While this is relevant for only a few more weeks with baseball winding down, I wanted to compare two icons in the ballpark world, head to head. Neither disappointed in their visits and it was incredible to watch baseball games in both places. With my visits eight years apart (May 2003 for Fenway Park and September 2011 for Wrigley Field) there may have been some changes that I have yet to see, so some of this could be outdated. Let’s take a look at it all….Tale of the Tape style!

Location
Both are in fantastic locations. Boston’s Fenway section has several great bars and restaurants, while remaining close to downtown and other attractions. However, there is just something about Wrigleyville. The area in the Northside of Chicago is neighborhood and doesn’t offer much more than food and drink. But those food and drink establishments on Clark and Sheffield are incredible and impossible to replicate.
………Edge to Wrigley

a
Accessibility/Parking
Both kind of suck. The terrific locations lead to each ballpark being a pain to get to. It’s not that the accessibility is bad, its just that it is highly recommended not to drive with parking scarce and traffic crazy. That means public transit is the best way to get there. Conveniently, there are stops nearby. Wrigley is probably the easiest with the Red Line on the El dropping you off right at the stadium. That line is also easy to use from downtown. Boston’s T (subway) is fine as well, but there’s a little bit of a walk from the nearby Kenmore station and there’s a higher likelihood you have to do some transferring somewhere.
………Slight edge to Wrigley

a
Exterior
I like Boston’s brick facade a little bit better as opposed to the Cubs’ mainly white front. But one of the most known Marquee’s in the world is the red one in the front of Wrigley. They also push themselves ahead slightly with the four new statues at all the surrounding gates.
………Edge to Wrigley

a
Concourse
This is where my memory fails a little bit as back in 2003, I never wrote much about the concourses when I was doing reviews. Both are expectedly tight given the age of the ballparks. Also, each have some nuances to honor the team and stadium.
………Even

a
Food
Wrigley’s food used to be notoriously bad, however that has been improved lately. I like seeing foods available unique to the region and they have done that in Chicago with their style of hot dog and version of Italian Beef. But, I am still freaked out by this report. Boston does a great job with the specials too as you have Fenway Franks, Lobster Rolls and New England Clam Chowder. Looking at their concessions guide, a lot has been added since 2003. Still hard to beat a nice, hot clam chowdah on a crisp Fall night.
………Edge to Fenway

a
Cost
Not surprisingly, they are both expensive. According to the Fan Cost Index from Team Marketing Report, Boston was ranked #1 in terms of most expensive, while the Cubs were #4. The difference between ticket prices between the two teams are negligible however as many of the averaged prices seats are in that $40-$60 range. Parking and concessions are high too, but similar.
………Even

a
Interior
Completely unique and unlike anything around now in MLB. I love both of them. In Wrigley, you have two decks of seating, with some oddities in the back of the lower bowl as your view is obstructed by both support beams and the overhang of the upper deck. The bleachers, ivy and rooftop seats set the stadium apart. In Boston, most of the seating is found in the lower deck and I just like this whole design better, even though the seats are totally cramped. I enjoy the quirky design just a bit more. The Green Monster of course is Boston’s famed icon.
………Slight Edge to Fenway

a
Scoreboard
Wrigley Field’s scoreboard in Center Field is more representative of the old ballpark. Green and mostly hand-operated, it is a nostalgic board. I can deal with no video, but I do have a couple gripes (why is the Cubs score buried and not the center of attention on the scoreboard?). Meanwhile, I love everything about Boston’s. You have the classic, wonderful hand-operated board at the bottom of the Green Monster, complete with Boston’s game score details, AL East Standings and out-of-town scores. Yet, it still looks like it did in the early 1900s. Separately in another part of the outfield, they have a sharp video board that is done appropriately and adds to the fan experience.
………Edge to Fenway

a
Banners
Flags are the big thing out in Chicago as they are all over Wrigley Field. From pennants and players to accomplishments and standings, they proudly are displayed on the interior walls and out in the scoreboard. I just wish the color scheme of the pennants would make sense (there is no pattern on why some are red, white and blue). Fenway does a nice job too, with the numbers of retirees out on a upper-left field wall and the pennants (with year AND honor) on the press box above the seating bowl. This is mostly a push, but the very slight edge goes to Wrigley, thanks to the “W” flag that flies after wins
………Slight edge to Wrigley

