A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

baseball park

Can of Corn Challenge: Favorite ballpark

This one is a tough one as it could go many ways.

I could talk about covering minor league baseball for six seasons at Damaschke Field, a place where barnstorming teams went through in the first part of the 1900s. Legendary players graced that field. John Elway played his lone season of baseball on that field.

The Bank.

The Bank.

There’s Coca Cola Park in Allentown, which might be the nicest minor league park I’ve been to. So many amazing food options and what a place to watch a game.

What about Camden Yards? Talk about an amazing place. From the outfield area to where you watch the game, it’s fully a fan-friendly stadium and one where you feel like you are part of the action and the food there? Oh my.

There are so many other great parks — in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre or Rochester, New York. From Lakewood, NJ to State College, PA. Citi Field in New York is pretty amazing. Old Yankee Stadium was something else.

In the end, it came down to two for me — one MLB, one MiLB.

The MiLB stadium was great. It sits on the campus of the University of Vermont. Centennial Field is pretty awesome. It’s old, and it feels it. The stands are all outside of the main field area. But people packed it in for a short-season Single-A team. They loved their baseball and the stadium was really interesting and unique.

Then there’s the one I like the best and this shouldn’t come as a shock — Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

I was at the first regular season game at the stadium and I’ve loved it ever since. An open concourse, great food offerings, pretty comfortable seats, and not really a bad place in the house to watch a game. I’ve had seats all over the place in that stadium and I’ve loved it every time.

I think of all the games I’ve seen there and know it’s my favorite place. I’ve seen games all over the place and every stadium has something I can take away with me for a memory. But Citizens Bank is something a tad more special. And being a Phillies fan definitely makes me biased, but I’m ok with it.

How about you? What’s your favorite baseball stadium? If you’ve blogged about it, link up below. If not — what are you waiting for?

If you want more information on the season-long Can of Corn Challenge, please visit this page. I am co-hosting this challenge with Kasey at Kasey at the Bat, so go visit her, too! The more the merrier, so please feel free to visit all the others and join up! Also, feel free to grab the button below!

Can of Corn Challenge

Can of Corn 2016 – Dates

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please Like HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Summer of Baseball: SWB gives fans a great experience

PNC Field is a great place to watch a game.

PNC Field is a great place to watch a game.

There’s something to be said about renovations instead of demolishing and rebuilding a stadium. If done right, it can be a wonderful thing.

Take, for example, PNC Field. Formerly known as Lackawanna County Stadium, the park underwent a major renovation – with a price tag of more than $43 million – in 2012, which forced the AAA Yankees affiliate to play all their games on the road.

But when they returned for the start of the 2013 season – what a change the stadium had.

Seats are good and give excellent sight lines.

Seats are good and give excellent sight lines.

I had been to this stadium back when it was home to the Red Barons, the AAA affiliate of the Phillies. And I came last year to see the new work. I’ve been twice this year and this stadium truly impresses me in its looks, sight lines and amenities.

If it wasn’t for the stadium that houses the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, this one would top my list for minor league parks.

The neat part of the park is you can still feel some of the old stadium still here, despite it having an incredibly shiny new look.

Overall, this is one excellent ballpark. The parking is easy, the entering of the stadium is simple (and they allow you to leave/re-enter if you need to go to your car – which came in handy on a giveaway night) and it’s simple to get to off of I-81. For the game we came to in 2013, the leaving was really crazy and tough, but it seems like they’ve learned and made it better as both times I’ve visited this year, we’ve left quickly.

Back to the stadium.

A free program is always appreciated.

A free program is always appreciated.

This is a great spot for baseball. The seats are roomy and there’s plenty of room. There are standing spots all around the stadium with a small “table” that runs around the stadium. The outfield standing section is especially nice with a wonderful view of the stadium. One other nice tidbit to note — it’s another stadium that has gone to the free program setup. It’s nice to see that being done more and more.

There are some excellent places around the park, too, including a seating section in right field that is set up near a bar area. The only downfall there – and for the bleachers in the right-field foul ball area – is the sun will beat down on you. The same can be said for the outfield lawn seats, which seem to be more and more the normal at minor league parks and it a really smart idea. The stadium has a full walk-around concourse, which is always nice to see at parks. It gives people a chance to stretch their legs and take a stroll around the park without missing a pitch.

This is near the outfield lawn seats.

This is near the outfield lawn seats.

