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!
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.
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!
We’ve been asked over and over: When is the new Baseball Travel Map going to be ready?
The wait is over. It’s here!
With all of the changes in the Minor Leagues this year, never has a new version of this indispensable tool been more needed.
Your webmaster provided the cover photo of Hodgetown in Amarillo and helped edit all of the changes, and the brilliant folks at Hedberg Maps did the rest.
On one side, it’s a map of the U.S and southern Canada, showing where all the teams are located. On the other side, it lists all of the contact and ballpark info for the teams, as well as 72 baseball museums and attractions! And everything is updated for 2021!
It’s laminated, foldable and full of the info you need to plan your baseball roadtrips. Just $9.95 plus shipping.
Now that fans are permitted to attend home Rangers games again, it’s time to provide our in-depth review of Globe Life Field.
You’ll read how it came to be, what’s around it, its architecture (HKS did an exceptional job) and what the experience of attending a game is like. Check it out, then let us know what you think of the review and the ballpark in the comments section.
On April 18, 1946, Jackie Robinson played his first game in “white” baseball. Branch Rickey’s plan was for Robinson to play a year in the Minors, then make his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, thereby breaking the color barrier.
The Dodgers’ top farm team was the Montreal Royals, so that’s where Rickey assigned Robinson out of spring training in 1946. Opening Day found Montreal at Jersey City, and Jackie was in the starting lineup.
This winter, I spent a lot of time putting together an article about the events of this game and their aftermath. I think you’ll find it to be a compelling story, especially on its 75th anniversary. I’m grateful to the Dodgers for agreeing to post it on their Dodger Insider blog site. They’re also including it in the print magazine they publish.
Please take a few minutes and read the story of A Handshake For The Century.