July 2, 2003
Dunn Tire Park (Capacity: 18,025)
Buffalo, NY
Buffalo Bisons vs Ottawa Lynx
Final Score: 0 – 2
* The ballpark has been renamed Sahlen Field
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Sitting on the tip of Lake Erie in Western New York is this Rust Belt city known for its lake effect snowstorms. Buffalo is the second largest city in New York with a population of 280,000 and it features an architecturally interesting downtown, but not much to do for tourists. Our stadium visit started out on a nice note as a couple handed us a pair of free tickets as we were heading to the box office. We ended up sitting together and chatting through the game. Dunn Tire Park is right next to the largest skyscraper in the city, the HSBC building. and was built in 1988 with the Major Leagues in mind. It is the largest ballpark in the minors with a capacity over 18,000 and has hosted the Bisons since the team moved from War Memorial Stadium, the Bills’ old home. Though Bisons baseball has been prominent during much of the city’s history, a franchise move in the 1970s left a gap in that history. In 1979, the Bisons returned first to Double-A and then to Triple-A (in the American Association until that league was absorbed by the International League in 1998). Several playoff appearances have been made by this Indians affiliate and league titles were won in 1997 and 1998.
Prestige Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Location
The ballpark is solidly within Buffalo’s downtown core and dotted around the area are some local restaurants to try pre/post game. The immediate area doesn’t have a city-defining spot as that can be found about a 10-minute walk northward on Chippewa Street. For those visiting beyond the game, don’t expect too much. Hopefully in future years, the proposed Canalside development near the harbor to the south will take off and become a destination. At least Niagara Falls is just 30 minutes away. One other note on the location, Buffalo is one of the first cities to start the trend of building a ballpark within the urban core.
Location Ranking: 6.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Another positive with the location is the surprisingly easy accessibility as Swan Street is right off of an exit from I-190 (which connects Buffalo and the I-90). A parking garage next to the ballpark is great and there are some smaller lots nearby as well. For anyone staying inside the city, a light rail runs very close by on Main Street. This is free for the six above ground stops and Dunn Tire Park is in the middle at the Seneca stop. Traffic wasn’t an issue, even with this being a weeknight game.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 8 out of 8
Exterior
The outside of the ballpark is set close to the city streets but there is enough room on the property for fans to congregate around a plaza-like entrance. The plaza has small trees and many flagpoles, flying the Bisons logo. Stadium shape is a classical circular V, while the architecture is decent with white, square tiles mixed in between arches, entrances and red railings. The walkway for the luxury suites is visible from the outside and so is the light green, linear roof. It’s refreshing to not see a brick structure nowadays.
Exterior Ranking: 7.5 out of 10
Concourse
Older concourses give away Buffalo’s ballpark age as they are enclosed and rather dark/slummy. On nearly all nights, there is plenty of room as the stadium has the advantage of having two concourse levels. The upper deck has it’s own area for access, bathrooms and concession stands (a rarity in the minors). The top concourse also features a little more natural lighting.
Concourse Ranking: 2 out of 5
Food
Food was decent enough, but Buffalo has many local delicacies that were missing at the ballpark. Plus, you just don’t have that wonderful ballpark food aroma in the concourse like you do in nearby Rochester. Dunn Tire Park does have a restaurant, again showing how ahead of its time the ballpark was for 1988. Pettibones Grille is on the far first base side with a nice game view and standard grille menu.
Food Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Interior
This is a big ballpark and having the seats in the color red makes the size stand out even more. The bowl goes all the way to each foul pole and a walkway about halfway up in the lower level separates seating into two parts. Several of the last rows on the back level are covered by an overhang. The slope isn’t all that steep and row width is narrower than what is seen in the ballparks built during today’s era. On the positive side, chairs are turned towards the infield as you reach the end of the bowl. There’s also a small upper deck and above that are the suites along with a large press box behind home plate. It’s a solid stadium with size being the main thing that stands out. In terms of outer views, the third base side features skyscrapers towering over the stadium and you can also get building looks looking from first base too. The outfield however leaves a lot to be desired as you are looking at traffic on I-190 and that’s about it. A large net in left protects balls from hitting the road. There’s some seating beyond the fence as well with a small amount of bleachers in left field and the “Power Alley Pub”, for group outings in right.
Interior Ranking: 10 out of 14
Scoreboard
The pictures above are from when I was able to wonder into the ballpark in 2012 for a non-baseball event. You can see that the scoreboard is a large video screen and it ranks comparably well. Not that the one I saw in 2003 was bad either and that one had more permanent Bisons logoing.
Scoreboard Ranking: 4 out of 4
Displays
On the outside, a flat stone display honors the organizers that helped with the Empire State Games, hosted by Buffalo in the mid 1980s. A nice display, but a little odd since the city has hosted a few times since. Just inside the gates is a plaque for the downtown park (then named Pilot Field) on its inaugural day. Hidden too far from the fans is the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame, located on a wall in the upper concourse. It’s a nice breakdown of honorees and plaques, but should be made more visible to the public. Inside, the Bisons have a unique way of displaying their team achievements. On the outfield net are individual baseballs that have various division and league titles with the year won on each ball. Good work as it gets the job done. The outfield meanwhile has three retired numbers, #6 Ollie Carnegie, #25 Luke Easter and #30 Jeff Manto.
Displays Ranking: 3.5 out of 6
Cost
The ballpark experience has great affordability as our ticket on the lower level between home plate and first base was a cheap $8.50. Programs were $2 and the parking was the only higher, but average thing as the garage we went into was $5.
Cost Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Fan Support and Atmosphere
One disadvantage to having such a big minor league stadium is that even a good crowd of 12,000 or 13,000 looks small because there are several thousand empty seats. After shattering records in their early years, Buffalo still does a nice job of filling the park, but nowhere near that extent. The team is typically ranked between #4 and #6 in league rankings as it has been awhile since they’ve been at the top. The Wednesday Night game we attended featured a smattering of people and a crowd of maybe 3000 to 4000 (deceptively announced at 7,043). The very next night featured a huge crowd of 20,000 thanks to Independence Day fireworks and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Atmosphere is detracted some by the ballpark size and fans generally bring average passion and energy.
Fan Support Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Atmosphere Ranking: 6 out of 14
Other Stuff
Bisons is grammatically incorrect, so I wonder why they went with that name instead of the singular version?…..This is a stadium that has had several names in its history. After it started as Pilot Field, sponsor companies have had a hard time hanging on to the name as it went from NorthAmericare Park to Dunn Tire. Future years would see Coca-Cola and Sahlen….The ballpark was built by HOK Sport, the same company that went on to build Camden Yards for MLB’s Orioles. Before Baltimore’s beauty, it was this ballpark in Buffalo that was the prized possession of the new company that went on to become one of the leaders in ballpark design….Speaking of the design, it was built with the majors in mind as it could be expanded to 40,000 seats in hopes of Buffalo attaining an expansion franchise.
Game
The game itself was rather dull. Major-leaguer Jake Westbrook was on a rehab assignment from Cleveland and he pitched four solid no-hit innings before being pulled. I know he was on a pitch count, but I still hate seeing no hitters cease because of that. At least this one makes more sense because he was on rehab. After Westbrook exited the game, Ottawa promptly scored two runs in the 5th and went on to win as the Bisons could not get on the board.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
