Raley Field

Sacramento River Cats, Pacific Coast League

7/10

It does have a decent facade though....

Opening night in 2019 versus Tacoma.

A better camera meant a much clearer shot across the field in 2019.

Firstly, indulge me,this is another ballpark that seemingly everyone likes, BUT me. It will be added to the growing list of candidates for "California Retreads" a journey of redemption starring low rated parks in Fresno, Visalia and Rancho Cucamonga. That could even come to fruition this summer. At any rate...

We rolled into town on a Saturday night after I had spent the day as designated driver for my ladyfriend, who took in some wine tasting in the Napa Valley and apparently, so did everyone else. Fireworks night saw the ballpark at 1,500 over capacity as just under 16,000 took in the Rivercats, then an Oakland affiliate, take on Oklahoma City, who were then with Houston.

This ballpark is considered relatively successful, in the early 2000s, the Vancouver Canadians, the last of three Canadian teams in the PCL, moved south, to bring the league back to a market it has even more history in, Sacramento. Attendance is usually the best in the entire league as Sacramento is such a sports town, having gone to great length to save the NBA Kings a few years ago.

Still, I really didn't like this park for a few reasons. Firstly, the large crowd made parking a bit of a chore, plus lines for everything, including food, were awful. Lines for everything stretched to at least 20 people, which made getting something to eat difficult. The "gentleman" sitting next to me insisted on throwing peanuts with someone in his group, when I asked them to be careful, this was apparently  an invitation to be a knob for the rest of the game. Still, that could have happened anywhere. The team was wearing R2-D2 themed Star Wars jerseys, plus it was fireworks night. This led to the atmosphere having little to nothing to do with the game, which was frustrating.

The only thing that wasn't a minus about this one was the park itself, which seemed quite serviceable and had a relatively decent layout, the concourse was quite wide and it has a nice entrance and decent seats/sightlines.

Still, an issue with food service and a pretty awful atmosphere hurt the score badly. I think I caught it on a bad night and as of right now, I'm headed back next month to take in a pre-season tuneup between the Rivercats and Giants. I can't imagine the score staying so low.

Update 2023: The preseason game against the Giants sold out in no time, but I did make it back here later. Five years after my first visist, in 2019, we were on our spring roadtrip and it just so happened that we'd be in town for opening night. We went over there and after being given other people's tickets in addition to our own, then giving the other tickets back, we headed inside to watch the River Cats, now affiliated with San Francisco, take on the Tacoma Rainiers. This was the first game, of the first year of metal detectors in the high minors, so ingress was a bit slow, but with a crowd literally half the size of my first trip here(which was actually over capacity), there was room to spread out. 

Firstly, the park really presented as the jewel it is. It's a large, modern facility with a decent backdrop of the "Ziggurat" and the Tower Bridge. It was easily a cut above other parks at this level in the past, but now, with a few more newer ones visited, it's right about the standard. The food was not too bad, but somewhat expensive if memory serves. The atmosphere was not bad for the very first day, it was a little annoying, but nothing close to my previous trip here. On the whole, I'd probably give a half point for facility, which would still bump this place up to a 7. I'm glad I got back here to see it again in the end.

For 2020, this place took on a different sponsor and is now known as "Sutter Health Park".

Linescores

2014-08-16                                      123   456   789   R H E

Oklahoma City RedHawks(HOU)    110  000   005  7 11 0

Sacramento River Cats(OAK)          200  000   000   2 3 1 

Time: 2:57 Temp: 89F Att: 15,618

2019-04-04                             123   456   789  10  11   R H E

Tacoma Rainiers(SEA)           000   200   010   0    1     4 10 1

Sacramento River Cats(SF)    000  001   002   0    2     5 13 0

Time: 4:00 Temp: 62F  Att: 8,820

Elks Field

 Brooks Bombers, Western Canadian Baseball League

This is a very no-nonsense, amateur ballpark. For spectators, there isn't much of a gate, or a door.

Large metal posts make it difficult to get a clear shot of the field, but this is about as good as you'll do.

I've been around 10 games here, but didn't pay once. That's because I volunteered here. I got around 6 or 8 games of play by play, a few games doing the music and one doing the public address. I never really watched here, but this is about what I can tell you. The park is actually relatively new, opening in 2015. It's got a small metal seating bowl with a good sight lines. There is an elevated platform on the third base side where group functions occasionally take place. The atmosphere is very small town, as the park holds well under 500 people, usually only getting up to around 300. But, the people who go typically want to be there and season ticket holders make up the bulk of the support. The concession options here are slightly above what you'd expect for a place this small, with local beer on tap and mac and cheese bites available as well. The 2022 season was a step up for the Bombers, as they made their first playoff appearance and they'll be looking to build even more in '23. I will definitely make a point of swinging by here this summer when I'm in the area.