Back to normal, but not a lot of news
Text and photos by Joe Mock, BaseballParks.com
All rights reserved
Following two wild and crazy baseball seasons in 2020 and 2021, we reached a year of relative calm in the ballpark world in 2022.
But with that calm came, well, not a lot of news about new or changing baseball stadiums. In 2021, we witnessed nine new parks, and we wrote about all of them. In 2022, there wasn’t a single new ballpark in the Majors, spring training or the affiliated Minors. The only brand-new stadiums were in the independent leagues — one in the American Association and an incredibly impressive new one in the Pioneer League.
Two Major League parks celebrated milestone birthdays, and I wrote nice remembrance articles for them in USA TODAY publications, but there just weren’t a lot of other ground-shaking ballpark stories in 2022. That’s not stopping us from providing our annual Ballpark Year in Pictures essay, so let’s dive in!
At 30 years old, you would imagine that a ballpark would start to show its age and flaws. Not so at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. While its actual birthday was April 6, the Orioles celebrated the 30th anniversary in August with special promotions and giveaways (photo above). I provided an extended version of my article for USA TODAY — complete with remembrances from the people who designed it and ushered it in — here on BaseballParks.com, so check it out. |
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Many people forget that the third oldest of MLB’s 30 ballparks is venerable Dodger Stadium. Opening in 1962, the ballpark in Chavez Ravine near downtown LA celebrated its 60th birthday on April 10, 2022. I wrote about the planning and construction of the park for USA TODAY Sports Weekly (see it here), and was blessed to interview Peter O’Malley, former Dodger President and son of Walter O’Malley, shown here on the left with then-National League President Warren Giles on the day of the groundbreaking ceremony for the stadium. Photo courtesy of WALTEROMALLEY.com |
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After COVID forced the Toronto Blue Jays to play home games in three different parks during the 2021 season, things settled down in 2022. By playing all home contests in Rogers Centre, the team made the post season for only the second time in six seasons. In July, the team announced that major changes will be made to the stadium “to make it more like a ballpark,” according to team president Mark Shapiro. Over $300 million will be spent over two offseasons to change the outfield, modify seat angles, add restaurants and lounges, and convert the top seating deck to rooftop terraces. |
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After a triumphant debut in 2021 (following a year delay due to COVID), there was still a ton of buzz surrounding Year Two of the Field of Dreams Game in Dyersville, Iowa (see my article here). To me, the most special aspect of the 2022 event was that a Minor League game took place in the pop-up park two evenings before the MLB contest. The Quad Cities River Bandits (playing as the Davenport Blue Sox) topped the Cedar Rapids Kernels (playing as the Cedar Rapids Bunnies) 7-2. |
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This year, there were to be three new ballparks in pro baseball, all in the independent minors. Two of them actually opened, while the construction of one (home of the Northern Colorado Owlz) was never complete enough to permit games to be the played there. While the Lake Country Dockhounds of the American Association did play games in mostly finished Wisconsin Brewing Company Park in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, the most impressive entry in the pro ranks was Flathead Field (above) on the outskirts of Kalispell, Montana. Here the Glacier Range Riders of the Pioneer League delighted fans (and this ballpark reviewer) with incredible views and a first-class stadium. You owe it to yourself to read our in-depth review of Flathead Field. |
Visit our Ballpark Year In Review page here.
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Great article