July 14, 2013
Ripken Stadium (Capacity: 6,300)
Aberdeen, MD
Aberdeen IronBirds vs Williamsport CrossCutters
Final Score: 6 – 8
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A day after visiting Camden Yards in Baltimore, we made the 30 mile drive northeast to visit Baltimore’s Single-A affiliate in the NY-Penn League, the Aberdeen IronBirds. Located at the beginning of the Chesapeake Bay, this very small city of just 15,000 is likely most known for its expansive US Army weapons testing facility called Aberdeen Proving Ground. In the early 2000s, city native Cal Ripken Jr, bought the Utica franchise and moved it here to Aberdeen, where his likeness was used for the team nickname. Additionally, the stadium was named after Ripken as the team began play in 2002. On the field, the IronBirds have struggled as they haven’t even reached the playoffs in their history. Ripken Stadium does well in the short-season league and while the design is built to mimic Camden Yards, I felt some uniqueness and character was missing here.
Prestige Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
Location
Aberdeen itself offers little for out-of-towners, with just a museum at the Proving Grounds being a lone possible spot to visit. With the Ripken Stadium complex sitting northeast of the small city center, the area is open and devoid of restaurants. A couple miles away on US-22 is a conglomerate of hotels, strip malls, shopping centers and restaurants (mostly franchises and fast food). This area sits here mainly for the many youth baseball tournaments that use the Ripken complex.
Location Ranking: 3 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
From the big East Coast cities, I-95 allows for simple access to Aberdeen as the ballpark is right by Exit 85 (in fact, drivers can see the back of the scoreboard from the interstate). Only folks arriving from South-Central PA or near the state border have a more challenging ride in as there is no real direct route to Aberdeen from the north. Wide, multi-lane access roads lead to the park and there is plenty of parking right in front. Police direct traffic after the game, making for an effortless short drive back to 95. Congestion however can sometimes be an issue on the interstate.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7 out of 8
Exterior
Designed with Baltimore’s ballpark in mind, Ripken Stadium features a lot of red brick to go along with dark green awnings, roofing and iron trusses. It overall looks good, but just ends up blending in with the other countless minor-league stadiums created like this. The shape includes various little nooks and crannies, while the front entrance opening behind home plate has a decent appearance. Overhead of the opening, is a silver “Ripken Stadium” sign curved on the top wall, while on the iron gate support beam, it says “Home of the Aberdeen Ironbirds”.
Exterior Ranking: 6.5 out of 10
Concourse
The concourse is consistent with the outside as the walls are brick and the overhanging beams are green. There is a lot of room to walk around and most of the concourse is open to the field, the exception being a small space behind home plate. As the area opens up to the sky, the space along the left field foul line is barren and looks almost depressing with how empty it is, save for a few wooden picnic tables and a small food tent. Probably should be a kids zone in this area. The right side is a different story as the end of the concourse features “Conrad’s Crabs and Seafood Deck”. The concourse does not wrap around the outfield.
Concourse Ranking: 4 out of 5
Food
The Seafood Deck is an awesome covered section that features local food, eaten in true Maryland style. Fans can order steamed crabs and hammer them open at a picnic table covered with brown paper, all while watching the game. Other great choices at this stand include a crab cake sandwich, a crab pretzel, seafood kabob and apple cider salmon salad. The rest of the food at Ripken Stadium is terrific as they combine traditional favorites with other specialties, many of which have a local touch. Roma Sausage House has sausage simmered in a variety of things, including Natty Boh beer and Old Bay seasoning. There is also a section offering both panini’s and farm-fresh items like Corn on the Cob and Watermelon Wedges (which were very good). Sweet items are plentiful, as are the beer options, which include Bud products, Sam Adams, Blue Moon and regional options like Twin Lakes and Rams Head.
Food Ranking: 8 out of 8
Interior
Ripken Stadium features a seating bowl that generally follows the shape of the diamond and ends just beyond the infield. Sections are divided in two with a fairly large walkway splitting the lower 100s and upper 200s. Not sure why there needs to be that much separation in a stadium seating 6,000. All of the seats are green and at the end of each lower section, the seats are nicely turned so they are pointed more towards the infield instead of just looking straight to the outfield. Behind home plate in the 200s is a club box section, which for $28 includes patio seating along with food and drink. Seems nice, but I’m not a fan of these behind home plate. Suites and the press box are perched over the concourse, while additional picnic plazas can be found at the end of each part of the seating bowl (where they belong). Though it is good not to see a hoard of advertisements in the outfield, the look past the wall is boring with not much to see besides distant trees. Overall the ballpark is decent, but I just wasn’t all that wowed and there seemed to be a lack of character.
