PK Park

Eugene Emeralds (Northwest League)

8/10

No doubting who the landlord is here. Nice facade though.

A decent crowd takes in a Sunday evening contest versus cross-state rivals Hillsboro.

Overall, this is a decent little place.

My first visit to PK Park was on my 2014 summer loop. The Ems were taking on the 2nd year Hillsboro Hops in a Sunday evening match up. We arrived after a long drive from Sacramento and I was looking for a good game to move on from a disappointing night there. This was the first time I'd seen a team in 2 different parks, after seeing the Emeralds twice in Civic Stadium.

The Emeralds ended up moving in here after their old park started to show it's age. Fortunately for them, the University of Oregon brought it's Baseball program back up to the varsity level and built PK Park, in the parking lot of Autzen Stadium, where the football team plays. "The Autzen Zoo", where the ticket office for the Emeralds is located as well, dwarfs this relatively small ballpark.

PK Park has a relatively steep seating bowl, with some suites on top. The field has not the greatest backdrop, of the practice facility for the school's soccer teams and some tall trees. Concessions are slightly above average, featuring such random items as the Bison(Buffalo) corn dog. The atmosphere here was also slightly notable, as having been here 3 times, I can tell you Eugene is a baseball town.

Overall, this place is a sadly much needed upgrade to Civic Stadium that the Emeralds badly needed and all they had to do was switch landlords. I'm in no hurry to go back, but this place is worth at least 1 visit.

Update 2019: The Emeralds are now the Cubs affiliate in the NWL. They continue to draw decent crowds, averaging just over 3,400 a game. I can't find a reliable number for how the Ducks draw at their park, but for 2019, it was less than this. Eugene is not on the chopping block as part of the reorganization of MiLB and I'd be very surprised if this changed. This is the last park until the bay area, so it always has a decent chance of snagging me for a game on the way through.

Linescore
2014-08-17
                                          123   456   789 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17  R H E
Hillsboro Hops(ARI)              100  330   000  0  0   0   0   0   0   0    2   9 17 1
Eugene Emeralds(SD)          500  200   000  0  0  0    0    0   0   0   0   7 16 3
Time: 5:28 Temp: 79F  Att: 2,543

Comiskey Park(II)

Chicago White Sox, American League

6/10

 

The crowds wait to file in for the afternoon start on the south side.

A Memorial day that I remember seeming hotter than it actually was saw a pretty good crowd take in an afternoon game against Boston.

From this angle, the park actually doesn't look bad.

I got into Chicago right around the start of a Memorial Day matchup with Boston. I'd driven into the early morning after a rain delay in Washington to make it to the outer suburbs of Cleveland, before driving into Wisconsin after this game. This ballpark, currently Guaranteed Rate Field, is located south of Downtown Chicago, near the overpass of I-94 and 35th street. It's built literally across the street from the site of the first Comiskey Park. The crowd here was a few thousand above average for the ChiSox in 2017, owing to Boston being in town and Memorial Day having some nicer weather.

This park was the last one built before Balitmore came along and changed everything. It was also built by Populous, the same architect as over two thirds of the current MLB stadiums, but they hadn't yet made their mold, so this place is missing a few things. The facade is NOT red bricks and only sort of resembles older ballparks. The upper deck has been chided for being a little too high and far from the field. The way the Sox ticket is that upper deck ticket holders cannot go onto the field level at all, so I didn't get to see any of that, but the upper deck didn't have a wrap around concourse, which meant there wasn't any way to see the game from there. I appreciate they've obviously got some kind of issue with people sitting where they haven't paid, but straight up banning the plebians to the upper deck seems harsh.

I ended up with a slice of pizza, which was not deep dish, like at Wrigley a few years before. This would have been ok, but walking on the enclosed concourse, a big gust of wind almost blew it right out of my hand. A helpful person manning some other kiosk yelled, in a Chicago accent, "Ya gotta protect ya slice!" Good to know. A lot of the upper deck concessions were closed and while I don't think any items weren't being sold, I do think the lower bowl had some other ones to choose from. This is another reason it would have been nice to go down there.

