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The “positively alien” Janet Marie Smith

Janet Marie Smith has no equal when it comes to ballpark planning. From the creation of Camden Yards in Baltimore to the brand-new Center Field Plaza at Dodger Stadium and Polar Park in Worcester, when her fingerprints are on a project, it turns out beautifully well.

In the photo with her is WooSox team president Charles Steinberg.

Check out our essay on her career, and get her perspective as well as thoughts about her from Dodgers President Stan Kasten and Larry Lucchino, former president of the Orioles, Padres and Red Sox.  Lucchino, who has hired and re-hired Smith four times, is the one who called her “positively alien.” Read our article to find out why.

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After 86 years without affiliated ball, Worcester is back with a smile

The last time Worcester, Mass. had affiliated Minor League baseball was in 1934. No doubt, its proximity to Boston — and the Red Sox’ territorial rights — kept prospective teams away. Now, though, the Red Sox are following the lead of teams like the Astros, Twins, Rangers and Yankees in pulling their Double-A or Triple-A affiliates closer to the big-league club.

The Worcester Red Sox — or WooSox for short — are playing in brand-new Polar Park. It took a lot of money to build, but was it money well spent? Check out our in-depth look at the park to learn about its site, its design and its features. And there are 37 photos you won’t see anywhere else!

And did you know the circular, yellow smiley face that you see everywhere was created by a Worcester resident? It’s incorporated in many cute ways at this park. Just one of the many things you’ll learn in our review!

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They know how to have a blast in Kannapolis

It was a ballpark that was all dressed up but with nowhere to go in 2020. Atrium Health Ballpark, the beautiful new *downtown* home of the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, was completed by April 2020 … but then you know what happened to the entire season last year.

The park is now open and fans in North Carolina are loving it. There’s a lot I love about the place, too — the food, the atmosphere, the design and especially the organ music!

So check out the brand-new in-depth review of Atrium Health Ballpark. Then post a comment at the bottom of the second page and let us know what you think of our review, and what you think about the ballpark!

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Gastonia shows how to break the code for an affordable stadium

Gastonia, North Carolina is the home of CaroMont Health Park, the just-opened ballpark for the Honey Hunters of the Atlantic League (which is now an MLB “partner league”). In an era where 5,000-seat ballparks cost $40 million, $50 million or more, this one was built for a grand total of $28.8 million. Designed by Pendulum, it’s a beauty.

Check out our thoughts on this flexible gem of a facility!

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It’s stately with lots of room to grow

Riverfront Stadium is open for business.

Yes, that name has been used before for a baseball facility. The Big Red Machine of the 1970s played in the cookie-cutter stadium with that name on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati. Now that name is attached to a ballpark on the banks of the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita.

It’s just a placeholder name really. As soon as a corporate-sponsorship deal is finalized, it will have a new name.

We really sliced and diced this new ballpark — how it came to be designed and built in a mad rush, what its strengths are (the upper level is spectacular), what it lacks (in a word — intimacy), in what ways it’s sort of standard fare. We look at it all.

So check out our look at the park that was built for a Triple-A team, but after MLB’s got done moving the chess pieces around, now has a Double-A tenant. It’s worth your time reading our in-depth look at Riverfront Stadium. Well, the one that still exists, not the one that was imploded in 2002.

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Rocket City’s Toyota Field has lifted off

One of the many new ballparks that was supposed to open in 2020 — but didn’t due to the pandemic — was Toyota Field. Well, it’s open now, and it is a beauty.

The Rocket City Trash Pandas feel quite at home in this park that has just enough quirks to make the whole experience interesting.

Our in-depth review explains how the team came to move from South Alabama to North Alabama, where the new park was built (and why) and what it’s like to attend a game there. Along the way, we’ll show you 30 photos you won’t see anywhere else.

So what are you waiting for? Check out our review of brand-new Toyota Field!

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