Suplizio Field

Grand Junction Razorback Suckers, Pecos League

8/10

 Like other parks of this type, Suplizio Field shares an entrance with the football stadium next door.

This park has a ton of seats, this is from the back behind home plate.

The giant shared press box/suites for Baseball and Football.

I stopped in Grand Junction after driving all day from suburban Phoenix. I arrived late, during the third inning, of a game between the "GJ Rockies" and the Ogden Raptors, the LA Dodgers' affiliate. The team was in their 2nd season in Grand Junction, around 2 and a half hours west of Denver, after moving from Casper, Wyoming, where the team drew around 1,400 a game, 7th of 8 in attendance. The team was lured to the area by extensive renovations to Suplizio Field, which also hosts the Junior College World Series. The stadium has a similar setup to the first Hillsboro Ballpark, where the ballpark shares entrances and some concourse with a football stadium next door, only at Suplizio, it joins on the first base side.

Parking's a bit of a nightmare, the lots were filled when I got there, so thanks to my ballparking experience, I bailed, rather than searching for that elusive "only unoccupied spot in the parking lot" and parked a few blocks away, for free on the street.

The extensive renovations to this park entailed firstly rebuilding the shared grandstand down the first base line, which is actually where all the season's ticket holders sit, in seats with backs on them. The press boxes and suites are in this building too. It towers over the field and does an effective job of blocking the football stadium from view. Then, they put in all new bleacher style seating all the way from just to the right of home plate, around to the left field foul pole. Then, a bleacher section in left field put the capacity way up to 12,000 people. This has the unintended effect of having the cheapest seats have some of the best views, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The only knock on them is that there isn't much room between rows, I'm glad I sat at the end of mine.

I stayed for around 2/3rds of the game in my original seat at the back of the section behind home plate, then moved down the third base line. I ended up with two foul balls, both of which ended up with kids. The atmosphere was not bad, with all the season ticket/suite types in their own little world by 1st base, the rest of the park was left for the unwashed masses. A large group of kids were led in cheers by the mascot, who otherwise kept to himself. Concessions were cheap, with good quality, but pretty bad lines, which confused me all the more considering the park had a crowd of around 3,000. I'm sure the lines for the JUCO tournament get very bad. When I went to leave, the concourse was blocked to allow the home side into their clubhouse, like in Hillsboro, which I thought made way more sense than parading the visitors past the crowd.

The game went into extras and ended in the 11th with one of the more anticlimactic plays in baseball, the walk-off walk. Oh well, at least I saw 9 innings.

The attendance at Suplizio puts the baby Rockies into the middle of the pack in the PBL, after being stuck in 7th, beating only Helena. The attendance is still roughly doubled from Casper, which makes the move look pretty good. I'd say the atmosphere puts this one up to an 8. It's relatively new, but it's quirky setup and interested fans give it some personality that other new parks sorely lack.  I would absolutely go back if the opportunity presented itself.

Update 2016: Not much to offer in the way of updates here. Attendance has slipped to an average of 2,100, good enough for 6th of 8 teams, but still almost twice as many as the bottom two clubs. The team was also named the best Short Season franchise in the minors by Baseball America, based on how the team is run, community involvement and so on. 

Update 2026: Grand Junction was yet another casualty of the minor league reorganization of 2020. The entire Pioneer League went independent, the Rockies rebranded as the "Jackalopes" after one more season and after five seasons of independent baseball, the team announced they were moving, which turned out to be more of a hiatus for 2026, without the new location being announced. The Pecos League, made a familiar choice, to move right into an open market, placing the "Razorback Suckers" (it's a fish?) for 2026. So yet another Pecos League park I've been to, despite not having actually seen a league game. With it's location right off I-70, it's feasible I could end up back here later. 

Linescore
2013-09-04
                                                      123    456     789  10  11   R H E
Ogden Raptors(LAD)                        101    051     210   0    0   11 16 1
Grand Junction Rockies(COL)           103    104     101   0    1   12 16 6
Temp: 95F   Time: 3:56   Att: 2,289

Community Field

Burlington Bees, Prospect League

8/10

First of all, this is the first of 5 reviews from my 2012 Midwestern swing, where on the way home, my camera, loaded with all my photos, absconded, never to be heard of again. A lengthy investigation on my part, proved fruitless. 

I swung through Burlington, Iowa as part of a 6 game/5 park/5 day/6 state Midwestern swing and I'm glad I did. The city itself is apparently the smallest, full-season market in the affiliated minors, checking in at just over 25,000 people in the city proper. The local economy is apparently somewhat depressed, as the local mall, right across from Hotel #1(more on that later), featured numerous empty stores.

