2019 – The Ballpark Year in Pictures

The front office of the Las Vegas 51s of the Pacific Coast League had tried every way possible to replace aging Cashman Field (easily the worst ballpark in AAA baseball) with a new facility. A plan finally fell into place that allowed the franchise to move to the western edge of town in an area called Summerlin. The Howard Hughes Corporation, which had acquired the franchise in 2013, paid to build the new ballpark. Not only are the surroundings a huge upgrade from Cashman’s neighborhood, the facility itself is arguably the best in AAA. And just in time for their move-in, the team changed its nickname to the Las Vegas Aviators, a nod to Howard Hughes. Read our in-depth review of Las Vegas Ballpark and see why it was named our 2019 Ballpark of the Year.

Perhaps the most bizarre element of the 2019 World Series is that the home ballpark hosted ZERO winning games. That’s right, the visitor won all seven games in this year’s Fall Classic. Not only had this never happened in baseball, it was a first in the history of major league sports!  So while it’s great that Washington, DC got to celebrate its first World Series title in 95 years, lovely Nationals Park didn’t get to host a winning game during the series. So much for home-field advantage!

The Atlanta Braves were excited to get a new spring training complex in North Port, Florida, not far from the Gulf Coast. However, the excitement had to be put on hold until March 24, when the team played its one and only exhibition game at CoolToday Park. The rest of spring training was conducted at Disney World. The reason? The Braves were concerned that a bad storm or construction delays might push back the completion of the complex, so they played it safe with just a single exhibition there. They’ll be in North Port for the entirety of spring training in 2020, though!

Another brand-new park is Segra Stadium in Fayetteville, NC. Affiliated Minor League baseball had been absent from Fayetteville since 2001, when their South Atlantic League team moved to Lakewood, New Jersey. Well, the Minors are back in a big way, as the Fayetteville Woodpeckers of the Carolina League have made their nest in this beautiful and intimate ballpark. We were there for Opening Day, and you can see the pictures and read our thoughts here.

Just like Segra Stadium, Hodgetown in Amarillo, Texas was designed by the top dog of sports architectures, Populous. They created a superior ballpark for locals in the Texas Panhandle, one that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing, with art-deco touches on the exterior and a huge entry rotunda behind home plate. The cleverly named Amarillo Sod Poodles of the Texas League now call this place home. We were there for its chilly first game. Read our in-depth review here.

One of the new ballparks opening in 2020 is in the Huntsville suburb of Madison. That franchise has been the Southern League’s Mobile BayBears since 1997. This is a case of a market that deserves pro ball, but whose ballpark did not. Mobile’s Hank Aaron Stadium (see photo) had deteriorated noticeably over the years, so it was no big surprise that this is the franchise that is moving to Madison. They will be called the Rocket City Trash Pandas.

New Orleans is another city that deserves pro baseball, but its ballpark has fallen so badly out of style that they are losing their team. In recent years, the franchise has been called the New Orleans Baby Cakes and their park The Shrine on Airline (referring to Airline Drive, which runs adjacent to the park). The 10,000-seat ballpark was a showplace when it opened in 1997, but the lack of upgrades contributed to the market’s loss of the team to Wichita.

As we come to the close of 2019, we don’t know *where* the Florida Fire Dogs of the Florida State League will be playing in 2020. What we do know is that it’s not here. This is Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, the team’s home only since 2017. But earlier this year, the County bought out the remainder of the team’s lease, and told them to hit the road. You see, the County wants to use the facility for soccer. If not in 2020, someday this franchise will end up at CoolToday Park, since the Braves’ are the parent of the Fire Frogs.

There were unusual moves regarding the land where two MLB teams play. The city of Anaheim sold Anaheim Stadium (see picture) and the surrounding land to the owner of the Angels. The thinking is that they will renovate or rebuild the ballpark and develop some of the land. Up in Oakland, Alameda County sold the A’s its 50% share of the sports complex where the team plays — although the City of Oakland still retains ownership of the other 50%. The team wants to develop the site, even though it still desires to build a new stadium at the Port of Oakland.

It was a grand and glorious day in Arlington, Texas on September 29.  The Rangers said goodbye to the team’s home since 1994 (click here to see our pictorial essay on the day’s events). In recent years, the park has been called Globe Life Park. The park is still beautiful, but it lacked a creature comfort highly desired by Rangers fans: a break from the heat. A block away is the team’s future home, which will be called Globe Life Field. Fans can’t wait, because it has a retractable roof — and when that roof is closed: AIR CONDITIONING! For our inside look at the construction site, click here.