccer stadium and an aquatics centre with a hockey rink attached also nearby. We parked at the pool for free and crossed the street to the ballpark. 

To be clear, they have done a lot of work getting this place ready for the WCL. But from the fan side, there's a lot to be desired. The seating is easily the worst of the 100+ ballparks I have on here, with the notable exception of Prince George, which didn't have seats at all. The seats in Nanaimo appeared to have been added recently, but are on preexisting concrete risers, so you essentially have to spread your knees around the person in front of you. There are metal general admission bleachers on the third base side, if I go back, I'll sit there instead. 

Food options were pretty minimal and if memory serves, a bit expensive. We ended up getting food on the way out of town. There was alcohol service, but the beer garden is in the outfield(the third picture is from out there) The atmosphere was the lone positive, as the fans were into the game, even though the NightOwls were getting hit hard by one of the WCL's best teams, the Corvallis Knights. 

This park is close to the new house, so it could see a repeat visit at some point this year or next. I don't assign amateur parks a number rating, but if I did, this could be looking at a 6 or even a 5. Still, a lot of work was clearly put into this park to get it where it is, so credit where credit's due.

Camelback Ranch

Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox (Spring Training)

9/10

Crowds line up at automated kiosks to print their tickets.

Another clear day in Glendale.

I made sure to go out into left field to get a shot on my first trip here.

This place is the spring home of both the LA Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. The Dodgers were coaxed west from their longtime spring home in Vero Beach, Florida and the White Sox left Tucson to join them here. It is technically just inside the city limits of Phoenix, but is on land owned by the city of Glendale, which is also the home of the NFL Cardinals and formerly the NHL Coyotes.

The stadium is visible from nearby Camelback Road and has a pronounced western theme, starting with the name, which is historically the name for the land and continuing with the rustic looking wood finish on the press boxes. This is definitely one of the new breed of Cactus league parks, which are more than just AAA calibre parks that host 20ish games a spring. It compares somewhat to Cubs Park or Salt River I have now been here a total of 7 times, 6 Cactus League and 1 Fall League game, so it's a place that I'm becoming familiar with, which is great, because there's lots to like.

Firstly, this place actually captures the possibilities of building a unique new park. There's no park you can point at and say it looks like Camelback Ranch, because there's not one. The theme of the architecture, wide open concourses, that somehow always seem to feature a gentle breeze on a hot day, some shade, some sun, lots of good places to stand, there's not much about the place to dislike. Parking is still free, egress is easy before the game, as long as you're 20 minutes early. Leaving can be a bit of a hangup, but traffic control here is good too, so it's not as long as it ought to be.

Food here is also good. The Dodgers naturally have the Dodger Dog on feature, but there's Vienna Beef for the Southsiders as well. There are some specialty places, but I haven't tried anything besides pizza and dogs here.

Atmosphere is pretty good too. There used to be disastrous sellouts here, with large crowds. My stepfather was even more averse to big crowds than me, so we'd usually head for Goodyear, Surprise or Maryvale. When we finally went in 2012, we both really liked it, the crowds for Dodger games are a little bigger, but only so much. The White Sox crowds are just fine, at around 6,500 or so.

Overall, this place is at the cutting edge of the newer spring parks and in the west valley, is always a good option to take in a game. I give it an extra point for the food and half points for atmosphere and the park. 9/10.

Update 2026: It has been 10(!) years since I posted about this place. I wasn't even putting up linescores then, so I've done my best to dig them up. I have been to six Cactus league games and one fall league game here, but nothing since 2015. The Cactus league website points out that for 2026, the White Sox saw the biggest increase in spring attendance in Arizona. There have been some minor renovations, such as the adding of some sun shades on the first base side, but nothing major. It appears both the Dodgers and White Sox are still satisfied with this park and aren't intending on moving anytime soon. I visited the Triple-A stadium in Omaha in 2022, and despite not being from the same architect, I found the seating bowl layout very similar. I would recommend to anyone headed to Arizona for Spring Training, but would suggest White Sox tickets are likely the cheaper bet.

Linescores

2012-03-22    

                       123   456   789   R

Kansas City    010   010  200  4

Chicago(AL)   400   061  23x 16

Time: N/A Temp: N/A  Att: 4,942

2012-03-26

                             123   456  789  R

Chicago(AL)         021   000  000  3

Los Angeles(NL) 000    021  001 4

Time: N/A/  Temp:  N/A Att: 5,816

2013-03-21

                       123   456  789  R H E

Milwaukee       101   001  000  3 5 2

Chicago(AL)   322   001  00x  8 13 1

Time: N/A  Temp: N/A  Att: 6,916

2013-03-25

                                123   456  789  RHE

Los Angeles(AL)      024   000  014  11

Chicago(AL)            001  000   022  5

Time: N/A Temp: N/A Att: 8,911

2015-03-23

                               123   456  789  R H E

Arizona                   100   003  000  4 6 1

Los Angeles(NL)     002  200   03x  7 11 0

Time: N/A  Temp: N/A  Att: 8,525

2015-03-25

                            123  456  789 R H E

San Diego            002  210  000 5 9 2

Los Angeles(NL)  203  211  00x 9 14 1

Time: Temp: Att: 8,363

2015-11-19                   RHE

Surprise Saguaros         1

Glendale Desert Dogs   4

Time: N/A Temp: N/A Att: N/A

Flathead Field

Glacier Ridge Riders, Pioneer League

8/10

The entrance had some basic signs for the first season.

