April 20, 2024
Virginia Credit Union Stadium (Capacity: 5,500)
Fredericksburg, VA
Fredericksburg Nationals vs Fayetteville Woodpeckers
Final Score: 5 – 2
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The second game on a baseball trip to Virginia featured one of the younger minor league teams as I stopped in the city of Fredericksburg. Located along the Rappahannock River halfway between Washington D.C. and Richmond is this small city of 28,000 people. It is a historic place, namely for it’s ties to George Washington and the role the city involuntarily took in the Civil War. There are multiple sites to experience the history and the area has capitalized on that tourism making it a nice place to spend the day. The Fredericksburg Nationals arrived during the Covid era, with the team moving from a poor stadium situation in nearby Woodbridge, VA. 2021 was the first season for the FredNats and in 2022, they made the playoffs (losing in the first round). Games are played at some credit union stadium and for a facility that is so young, the design really disappoints.
Prestige Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
Location
When driving by on I-95, most people think of Fredericksburg as the congested home of shopping malls, strip malls and practically every chain restaurant / big box store you could think of. It’s a bit overwhelming if you ever get off at Exit 130. The ballpark is at the very north end of all this hullabaloo as the sight of a Wegmans (always a source of joy for me as a Rochesterian) means you are getting close. Past the Fredericksburg Convention Center is this stadium on the edge of a heavily wooded area. Nearby recent infringements have been housing blocks and business parks. This area may represent the most visible part of Fredericksburg, but I urge you to head 10-15 minutes to the east to check out downtown. Here, you’ll find “Old Town”, which has a plethora of historic sites and great restaurants. There is a trolley tour for those interesting in seeing all of these historical buildings and places in a narrated and efficient matter. I really enjoyed the downtown area, in fact, moreso than Charlottesville seen earlier on this day. The Historical Museum is a great starting point and also nearby is the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, including the historic battlefield. It’s too bad the ballpark couldn’t be built closer to downtown as maybe that would’ve inspired developers to create a better facility.
Location Ranking: 6.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
The area has some horrendous traffic and it seems no matter the time of day, nearby I-95 is stop and go between DC and Fredericksburg. The random and frustrating nature of the frequent congestion along 95 unfortunately makes it a pain to visit Fredericksburg. Be sure to give yourself extra time if going right to a ballgame. To get there, use Exit 130B and it’ll take you on a couple roads with several lanes that traverse through the plethora of shopping centers. The end of the Carl Silver Parkway is the stadium and parking for it. The frequent stoplights make it a 10-minute journey for the 2.5 miles from I-95. Parking lots in front of the stadium are small and there is a good chance you will be directed to the overflow lot at the nearby Convention Center (as I did when arriving 45 minutes before first pitch on a Saturday Night). That should, emphasize should, be enough if the game is a sellout. Getting out after the game is not bad, except for the scores of people that walk on or near the middle access road.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Exterior
The stadium features just a long low wall for the entrance as fans coming in from the parking lots have a visual of the first base side. It looks really blah. I like the use of stone in most situations, but here it just doesn’t make sense given the setting. In addition, the only stone work is near the main entrance, everything beyond that is gray cinder-block which really leads to a drab appearance. The stadium name is on it’s own at the top. The main entrance is in the right field corner between two buildings and it at least does have a classy appearance with logos and baseball bats.
Exterior Ranking: 3.5 out of 10
Concourse
The right corner entrance is spacious enough as this open-air section then leads to a covered concourse to the left (infield). Helping with the space in this area are recessed concession stands, meaning that people in line aren’t much disruption to the flow. The appearance is somewhat drab like the outside because of a lot of gray, but they do have full size team images and mascots on the bathroom doors. The most egregious part of the concourse is the prime area behind home plate. Because they decided to stick a club level here, the concourse has to go around it, meaning that you no longer have a view of the field and you get kicked back outside into a rather desolate walkway. Yes, you can cut across a walkway in the seating bowl, but it is such a poor design at the most important section of the park. At least the wide path to the outfield is better and the outfield concourse itself is pretty good thanks to open kids play areas, varied seating and bars.
Concourse Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Food
For the good stuff, head to the left-field corner as Smokie’s Sausage Shack and Billiken’s Smokehouse bring the quality. The BBQ in particular from Billiken’s had a great smell and look, but I was stuffed from my visit to Allman’s earlier in the day. There’s also Chick-Fil-A and a stand for cheesesteaks in the vicinity. Around the infield, the usual stadium offerings can be found. For alcohol, there’s lots to choose from and local brewer 6 Bears & A Goat is prominently featured. Their IPA “Squeeze Play” is a good choice during the game.