As for the park itself, it is a total gem. Renovations in 2006 bought the Burlington franchise some more time in town. This particular franchise has had the same name since 1973, when it was the affiliate for the Kansas City Athletics. The team was affiliated with the Oakland A's when I passed through, I don't believe that that's continuous, but am not sure(Checked in 2016, it's not). Now, the team is with the LA Angels.

The Monday night game I saw featured the hometown Bees, stocked with Oakland farmhands, in an all-Iowa matchup, taking on the Cedar Rapids Kernels, who at the time, were the LA Angels affiliate. I had come down from Bloomington, Minnesota, just outside of Minneapolis, taking the scenic route to stop in Dyersville, Iowa, and the Field of Dreams movie site, which I highly recommend if you're able to stop by.

The layout is a relatively simple grandstand. The seats stop just past third base on one side, and well before first, which has an area with several picnic tables. Concessions are pretty simple, but some of the lowest prices I've ever encountered. I took advantage of the low prices on everything to pick up a t-shirt(which I am wearing as I type this), as well as a program. The concourse(or what passes for one) features banners referring to past Bees logos and affiliations, with a few simple staircases leading to the seats. The ambience is baseball-first, primarily because that's all there is. There's no bouncy-castle, or mascot, or too many wacky sound effects and if there were, they didn't stick in my mind at all.

The most memorable thing about Community Field is that it lived up to it's name. A largely middle class group of apparent season ticket holders were out in force, providing subtle comments such as "Hey ump, you from Cedar Rapids?" in just the right tone of voice. Numerous fans seemed to know at least which players on the team looked to be progressing towards a promotion. But the best moment had to be when a draw for a child's baseball glove didn't have anyone answer to the winner's name. The team employee asked everyone within ear shot, "Hey are the X's here tonight?" to which some random voice replied, with a perfect local accent "I think they just went to the bathroom."

After the game, I walked back to HoJos, to discover the accommodations were so Spartan, that I actually checked out and went somewhere else.

Overall, I liked Community Field a great deal. The low prices, small-town community feel of the team and baseball first ambience were a welcome addition to my trip. I would gladly go back, if for no other reason than to get some good photos.

Update 2016: Both these teams swapped affiliates after 2012, with the Angels taking the Bees and Cedar Rapids ending up with Minnesota. The A's ended up with the Beloit Snappers of Wisconsin. A new ratings system doesn't change the rating here, the atmosphere earning a full point, but nothing else, leaving the score at an 8.

Update 2026: I have not been back yet, but Burlington baseball has seen some changes. Burlington was one of the markets dropped in the minor league reorganization of 2021. They have kept the name and logo from before, but are now a Summer Collegiate team in the Prospect League, which includes a few other exiles from the Midwest League and one from the Southern loop. The hammer would have likely come down on such a small market, with such low attendance, in such an old park eventually anyhow. But it was still nice that MiLB used to associate with small towns like Burlington. Not anymore sadly. I have a lot of Midwest League parks I've never seen, so this one likely drops pretty far down the list.

Linescore
2012-07-30
                                                     123    456   789   RHE
Cedar Rapids Kernels(LAA)       000    000   000   0 6 1
Burlington Bees(OAK)                100    010   000   2 8 0
Temp: 90F   Time: 2:52    Att: 881

The Epicenter

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, California League

7/10

The entrance on my visit in 2016.

A clear sunny day saw Bakersfield in town for School Day in 2016.

Most of the fans retreated into the shade, even with the temperature in the mid 60s.

                                         

Bonus: Still, my favourite sign, anywhere, ever. HEADS UP!

"The Epicenter" (LoanMart Field for the 2013 season) was my 2nd game in one day on my 2009 trip, having watched the A's and Angels at the Big A in the afternoon. I headed up I-15 to Rancho Cucamonga to watch the local nine, the Angel affiliated Quakes, take on the Stockton Ports. This park was part of the trend along with Lake Elsinore towards disproving the notion that minor-league parks have to be minor league. Don’t get me wrong, places like Eugene's Civic Stadium and Quebec's Stade Municipale are what it’s all about, but there are plenty of pre-1990 parks that are just horrible, isn’t that right? 

The Epicenter was a successful experiment in placing a relatively large, well-built stadium within driving distance of the Major leagues. Every season since has from an attendance standpoint, gone very, very well. The park is a concrete and plastic seat structure, with the electronic scoreboard in left and the video board in right. But, it didn’t do a lot for me. Maybe the 110 degree heat at the Big A that afternoon took a big chunk out of me, but after reading about this park in books and online, it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be, but it was ok. A big knock for me was the seating, which was confusing, I never did find my seat, I mean I thought I had, with other people sitting in it, but I guess not. The mascot, Tremor and a female accomplice are both dinosaurs. They are pretty active.