The food choices here are pretty standard and the prices aren’t too bad. Each time I’ve been here, however, ice cream has been off the list because I can’t see waiting in massive lines when I am there for a baseball game. The beer selection, too, is pretty solid.

The Rail Riders have their fair share of in-between-innings games, which is fine. They aren’t too crazy and they don’t disrupt the game. The mascots are seen and are friendly and engaging.

Finally, the team store is really nice and has a lot of items available for purchase. The prices aren’t too bad, basically what you’d expect at most parks.

In the end, this is a great stadium to watch a game at. It’s comfortable, affordable (tickets are around $10 each) and it makes for a fun evening at the park.

Park Notes:  

PNC Field
Moosic, Pennsylvania
Home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders (AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees)
Visited on: Saturday, June 21 and Friday, August 8.
Opponent: Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox) and Columbus Clippers (AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians)

Ratings (out of 10)

  • Stadium: 9/10
  • Concessions: 9.5/10
  • Parking: 9/10
  • Ambiance: 9.5/10
  • Friendliness: 10/10

I am embarking on a summer of baseball with the plan to hit a minimum of 10 stadiums this summer. Hopefully, there will be more than that. I will report on each park that I hit on the blog.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Summer of Baseball: Williamsport is a throwback

There’s something to be said about an old baseball park.

If you are a fan of the game, it’s definitely the way to go to watch. It’s a throwback of sorts. Many of you know that during my newspaper career, I covered a minor league baseball team. It was short-season Single A (so about a 72-game schedule, if I remember right) and I only covered the home games, so it wasn’t a full beat, so to speak.

But it was covering professional baseball during the summer.

Bowman Field is definitely and old-school feel and experience.

Bowman Field is definitely and old-school feel and experience.

The team played at an old, rickety ballpark built decades and decades ago. The team was bought in the 1960s by a group of locals and was still owned by two of them when I covered them. One was the figure head, the other was a partner who didn’t like to say much. Both were classy gentlemen. They were baseball people, though.

And that’s what it was about – watching baseball. But the stadium for those who weren’t fans of nostalgia and such usually didn’t like things much. No beer was served (one of only a couple teams who didn’t sell beer), there weren’t many on-field promotions and the mascot wasn’t always around.

It was baseball.

I’m a fan of such stadiums, usually. But I’m also one who still keeps a scorecard at each game, so I’m a little different as it is.

The team I used to cover was in the New York-Penn League, where older stadiums used to be a mainstay. In this day and age and as minor league baseball becomes a bit more mainstream, teams are looking for better and more current parks.

So getting to see some of these old stadiums is a must for me. They might all be a little rickety and such, but there’s the baseball feel. Bowman Field still maintains an ambiance like that, though there are parts that make it a little tougher.

Let’s take a look at the park.

One of the few places I've been this year that still charges for a program, but it's understandable at this level.

One of the few places I’ve been this year that still charges for a program, but it’s understandable at this level.

Bowman Field in Williamsport – for now – has stood the test of time. Built in 1926, it’s an old park in every sense of the word. There are pillars to sometimes peek around and the seating setup is that of an older park. It’s not to say it’s awful, but choosing your seat can definitely give you a better feel of the park. One set of bleachers, down the right-field line, wasn’t open. I spoke to one usher who noted that section had been closed for as long as he could remember.

It made me wonder why.

The press box is at the top of the stands behind the plate and is quite small. The safety netting goes around quite a bit of the field to save the crowd, which is fine. But, for whatever reason, the netting seemed to be a bit thicker than other places I’ve seen it.

The dugouts are also in a non-traditional spot as they are further down each line. That, of course, makes it a longer stroll for the players as they come to bat or head out onto the field.

The field, itself, has the feel of an older one. The advertising boards in the outfield seem to fit a nostalgic stadium, and the rest of the aura made me feel like we went slightly back in time. Parking is available for free, or in one part, for a fee. People cram into the area for parking though, which definitely give an old NY-Penn League feel.

The sight lines are OK, but there are beams, of course, if under the grandstand. If I ever went back to watch a game, I think I’d make sure I got one of the closer box seats as I believe it would be a lot better to watch a game from there.

The concessions seemed decent. We had eaten at a brew pub before coming to the game, so I didn’t dabble in much. The beer selection was on the weaker side and the hot dog I had was of normal ballpark feel and taste. The souvenir store was actually pretty solid for a small team and I walked away with a t-shirt.