a
Fan Support
Off the top of my head, I would definitely say even as both have large and intensely rabid fan bases. But, if you look at this a little more in-depthly, I believe its Boston. Just about everybody who is from Boston, roots for Boston. You can’t say the same for Chicago as the White Sox have a big following and most in the Southern half of the city are White Sox fans. In addition, the Red Sox are a regional team as Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and parts of Connecticut are a big part of Red Sox Nation. If you look at the surrounding states for the Cubs, Wisconsin has Milwaukee and Missouri/Southern Illinois is St. Louis territory. Plus, I’m sure you have other chunks of Illinois that root for the White Sox.
………Slight edge to Fenway

a
Atmosphere
Wrigley Field is unlike any professional venue. There is hardly any pop music (its mainly organ), no cheerleaders, no between-innings contests. It is baseball and sports in its purest, early 20th Century form and it is incredibly awesome. Along with other traditions (like the 7th inning stretch and the bleacher bums), the atmosphere is great. But right now its missing something with the Cubs playing so poorly: fan noise and buzz. Boston has that. You hardly ever find an empty seat at Fenway (meanwhile, the game in Wrigley I went to had many sections completely empty). The crowd is always buzzing there and explodes after a big play. If the Cubs come back and play well, I’m sure that ballpark will rock, but right now I’d prefer to see a game in Boston where the atmosphere can and often is electrifying.
………Slight edge to Fenway

a
My Gut
Both are amazing, but if I had to pick only one venue to sit in for a game…I’d go with Fenway
………Slight edge to Fenway

a
Final Result
Let’s add them up! One point for a slight edge, Two points for an edge and Three points for a big edge. The head-to-head comparison is listed below, while my Total Experience Ranking from each game I reviewed is below. Both agree with my gut preference. Whichever one you prefer, do yourself a favor and check out these near 100 year old icons!
        Head to Head Final:                        Fenway 8-6
        Total Experience Ranking Final:    Fenway 80-78     

The second go-round at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown went well last night and yeah, I do agree the ballpark is better than I initially thought it was. I still hate that, small, unassuming exterior, which makes it seems like your entering a two-level shopping center. But inside, the concourses and food make this a place to “hang-out”. Not sure if that’s good or bad, but it brings people in. Allentown does not really have any stand-out local cuisine, so I like how the team went with the “Pig” theme. Items like the Porker Sandwich (a delicious pulled pork), Nachos Porker and Three Little Pigs (pulled pork, fried ham and bacon on a kaiser role) is a great idea. Still love that corn on the cob that is widely available, “Aw-Shucks” style with butter, seasoning and Parmesan. Just makes it feel like summer. Philly-style stuff like twisted pretzels, cheese steaks and fries are also a great touch. You definitely could eat your way through this ballpark and it would take a month.

I warmed up to the seating design too as the intimacy is nice and it feels a lot more personable for a Triple A ballpark. Those exclusive seats really aren’t that bad when you consider the “Dugout Suites” only cut into about a 1/3rd of the seating bowl behind home plate. Also, the upper-deck club level seats are a great deal as $14 gets you the seat and access to the enclosed club/bar up there. In fact, the whole experience is a deal with reasonable concessions, most seats under $10 and parking at $3. The feel of a hang-out continues here with the abundance of places to stand and watch the game, including many rails for your food and drink. Though, I still feel the park is more geared to a place for convening, rather than watching baseball, I got to hand it to the fans who continue to come out in droves. LV led the ENTIRE minor league baseball circuit last year in attendance at 9,227 per game and continues to lead the minors again this year (at 9,161 as of July 30th). This area certainly is deserving of baseball and its great to see it here. Most of the region is comprised of Phillies fans and they care very much as it seems like there is a good relationship of rooting for the Ironpigs and watching the young Phillies grow.

If you want to see a great range of stadiums. I highly suggest visiting the Philadelphia Phillies organization, all within a short drive of each other. Start at the bottom in “A” level ball with the Lakewood (NJ) Blueclaws and their excellent shore ballpark. Then check out Reading’s old school AA FirstEnergy Stadium. After the Ironpigs, finish with one of the best ballparks in the majors, Citizens Bank Park. It’s hard to find a better slew of stadiums from top to bottom in a baseball class system.