Rancho Cucamonga is a blooming suburb of Los Angeles, up the I-15. The area right next to the park is a rec complex(keep an eye out for a “Watch for Foul Balls” sign) and beyond that it’s commercial, with a couple of decent restaurants. I opted to forgo the concession at the park and return to Anaheim for a late night trip to Carl's Jr. It's in the eastern part of the Southland area, so easily 15 parks are within a day's drive, or like me, you can make it part of a multiple night stay in the LA area. I went to Angel games the night before and afternoon of, and a Dodger game on the way out of the city.

It was an evening game, the last home game of the season, so the crowd was around 4,500 or so, but awfully quiet. Still, there were some quirks. When a Rancho player hit a homerun, the booster club had a guy walk the seats with a helmet collecting money. During one of the intervals, one of the mascots courted the base umpire, who eventually got down on one knee and offered a bouquet. I expected, like in another gag involving an “umpire” in Tacoma that the real umpire would trot back onto the field and this guy would leave, but that didn’t happen, as he just went out to first base to get going.

Looking back on this review in 2014, I think I was a bit hard on this one. I think I caught it on a bad day or something. At any rate, I upped the score from 6 to 7. This one could very well be on my list for a second trip this year.

Update 2014: The Quakes are now affiliated with the other team in metro LA, the Dodgers, as of 2011, with the Angels entry now being in San Bernardino. Re-scoring this place was easy, it's a very average place, so it still gets a 7.

Update 2026: I made it back here as part of my 2016 California trip(still one of my best trips), so all new pictures. This was a "school day", so an early start meant I could get this in, then make it over to San Bernardino for a night game there. I'd still rate this as a 7. I still don't remember much about the concession, except for the school kids all being in line. A Quakes win did get me a free "Jumbo Jack" later. It was another atypical day, not really fair to judge the park on. But 7 still seems fine. The entire California League dropped into Low A for 2021. The park is now Morongo Field at the Epicenter. See why I don't change the post names?

For this season, the affiliation has fallen back to the Angels, after the Dodgers moved their affiliation to a new park in Ontario, east of Downtown LA and the Angels elected to come back here. It looks a lot like a Populous designed park, but it actually isn't. I wouldn't turn down a return visit here, but there are some others I need to get in first.  

Linescore
2009-08-30
                                                            123    456   789    R H E
Stockton Ports(OAK)                           000    001   020   3 10 2
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes(LAA)     003    001   00X   4  7 1 
Temp:102F   Time: 2:45    Att: 3,951

2016-05-04

                                                          123   456  789  R  H E

Bakersfield Blaze(SEA)                     150   002  020  10 10 0  

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes(LAD)   002  301   60X  12 19 3

Temp: 61F Time: 3:14 Att: 4,106 

Recreation Park

Visalia Rawhide, California League

6/10

When the team changed from the Oaks to the Rawhide, the equipment shed got a makeover as a barn.

A relatively good crowd for a fireworks night.

Still, Visalia draws better than only Bakersfield in the league.

      The crowd mills around waiting for fireworks night to begin, while I sneak out to beat the traffic.

Recreation Park is the smallest in affiliated minors and advertises itself as the smallest pro ballpark in the US. It really is very small. There is about 1,700 seats behind the plate and about 500 more up the first base line. It's located in a residential/industrial area, around 7 minutes north of CA 198, the main freeway through town. I went in 2009, on my way to Los Angeles, having been in San Francisco the day before. I caught a game between the hometown Visalia Rawhide and the Lake Elsinore Storm. It had recently been renovated, so there is an outfield barn as part of the wall, part of the team changing it’s name from the Oaks to the Rawhide, as a result of switching affiliations from Oakland to Arizona. The big knock is the “concourse” being right in front of the first row behind the aisle, where I sat. It meant that people would stop to watch the game and block my view. Tipper, the cow and Smokey the bear would stop to “entertain” the children right in front of me. It generally was one of the least enjoyable games on the trip. I wish that I’d have gone to maybe Modesto or Stockton instead. Most of the people who seemed like more baseball oriented regulars sat at the back. Either there or the front would be a good call. The middle, where I was, is pretty high traffic. This was back when I usually ate before I came, so I didn't try any food and don't remember anything about it.

The biggest knock I have on this place is that seemingly nobody was there to watch the game. The kids were loud and out of control on the concourse. I don’t normally care, but it made it impossible to follow the game. The Rawhide were apparently out of it late in the season, their best player having been summoned to AA Mobile, but still, wow. The people sitting behind me were complaining about the view from two rows up. If you want to see, you need to sit at the back. The attendance average was only about 1,500 all year and if this is it, I can see why. Attendance was only what it was because it was fireworks night, which allowed me to depart early. Even the mascot, Tipper the Steer had a rough night being both roped to the ground during a demonstration and kicked in the stomach by a teenaged girl sitting in my row. It’s a hard knock life.