Interior Ranking: 7.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
Two scoreboards are situated in the outfield, one in left-center and the other in right-center. The left one is strictly a game information/box score type and the red lights help to make it visible in the setting sun that shines upon it. To the right is a badly outdated video board. It was difficult just to make out a player picture, let alone actual video. A similar look to the scoreboard in Baltimore is appreciated as the top has wrought-iron crosses to go along with the stadium logo.
Scoreboard Ranking: 2 out of 4
Displays
Hanging from the ceiling in the concourse are posters showing former Ironbirds that have gone on to play for Baltimore. It’s always fun to see these current big-leaguers when they were baby-faced and just getting their professional start. There is also a concourse display featuring a year-in-review for the IronBirds season. On the outfield wall is where the numbers 3, 7 and 8 are located and they are for all three Ripkens (Cal Sr, Billy and Cal Jr). Given that the stadium seems to be all about them, it is a bit surprising there is not more information on the trio.
Displays Ranking: 2.5 out of 6
Cost
Ticket prices are unusually expensive for Single-A ball as they range from $10.50 to $17.00. The fact that there are no cheaper single-digit dollar seats is disappointing. Aberdeen is far enough away from Baltimore’s influence that high city prices aren’t an excuse. Concessions were high too with food costs including a $4.50 hot dog, $3.00 small soft drink, $6 beer and $0.75 to put sprinkles on an ice cream. Thankfully, there was no charge to park and the team passed out free programs upon entering.
Cost Ranking: 6 out of 8
Fan Support
We all know how inaccurate the attendance number game is (and how easy it is to make up the figures), so take the Ironbirds’ ten-year sellout streak with a grain of salt. I’ve seen game pictures during this supposed streak that were disgracefully listed as sellouts even though the ballpark wasn’t even half-full. Judging from the game I attended, about 2500 to 3000 showed up on a pleasant summer Sunday evening (the announced number was double that, at 5,244). Still, a decent crowd for the NYPL and the small town, but nowhere near living up to the hype of a nearly franchise long sellout streak. I will be curious to see how they draw if they ever make the playoffs. Regardless, fans do seem to support the team well. A nice assortment of Aberdeen gear could be seen in the crowd.
Fan Support Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Atmosphere
The overall atmosphere was laid back, though the crowd got louder as the team was rallying back from a big deficit. There is even a superfan here wearing an “IronFan #1” jersey. They do keep the O’s tradition of yelling “Oooo” during the Star-Spangled Banner. Unique to the team is they try to have this visual cheer when Aberdeen scores a run as fans are encouraged to flap their arms like a bird. Not exactly ideal if somebody is right next to you. Aside from hearing “Everybody Clap Your Hands” literally 50 times, the overall atmosphere was a bit better than OK.
Atmosphere Ranking: 8 out of 14
Other Stuff
Ripken Stadium is just a small part of what has become an expansive and significant youth complex. Known as the “Ripken Experience”, the complex includes seven ballfields used for youth tournaments, clinics and camps. The anchor stadium is Cal Sr.’s Yard, a 2,000-seat ballpark designed just like Camden Yards and it even has a hotel in right field that looks similar to the famous B&O Warehouse. The ballpark also plays host to the Cal Ripken World Series each year, which is part of the Babe Ruth League…..Aberdeen’s team store is called “The Hangar” and it is quite large with a lot of goods, comparable with a team higher up in the minor-league food chain…..So how did the IronBirds name come about? Since Cal Ripken owns the team, his nickname was the Iron Man while he played for the Orioles, while the team nickname is the “Birds”…..Speaking of Cal, I know it is sacrilegious to talk bad about him, but seriously seeing his name plastered everywhere is annoying. I understand the whole branding aspect of his company…but jeez, from the stadium to the team name, to “Ripken Experience” signs on the concession stands and scoreboard. Even the team shop had a special Cal Signature Series. Enough already!…..I definitely have my doubts on the team’s listed capacity as 6,300. A few months earlier, I was at the ballpark in New Britain, which has a smaller capacity yet was bigger than Aberdeen’s.
Game
It was a very rough start for the Birds as visiting Williamsport put up four runs in the first inning thanks to several walks by starting pitcher Janser Severino. The Cutters built their lead to 6-0 before Aberdeen started to chip away. Eventually, the IronBirds cut the lead to 7-6 late in the game, but Williamsport added an insurance run in the 8th and won a very sloppy affair 8-6. A total of six errors were made and Aberdeen’s Trey Mancini went 3 for 5.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
