2023 – The Ballpark Year in Pictures

While there were no new Major League parks that opened — or were even under construction — in 2023, two clubs made major news regarding new parks in the future. And the two desperately need a different place to call home. For the Tampa Bay Rays, who since their inception in 1998 have played in Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, it appears their move won’t be very far. On September 19, 2023, plans for a brand-new stadium to be built in current parking lots for the Trop were announced. The old stadium would be demolished after a fixed-roof ballpark costing at least $1.3 billion would be constructed. The city of St. Pete and Pinellas County would contribute $600 million and provide the land, and the team would pay the rest. The park would anchor a new $6.5 billion development over 86 acres with apartments, a hotel, shopping, restaurants, a theater, conference space, and offices. In other words, a true “mixed-use” development. One snag that occurred subsequent to this announcement was a proposal within the St. Pete City Council that in order to get the city to help pay for the stadium, the team would have to agree to change its name to the St. Pete Rays. After all, the city of Tampa wouldn’t be paying for any of construction. The team flatly refused, saying if the deal is contingent on a name change, then the new park won’t be built. Most believe the city will back off on the requirement.

The only true first-year ballpark in pro baseball (and that comes with somewhat of an asterisk) in 2023 is Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey. It is the home of the New Jersey Jackals of the indy Frontier League. Read my ballpark review of Hinchliffe to learn its fascinating history, from a Negro League park in the 1930s to its being condemned … and then rebuilt to its former glory. It is a special place.

Wisconsin Brewing Company Park officially debuted in 2022 — although by no means was it complete. The Lake Country Dock Hounds of the indy American Association call this Oconomowoc, Wisconsin facility home. We waited until the ballpark was finished in 2023 to visit and write our review — and we found it has a lot going for it, including the spectacular upper-level Baird Wealth Management Club. It’s a mystery who served as the official architect on the park because, we were told, he doesn’t want it divulged.

Following the state of Nevada’s passage of a bill to provide $380 million for construction, Major League Baseball owners voted unanimously on November 16, 2023 to permit the Oakland A’s to move to Las Vegas. The new stadium, to be built just off of The Strip on the site of the current Tropicana Hotel complex, is expected to be done by 2028. In the meantime, where the A’s will play after 2024 remains undecided, meaning the team’s last season at the Coliseum (seen here) could be ’24 or not until ’27.

Although it had never happened before, our 2023 Ballpark of the Year didn’t actually open in 2023. That’s because there was no award in 2022 due to the lack of new parks. So the finalists were Wisconsin Brewing Company Park, Hinchliffe Stadium and (the winner) Glacier Bank Park, just north of Kalispell, Montana. This absolutely gorgeous park has an even more gorgeous view of mountains in all directions. It is a sight to behold. The park is home to the Glacier Range Riders of the Pioneer League — yep, yet another independent circuit.

The funny thing about the Texas Rangers’ winning the World Series in 2023 — the first in the franchise’s 63-year history — is that it wasn’t the first time Globe Life Field was home to a Fall Classic winner. In the COVID year of 2020, MLB decided to make Arlington, Texas the home of a “bubble” for post-season play. The LA Dodgers were the lucky benefactors in this, as they got to play *all* of their postseason here — including the World Series, when they vanquished the Tampa Bay Rays. The star for the Dodgers during that playoff run was Corey Seager. When he became a free agent a year later, I’d like to think the comfort he felt playing at Globe Life Field in 2020 made it way easier to say YES when the Rangers came calling. Less than two years later, his tenure with the Rangers reached a crescendo in the moment shown in this photo (taken from my seat for World Series Game 1). Here he is rounding second after smashing a game-tying blast in the bottom of the 9th. The Rangers never looked back in knocking off the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 Fall Classic.