As for the game, I am in an awful rut. The losing streak now stands at six (including four at new ballparks) as the Ironpigs were beat bad by basement-dwellers Buffalo. C’mon Hudson Valley Renegades, don’t fear when I’m in the park this Friday Night, play well and please get a win!

#59 on the visit list was a new ballpark we saw in Allentown, PA three years ago, Coca-Cola Park. I was underwhelmed by the stadium and despite all of the accolades it received, I just couldn’t warm up to it being a mind-blowing ballpark. Sure it was nice and had some features that were great (scoreboard, food, 360-degree concourse). Maybe, it was just the cold-weather that put me in an unpleasant mood….so, it’s time for a revisit after giving this young ballpark some time to grow. Besides, it got 70 out of 100 points in the rankings, good enough for #8 in the ranking of 33 minor league ballparks seen. I’ve also been impressed with their remarkably consistent attendance which led all of the minor-leagues last year and in their fourth season, continues to have a higher season average than seating capacity thanks to standing room only. So, I’ll be there tomorrow with an open mind on a much warmer day, hoping that this ballpark does indeed exceed expectations.

Last year, I wrote about the Lake County Fielders and what a joke they were as they tried to build a “pop-up” ballpark in the span of a few months. That ballpark ended up being a bare-bones, temporary facility with just a bunch of bleachers set-up. The team moved from the Northern League to the North American League (one of the most ridiculous independent leagues created in a long time) and the antics of this wayward franchise have become worse. Ballpark Digest has been great in detailing the craziness and the biggest news was when many players and employees were “released” after a boycott due to team members not getting paid. This then led to shanagans in Yuma when position players pitched and pitchers went out to the field (along with Yuma manager Jose Canseco taking to the mound to “even things out”). The Fielders then went on to blame their home of Zion, IL for “not providing them with an adequate ballpark”. Things got even wackier over the weekend when play by play announcer, Qumar Zaman quit on the air with a speech that had everything (references to wrestling, Edward R. Murrow and a slow awkward clap). Have we ever seen a franchise this publicly inept?

The picture above brings smiles to a lot of faces. By far the most popular brand of stadium-visiting is baseball and the varied nature of the ballpark. Even though its still cold in much of the country, warmer weather is ahead and the baseball season has begun. The majors started last week (with an oddly staggered Opening Day) with nothing new on the Stadium front. In the affiliated minors (those in long-season ball), the season started yesterday and it was a relatively quiet offseason with very little change amongst the 100+ teams and ballparks…always a good thing.

There is only one new stadium and that is in Omaha. The Royals changed their name to the Storm Chasers and got kicked out of Rosenblatt Stadium. As sad as I am to see Rosenblatt gone for the CWS, it may not be a bad thing for the Triple-A team to leave the cavernous ballpark. Instead of using the new 24,000 TD Ameritrade Park, Omaha  left the city proper and has a new ballpark 20 minutes to the South in the town of Papilion, located in Sarpy County. Werner Park is one of the smallest in Triple A with a capacity just a shade over 9,000 and the number of fixed seats sitting at 6,434.

As I mentioned last week, Portland’s PGE Park was converted into a soccer stadium, meaning the Beavers of the PCL were left homeless. Sadly, professional baseball will not be played in Portland this year and the team moves to Tucson, where Triple-A returns after a two year hiatus. What used to be known as Tucson Electric Park is now Kino Stadium. This is expected to be a temporary home as the parent Padres are trying to bring a Triple-A team closer to home, but have failed to get anything going yet.

The only other ballpark amendments made to The List, were two name changes. The first comes from Lexington as they lose Applebee’s and pick up yet another bank with the name changing to Whitaker Bank Ballpark. Lastly, one of my least favorite new ballpark experiences in Manchester finally smartened up and got rid of the worst name around: Merchantsauto.com Stadium. Yes, instead it is now called: Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. What is wrong with this organization! Maybe there are crappy names out there, but man that one is nearly as bad as the previous one.