Visalia is a city of roughly 90,000 just off of CA 99. It earns a brief mention as the possible next stop for Crash Davis in Bull Durham, as a possible manager. Nearby is the Sequoia National Park, which I made a brief stop at on the way out. You have to drive through Visalia on the CA 198 until it turns into a two lane highway, then keep on going. It's a bit expensive to get in, but was worth poking around. 

The best thing about Recreation Park is probably it's location within the State, it's almost equal distance between San Francisco and Los Angeles, with 198 connecting to CA 99 after only a few miles. Still, I would have gone to Fresno, just up the highway, if they'd been at home. You could easily drive to any Major or Minor league park in California within 5 hours(and even some outside of it), without much hassle.

Overall, it’s just way too small and crowded, Other than the lack of other good options, I don’t understand how the Cal league can put a team here, as they’re apparently locked in until at least 2019. After that, with Bakersfield being a constant candidate to move, look for Visalia to come up in the mix. Still, the fact that even now there's 5 years left on the lease might allow Visalia to hang around in the league for awhile longer. 

Update 2016: I still haven't been back here, but I really hammered it in retrospect. Under the new ratings system,  I can't offer any insight into the concessions here, the atmosphere was terrible and the park was adequate, if not small. That bumps this one up from a 4, which is now pretty hard to pull off, to a 6, which is a little more forgiving and in line with the other reviews on here.

Update 2026: It has now been almost 17 years since I stopped here. It took some digging(baseballcube.com ?), but the team averaged around 1,800 fans a game in 2025, which is very average for the league. I was a little surprised that this place survived the minor league contraction of 2020, but it did and is still in affiliated baseball, still in the Arizona organization. It's Visalia's 81st year in the California League. This place is now Valley Strong Ballpark, after a local credit union. I would love to go to a game here, it's totally overdue and with more and more minor league parks looking like carbon copies, it's pretty much one of a kind now. Next California loop, whenever that is, I think it has to be in.

Linescore 
2009-08-28 
                                            123    456    789    RHE
Lake Elsinore Storm(SD)        103    000    100    550
Visalia Rawhide(ARI)              000    010    000    171
Temp: 86F Time: 2:41  Att: 2,544

Roger Dean Stadium

Miami Marlins/ St. Louis Cardinals, Grapefruit League

Jupiter Hammerheads/ Palm Beach Cardinals, Florida State League

6/10

One of several entrances to the stadium

A view of the park during the rain delay. The teams have matching offices on either power alley.

Clearwater players run for the dugout after a brief respite from the downpour turned out to be exactly that. False alarm.

 Update 2016: This entry used to be copied and pasted from the old format, so I fixed the captions on the pictures and retyped the entry and rescored it as well, besides adding the boxscore.

 I pulled double duty on this day, catching the afternoon matchup in Miami, before Hitting I-95 for the hour or so drive to Jupiter for a Flordia State League game between Clearwater and Jupiter, arriving during the 2nd inning. That weekend had seen bands of heavy rain from Tropical Storm Debby swoop in. This resulted in a delay of nearly an hour that chased all but about 25 of the 350 announced fans away.

This park is perhaps the busiest in the pros in terms of number of games. It hosts the Cardinals and Marlins in March, then from April to September it's a minor league park for the baby Cardinals and Hammerheads. The layout is straightforward with a box section in front, a wide aisle, then loge seats in the back, similar to Mesa or Peoria in Arizona. It's entirely adequate for Spring Training, I'm sure, but like a lot of places in Florida, it is a big empty stadium for Single A. More on that later.

It is a strange setup to have so many minor league teams in a state where baseball is more of a spring or closed roof kind of sport. I realize it's nice to have the teams so close to a hub like the spring training facility, but I still don't get it. At any rate, the impending bad weather(which I knew nothing about) and the fact it was a Sunday evening kept attendance to around 350, with maybe 150 showing up. A strong and long shower sent everyone but the diehard fans, relatives, road warriors like me or people who had to walk home anyway; home early. It led to me moving under a small ledge at the back of the loge section, where once the game started again, I could hear everything people in the press box were saying. This included a Seinfeld reference for a batter by the name of Cartwright, a comment on how after the delay there were literally more people on the field than in the stands and encouraging the Clearwater closer to finish the save, so his promotion to AA could go ahead as scheduled(it did). The hot dog guy told me that the "seniors night" promotions draw bigger crowds. The Hammerheads and Cardinals match promotions, so any day of the week is the same thing regardless of who's playing. Attendance for both teams correlates very closely most years, with the figures being within 20 for 2015.  The atmosphere was non-existent, but at the same time, the bad weather and press box chatter led to a unique experience. So overall, atmosphere is neutral.

The only knock is the concessions. I had a simple hot dog and ended up stopping later on. The choices were beer, pop and hot dogs. Baseball minimums really. The team seemed to know there wasn't a big crowd in store and didn't waste food. Still, it would have been nice to have something else to pick.

