May 25, 2009
Merchantsauto.com Stadium (Capacity: 6,500)
Manchester, NH
New Hampshire Fisher Cats vs Trenton Thunder
Final Score: 0 – 7
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* The stadium was re-visited for a game on July 28, 2023
** The ballpark was renamed Delta Dental Stadium
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On our way back from a weekend in Maine, we spent the day in New Hampshire, stopping in Manchester to see the Double-A Fisher Cats. This turned out to be by far my least liked ballpark of the new era. Manchester is the largest city in the Granite State with a population of around 107,000 and it is located in the southern part of the state, along the Merrimack River. The former mill town has evidence of its past history as long, brick red buildings complete a section along the river. Some of these buildings have been renovated for condominiums or businesses and downtown has become more friendly and inviting to visitors. In 2004, New Haven’s Eastern League franchise moved to Manchester and the newly born Fisher Cats won the league title in their inaugural season. That first season was spent at historic Gill Stadium before moving to a new downtown ballpark the following year. A naming rights deal then produced one of the most atrocious ballpark names in the country in 2006 (not made much better when Delta Dentist took over naming rights). The Fisher Cats are an affiliate of Toronto and the team is popular, but allegiances in this region lie deeply with the Red Sox. Since my last visit, New Hampshire won two more league titles in 2011 and in 2018, with the latter being led by a remarkable team that featured second generation future stars Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio. The stadium remains one of my least favorite in Double-A.
Prestige Ranking: 2 out of 5
Location
With a name that vowed to inspire this city to become the industry giant that the other one across the pond became, this version of Manchester did indeed become a giant, though in Textiles. The former millyards where that took place now include a museum. A couple blocks up the hill is downtown and the area along Elm Street features a nice array of restaurants. Outside of that, normal city stuff is found and there is a general lack of attractions to draw visitors to the area. The ballpark sits along the banks of the Merrimack River, just a bit south of downtown. Though the river location sounds appealing, there’s not much of a view from the stadium. The more “attractive” part of downtown is too far away and the nearby surroundings are bleh (auto shops, grocery shore, generic office buildings). A hotel is attached to the ballpark, which is good for those staying there, but bad for those looking for a city view during the game.
Location Ranking: 4.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
I-93 is the direct route from Boston, while other highways like Route 3 and Route 101 serve those coming from other areas in New England. This hooks up with I-293 that runs along the river on the opposite side of downtown. That makes getting to the stadium very easy as 293 connects to Granite Street and then South Commercial Street. For my first visit, it was really difficult to find parking. That problem was alleviated by my second visit as a huge parking garage went up opposite the outfield entrance. Egress was great and the arrival went from one of the worst situations in the Eastern League to one of the best.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 8 out of 8
Exterior
The initial walk-up is disappointing as the face to the stadium is missing since you have to arrive in the left-field corner. There is no front entrance near the seating bowl and even if you wanted to walk to it, a pathway by the river just goes down the side and it is not an attractive walkway. As fans arrive at the main outfield gate, they are greeted with a short brick building that houses the ticket office. There’s even a shameful “Welcome to the “Tooth” sign at the top to go with the stadium’s name. To the right, are stairs that lead up to the stadium with red siding on the nearby structure.
Exterior Ranking: 2 out of 10
Concourse
The entrance leads to an exposed walkway that is wide and open to a rather nice view of the Merrimack River, despite the tree overgrowth. Water can be pretty to look at, but this river is stanky and it’s noticeable walking around this area. The left field corner features a brewhouse that was confusing if it was just for groups or open to the public. I saw a buffet set-up and when I went to a table separate from that area, I sat awkwardly to see if there was a menu (there wasn’t) Some newer items that I saw on my second visit including a tiki bar and a rock formation. Towards the infield, the suites overhead cover the concourse and there is a view of the field throughout. The space is wide enough and décor is cheapened by the gray siding on the walls. At the end of the concourse is a play area as the walkway does not wrap around the outfield.
Concourse Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Food
New England based seafood options from the “Chowdah House” that I saw during my first visit were gone as the ballpark has settled to basic, traditional offerings. Mac and Cheese was the only thing a little out of the ordinary. At least the Pulled Pork sandwich I had was quite filling and decent for stadium food. Beer options mixed national and local brands and I loved seeing “Line Drive Lager”, a special drink for the team made by Great North Ale Works from Manchester. Numerous mixed cocktails were also available.