The atmosphere was not overly terrible, but still a little flat. The game was tight and the White Sox overachieved by beating the other Sox by just one run. It was only 76 degrees(apparently), but it felt closer to 90 and I think this sapped some enthusiasm.

Overall, the building itself and me being particularly annoyed that I didn't get onto the lower deck costs half a point and the same policy meaning food options were limited for half the stadium gets another half off. This place was the last one built before Camden Yards changed expectations for a ballpark and it shows, although the Sox have made lots of small improvments/adjustments over the last dozen or so seasons. There's no chatter I could find about replacing this place, so renovations would appear to be the way it's going. I wouldn't go out of my way to come back here, but I-94 is a common route for trips east and south for me, so it could work out that this is the best choice. I'll be buying a lower level ticket for sure.


Linescore
2017-05-29
                       123  456  789  RHE
Boston             100  210 000 440
Chicago(AL)    003 000  20x 550
Time: 3:16  Temp: 76F  Att: 27,148

Phoenix Municipal Stadium

Arizona State Sun Devils (Pac-12)

8/10

 

The main entrance is on the 3rd base side, you need to go up a spiral walkway, across the street, then back down to get there from the parking lot.

2013 prior to my suspected "Last game at the Muni", I turned out to get one more.

A sparse crowd watches Arizona Fall League action in 2011.

I didn't make it to a game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, a.k.a. "The Muni" until 2011, my 2nd spring in Arizona. This stadium is a little different than the others in the Cactus League at the time, as it's history lends itself more to Phoenix baseball than Spring Training. This stadium hosted AAA baseball in Phoenix for 25 years as the Phoenix Giants, then Firebirds, called the Muni home. The Firebirds moved up Loop 101 to Scottsdale when Scottsdale Stadium opened in 1992. The San Francisco Giants held Spring Training here for one year in the 1960's, before the Oakland A's moved in in 1984. The A's had 20 years here before they too moved across town, to HoHoKam Stadium in Mesa, leaving the Muni open. Taking a page from their cross-state rivals in Tucson, the Arizona State Sun Devils decided to move their baseball team from an on campus stadium to the Muni.

At any rate, this is a very straightforward stadium. Stairs lead up to the main concourse, with box seats in front and loge behind. The backdrop is very much stereotypical Arizona, with red rocks and in the case of a 2011 fall league game, a large dust storm. The concessions here were not my favourite, right up until I wandered out to the barbeque stand in the left field corner. I don't remember exactly what I ended up with, but I do remember the burgers and chicken sandwiches coming out of there looking pretty good. The atmosphere here was slightly above average, as the lack of video board and really anything else going on outside of the game made it very enjoyable. The main reason the A's moved (back) to Mesa wasn't the stadium, but more the back fields, or namely the fact that they were about a mile from the main stadium via bus, across the street from the Phoenix Zoo. Now that the team has moved, everything is contained in one complex.

Overall, this was a somewhat unique Spring Training venue, with slightly above average concessions and atmosphere, which should serve the ASU Baseball program well for years to come.

Update 2019: The Sun Devils are enjoying things at the Muni, averaging 2,913 for 2019, which was 21st in the NCAA. I haven't been here in awhile, so I'm not aware of any serious upgrades. This park is highly unlikely to host professional baseball again. I'd go if I had the opportunity, but many other Phoenix area parks would be higher on my list.

Linescores

2011-03-25

                               123  456  789  R H E

Los Angeles(AL)       104  011  030  10 16 0

Oakland                   000  010  020  3 6  2

Time: 2:39  Temp: 70F  Att: 8,540

2011-10-04

                123  456  789   R H E

Mesa         005 120  000   8 7 1

Phoenix     210  602  01x  12 13 0

Time: 2:54  Temp: 91F  Att: 235

2013-03-27

                        123  456  789   R H E

Colorado           210  020  000   5  9  0

Oakland            010  320  00x  6 12 0

Time: 2:33  Temp: 87F  Att:4,795

2014-03-26

                                   123  456  789  RHE

Los Angeles(AL)           001  000  311  661

Oakland                       001  000  010  261

Time: 2:57  Temp: 75F  Att: 5,033