August 9, 2015
Regency Furniture Stadium (Capacity: 4,200)
Waldorf, MD
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs vs Bridgeport Bluefish
Final Score: 4 – 5 (11)
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Despite its close proximity to Washington, DC, the southern portion of Maryland remains a relatively rural section of the state. This is especially true in Charles County, where tobacco fields used to rule the land. While most of the county is open, there is rapid growth in one town, as the Waldorf area is home to 65,000. In combination with the massive planned community of St. Charles that started in the 1960s, this section of the county continues to grow at a rapid pace with new housing developments popping up all the time. The independent Atlantic League loves this type of location and demographic and in 2008, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs joined the league. In their time as a franchise, the team made the league’s championship series in their second season. Ready for Opening Day 2008, Regency Furniture Stadium became home for the Blue Crabs and this ballpark finally broke the cookie-cutter league template, resulting in an excellent design. Too bad the on-field house ruined the experience.
Prestige Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
Location
Waldorf is about 45 minutes southeast of DC and the community’s center is a six-lane highway framed by every national retailer and restaurant that you can think of. Not exactly homey. The only draw outside of the ballpark is the Dr. Samuel Mudd House Museum, which is a delightful attraction well worth the hour I had before the game. Regency Furniture Stadium (RFS) is a good 3 miles away from “town”, kind of in no man’s land. The area growth is very evident driving in as new apartments, condos and houses are in abundance. The ballpark is across from a new high school and open fields remain where housing has yet to take over.
Location Ranking: 4 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Though it’s not difficult to reach the stadium, it is out of the way as the interstate system is a good distance from Waldorf. Route 301 serves as the north-south access and this four to six lane road features many stoplights and side shopping centers. It can also get sluggish from congestion since the only other pseudo highway presence is Route 5. Once away from 301, some country roads make for an easier time the rest of the way to RFS, with abundant parking in front.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7 out of 8
Exterior
Sitting at the end of the parking lot is a ballpark that sets a high bar before even stepping inside. A very clean design actually fits in with the area as the exterior was designed to look like an old tobacco barn. It is a striking appearance and for those unfamiliar, it also resembles a house, which is quite appropriate for this growing area. The eggshell colored siding and a sloping reddish-brown roof really gives a great introduction to the ballpark. The hut shape has a front entrance opening behind home plate and a “Regency Furniture Logo” overhead. The box office is to the left and a team store is to the right. What a lovely introduction that is clean and fresh.
Exterior Ranking: 8.5 out of 10
Concourse
The opening area looks larger than it is because of the tall ceiling and the clean look continues with the siding and high red beams. It’s not ideal that there isn’t a full field view when you enter the stadium, however you just have to walk a little ways on either side and the infield becomes visible. Space is wide, especially further down the lines. On the first base side, picnic tables are set up and beyond that is a large kids playground. There is a walkway that goes around the outfield, but the area is desolate and what used to be “Crabby Cove”, a beach play area with a pool containing bumper boats, now sits overgrown, unused and empty.
Concourse Ranking: 4 out of 5
Food
Back in the main concourse, only two primary concession stands were open and they offer the same thing. It’s not much of a variety with burgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders and the like. I had pulled pork which was pedestrian. Turkey Hill provides multiple ice cream treats. Given that this is the home of the Blue Crabs, I would have expected more than just a “Crab Cake Platter” buried at the bottom of the menu. Apparently there is/was a Seafood stand, however metal girders closed a couple stands (on a weekend nonetheless), so I don’t know if that’s a permanent closure. The beer has more to offer as the Calvert Brewing Company serves up Opening Day Cream Ale. Other breweries with products at the park include Fin City and Baltimore-based Natty Boh. There’s even a special Blue Crabs Lager available.
