May 30, 2010
The Diamond (Capacity: 9,560)
Richmond, VA
Richmond Flying Squirrels vs Bowie Baysox
Final Score: 2 – 6
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After spending Memorial Day Weekend exploring Virginia, we made our to Richmond for some baseball down on the Boulevard. The city of 225,000 is Virginia’s fourth largest city, located along the James River in the Piedmont (the central part between the Blue Ridge and the Coastal Plain). A lot of history from the Colonial and Civil War era has taken place here and the city offers many different, unique neighborhoods. Richmond has a storied baseball past and was home to the Triple-A Braves for 43 years. However, in 2008, the Atlanta Braves became fed up with a few situations as they yanked the team from Richmond and moved them to Gwinnett, Georgia. After a quiet year in 2009, baseball returned in the form of the Double-A Eastern League as the San Francisco affiliate in Norwich, CT moved to Richmond and the team was renamed the Flying Squirrels. The team plays in The Diamond, rapidly built in 1985 and a ballpark that is unattractive and not intimate (a bit similar to Lackawanna County Stadium in Scranton). Yet the interesting seating design combines with a great atmosphere to make it a worthwhile visit.
Prestige Ranking: 3 out of 5
Location
There is a lot to check out throughout the city including Maymont Park, the State Capitol and plenty of historical sites if you are in to that type of thing (I am). The Diamond isn’t that close to these attractions as the ballpark is located on the northwest side of the city. It is a fairly unattractive area with bleak buildings and what seemed like a lot of industrial or distribution areas. Also in the vicinity is a small gym and a track facility. For food, there are more restaurants five minutes down Arthur Ashe Boulevard, where the Children’s Museum and Science Center are.
Location Ranking: 5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
I-95 and I-64 meet near the Diamond and there is an exit close-by. Traffic can back up to the exit after the game, but things move efficiently. Parking lots surround most of the stadium and the large one in the outfield is sufficient even on nights that are near capacity.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Exterior
Walking up to the stadium, a rather ugly introduction continues with a dull ballpark exterior. It’s basically the light gray concrete back of the seating bowl, with support beams holding up the stadium. The shape is the classic rounded V. In front there is a large “Go Nuts” pennant for the team and a sign on one of the walls saying “Welcome to The Diamond”. Meanwhile, the back of the stadium is open as fans can see right in to the upper deck seating bowl.
Exterior Ranking: 2 out of 10
Concourse
Fans enter behind home plate and they have to climb a few sets of stairs to get to the concourses. This is one of the few minor-league parks with a double concourse as there is an upper and lower level and they both serve the same amount of concessions and bathrooms. On the first level, there is a huge team store (Squirrel Nest) and this actually used to be a restaurant, so it has windows overlooking the playing field on the first-base side. On the other end of the first-level concourse is a picnic area. The entire concourse is enclosed, but there is some natural light as it is open to the outside (looking west).
Concourse Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
Food
Food options aren’t overwhelming, but sufficient. There is a stand for different kinds of nuts and an assortment of sweets (root beer floats, funnel cakes, different ice creams). One problem at the concessions was the pace of the line. It is very slow and waiting 15-20 minutes for a burger cost me seeing the first pitch.
Food Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Interior
Inside is a massive seating bowl for Double-A, with a somewhat sterile feel thanks to all of the bland, gray concrete around. Differing from the newer parks, the seats are more vertical here as opposed to being spread out around the diamond. There is a first level and then a row of suites. Over the suites, is a much higher, steeper second deck that is accessed through the concourse. This level features most of the seats in the park and while the vantage point is awesome, the seat type disappoints since they are all bleachers (with molded seat-like backs). Green, chair-back seats were recently installed on the first level. Because the ballpark was built for Triple-A, the team has reduced the seating capacity by adding huge advertisement banners at the top of the upper-deck, taking away about 2,500 older seats. An interesting area is behind home plate as there is a concourse opening between the first and second deck, while the press box was kind of built into the bottom of the second deck. The Diamond’s view consists of a parking lot in left, a bland building in center and a track stadium in right. There is a nice view of Richmond’s skyline in the distance. A roof adds cover for a decent number of seats and it also adds to the mix of good and bad here. I appreciate a ballpark that is different from the rest and I had a difficult time deciding whether I liked The Diamond or not. Seating allows for a vast view of the field, but it also makes the fan feel quite high and far from the game.
Interior Ranking: 7.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
A pretty good looking scoreboard sits in left field as there is a lot of red in it, going with the team colors. At the top is a large Flying Squirrels logo. The box score (with a red background) is at the bottom, while in the middle and surrounded by ads, is a video screen. Unfortunately, the video is disproportionally small when compared to the overall size of the scoreboard.
Scoreboard Ranking: 2.5 out of 4
Displays
With 2010 being the first year of the Flying Squirrels franchise, I didn’t see any banners or displays for the team, which is to be somewhat expected for an expansion or moved team. Given the city’s history with baseball, it would have been nice to seen some sort of hall of fame or Richmond sports honor.
Displays Ranking: 1 out of 6
Cost
Overall prices were great as tickets ranged from $10 in the lower seats to $6 – $8 in the upper deck. Parking was $3, programs were free and concessions were around average.
Cost Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Fan Support
Attendance has been high all season as so far they’ve averaged 6,100…tops in the league. However, keep in mind this is a Triple-A ballpark and a city with a population more consistent with AAA as opposed to AA. Even though fan support and attendance waned in the late years of the Braves, the return of baseball has been a success story for this city. Crowd size for the Sunday Evening game we attended (with no fireworks) was pretty good. Even checking back a decade later, the Flying Squirrels still led the EL in attendance.
Fan Support Ranking: 7 out of 8
Atmosphere
The atmosphere at this game showed me why high-level minor league baseball belongs in Richmond. The crowd was into it the entire game and when the Squirrels finally rallied in the 7th, it was loud in The Diamond. I think the roof and the fact that the ballpark isn’t spread out, helps to induce noise, as it was one of the loudest minor-league parks I’ve been to. Fans also did their part to make that happen.
Atmosphere Ranking: 11.5 out of 14
Other Stuff
The Flying Squirrels. Certainly one of the more unique nicknames in baseball. This animal is native to Virginia and allows for a lot wacky (some say “nutty”) promotions and play on words….. Virginia Commonwealth University’s baseball team, located in downtown Richmond, also calls The Diamond home…..The Diamond was built to seat 12,134, however with the ad covering over several rows at the top of the stadium, capacity has been reduced to 9,560.
Game
In the game, Timothy Bascom started for most of the game and pitched beautifully for Bowie. He only gave up two hits thru 6 innings and struck out eight. Bowie held a 2-0 lead, but in the 7th, the Squirrels finally hit Bascom hard. An RBI double to left scored Juan Ciriaco and then an outfield fielding error allowed for Conor Gillespie to score and tie the game at 2. However, they stranded the runner at third and Bowie brought in a pair in the 8th and 9th to get the 6-2 win.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
