Pacific Coast League Photos

The International League has been delighting fans east of the Mississippi
with high-quality baseball since — can you believe it? — 1884!  Here are photos of the IL’s ballparks, in order from my favorite to my least favorite.

Going into the 2009 season, the bottom two parks on my list were Cooper Stadium in Columbus and The Diamond in Richmond. Thankfully, those two are gone from the IL, and their replacements fare much better in the rankings — with Gwinnett County coming in ninth and Columbus’ Huntington Park coming quite close to knocking off top-dog Louisville Slugger Field.

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A statue of Pee Wee Reese, a native a Louisville and an
unforgettable member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, greets fans at the main entrance
to Louisville Slugger Field.  Just through those doors is one of the most
interesting entryways in all of baseball, as the architects left a large
building — years ago it was a train shed — largely intact.  You pass
through this area, with a gift shop and room for receptions and two restaurants,
before reaching the concourse of the stadium.

You’re also in for a treat on the inside, too. 
Depending on where you are sitting, you can look out and see the Ohio River and
the bridges that run between Kentucky and Indiana, or you can see the skyline
(and the setting sun behind it) of Louisville.  And as
is becoming more common in newer parks, there is an "open concourse" so
you can see the action on the field while walking to and from the concession
stand . . . and the concourse runs "360 degrees," meaning you can take
a scenic stroll all the way around the stadium — and you should, too!

This beautiful home of the Louisville River Bats, my #1 park in the International League, opened in
2000. It had the highest per-game attendance in the IL in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and did a wonderful job of hosting the 2008 Triple-A All Star Game. In fact, the photo on the right-hand side above was taken at that game.

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I feel that Huntington Park is the most exciting Minor League park to open in years — and it comes very close to supplanting mighty Louisville Slugger Field at the top of this ranking. Located in the fascinating and vibrant Arena District in downtown Columbus, this gorgeous ballpark is incredibly better than Cooper Stadium, the Clippers’ old park. In fact, Cooper was next to last in the 16-team league in 2008. Now Columbus is next to the top.

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Victory Field in Indianapolis is also a beauty. There’s an attractive exterior — that many people never see because they enter the park from the gates in the outfield — and an even more attractive view of city’s skyline, which includes the state capitol beyond left field.

This beauty opened in 1996. In a city with Major League basketball and football, the Minor League baseball park is anything but "bush league!"

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Coca-Cola Park
might not have quite as nice location as the #5 park in Toledo, but its design and amenities are simply fantastic. The Lehigh Valley’s new showplace has a beautiful exterior and an unusual entry plaza, plus its food selection is very good and its game-day experience is wonderful. There is a category in which this park unquestionably leads the IL: the number of puns. Without a doubt, you’ll lose count of all of the plays on words you’ll find there that relate to the team’s nickname, the IronPigs. See our in-depth review of the park for a partial list of all of the puns!

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The Toledo Mudhens are among the most famous of all Minor League franchises. For decades, they played at a refurbished race track out in the suburbs of Toledo. That all changed in 2002 when they moved into Fifth Third Field in downtown Toledo. At last, the team had a ballpark that befits their heritage.

The new park brought newfound attention, such as the 2006 Triple-A All Star Game and a spot in Minor League News’ Top Ten Ballparks list.

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Here’s another ballpark that checks all the right boxes — an overhang, a view of the
city’s skyline, a beautiful entryway behind home plate, picnic areas, etc.  It is
Frontier Field, the home of the IL’s Rochester Red Wings, and it is #6 in our ranking of the IL’s parks.

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McCoy Stadium, Pawtucket

In my book, a roof/overhang over the seats of a ballpark is a
real plus — the bigger the better!  The Pawtucket Red Sox’ home, McCoy
Stadium, has a roof that covers almost all of the rows in the main seating bowl,
making for a very pretty park.  Of course, the downside to such a big roof
is that it has to be supported by poles that obstruct the view for a number of
fans.

McCoy first opened in 1946, but it was extensively renovated
(winning architectural awards along the way) before the ’99 season. One of the most charming elements of this park — which, thankfully, was maintained in the renovation — is the way the dugouts are positioned under the front of the stands. This requires children wanting autographs to dangle their scorecards and balls on a cord in front of the players in the dugout. The scene is adorable, as it looks like the kids are "fishing" for autographs.