It’s a stadium I’ve long wanted to see and I’m glad I had the chance to see it.

Park Notes:

Bowman Field
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Home of the Williamsport Crosscutters (Short-season A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies)
Visited on: July 5, 2014.
Opponents: Auburn Doubledays (Short-season A affiliate of the Washington Nationals)

Ratings (out of 10):

  • Stadium: 7
  • Concessions: 7
  • Parking: 7
  • Ambiance: 8
  • Friendliness: 9

I am embarking on a summer of baseball with the plan to hit a minimum of 10 stadiums this summer. Hopefully, there will be more than that. I will report on each park that I hit on the blog.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Summer of Baseball: Perks aplenty at State College

There's not any bad spots to watch a game in State College.

There’s not any bad spots to watch a game in State College.

The lower levels of Minor League Baseball can feature a lot of types of stadiums – from old and worn to modern with amenities.

State College, Pennsylvania – home of the Spikes – seems to have found a good mix of a new stadium with the feel that it’s not being overly done. That’s something to be appreciated.

The Spikes are the Single-A short-season affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The stadium in which they play is located on the campus of Penn State, in the shadow of the famed Beaver Stadium. That, of course, makes parking plentiful (though it did cost, if I remember right, $3). And if you get there early enough, as we did, you had the chance to walk around the massive stadium before heading over to the smaller, more comfortable Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

The stadium seats about 5,500 people and is home to the Penn State baseball team, as well as the State College Spikes. A nice piece to this stadium is being able to see Mount Nittany beyond the outfield wall.

A free program is always welcomed!

A free program is always welcomed!

To be honest, this is definitely one of the top New York-Penn League stadiums I have been to.

When entering, the team store is close by and, for a lower-level team, the store is stocked with everything one might need. The items – shirts, jerseys, hats, balls and most things you expect to find – are reasonably priced and there are plenty of sizes. With such a cool logo, I walked out with a nice shirt.

After exiting the store, the field is straight ahead, and is below the concourse level, so you walk down to your seats. The seats are of the fold-down variety, but are solid and roomy.

But, if you want to roam, you can do so and not lose sight of the game. There are picnic tables spread throughout the concourse area, as well as a picnic area in left field. Right field features an area with high-top tables, as well as a bleacher section at the top of the right-field wall. That’s a very cool aspect of the stadium, I thought. Kind of a “cheap seat” type feel, which is excellent for a baseball stadium.

The netting behind home plate extended a little further, it seemed, than many parks. I wasn’t a fan of how it was set up, either. I know teams do it differently, though.

Play ball!

Play ball!

My only other thought is it seems like there could have been a walkway around the whole park. It would have been nice to be able to walk around and catch the game from different vantage points. Also, there was a video arcade. I’m not a fan of this, mainly because when I go to a ballpark, I go to watch a game. I understand families attend, but if you’re going to let your kids hang out in a video arcade the whole time – why come to the park? To be fair, the few times I passed by it, I didn’t see many – if any – in there.

The concessions were pretty strong, including a Burgatory spot (very good burgers), a craft beer stand and a spot just for ice cream. There is also normal ballpark fare, but when I went to get lunch, my plan was a hot dog and a bratwurst (I think it was bratwurst…), but they didn’t have the specialty, so I just went with a couple of hot dogs. They were above average, but nothing fully special. Their fries were decent.

I attended on July 4, too, so the area was having a full celebration and fair of sorts. Later in the evening, they open the park up so people can watch the fireworks (which apparently are ranked No. 3 in the country – I can believe it). We took one of the high-top tables in right field and enjoyed the show, so that’s another bonus.

In the end, this is a solid, stadium and one worth attending. I had wanted to visit it for a bit, so it was nice to get down here and see a game. There wasn’t a bad seat in the house and with the roominess of the sitting area (good legroom, too), there wasn’t a chance of being crowded or feeling stuffy

Park Notes:

Medlar Field at Lubrano Park
State College, Pennsylvania
Home of the State College Spikes (Short-season A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins)
Visited on:  July 4, 2014
Opponent: Jamestown Jammers (Short-season A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates)

Ratings (out of 10):

  • Stadium: 8.5
  • Concessions: 7.5
  • Parking: 8
  • Ambiance: 8
  • Friendliness: 9

I am embarking on a summer of baseball with the plan to hit a minimum of 10 stadiums this summer. Hopefully, there will be more than that. I will report on each park that I hit on the blog.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!