Overall, for FSL play, I give it a 6, due to the limited food options, with atmosphere being "non-traditional" but quirky enough to be enjoyed and the park being just fine. It's in a good spot, with lots of home dates, so I could be back.

Update 2026: It's been an eyelash under 14 years since I spent a memorable evening at this place. It's still one of the more unique games I've ever been to. This park was renovated since my last visit and it now has a prominent roof on at least one side of the stadium. We'll see when I end up back in Florida. It may be awhile.

Linescore

2012-06-24

                                                  123      456    789    RHE

Clearwater Threshers(PHI)            000      100    200     354

Palm Beach Cardinals(STL)          001      000    000     111

Temp: 75F  Time: 2:22(:57 Delay)  Att: 350

Yakima County Stadium

Yakima County Stadium

Yakima Valley Pippins, West Coast League

5/10

The Stadium's Exterior was very plain.

 The stands were built on top of the clubhouse, meaning that sightlines could be very poor, especially towards the back. There was however, an excellent view of the rolling hills outside of the park.

Boomer the Bear works the crowd. Unbeknownst to him, his career would end 5 years later, his faithful service forgotten.

This is as good a place as any to start, because it's the namesake of the blog. Boomer the Bear was the mascot of the Yakima Bears of the Northwest League, who, after the 2012 season, moved to Oregon. Boomer the Bear was a good mascot, he tried hard, he minded his own business and like so many others in baseball, the game left him after a few short years. All that are left for him are memories.

I went to my one and only game at Yakima County Stadium in 2007, as part of a 3 game loop of the Northwest League. The Bears, who we had seen two nights before in Spokane, played the Eugene Emeralds, who we had seen the previous night in Eugene. I had read poor reviews of it prior to going and wasn't able to find much to the contrary. It was honestly, nothing too special. The stands were blue plastic seats and aluminum. Sightlines, as mentioned, could be very bad. The atmosphere was not the best, as at a lot of other poor parks, the game was a secondary attraction. Without a lot of options, the game was about the only thing going on. Still, the little things that make the game such a pleasure to watch were in full effect. We made fun of a pitcher's stretch, the incredibly hot day gave way to a hot, windless night and..there was baseball. Future major leaguer Josh Collmenter was a member of the Bears though I cannot remember if he played.

The Bears had moved to Yakima in 1990 and moved into Yakima County Stadium in 1993. Only 19 years later, the Stadium was no longer adequate for the team's liking. Attendance was suffering and the worst of all for a Minor League team, the grass appeared to be much greener elsewhere, namely, in Portland, where there hadn't been professional baseball for two years after the Beavers moved away. Eventually, the Portland suburb of Hillsboro was selected, a brand new park was built and the Yakima Bears moved to become the Hillsboro Hops. Yakima County Stadium will host a team in the summer collegiate West Coast League in 2014, perhaps retaining the Bear nickname and perhaps, giving Boomer the Bear's life meaning again.


UPDATE: Yakima's WCL team will be known as the "Yakima Valley Pippins.

Update 2016: While the Bears are gone, the Pippins are drawing only slightly worse. The Bears drew in the around 1,600 a game in their last year and the Pippins draw around 1,400, good for 3rd in that league. While some people have clearly abandoned the seemingly lower brand of baseball, most have not and the stadium at least gets some use if nothing else.

With the new ratings system, the score is still the same, the somewhat tacky, baseball last atmosphere took a point, off, as did the stadium itself, for being entirely too much aluminum and the seating being on top of the clubhouses. Without major renos, this park will not be getting back into affiliated baseball, but for a summer league park, it's entirely adequate.

Update 2026: Well it's only been 10 years....it's been just under 19 since we went here. The Pippins, according to the stadium's Wikipedia page, have actually renovated the ballpark somewhat. Even in the West Coast League, there's easily 6 stadiums off the top of my head that I'd rather go see for the first time than come back here. Still, schedules being what they are, you never know.

Linescore
2007-07-18

                                      123   456   789  R H  E

Eugene Emeralds(SD)      402   000   100  7  7  1

Yakima Bears(ARI)           211   000   000  4 12 2

Temp: 80F Time: 2:30 Att: 1,941

Spectrum Field

Philadelphia Phillies, Grapefruit League
Clearwater Threshers, Florida State League

8/10

 

 

The crowds make their way in for another Phillies/Pitrates showdown

Another glorious Florida afternoon.

The seats filled a lot more than this before the first pitch with almost 8k on hand.

I caught a day game here near the very end of spring training in 2018, before an evening drive to South Carolina, on the way to the Balt-Wash area. As far as I remember, this was the absolute last Spring Training game here for 2018. The all Penn. rivalry made it all the more interesting. 

