Clover Park

^{September 5, 2010
Digital Domain Park (Capacity: 7,160)
Port St. Lucie, FL
St. Lucie Mets vs Fort Myers Miracle
Final Score: 2 – 12}

* The ballpark was renamed Clover Park

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About two-thirds of the way down the East Coast of Florida is Port St. Lucie, a rapidly growing city of over 100,000 that feels much smaller than that. The area is known as the Treasure Coast and we made a stop here in transit between Orlando and South Florida for a 10:30 AM game. Port St. Lucie is likely most known for being the home to the New York Mets Spring Training, but it is also where their Single A affiliate of the same name plays. The team has been quite successful on the field, winning five Florida State League titles and eventually sending several Mets to their parent team in future years. The stadium was built in 1988 and even though it doesn’t feel like you’re at a Florida ballpark, recent renovations turned a sterile, boring concrete stadium into a much improved place.
Prestige Ranking: 2 out of 5

Location

Similar to nearby Jupiter, the ballpark is located on the outside of the city, very close to I-95. Being used for Spring Training, the complex needs a lot of open space. Down the road from the ballpark are a few hotels, many national brand restaurants and a SuperPlay USA with every indoor family entertainment option you can think of. Not a tourist attraction per-se, it is a fun place to go before or after a game. The beaches not far east of here take way longer than you would think to reach (30-45 minutes) and are mostly for residents.
Location Ranking: 5 out of 10

Accessibility / Parking

Being right off of I-95 makes for a very simple arrival to the stadium. Parking is in front of the stadium and the first three sections are paved. That’s all that is needed for a Florida League game. Additional grassy spots extend further out for Spring Training. Traffic was not an issue.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 8 out of 8

Exterior

When you stand in front of this stadium, it doesn’t exactly say “You’re in Florida”. However, I do like the exterior design. It almost appears to be a circular dome structure in terms of shape and it’s also quite tall for a Single-A park. The name of the stadium is signed twice on the building, while blue and brick are the two main color schemes. In an unusual set-up, tickets are sold right at the front gates (and covered from the sun by an awning), while the entrance is off to the side. There are palm trees scattered about in the landscaping.
Exterior Ranking: 6.5 out of 10

Concourse

Fans have to go up a few ramps to get to the concourse and it is a very narrow, closed area that circles underneath the seating bowl. You can’t really tell from the outside it’s an older ballpark until you get into this concourse. I found it to be a little angular and strange, though there were some picnic benches set-up in the extra room that they had near the ramps. There was no team store (just a concession stand), but the walls were adorned with some beautiful, large pictures of past big-league Mets
Concourse Ranking: 1.5 out of 5

Food

Most of the food stands were closed, but at least they had more than the basics including shrimp and a bar with plenty of alcoholic varieties. I did like how the food had a New York flavor as the hot dogs were Nathan’s and they also sold knishes. Stands that were closed offered items like Tacos in a Helmet, Italian Ice and Funnel Cake.
Food Ranking: 4.5 out of 8

Interior

The interior was a pleasant change of pace as the seating seemed a lot steeper than other minor league parks. The blue colored seats only extend out to the infield, but there are a decent number of them and they are split by a wide walkway. The second level of seats has some height and depth to them. A nice feature was the large roof, jutting out over a good chunk of the upper bowl and covering many fans from the hot sun (we had a 10:30 AM start). That roof is gray concrete and unattractively reminded me Richmond and Scranton.  The press box is behind the seats, while above that is a second level, tucked underneath the roof, where the luxury suites are. On either side of the seating bowl are party decks. Other seating areas in the park include a set of bleachers along the right field line and a large seating berm beyond right field. The berm wasn’t open for this game and when it is open, fans can’t visit the main Grandstand, which deserves a boo. In left foul territory is a wonderful area that fits very neatly in with the design. There is a tiki bar complete with three levels of picnic tables and then three rows of regular seats directly underneath, right near the field. It didn’t seem retrofitted at all. Both of these picnic areas are covered by an arcing blue-white striped roof shading folks from the sun. The outfield view is of trees and other baseball fields.
Interior Ranking: 10.5 out of 14

Scoreboard

There is one scoreboard and it is located in left-center. It’s a fairly typical black board with the line score at the bottom and video in the middle, between advertisements. The screen is small. At the top is “Digital Domain Park” spelled out and a small clock.
Scoreboard Ranking: 2.5 out of 4

Displays

Despite their many championships, there were no banners or honored numbers in or around the stadium. The only team honors are for the parent Mets as the concourses have murals of great players. A very poignant, non baseball-related memorial is located near the front entrance. This includes steel from the 9/11 site and it honors those that passed away in the tragedy. Near the box office, there is a plaque for Thomas White, who essentially funded the stadium for St Lucie. The ballpark was named after White until it sold out to corporate sponsors.
Displays Ranking: 1.5 out of 6

Cost

How about this one…Free! It was fan appreciation day, so everyone had free admission. How crazy is that? Never heard of such a thing. That may explain the 10:30 AM start in that they were hoping for people to have a lunch at the park. They didn’t even charge ridiculously for concessions as they also had a deal in that they were just $1. Parking was free and so was the program, which was just a scorecard. Typically, tickets are under $10 and food is reasonably priced as well.
Cost Ranking: 8 out of 8

Fan Support and Atmosphere

Fans weren’t exactly out in droves and the late morning start didn’t help perk up the atmosphere. There is definitely a Mets flavor to the crowd with a lot of fans wearing the colors. My guess though is that these are primarily New York Mets fans and not necessarily St. Lucie Mets fans, especially based on some of the fan reactions during plays. Little noise was made during the game. Fan support has improved as the team set a single-season attendance record this season. Over the last few years, they have ended up in the middle of the league with paid average attendance around 1,500. Our season ending game had an announced crowd of 1,187 with actual people there around half of that number.
Fan Support Ranking: 2.5 out of 8
Atmosphere Ranking: 4 out of 14

Other Stuff

I like the Mets touches around the stadium (I wish Citi Field took notice). The seats were blue and various other items blended in nicely…..Not a big fan of sound effects. It would be nice if they could tone down the silly noises after every single pitch. They also had that speaker cranked up…..Hurricane Frances in 2004 had a big effect on the ballpark as there were damages, mainly to the suite level…..The first three rows behind home plate are actually in front of the dugouts, so fans can turn their heads and see what’s going on inside.

Game

We did not have good luck on this three-stadium Florida trip in terms of game quality. This one started pretty good, it was 0-0 after three. Then, I have never seen a pitcher lose his stuff worse than Bradley Holt did for St. Lucie in the fourth inning. He simply could not find the plate as he threw 5 wild pitches, 4 walks and hit one batter. It was horrible to watch and I felt sorry for the 23 year old. It was even worse that idiot home Met fans shouted some heckles that are easily audible in a crowd of a thousand. The manager took his sweet time getting anyone warmed up and finally after the third wild pitch and second walk, a pitcher began throwing, before mercifully entering the game later in the inning. Fort Myers ended up with seven runs on five hits and would win the game 12-2. Alex Wimmers got the win for the Miracle, lowering his ERA to 0.57 on the season with 15 innings pitched.

Stadium Experience Ranking: 57.5 out of 100