Food Ranking: 5 out of 8
Interior
The layout is poor and cheap as one level of green seats are on an aluminum base that wraps around to shallow outfield on either side. There is no split walkway and the sections only hold between 12 and 18 rows. As a result, the stadium is not intimate given the spread out nature and the gentle slope of these short rows also leads to a poor sightline. In addition, sections further out are not angled towards home as the seat points straight ahead. When I arrived in 2023, I saw that some of these bad sections deep down the line were removed as they put the bullpens here and up above, added more comfortable chairs. Suites and the press box are raised over the concourse and seating bowl. In the outfield, the Hilton Garden Inn hotel looms over the ballfield in left-center and completely obstructs the view of Manchester’s skyline. Generally, I wouldn’t mind the building and may even like it, but when it blocks an otherwise fine view I strongly oppose. Hotel guests get free access to outdoor tables in the outfield as they are able to watch the game.
Interior Ranking: 5.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
The updated scoreboard in right-center is nice and large as it is a full video screen. Clarity is great, except there is a missing panel at the bottom. The layout during at-bats is quite busy as I often forgot where the count was and had to spend a few seconds searching. Game replays were absent, but the team certainly loved using it for wacky music videos. To help those seated in right field, a small board sat on the end façade of the suite level. There also was a manual scoreboard on the outfield wall, but it was unused.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
During my first visit, there was a completely random space for the “Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame”. I say random because Williams had no relationship with New Hampshire or the team. That was replaced by a team store when I returned. Otherwise, the Fisher Cats did a nice job with displays, highlighted by a four-panel info piece around a support beam behind home plate. It’s an odd spot, but provided great stuff about the franchise. Also on the concourse are banners for former players. Division and League titles are displayed pennant-style on the brick wall outside the ballpark. Retired numbers that are displayed as baseballs are on the outfield wall as along with Jackie Robinson, they honor #29 Chris Carpenter (former player and native to New Hampshire) and #83 Michael Briggs (badge number of a Manchester police officer killed in the line of duty).
Displays Ranking: 4 out of 6
Cost
Parking is out of touch ($10!), but tickets are more than fair at $10 to $14 (add a buck or two if you buy on the day of the game). Concessions are a little high as a Hot Dog costs $5.50 and beer varies from $7 to $10.50.
Cost Ranking: 6.5 out of 8
Fan Support
The first game I saw in 2009 was a Memorial Day matinee and it featured a decent amount of families with the place a little more than half full. In 2023, it was a disappointing crowd as a beautiful Friday Night only brought maybe 1,000 to the stadium. In fact, I think there was a bigger crowd 20 minutes away in Nashua for a summer-collegiate game. New Hampshire generally ranks in the middle of the Eastern League attendance standings and while all teams inflate those numbers, it really seems excessive with the Fisher Cats. In that picture below, they announced a game attendance of 4,827. I even went back to look at video of their championship clinching playoff game in 2018 (officially announced attendance at 6,541) and despite playoff attendance numbers usually being truer, that certainly was not the case with half the seats being empty. The few in the stadium wearing Fisher Cats apparel were outweighed by those decked out in Red Sox shirts, jerseys and hats.
Fan Support Ranking: 3.5 out of 8
Atmosphere
Fans provided a standard minor-league baseball atmosphere as the game was typical of many other ballparks. I didn’t see a run scored in 2009, so the 13-8 game I witnessed in 2023 was a better gauge. The crowd barely acknowledged a hit-by-pitch bringing in a run, but they were good when a base hit brought a player across the plate. A home run brought a few to their feet.
Atmosphere Ranking: 6.5 out of 14
Other Stuff
Interesting story with the team’s nickname: After management announced “New Hampshire Primaries” as the team’s name, it was met with local dissatisfaction. A name the team contest followed and “Fisher Cats” edged out “Manchester Millers” by a mere 22 votes. The unique mammal can be found in parts of the state……As you can infer from the stadium name, the advertising is overboard and there was even a point where a “Delta Dental” ad was plastered at the bottom of the team’s logo!…..For the first year of the franchise in New Hampshire, the team played at Gill Stadium, a park built in 1913. The historic stadium has an odd seating configuration thanks to its duel use for football and baseball. This leads to ample foul territory…..When I returned during the summer of 2023, there were still “Keep 6-feet of distance” Covid stickers on the floors.
Game
Trenton led a systematic throttling of the Fisher Cats. Christian Garcia tossed five shutout innings for the Thunder and only gave up two hits as New Hampshire was shut out at the plate. Trenton scored six times in innings 3, 4 and 5 to take a 6-0 lead and ease home with a 7-0 win.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