This is one where the review is getting typed a few years after going, so memories are fuzzy. The park itself is a pretty nice facility, that appears to have inspired some of the parks that came after it, plus some renovations. Food I don't remember much about either way. Atmosphere was pretty decent, especially for the spring. A tight game that ended after 9, tied at 5, helped this out for sure. I'll be back here a few more times I think.



Linescore
2018-03-27
                       123    456    789  R H E
Pittsburgh       400   000    001  5 12 1
Philadelphia    000   040   010   5  9 1
Temp: 79F  Time: 2:55   Att: 7,958

Gesa Stadium

Tri-City Dust Devils (Northwest League)

7/10

This place does have a relatively bland exterior.

The main redeeming quality of the stadium itself is that it faces south, allowing a view of the surrounding hills.

Still, that southern orientation meant that this massive sunshade had to be built to block the setting sun from baking the seating area. It works well.

I first swung through here as part of my 2nd 3-day NWL loop in 2008. It was a near 100 degree night as the Dust Devils took on the Everett Aquasox. My pictures from this night are all bad, so my pictures of a game in 2015 against the Spokane Indians are featured.

The 2008 game saw hot temperatures in the middle of July and Everett pound Tri-City mercilessly. The Dust Devils, then a Colorado affiliate, fielded a young Charlie Blackmon, who would eventually become their starter in center field. In 2015, I arrived mid-afternoon from Boise which gave me enough time to go for a pre-game run along the Columbia River in Richland. It ended up being a cold, windy night, with scattered showers, emphasizing that September had indeed arrived.

This place is located in Pasco, in a (still) developing area right off of I-182, in the middle of a large parking lot that is mostly used for a large youth sports complex. It was built in the mid 90's, to lure minor-league baseball back to the area. They ended up with a team in the independent Western league for 6 seasons, then took on the Portland Rockies NWL franchise when the PCL Beavers moved back to Portland for their third tenancy.

It is a very basic layout however, almost a little too basic. Lots of concrete and lots of aluminum. Not quite as bad as Yakima, but in a similar vein. It is certainly adequate for this level of baseball, but is nothing remarkable either, I actually took a point off for the stadium, my old review of this park was 6/10. The saving grace are the concessions, as the team has a few independent food stands on the concourse. I ended up getting a burrito which was not too bad.

The staples were cheap as it was a discount night(on a Friday no less). I ended up giving the concessions the thumbs up, pulling this one up to a 7/10, making it one of 3 places where this happened on my last few days in the Northwest.

This place is hardly a must, but it's more or less your only option in the Southeast of the state, so to be shy to catch a game(or two) here either. 7/10

Update 2020: I have not been back to this park since 2015, but have been through the area a few times. The Dust Devils are one of two teams apparently on the chopping block in the NWL( Salem-Keizer is the other), as MiLB's re-organization would bring the NWL down to 6 teams. I'm certainly pulling for every team, including this one, but it appears quite a few teams will be out when all is said and done.


Linescores
2008-07-13
                                               123    456    789    R H E
Everett Aquasox(SEA)               000   201    014    8 10 1
Tri-City Dust Devils(COL)           000   000    000    0   7  2
Temp: 96F  Time: 3:00  Att: 1,550

2015-09-04
                                             123     456    789    R H E
Spokane Indians(TEX)             000     000    000    0 3  2
Tri-City Dust Devils(SD)           203    001    20x     8 11  1

Temp: 68F Time: 2:34 Att: 2,570

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

Pohlman Field

Beloit Snappers, Midwest League

6/10

The main entrance is pretty unremarkable, this is just inside the fenceline.

A cloudy, damp, overcast day saw the Snappers and Timber Rattlers playing two to make up the night before.

A patio seciton with a grill looks back on the largely empty seating area.

I rolled into Beloit in the late afternoon after seeing an afternoon game in Milwaukee, the first pitch was at 4:30 and I was walking up to the park as the game was starting. The game the previous evening had been rained out, so they played two 7 inning games instead, which meant I was here for the better part of 5 hours. The matchup saw the Beloit Snappers taking on their cross state rivals, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. This park is not new, but is much newer than it looks, having only been built in 1981. Recently, it's been in jeopardy of losing it's team, not only because of the facility, but even the field itself. The Brewers were the parent club for many years, but left for the other franchise in Wisconsin because of the park. Minnesota was next for 8 seasons, but also left when the chance arose. Oakland, a team that constantly seems to get the last minor league city available, ended up here as of 2013 after being in Burlington before that. If the team wasn't community-owned, it almost certainly would have left town by now.

The two 7 inning games were both one run games, with the weather seemingly favouring pitching. A crowd announced at just under 600 may have featured half of that, as people wandered in and out over the course of the twin bill. It was all locals, who seemed to mostly know each other and kept the noise down.  Concession is limited to a small stand under the bleachers and a BBQ area in right field.