Not a bad looking park. Rolling hills and a decent evening.

A pretty full seating bowl takes in the final homestand of 2022.

To date, this is still the last new professional park I've managed to see. I headed down in September of 2022. At the time, I lived about a 5 hour drive from Kalispell, so it wasn't far. I chose a tiny border crossing where I was one of two cars. It was the first year of the Glacier Ridge Riders, a new entry in the Pioneer League, covering the Flathead Valley area of Montana. The park is located about a 10 minute drive north of Kalispell on US-93. Since I visited, the park has taken the name Glacier Bank Park. I actually managed to find, almost four years after I went, notes I took, on my cell phone.

When I visited, the park was still quite new. The exterior was finished, but there wasn't any exterior signage. The parking lot was gravel, I have no idea if there are plans to change it. Parking was 5 dollars. Access is pretty straightforward off the highway. There is a kids' playground, which is a great feature at a low minors/independent park. I didn't note whether or not it was inside or not. The backdrop is one of the park's best features. The rolling hills on the other side of the highway make for a nice backdrop, with some mountains visible over the right field wall. It wasn't fully done on this visit for sure, but it still gets a half point for facility from me. The wide concourse and good sight lines were already evident the night I went. The night itself was nice baseball weather, with the gametime temperature just below 80 degrees. In Montana(and Alberta) summer can end very abruptly. I ended up driving through a light snowfall one trip to Great Falls, but that's another story.

Concessions were still a work in progress, which was understandable given the park just having opened, selling mostly ballpark staples. I ended up going to a BBQ truck selling some kind of barbecue in a decent portion for a decent price. I'd still give it half a point.

I found the atmosphere pretty good. There was a video board, with a decent introductory video before starting lineups. The fans were into an inconsequential late season game against the Great Falls Voyagers. Attendance has gone up since the inaugural season to an average of around 2,300 as per the league website. There were about that many people here the night I went. I am still disappointed that the Pioneer League lost it's affiliated status in the minor league reorganization of 2020. But, just starting a team in a place like this, without any external feedback from MLB is a big plus. I enjoyed my visit here. I have relocated to the west coast, so Montana isn't as close as it once was. I would for sure like to explore this area again and could see this park fitting onto a loop of MT.

Linescore

2022-09-07

                                      123   456    789    RHE
Great Falls Voyagers    000    010    030   471
Glacier Ridge Riders    202    110    00x   682

Time: 2:50   Temp: 79F  Att: 2:50  

Olympic Stadium

Vacant

On my tour of Olympic Stadium, they were setting up for a rave.

In 2007, the baseball dugouts were still intact.

The Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes take on the Toronto Argonauts.

Firstly, I won't be rating this place, as I haven't seen baseball here, but I will include it, nonetheless.

I went here twice in 2007, the first was on my first day in the city of Montreal, for a tour. The second was for a Canadian Football game. This place was of course famous for hosting the 1976 Olympic games, in which Canada became the first host nation not to win a gold medal, a feat that would be repeated in 1988 in Calgary, before 2010 in Vancouver saw the streak broken.

The Expos moved in shortly thereafter and after having an amazing season stopped in its tracks in 1994, attendance began to drop sharply, from 25 thousand in 1994, to just over 10 thousand in 2000, to the team moving to Washington for 2005. This dome is cavernous, the concourse is dark and the seating is quite confusing. I got directed all over the place by various ushers. I didn't eat anything here, as nothing looked any good...

The stadium gets very limited use without the Expos, as the Montreal Impact use it for the first few home games of the year, and matches where big crowds are expected and the Montreal Alouettes use it for their last home game and playoff games. It is hard to believe that baseball lasted as long as it did here. Still, the Toronto Blue Jays have taken to hosting a pair of exhibition games here the last two seasons and all 4 have been sellouts. The mayor is very vocal of his support for baseball, and has met with the commissioner to discuss this. A new ballpark will be a near requirement. Will Montreal get baseball back, or will the Expos be the only chance? One thing is for sure, besides exhibitions, this stadium has to have seen it's last MLB game.

Update 2026:  The stadium ended up not being able to host Baseball for a few years. It's currently being renovated, due to reopen in 2028. It'll apparently be suitable for baseball again then. It sounds like a more rudimentary renovation, but it would be amazing if at least exhibition games could be played here again.

Principal Park

 Iowa Cubs, International League

7/10

The crowd files in through a side gate. The gate behind home plate wasn't being used.

