June 3, 2006
Skylands Stadium (Capacity: 4,533)
Augusta, NJ
Sussex Skyhawks vs Brockton Rox
Final Score: 4 – 2
* The ballpark was revisited for a game on June 14, 2021
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After I moved to New Jersey in 2005, this became the closest professional team to my new place of living. It quickly became apparent how odd of a location this was for a franchise as Sussex County is sparsely populated compared to the rest of North Jersey. In fact, when driving in, the slogan on the county sign says “People and Nature Together”. While scenic and a great place for outdoor recreation, baseball can feel out of place in the state’s most northwest county. Regardless, in 1994, Skylands Park was completed and became home to a relocated NY-Penn League franchise that would become known as the New Jersey Cardinals. After shattering attendance records and winning the league title in the early years, the positivity faded. 11 years later, the owners sold the club and moved the team to State College, PA. In its place, the independent Can-Am League placed a team in the ballpark and the Sussex Skyhawks were born. They too had a short life and folded in 2010. Thankfully, professional baseball returned in 2015 and an appropriate rebrand as the Sussex County Miners seems to have more staying power in the Frontier League. I made a revisit six years later as this time around seems more promising. I like the ballpark as it does well to reflect the county it was built in.
Prestige Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
Location
Skylands Park is located in Augusta, a small community within Frankford Township, which is home to about 5,500. Nearby is the county seat of Newton, but that will just offer visitors a typical small town experience (though the courthouse is quite a historic building). Farmland and treescapes surround the park with just a local restaurant or two found on the approach to the stadium.
Location Ranking: 2.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Going through Sussex County can be a pain thanks to winding roads and a lack of highways. The county’s main state roads (206 and 15) at least do lead to the ballpark as the stadium is right near where they meet. Perhaps the biggest challenge is keeping an eye on deer during the drive after the game. Plentiful parking in front of the stadium originally was all unpaved and bumpy. Now at least half of it is smooth. Leaving after a fireworks display was better than expected as the delay was non-existent.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6.5 out of 8
Exterior
Skylands Stadium represents the surrounding area very well as it is shaped and designed to look like a farming complex on the outside. The roof on top of the ballpark, along with a couple of other adjacent buildings, features a triangular shape like a barn house. This is complimented by red siding, designed also to resemble a barn. Strangely, the main (and only) entrance is not at home plate, but near first base. The team store is in a different building, separate from the stadium. From the outside, two levels can be seen, with the top one including the walkway to go between each suite. The building does not have a neat or clean look to it as things are somewhat disjointed.
Exterior Ranking: 6 out of 10
Concourse
The concourse runs underneath the seating bowl at ground level and despite some natural light entering from the side, it feels a bit drab. Maybe because there is more concrete than red siding. Regardless, you can’t see the game from any point in this area. Movability with a larger crowd is fine most of the time. They utilize the grassy area left of the concourse very well as picnic tables dot the area and kids activities are closer to the walkway. A mining station is very appropriate! The end of the game caused some angst as the area jammed up with people only able to exit through one spot.
Concourse Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
Food
Food was rather generic and you can tell immediately that would be the case when you see signage representative of the 1950s. There was just the basic ballpark food groups available. Even the Ice Cream stand was underwhelming. At least craft beer was an option and there were multiple Jersey brands on display.
Food Ranking: 3 out of 8
Interior
Inside, the trend of a rural stadium continues to some extent. A nice view greets fans as trees complete the entirety of the background behind the outfield. Red siding can still be seen on the walls of the stadium (near the suites), but the blue seats really clash with it. This would have been much better if the seats were red and I could have even put up with another green-seated ballpark. The design of the small park is split-level with a walkway in the middle and about twice as many seats are in the upper level. Seating (in bucket form) extends about a third of the way into the outfield with red bleachers in the last two sections. The seats aren’t the most comfortable and they are worn/dirty, but there is at least enough leg room and the view as decent with each going up by a couple of steps (no heads got in the way of the view). Luxury suites and a press box are in the standard location behind the seats. However, suites only extend a bit into the third base side, unlike how they are set-up in the other direction. This leads to a somewhat unfinished look. Overall, it’s an OK stadium, but nothing special.
Interior Ranking: 6.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
The scoreboard is left field features a decent-sized video screen. During play, the lineup card and a few player stats are shown with a picture. They don’t use the board often enough for video. Otherwise, the line score is fixed at the bottom and the sides feature logos and ads.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
The team won the league title in 2018 and they added a square display denoting that on the suite-level siding. Other historical displays lack, but you’ll see a few team banners including a really nice large black and yellow one in the outfield that says “Welcome to Skylands Stadium – Home of the Miners”. While the team colors are great, it does clash with the red building and blue seats. Outside the ballpark is a very random (but awesome) 12’ x 12’ 9,000-pound globe with outlines of the Earth. At first, it just looks like an interesting sculpture, but then at night upon existing the ballpark it becomes a huge fire pit, which is an awesome visual and lasting impression. You’ll also find a giant polar bear in the concourse, because…reasons. A little more appropriate inside is an empty seat that honors POW-MIA.
Displays Ranking: 2.5 out of 6
Cost
Prices were about what you would expect ($5 for a cheeseburger, $4 for a hot dog, $3 for a bottled water), however tickets were more expensive than minor-league baseball. A seat cost $17 – $20 with some adjustments given that it was a Saturday fireworks night. It is not all that far off though from the other local teams in the league. Plus, parking was free here in Sussex.
Cost Ranking: 7 out of 8
Fan Support
For my 2021 visit, about 2,000 people were in the ballpark for this one. While that is a decent crowd, it seemed heavily influenced by the fireworks as the announced number the previous night was much, much lower. Regardless, the team is more popular than the Skyhawks ever were and there were many in the crowd that were wearing apparel. The Miners are probably on par when it comes to comparing with other local teams in the region (Boulders, Jackals).
Fan Support Ranking: 4 out of 8
Atmosphere
The atmosphere was decent early on as the cheers were quite loud and most were attentive. It faded a little as the game moved along, as evidenced by it taking a second or two for fans to realize a home run was hit.
Atmosphere Ranking: 7.5 out of 14
Other Stuff
The Skylands name for the stadium comes from the name of the region in Northwest Jersey that includes Sussex County. It is more of a State-driven tourism name as not many refer to Sussex as that. Despite the reasoning, it does make for a nice ballpark name…..Just a couple roads and a field away from the ballpark is the grounds for the New Jersey State Fair. Not to be confused with the more carnival-like State Fair in the Meadowlands, this August fair in Sussex County is more of an agricultural show. It is quite popular as thousands come to Augusta for the livestock, entertainment and food.
Game (Initial Visit)
Brockton jumped ahead in the top of the fourth inning, however Sussex answered with two runs in the bottom half. Three singles aided their effort. The Skyhawks were able to maintain and build their lead as they won 4-2 in the first game of their scheduled seven-inning doubleheader. Josh Ury went 3 for 3 with a run and RBI for the Skyhawks.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
