On Saturday we drove to Bradenton to attend a Spring Training game at McKechnie Field, spring home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Today we drove to Port Charlotte to see the Tampa Rays at Charlotte Park. It was, for me, an interesting juxtaposition of the two spring training baseball parks.
Both have recently been upgraded and spiffed up - new restrooms, new concession stands, new hardscapes, etc. Both have built a boardwalk around the outfield, with bar seating, bars and other concessions, and lots of room for standing, sitting and milling around. It is now possible to walk all the way around both fields. Casual outfield seating is now extremely popular! More comfortable reserved seating has been installed in both parks.
But the nod clearly goes to the Pirates' charming McKechnie. The ushers are great, the crowd interesting, nice people, and the change they were able to achieve with the new boardwalk and all the other amenities including some beautiful landscaping is remarkable. It's in a city neighborhood of modest homes and parking is tight. It is one of the oldest spring training parks.
The Rays newer park is located out of the densely populated areas, and their huge lots were very dusty. Annoying to find one's car covered with dust when the game is over. Acoustics on the public address system were not good either - harsh, loud, raspy. They needed to spend a little bit more money there.
I will be extremely interested to see what the Twins will do when they renovate Hammond Stadium next year. It already is very nice, but they want to make the fan experience better. Hope they look at McKechnie!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