Food Ranking: 5 out of 8
Interior
The promising exterior maintained my expectations inside the ballpark, as I was happy to finally not see a place with a cookie-cutter Atlantic League design. Behind home plate is a two-level luxury suite set-up, which cuts back on individual seats down below to about 9 rows. Past the suite level, a more traditional single set of wide green (shouldn’t they be blue?) seats account for most of the 4,200 capacity. The bowl goes a little beyond the infield and what I love is how the section actually starts bending inward, so the last ones are facing the pitchers mound and not the outfield. It’s a great concept; just the fans that sit there better be prepared for foul balls. Towards the left foul pole is the Legends Club, an indoor facility with its own seating section. Out in the outfield is a picnic-section that is well done, though a special ticket is needed here as a buffet comes with a seat. The other side of the outfield includes a grassy area, but this was hardly used for the afternoon game I attended. Not much should be expected of the outside view and a row of elevated ads blocks it out. Clean ballpark aesthetics continue throughout the park as does consistent design materials.
Interior Ranking: 10 out of 14
Scoreboard
There are multiple scoreboards at RFS, including a couple helpful dot-matrix displays above the seating area. This gives fans the main game info needed when looking towards home plate. A pretty neat hand-operated scoreboard is located on the large, green wall in left-field. Over in right-field, a video screen blends in with the advertisements and this screen is used for player pictures and between-inning video. I wish they put some sort of score info here as it would help those sitting on the third base line. Also, the video board has diminished in quality as a couple missing panels poorly coincide with each player’s name.
Scoreboard Ranking: 2.5 out of 4
Displays
After seven seasons, there is still not a single display related to the team, its players or baseball.
Displays Ranking: 0 out of 6
Cost
It appears that every ticket is $13 for the 2015 season, which is a little high when compared to affiliated ball. However, parking and programs are free and the concessions aren’t too bad ($3.50 for a hot dog, $5.50 for a burger and $6.50 for a beer).
Cost Ranking: 7 out of 8
Fan Support
It was a small crowd on hand for a Sunday Afternoon game as I estimated less than a thousand in attendance. Southern Maryland typically ranks 6th in the eight-team league for attendance and it seems that there isn’t much chatter about the team within the area.
Fan Support Ranking: 3.5 out of 8
Atmosphere
The small crowd led to a muted atmosphere, however, the fans did well to applaud on the significant plays in the game. When the Blue Crabs tied the game on a home run, many got on their feet to cheer. While the crowd was ok, it was actually the team’s on-field host (Ron Lord) that diminished my experience. Somehow the fans love him here and that puts me in the minority in not liking this guy who was wearing tie-dye with a big cross painted on it. Borderline creepy and incredibly annoying, he frequently would walk on the dugout during game action, either interacting with the mascot or conversing with the crowd. This made it impossible to actually watch the game, though I know many aren’t fully there for that reason. Multiple times I moved to a different part of the stadium just to get away. I also found his interactions with people to be awkward and way too close for comfort. He hosted a few between-inning games that probably are not a good idea…like an iced-tea chugging competition and an “Apache” dance with kids. I’ve seen some MCs interject themselves into the experience before, but no one has yet to annoy me like he did.
Atmosphere Ranking: 5 out of 14
Other Stuff
The Blue Crab is a great team nickname, regionally inspired by the species so prominent in the nearby Chesapeake Bay…..As fans first enter the parking lot, the first thing visible is a “Welcome to Crustacean Nation” sign. Though the whole “Nation” line is way overused, the phrase is cool for the use of Crustacean (a scientific shellfish name) and fans have taken well to it…..The addition of little touches throughout the ballpark partially make up for the lack of team displays. Engraved into the chairs in the picnic area is the Blue Crabs logo, while the team store is called the “Crab Shack”…..The team has a few Crab Feasts each season, where fans can buy a $40 ticket and eat as many crabs they want.
Game
The visitors built a gradual lead, but that was all erased on a three-run home run by Gustavo Molina in the 6th inning. After both teams left runners stranded in the late innings, we went to the 10th tied at 3. Bridgeport struck first as they capitalized on a pair of walks by singling in a run. In the bottom half, Molina doubled and Craig Maddox walked. This brought up Casey Frawley who hit a shot to left-center. He hit the top of the wall and his double only tied the game. Those missed inches proved vital as they couldn’t bring the runner in from third and on we went to the 11th. In that inning, Wilson Batista singled in Matt Burns and this time it held as the Bluefish won 5-4.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