The park is still relatively empty with the Des Moines skyline visible over the third base side.

The field is prepared with the Iowa state capitol visible to the right of the batter's eye.

Bonus Shot: Had to get at least one photo of baseball being played. You can see the capitol lit up in the background.

I trundled into Des Moines, Iowa's largest city and state capital coming off a game the night before in Kansas City. The very hot, humid weather followed me. The Cubs had a Saturday night home game against the St. Paul Saints, who since I'd seen them around 6 years prior, had moved into the affiliated ranks, becoming the Minnesota Twins AAA affiliate.

This park opened in the early 1990s and is yet another Populous design. The Cubs have had the affiliation since before it was built. It's located in the heart of Des Moines, at the intersection of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers. There is a front and back tier of seats, with an aisle between them, plus the concourse under the seats. It looks something like a bigger version of the several 5,000 seat Populous parks I'd been to before. There are some outfield seats, in metal bleachers in right, or a club in left, plus numerous suites. It was a somewhat smaller crowd for a Saturday night, a little over half full. The atmosphere was very standard for Triple A.

I ended up driving after the game, so did not take a ton of notes. Concession was not remarkable either way. This was likely a very top of the line park when it opened, but now it's pretty average. Still, I'm glad I got this one in. 7/10.

Linescore

2025-06-07

                                   123   456  789  RHE

St. Paul Saints(MIN)  100   031   010  660

Iowa Cubs(CHC)        000  101   010  362 

Time: 2:52  Temp: 89F  Att: 6,508 

Brent Brown Ballpark

Utah Valley Wolverines, Western Athletic Conference

6/10

The main entrance, possibly the only one, is on the third base side.

Between innings versus Grand Junction.

A walk to the center field berm produced a decent shot of the whole seating area.

I got a game in here in September 2015, making it my last of the 8 Pioneer League parks I took in. I had a bit of a rough drive in from Denver, hitting some serious construction, plus a significant jam leaving Denver on I-70. Still, I made it in the 2nd inning I think.

This is a park that does double duty, serving as the home for the Utah Valley University team in the spring and the Owlz in the summer. The park is called Brent Brown Ballpark, but the team, and my ticket stub call it "The Home of the Owlz", for some reason. Oh well. It's well laid out, a little small, but most of all, has the weirdest netting I've seen so far. The net goes all the way up, then has a diagonal net to connect it to the top of the park's roof. This is supposedly to keep foul balls from getting anywhere near spectators, but I witnessed a few exceptions. One went into the net above the first base dugout, then up and around the whole net, but then down the other side. But the scariest was a foul ball straight into the straight-edged roof, which then deflected straight down into a woman's arm. She was given the ball, which had a significant dent in it. 

The concession situation is only a little better, with standard options at a good price, but limited selection and certainly nothing unique. Of note, this park does not sell beer, as I'm pretty sure UVU is a dry campus. The previous home of the Owlz, in nearby Provo as the Provo Angels at Brigham Young University's park also featured no home games on Sundays to my knowledge as well, hence the move to Orem. I am hardly a double-fisting, 7th inning is the beer inning, drunken mess. But sometimes, I will have a beer at a baseball game. Some people will have more. Most teams make a fair chunk of cash, selling beer. But not the Owlz.

The atmosphere is very sedate, most people are baseball second types, with few really into the game. I went on a Tuesday night and only around 1,000 showed up and the park was a bit quiet and listless. There are three teams in the metro area of Salt Lake City and I think the Salt Lake Bees had a home game as well, which could explain things somewhat.

Overall, I would take off a half point each for the park, due to the netting issue and the concession, because of a lack of a selection and no beer. With this place on a prime spot of I-15, I will likely be back soon enough.

Update 2025: I ended up back here a year later, on my way to Anaheim to pick up the Blue Jays on a west coast roadtrip in 2016. It was the only park I could actually get on the way, with the Minor League playoffs nearly over. A sparsely attended game saw the Owlz take home the Pioneer league flag for the final time in Orem. The next year, the park took on the name UCCU Ballpark, after a local credit union. 

Even before minor league contraction entered the conversation, ownership were already looking to move the team to Colorado. That project fell through, but another soon took shape and 2019 was the last year for the team in Orem and in affiliated baseball. The team left for Windsor, CO, taking the name Northern Colorado Owlz.  This place is now "just" another college ballpark, so I doubt I'll be back. Still, the backdrop is one of the best I've seen anywhere. 

Linescores

2015-09-01

                                                   123   456    789  RHE

Grand Junction Rockies(COL)  000  021 050  8 13  3

Orem Owlz(LAA)                      000   002 000  2 4 2

Time: 2:34 Temp: 88F Att: 1,470

2016-09-16 

                                           123   456    789  RHE

Billings Mustangs(CIN)     000  101   000   271

Orem Owlz(LAA)              000   020  10x  351 

Time: 2:13 Temp: 67F Att: 2,016

Note: Orem Wins Pioneer League Championship