Over this past weekend, we headed into Reading, Pennsylvania to check out the R-Phils and some fireworks. We wanted to get to a minor-league park for a fireworks display, but any nearby new ones didn’t have anything going on.  I loved Reading’s stadium, so that seemed like a good option. The Kutztown Folk Festival was in our plans too, but it was so freakin hot we just went to the game. Parking still really sucks at FirstEnergy Stadium as there’s pretty much no room and little direction. We just kept driving, following the masses, luckily finding an empty lot where a lot of people were starting to fill it up. Getting out when your far from the stadium was not pleasant with the masses exiting the fireworks show as it took a half-hour to get moving well on the two-lane Rt. 61. Food is my only other complaint as the burger I had looked like a flattened piece of putty, with cheese that was like liquid.

Didn’t mean to get sidetracked with complaining as I really enjoy this ballpark as it is so different than the other common minor league experiences. I still am amazed at what they have done with this park, it’s like they’ve turned this place into a festival with how much outdoor/concourse festivities go on. Despite the cramped concourse, I don’t mind when there is so much life to it.  With all of these distractions the focus is still on the game. Reading continues to lead the league in attendance and the game atmosphere is tremendous. I also think that it is key to have affiliations partnered by region. I saw so many Reading and Philadelphia jerseys. Just look at the success even on the Double A level that nearby affiliations have seen: Portland-Boston, Trenton-New York, Reading-Philadelphia (all in the Top 4 in Eastern League attendance), Texas-Frisco (#1 in the Texas League), Florida-Jacksonville (#1 as well in the Southern League). Even though a lot of the ballpark is kind of pieced together through the years, the main seating bowl from the 1950s is refreshing to sit in. There probably is no minor league park in the country even close to FirstEnergy in terms of what’s inside…and it’s certainly a great place to watch game.

For those interested, the R-Phils took down the first place Altoona Curve, 6-4. Four runs in the early innings for Reading held up. Also, the fireworks display at the end of the game was awesome and probably better than any local shows as I’m sure they cheapened some of them in NJ thanks to all of those budget cuts.

I’ve been living in New Jersey for more than four years now and despite being an hour away, have yet to venture into Newark, the largest city in the state. Yes, the city still has some issues, but it’s a shame their old reputation is so hard to shed. A lot of revitalization has been done and Mayor Cory Booker has really helped to clean up the area.  It is certainly much better than it was in the past. My first venture there had me on the Northern edge of downtown and it seemed like a totally fine, safe area. This winter, I’ll get further into the downtown core to see the Devils and the Prudential Center.

Anyway, the purpose of the visit was to see #83 on the list, Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium and the Atlantic League’s Newark Bears. I always wondered what the “Bears & Eagles” meant and learned that it honors the old International League Bears team and the Negro League’s Newark Eagles. This is a place that really is in touch with it’s history as the honors don’t stop there. A “Ring of Honor” on the brick surface of the press box/suite level displays names of the past who have ties to Newark or old teams. There are other honors too, scattered throughout the park. Additionally, Newark’s cap logo (kind of like a Nebraska Football N) brings you back to the 1930s. Riverfront Stadium also does a fantastic job of architecturally mimicking Newark. The ballpark is built with brick and it doesn’t seem like that fresh brick either, the inside has almost an older looking darker-colored brick. Fitting, for Brick City.

The seating set-up is good, helped by the fact that there are uninterrupted views of the field from the concourse and that there is just one consistent level of seats surrounding the field. However, there just were things that didn’t appeal to me, not sure why. Other Atlantic League parks (Long Island and Somerset) had a more appealing interior to me. Maybe, it’s because the inside was very similar to Manchester, which I disliked. The placement of the scoreboard is awful, next to the foul pole because it’s a chore if your behind home or on the right side of the park to see the box score and count. Plus the views, though diverse, have so much untapped potential. The Passaic River just beyond outfield is hardly visible, same with the close NYC skyline. Newark’s downtown buildings are in sight, but only if your on the third base side. Additionally, there is a drawbridge in left, but it just looks like an ugly industrial eyesore.

Most disappointing of all was the fans, or lack there of. Attendance was 1,408, but I did a rough count and came up with about 450. You can’t use the excuse that people from surrounding towns are scared to come to Newark. Remember, Newark is a city of 280,000!!! It’s a shame that at least a couple thousand from a city that large won’t come out to watch quality baseball. Needless to say, the atmosphere was dismal.

So, that wraps up a ballpark mixed with good and bad features. As always, for a detailed  review, click the link to the right. The next stadium will be down in the Richmond area as we take a little Memorial Day trip to Southern Virginia.