In
this photo, the stands are absolutely crammed for fireworks night, the night
before the Fourth of July, 2001.

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Like Toledo, Durham features a storied Minor League franchise. The Durham Bulls were made famous by Kevin Costner’s portrayal of Crash Davis in Bull Durham, one of the best baseball movies ever. Durham Athletic Park, which was the real team’s real park when the film was made, gave way to shiny, new Durham Bulls Athletic Park in 1998. The well-known wooden bull, first erected in the old park for the movie (then retained after the film crew and actors went home), has a home in the new stadium along the concourse behind first base.

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The Atlanta Braves’ top Minor League affiliate left an obsolete park in Richmond for a sprakling, state-of-the-art stadium in Atlanta’s suburbs. Gwinnett Stadium (what it was called when it opened) may turn out to be a little more desirable place when all of the commercial development around it comes to fruition, but it’s still a functional place with great food and super fans. I’m not crazy about the arrangement of the space beyond the outfield walls, but elsewhere in the park, the architectural design is a winner.

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This is Harbor Park in Norfolk, home of the International League
Tides. Back in the ’90s, Baseball America named it America’s #1 Minor League
park.  Its proximity to water — it’s a blast watching the huge vessels
chug by — and the beautiful architecture are reasons
why.  In this game in ’96, the scoreboard shows that future Major
Leaguer Andruw Jones (and his .368 average) is batting for the Richmond
Braves. 

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Our #11 park in the International League was truly a trend-setter. When Coca-Cola Field opened in 1988 (under a different name), it ushered in a series of huge, modern, comfortable Triple-A stadiums. And the fans of Buffalo responded unbelievably, pushing attendance levels to the unheard-of heights of a million per year.

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The third of the three International League parks in New York State is Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse. It was formerly known as P&C Stadium. A lot of energy and landscaping went into the exterior of this ballpark, and inside you’ll find a nice open concourse and, unusual in this day and age, artificial turf.

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When this park was called Lackawanna County Stadium, it was a great match for the team (the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons) because both names were mouthfuls. However, a corporate sponsorship deal was arranged with PNC Bank, and for the 2007 season, the stadium became PNC Field (and the team’s nickname now has one word instead of two: Yankees). This had been the home of the Phillies’ top Minor League team since it opened. However, that changed because of the arrival of Allentown in the International League in 2008, because the Phillies had long indicated that a team in the Lehigh Valley would be their top affiliate when it began playing there. Wasting no time, the Scranton franchise made a pre-emptive move, and signed on with the Yankees starting with the 2007 season.

This park was pretty much state-of-the-art when it opened in 1989, with a three-level, concrete-and-steel construction and a modern, if somewhat sterile, design — but over the years, its newness wore off. However, when the Yankees brought their affiliation to town in 2007, some changes were made. First, the Astroturf was replaced with natural grass. Second, the uppermost rows in the upper deck were ripped out and covered with banners, and the seats themselves were transplanted to the ends of the lower level to replace bench seating. These changes made the park more aesthetically pleasing, but it did nothing to improve the very poor playing field. Poor drainage there, in fact, caused some games to be moved to Allentown during the 2009 season.

Plans currently call for the stadium to be almost entirely rebuilt during 2012, meaning the team will have to play elsewhere for one season. The new facility should be a showplace, though.

The food here, by the way, is wonderful, especially the Pennsylvania delicacies on the ground level: pierogis, funnel cakes and potato pancakes. Yum!

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It’s easy to cast stones at the home of the Charlotte Knights. First and foremost, it’s not in Charlotte … in fact, it’s not even in North Carolina! It’s across the state line, in Fort Mill, SC. Second, it has a hopelessly unfinished look, due to the fact that it was built to accommodate a quick expansion if a Major League team could be lured to the area. Third, it looks like it hasn’t received a single improvement or renovation since it opened in 1990. No, this market deserves a modern, attractive ballpark in Charlotte. I hope it happens soon, because Knights Stadium is the worst facility in the League.