As much as I respect a venue and small market like this keeping a team for so long, the ratings just aren't kind. Firstly, the facility is wholly inadequate for full-season affiliated baseball with metal bleachers with a few bucket seats in a smaller grandstand, that on a cool, damp and windy day, offered pretty much no protection from the weather. Concessions were actually a notch better than I'd have expected in a place like this, but nothing too memorable. The atmosphere was flat, with well under a thousand people as announced attendance. The only reason there were as many as there were is because the Wisconsin starting pitcher for Game 2 was a Beloit native.  I ended up taking a point off for the facility and a half for the atmosphere.

There's been a positive development since I went to my games here, as another locally based group of investors has made a proposal to buy the team and build a new park in the centre of town as of September 2018. Hopefully this will be the case and this franchise can get a shot in the arm, instead of be just another team in a smaller city to move on. I'll absolutely come back if there's a new park, but as for this one, I feel like it isn't worth a return trip.



Linescores

2017-05-24
Game 1
                                                        123  456  7   RHE
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (MIL)          000   000  1  150
Beloit Snappers (OAK)                        000   001  1  261
Temp: 58F Time: 2:04 Att: 588

Game 2
                                                        123  456  7   RHE
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (MIL)          022 000  0   460
Beloit Snappers (OAK)                        001  000 2  331
Temp: 58F  Time: 2:04  Att: 588

Lindquist Field

Ogden Raptors, Pioneer League
8/10

 

This park's facade is somewhat famous amongst the ballparking community.

So is this view.....

A relatively large crowd on Public Schools night saw the Raptors mop the floor with their crosstown rivals from Orem.

I came into Ogden after seeing a game in Helena the night prior as part of my 2015 summer loop. This marked the beginning of 5 new parks in 5 days. This place has a reputation that precedes it as on the the top parks anywhere in the minor leagues, so I was very much looking forward to it. Ogden is a suburb of about 85,000 at the north end of the Salt Lake metro area.

The park is in the middle of town, in a more or less average area, on street parking is free. The home Raptors were in a pennant race with Idaho Falls and were facing their rivals, the Orem Owlz, who also had won the first half title.

The park itself is different than what I'd expected, as I thought for some reason it had a wraparound concourse. It doesn't, but the third base side has a concourse going all the way to the back wall of the park, while first base has one under the seats, as the park is literally sitting right next to an alley. The view from behind home plate is often cited as the best in the minors and it's easy to see why, as Salt Lake and Orem both have similar mountain backdrops. This place outdoes them both.

There are two minor drawbacks to this place though. The concessions are very straightforward, but expensive. The token specialty items are just not here. The selection of beer is pretty limited as well. I ended up getting a BBQ chicken sandwich that cost something like 7 or 8 dollars and looked like something you'd get for 2 off the value menu at your favourite burger joint.

The atmosphere was somewhat disappointing. Nights with lots of people who don't normally go end up being a little annoying and this was the case here. It was a group night for a local school board, who were restricted to general admission only, but quickly spilled into the main seating area once it was "full". I ended up with a family of 4 sitting in 3 seats beside me. The teenaged ushers checked my ticket when I showed up, but didn't do anything other than complain when someone refused to leave their seat after it was determined they hadn't paid to sit where they were. Further to that, the sound effects, which I normally don't notice either way, were over the top. Every time the count sat at 2-2, with two out, the PA announcer shouted "dueces!". A full count brought out "The Count" from Sesame Street, and the announcer's version of the count's voice saying "The count is full....blah!" I ended up moving to the left field concourse for the last few innings.

Overall, this is hardly a bad park, but the concessions were suprisingly behind the curve and I caught it on a bad night for sure. Still, the place is a cut above average, if only slightly: It's in a good spot for roadtrips, so I know I'll be back soon enough.

Update 2018: I have not been back, but with the 2019 season upcoming, a return trip here does make some sense. It'll be in my maybe pile for this year. The Raptors are still going strong, leading the Pioneer League with 3,400 a game for 2018.

Linescore
2015-08-28
                                     123   456   789   R H  E
Orem Owlz(LAA)            000  120   102  6  8 4
Odgen Raptors(LAD)     030   080   30x  14 15 3
 Temp: 92F Time: 3:02 Att: 5,876 

Civic Stadium

Demolished

9/10

 

 

Approaching the park, the wooden facade with peeling paint lets you know what you're in for.

I wasn't as proficient at ballpark pics, but these two give you the general idea.

The long side of the L-shaped grandstand.

Back in 2009 for the last night game here ever against Salem-Keizer.

 We first attended Eugene's Civic Stadium in 2007 as part of a 3 game loop of the Northwest League, which was really our first ballparking trip. We had seen a game in Spokane the night previous and started off towards Yakima afterwards. I went again on the way home from my big 2009 loop for one last game, which turned out to be the 2nd last game and last night game for the Emeralds here. This drew over 5,000 people. Approaching, the park looks like something out of Bull Durham. A peeling wooden facade greets you on the way in.