Food Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Interior
I don’t care if your ballpark has 18 million social spaces and specialty seating areas, it still has to do the basic things well. This one does not. The first thing that struck me was how much foul territory there is. That leads to a seating bowl starting further away from the action and it was really noticeable here. Secondly, another deterrent to sightlines is a shallow incline to the bowl and in FXBG, the stairs and rows are far apart. Not to the extent that heads get in the way, but moreso in that you are further from the field with not as great of an overhead angle. At least the blue chairs are wide and have cupholders. As for the set-up, 14-18 rows of seats are in sections that go a little beyond the infield. Behind home plate is the aforementioned club area, split into two-level seating that merges club restaurant, seating and separate suites. The rest of the upper overhang has the classic inclusion of press box and sky porch to go along with the suites. Another deterrent: There’s no shade with no roof or notable overhang from this club level. Tables and High-Top tiered seating bookend the seating bowl. The outfield I liked as the various porch, picnic and bar seating was set-up nicely and had a good look. Beyond the park is a canopy of trees that partially have the luster taken away because of 30-foot high billboards.
Interior Ranking: 6 out of 14
Scoreboard
Amongst the billboards is the scoreboard in right field, which has a standalone video screen and the name of the stadium at the top and a great picture below. The in-game layout was hard to follow on “Star Wars Night”, but at least all of the needed information was there. They also had multiple displays around the park for pitch count, clock, etc. Game replays were missing. The FredNats also have a manual operated board, always a nice touch and this is the place to see the line score.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
“History of Baseball in Fredericksburg” is a wonderfully presented timeline on the backwall in centerfield. While the team doesn’t have much history here (yet), the sport does and it is one of the better presentations I’ve seen for it. As the FredNats age, hopefully player and team accomplishments get added in other spots of the ballpark as well.
Displays Ranking: 3 out of 6
Cost
Parking is $6 and for tickets, the majority of the seats are $18 – $22 (without the local tax). That is fairly high for this level of baseball, however there are a few sections for $15. Standing room is $10 (a good choice if going solo). Concessions are expensive as well with a Cheeseburger costing $10, a Hot Dog $6 and $10 for a local beer.
Cost Ranking: 6 out of 8
Fan Support
The weather was perfect and being a Saturday Night, this should’ve been a good draw and it generally was given that the month was April. There were roughly 2,500 on hand for the game I attended and they were attentive fans. Not too many with FredNats gear, but it’s also hard to distinguish if they were wearing Washington stuff. The team was 4th in attendance last year and for their lone playoff game in 2022, they drew a legit 3,803 to the stadium with impressive visuals not usually seen at this level in terms of postseason butts in seats. This honeymoon phase typically doesn’t last and a comparison years from now will be important to see if it is true Fan Support or if it was just the latest new fad. Early reports trend towards the latter as when the FredNats were in the championship game later this season (’24), it only looked like 1,000 people were there.
Fan Support Ranking: 5 out of 8
Atmosphere
The decent-sized crowd also provided a good atmosphere as they weren’t just haphazardly following along. Each play was met with applause and sporadic cowbells provided an old-school vibe at times. Several got on their feet for a FredNats home run, though many also popped at routine fly outs. Fans here like to mimic Ric Flair’s “Wooooo” after a thrown strike as they knew what to do before that sound came over the speakers.
Atmosphere Ranking: 9 out of 14
Other Stuff
The team said they were going to do a “Name-The-Team” contest, but instead opted with the generic following of their parent squad by going with the “Fredericksburg Nationals”. While disappointing, at least FredNats isn’t a bad alternative…..The cost of the ballpark and surroundings is hard complex, but you could loosely say that it was privately funded by longtime owner Art Silber……If you see the moniker “FXBG”, that is a widely used abbreviation for Fredericksburg……The video monitors in the concourse are a nice touch, but the feed is 3 seconds behind the action on the field. Kind of defeats the purpose when you hear the crowd before seeing the play if heading to the bathroom…..Nice job to whoever ran the production as they were a big Weird Al fan, giving us some great Star Wars parody songs on the night they honored the movie. The guy behind the microphone however…needs to take a chill pill…..Putting the menu at the start of the line before a concession stand is something that should be done more often.
Game
This one was decided in the 1st inning as the FredNats got a Brandon Pimentel grand slam before even registering an out. Fayetteville never really threatened as they had only four hits the entire game and Fredericksburg was in control throughout. They used four pitchers to shut down the Peckers and the 5-2 win came at a crisp 2 hours and 21 minutes.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
