Buffalo Bisons in the running for USA Today crown
By Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell
This past week the national newspaper USA Today released a list of their selections of the 20 best minor league stadiums in the country, asking readers to participate in online voting to determine the absolute best of the best. And lo and behold – Buffalo’s Sahlen Field, home of the AAA Buffalo Bisons, made the cut, and our downtown baseball home is in the running to be declared absolute champion!
There are now 120 minor league baseball teams at the AAA, AA and A levels serving their Major League Baseball masters and providing the real time game in support for prospects who aspire to become major league players.
Gone are the days when youngsters getting their first baseball contracts started their careers with teams playing in dusty, street corner baseball pitches, offering little more than metal risers for fans, a comfort station with washrooms and perhaps a concession stand, and locker rooms that were sometimes housed in high school gymnasiums nearby. Former professional baseball franchises once dotted the New York landscape, from Batavia to Geneva to Elmira to Oneonta to Wappingers Falls. No more.
Today’s template for any city that wants to house a minor league team means a stadium with state of the art player clubhouses, training facilities, batting cages, weight rooms, playing surfaces and field lighting that adhere to set standards. Minor league baseball has also become big business… club seating, in stadium dining, state of the art scoreboards and electronics, party decks, picnic areas. All fan amenities to enhance the game day experience. No wonder that there has been a construction boom across the swath of long time baseball towns, as cities raced to compete with peer communities and retain their franchises.
While Buffalo’s Sahlen Field, nee’ Pilot Field, is a vastly different place than the stadium which opened its doors in 1988, the bones of classic, retro ballpark 90s architecture remains intact. The Bisons have removed and replaced seating, added party decks, improved point of sale locations, and a few years back installed a state of the art HD video board which is one of the largest and most elaborate in all the minor leagues.
Even more importantly, the parent Toronto Blue Jays gifted their AAA team, and this city, an entire makeover of the service level. All this happened in 2020 and 2021 when the Blue Jays relocated to Buffalo during the Covid international border lockdown. Not only did they provide us Major League memories which will last a lifetime, but they left behind an entire structure of major league player facilities, all done at that team’s expense, which makes Sahlen Field one of the finest venues for prospect athlete amenities anywhere is the minor leagues.
But how about for the fans?
USA Today assembled a panel of experts, starting with their social media manager Catherine Smith, and assisted by three other individuals who have a keen awareness of the premier stadiums across the swath of Minor League Baseball. Now it’s time for fans and USA Today readers to have their say, and participate in online voting to name the top minor league ballpark destination in North America.
Not surprisingly, 11 of the 20 entrants are at the AAA level, where the stadiums are that much grander and present more of a “feel” of a traditional major league stadium. The newest ballpark on the list is Worcester’s Polar Park, home of the Worcester Red Sox. But also add to the list of nominees some really special and shiny new stadiums in Charlotte, Nashville and Las Vegas, which have raised the bar in terms of glitz and glamour that these types of venues offer.
So how can a stodgy ballpark like we have in Buffalo even begin to hope to compete with Vegas?
Assistant General Manager Brad Bisbing offered some insight as to Buffalo’s accomplishment to get Sahlen Field to this point. “Ranking a stadium comes down to a number of factors, and year after year, the Bisons have provided that mix of good entertainment, fun things to experience, and all in a ballpark that has stood the test of time.”
Scrolling down the list, a stadium need not be sparkling new and fresh out of the box to compete for the title. Reading, Pennsylvania’s First Energy Stadium (AA) is over 70 years old, has been renovated tons of times, yet today is just a fun place to be at. Ditto for Nat Bailey Stadium (A) in Vancouver, the last of the minor league venues north of the border. The building itself is nothing much to look at, but food, mascots, and game day presentation make for an exceptionally fun day. “It is an interesting mix of teams that made the cut,” said Bisbing. “Of course architecture is but one element of deciding which is the best of the best, but looking back to the 80s, the people that were involved in bringing then Pilot Field to fruition, the Rich family and the company they run, Mayor (James D.) Griffin, the other people in government, when you think about it, they were quite visionaries of their time. When this ballpark opened it made a big splash, and that resonates to this day.”
Buffalo is not the only entrant offering a stadium that was designed and built in the template of 90s retro ballparks. AAA ballparks such as Toledo’s Fifth Third Field, Louisville’s Slugger Stadium, El Paso’s Southwest University Park, Salt Lake City’s Smith’s Ballpark. Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park, Durham’s Durham Bulls Athletic Park, and Oklahoma City’s Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, all share that architectural formula of red brick façade and steel arches, kelly green seats, looks and feels that have stood the test of time while 21st century design ventures into different territory.
Can Buffalo actually win this competition? “It’s really fun making the comparisons between the ballparks, the old ones and the new ones, the stadiums at all the different levels, the stadiums where the Bisons compete. USA Today does a daily ranking of the voting, and last time I checked, we were in first place,” said Bisbing. “That’s a real testament to our great fans. We’ve been putting this out on our social media. People can vote once a day on every separate device. So all I got to say is ‘Vote! Vote! Vote!”
Fans interested in casting a vote for Sahlen Field can access the USA Today voting page at this link:
Ranking the stadiums
Writers Andrew Kulyk and Peter Farrell are accomplished stadium travelers, having visited 95 of the 120 current minor league ballparks, and 16 of 20 of the USA Today entrants. Taking Buffalo out of the equation, here are their top 3 choices
ANDREW’S TOP 3 – USA TODAY LIST
- Charlotte = Truist Field
2. Nashville – First Horizon Park
3. Toledo – Fifth Third Field
ANDREW’S DELETION FROM THE USA TODAY LIST
Worcester – Polar Park
ANDREW’S ADDITION TO THE USA TODAY LIST
Pensacola – Blue Wahoos Stadium
PETER’S TOP 3 – USA TODAY LIST
1. Reading – FirstEnergy Stadium
2. Charlotte – Truist Field
3. Davenport – Modern Woodmen Park
PETER’S DELETION FROM THE USA TODAY LIST
Aberdeen – Ripken Stadium
PETER’S ADDITION TO THE USA TODAY LIST
Pensacola – Blue Wahoos Stadium
Voting closes on March 11.
AROUND THE BASES…
Is it baseball season already? Pitchers and catchers have reported to spring training in Florida and Arizona, and the Buffalo Bisons have begun preparations for what will be the earliest Opening Day in franchise history.
The team will host their “Spring Training Carnival”, next Sunday, February 25 from 10am-2pm at the Powerhouse on 140 Lee Street in the Old First Ward. Besides cheap eats, there will be games and activities for the kids, photo opps with team mascots, a used jersey and memorabilia sale and auction, and Opening Day tickets for sale for just $5 each. And if you haven’t visited the Powerhouse yet, that alone is worth the visit, a gutted and beautifully renovated structure straight from Buffalo’s industrial heyday.
Add Comment