The park is very simple, lots of wooden bench seating made up the bulk of this WPA era ballpark. There was nothing fancy or modern about this place, it was baseball, pure and simple. But, as much as I like wooden, WPA era bandbox style ballparks, there were some drawbacks about this park. 

 Firstly, food was difficult to buy here at best, there just weren't many concessions and the ones there were lined up quickly. Parking was almost non-existent, as the small parking lot was reflective of the time in which the stadium was built. The almost entirely wood construction made the park seem like a bit of a firetrap.

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed this park. It was absolutely a baseball-first atmosphere, as a wooden ballpark from 1940 was hardly a place to be seen. There was really nothing distracting from the game, with the possible exception of an overly talkative neighbour. This place is a time machine, 9/10.

The Emeralds moved across town to the University of Oregon campus to share a park with a newly formed Ducks varsity team. Locals wanted to preserve this one, which was on the National Register of Historic Places. The plan included purchasing the stadium and renovating it somewhat so it could host lower tier soccer. Funding to buy the stadium was raised in the summer of 2015 and it looked like the plan would go ahead.


But, what I alluded to earlier became a reality that same year. Several youths, playing with matches in the press box, managed to set a fire, which quickly spread out of control, and destroyed the stadium in about an hour. Throngs of people turned out to watch the local institution burn to the ground. The "Friends of Civic Stadium" are planning to use the money they raised towards something similar, but haven't decided what as of yet. It was disappointing to hear about their dream dying the way it did, but I'm interested to see what plans they come up with as an alternative.

Update 2018: I've added the linescores of the two games I went to here. I cannot find any more information about the plans for the stadium site, and the website for "Friends of Civic Stadium" now defaults to some random "sports" site. Under the new grading system, this place likely shouldn't have scored so high, but it's a moot point. Besides, I'd rather not take anything away from this gem. 

Linescores
2007-07-16
                                                    123  456  789  R H E
Vancouver Canadians(OAK)             023  020  012  10 16 0
Eugene Emeralds (SD)                    002  030  201  8  11  1
Temp: 79F Time: 3:48 Att: 2,987


2009-09-02
                                                         123  456  789  RHE
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (SF)               001   030  300  771
Eugene Emeralds (SD)                        100   000  022   593
Temp: 83F Time: 2:32  Att: 5,815 

Charlotte Sports Park

Tampa Bay Rays, Spring Training
Charlotte Stone Crabs, Florida State League

7/10

The relatively simple entrance to the park.

A Colombian conference at the mound.

Looking in on the refurbished stadium bowl.

I crossed Florida after a day game at Port St. Lucie, to take in a night game at Port Charlotte, featuring the Tampa Bay Rays and Colombian national team. I got hung up in the exodus from that first game of the day and traffic was somewhat unhelpful, so I arrived around the second inning or so. The evening's contest saw a pre-tournament game for the Colombian entry in the upcoming World Baseball Classic and thanks to some Rays pitchers being loaned over and a ninth inning rally, they ended up coming back and beating the Rays.

This was originally the site for Spring Training for the Texas Rangers, from 1987-2002, prior to that team pulling up stakes and heading west to Surprise Stadium. After this, the team hosted one season of the Independent South Coast League in 2007, before renovations lured the Rays to set up Spring Training and a Florida State League team here in 2009.

The park is a pretty average place, which shows it's age only in its design. It's clean and well maintined. Zaxby's chicken sandwiches appear to be the menu item of choice, because they were sold out by the time I showed up. I remember the food here being markedly average. The only thing that stands out here is the atmosphere. The Rays are the Rays, so despite being the 2nd closest MLB team to their hometown for Spring Training, they don't draw so well. But, with ticket prices substantially lower than anywhere else in Florida, actual people show up for these games, which makes the atmosphere pretty authentic. When I went on my walk to get pictures of the stands from the outfield, a woman asked the Rays' bullpen coach a question, calling him by his first name and received a prompt "Yes, ma'am.", then an answer. Bullpen coach Stan Boroski explained how the Colombian team only wanted to use bullpen pitchers in the game and the Rays had agreed to put in some of theirs once everyone in that Colombian bullpen had had a turn. I'm not sure if at some of the bigger parks, this conversation would have happened so easily.

In summary, I'm more than happy that a place like this could lose it's team, do some renos and get an MLB team back in town, but it's nothing overly impressive. I'd maybe give a half point for atmosphere, but it really doesn't matter, as everything else is average. 7/10.



Linescore
2017-03-08
                         123   456   789   R H E
Colombia            001  100  016   9 10 1
Tampa Bay          140  020  000  7 8 3
Temp: N/A  Time: N/A  Att: N/A