Finding baseball’s best new stadium
Dunkin Donuts Park in Hartford is a contender for top new ballpark of the year.
Each year, BaseballParks.com, an affiliate of USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties, selects the best new baseball stadium.
Let’s take a look at the four parks in the running for the 18th annual Ballpark of the Year award.
’STROS AND NATS
Dating to the St. Louis Browns in 1928, Palm Beach County, Fla., has been a popular spot for spring training.
The Philadelphia/Kansas City Athletics, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, Montreal Expos, Florida/ Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals have trained there, with the latter two sharing a facility in Jupiter since 2003.
This spring, the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals took up residence in the county, moving into a new $148 million com- plex called The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
Both teams proceeded to storm out of the gates of the regular season, building sizable leads in their divisions.
“We want to take credit for that,” chuckles Brady Ballard, the complex’s general manager. “We heard nothing but rave reviews from the players regarding the facility, equipment and playing conditions here. We think we created a winning mind-set right from the start.”
Fans also enjoyed the complex’s enhanced access to players around the practice fields. Features within the main ballpark include a spacious berm beyond the outfield, ample shade in the seating bowl and the Budweiser Sand Bar offering 32 beer taps.
GOAT PEN
The Hartford Yard Goats of the Eastern League endured a trying season in 2016. The Class AA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies didn’t play a single game in Hartford last season because their new downtown stadium wasn’t finished. A series of delays and the eventual dismissal of the park’s construction firm doomed the team to a full season of games on the road.
This year, the team is playing its home games at the completed Dunkin’ Donuts Park, and the players and fans are loving it.
“Now with the park open, we’ve had so many ‘wow’ moments this year that we’re forgetting about the past,” general manager Tim Restall says.
The ballpark features an intimate design with double-deck seating in right field, an aspect rarely seen in minor league parks. The kids’ play area in center field even has a “pen” with a live goat on weekends.
Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ is positioned near the left-field foul pole, so its aromas waft through the stands.
“We spent a lot of time talking about what we could do with the design to evoke the kinds of memories and smells we remember fondly when going to a ballpark with our father or grandfather,” says Jonathan Cole, lead architect of the park.
VERY GOOD FRIDAY
The calendar indicated that April 14, 2017, was Good Friday. For the Atlanta Braves, it was the very best of Fridays.
That evening, four years of planning and commitments of more than $1 billion came to fruition as the Braves beat the San Diego Padres 5-2 in the opening game at SunTrust Park.
Since then, the Braves have averaged 31,861 fans per home game, pushing them from 22nd in attendance in 2016 to 12th so far this season.
“The opening of SunTrust Park is a significant, defining moment in our franchise,” Derek Schiller, the team’s president for business, tells USA TODAY Sports.
Designing and opening a new ballpark wasn’t the only priority for the team.
“We like to say that we’ve redefined the whole sports-entertainment model,” Schiller says.
By acting as the master developer for a community of restaurants, bars, shops, offices and residences adjacent to the park, the team engages its fans before and after games.
The development is called The Battery Atlanta, and its resulting revenue stream for the Braves “will help us ensure we can field the most competitive team possible for years to come,” he says.
The results on the field this season have also exceeded expectations. Picked by many to finish last in the National League East, the team has spent much of the season in second place, albeit with a sub-.500 record.
Schiller attributes this to renewed excitement by the fans and the players’ enjoyment of new training and clubhouse facilities.