[01LUGrad]

Ed, to answer one of your questions about HP, it is actually as close to the water as it can get. The ground is so soft out there, they have been worried that the whole scoreboard will collapse some day. The guys with the walkie-talkies around the place just hope it falls out into the river rather than on the centerfielder's head.

[adam42381]

I really like the look of those drawings for the new stadium in downtown Winston-Salem. I went to a Grasshoppers game and the stadium is very nice as well. The only complaint is that you can't see the corners of the field, especially down the left field line, from most seats in the stadium. We sat one section over from home plate down the third base line about ten rows up and I couldn't see about 30 feet of the wall down the left field line due to the poor design of the bar area down the left field line...other than that, it's a very nice stadium overall.

[SuperJon]

I've never seen those drawings...I really like the looks of that...it has a real old school feel with those awnings

There's no way they fill it with a Single A team though. Compared to Ernie Shore it's huge, and Ernie Shore doesn't even fill up very often.

[Hold My Own]

You very well could be correct...they could hop in AA with out much problem...I havent heard much talk about any changes being done there...but I do know there should be quite a few in the Carolina League at the end of the year....you've intrigued me now...I will do some homework tomorrow to see what their long term ideas are


I'm not confident that any team in that market could fill that stadium though...it's pretty big for that market...and it's rare you get travelers to come to games in the minors (Raleigh, Greensboro, and others in the area)



What's the capacity?

[adam42381]

I've never seen those drawings...I really like the looks of that...it has a real old school feel with those awnings

There's no way they fill it with a Single A team though. Compared to Ernie Shore it's huge, and Ernie Shore doesn't even fill up very often.

I don't know, Greensboro is Single A and they pack it out quite often. It holds about 7,500 and they average around 5,000 fans per game. They have drawn over 400,000 per year in their first three years in the stadium so I don't see why Winston-Salem won't have similar results since the new park will have a capacity of around 5,500.

[SuperJon]

That stadium looks a lot more than 5500. It's go almost twice as much seating as Ernie Shore. It has a second deck and more seating down the lines.


I know that the Warthogs are getting a new name at the end of the year. That's about all I know.

[adam42381]

I've never seen those drawings...I really like the looks of that...it has a real old school feel with those awnings

There's no way they fill it with a Single A team though. Compared to Ernie Shore it's huge, and Ernie Shore doesn't even fill up very often.

For the record, Ernie Shore holds 6,200 and the new park will only hold 5,500.


http://www.ljvm.com/ernieshore.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Winston-Salem_Ballpark

[Hold My Own]

IMO every minor league team (without a really strong historical past) should change their name every 10 years or so...and if you're name is the WartHogs it should have been changed in 10 minutes

[SuperJon]

I've never seen those drawings...I really like the looks of that...it has a real old school feel with those awnings

There's no way they fill it with a Single A team though. Compared to Ernie Shore it's huge, and Ernie Shore doesn't even fill up very often.

For the record, Ernie Shore holds 6,200 and the new park will only hold 5,500.


http://www.ljvm.com/ernieshore.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Winston-Salem_Ballpark

I was looking for that stuff and couldn't find it. I swore that new stadium looks so much bigger.

[adam42381]

IMO every minor league team (without a really strong historical past) should change their name every 10 years or so...and if you're name is the WartHogs it should have been changed in 10 minutes

Agreed. The name changed to Warthogs on the heels of the Lion King movie when the warthog Pumbaa was popular with the kids. There was also a new warthog exhibit at the NC Zoo at the time if I remember correctly. It's definitely time for a name change. The Spirits was a bad name as well so hopefully they'll come up with a good one.

[SuperJon]

IMO every minor league team (without a really strong historical past) should change their name every 10 years or so...and if you're name is the WartHogs it should have been changed in 10 minutes

They've narrowed it down to five:

Winston-Salem Dash (The Dash, a play on the nickname for Winston)
Winston-Salem Racers (since auto racing is so historic here)
Winston-Salem Aviators (because of the Piedmont Airlines in Winston and the Outer Banks)
Winston-Salem Rhinos (apparently they have ties to the area)
Winston-Salem Wallbangers

I like the Dash or the Aviators. The marketability of those names are great.

[Hold My Own]

I've never seen those drawings...I really like the looks of that...it has a real old school feel with those awnings

There's no way they fill it with a Single A team though. Compared to Ernie Shore it's huge, and Ernie Shore doesn't even fill up very often.

I don't know, Greensboro is Single A and they pack it out quite often. It holds about 7,500 and they average around 5,000 fans per game. They have drawn over 400,000 per year in their first three years in the stadium so I don't see why Winston-Salem won't have similar results since the new park will have a capacity of around 5,500.

I rather have a Class A team then a AA team to be honest....although I'm sure the average person wouldnt agree or know the difference other than thinking seeing much better competition which could case but you sometimes get bypassed by the young prospects while Class A is generally a must stop for every prospect since it's considered their first true test against true professionals and not just ball players...it all depends on how you market it to the public and tell them what they are watching

[adam42381]

I was looking for that stuff and couldn't find it. I swore that new stadium looks so much bigger.

I drove by there a couple weeks ago and I thought it looked pretty huge too. I have read the number 5,500 a couple times so I guess it's right. Also, I was surprised that Ernie Shore holds that many. It just doesn't feel that big to me.

[SuperJon]

I rather have a Class A team then a AA team to be honest....although I'm sure the average person wouldnt agree or know the difference other than thinking seeing much better competition which could case but you sometimes get bypassed by the young prospects while Class A is generally a must stop for every prospect since it's considered their first true test against true professionals and not just ball players...it all depends on how you market it to the public and tell them what they are watching

But at the same time, look at the new trend of players skipping AAA and going straight from AA to the Majors.

[adam42381]

IMO every minor league team (without a really strong historical past) should change their name every 10 years or so...and if you're name is the WartHogs it should have been changed in 10 minutes

They've narrowed it down to five:

Winston-Salem Dash (The Dash, a play on the nickname for Winston)
Winston-Salem Racers (since auto racing is so historic here)
Winston-Salem Aviators (because of the Piedmont Airlines in Winston and the Outer Banks)
Winston-Salem Rhinos (apparently they have ties to the area)
Winston-Salem Wallbangers

I like the Dash or the Aviators. The marketability of those names are great.

I kinda like Wallbangers myself. Rhinos and Warthogs just don't seem right for the area. I think they could have come up with some better options in my opinion.

[SuperJon]

I was looking for that stuff and couldn't find it. I swore that new stadium looks so much bigger.

I drove by there a couple weeks ago and I thought it looked pretty huge too. I have read the number 5,500 a couple times so I guess it's right. Also, I was surprised that Ernie Shore holds that many. It just doesn't feel that big to me.

I think the Ernie Shore number is inflated. I've been there on nights it was packed and haven't felt it was that much. My favorite memory there was in 2005 when my high school was in the western finals of the playoffs. We put 1500 people in the stands for a high school baseball game. And I was the PA announcer.

[adam42381]

I think the Ernie Shore number is inflated. I've been there on nights it was packed and haven't felt it was that much. My favorite memory there was in 2005 when my high school was in the western finals of the playoffs. We put 1500 people in the stands for a high school baseball game. And I was the PA announcer.

I played there when I was in high school back in '99. We only had a couple hundred in the stands but it was a great experience. We also played an alumni game there the following year which was fun but only about 50 people showed up.

[Hold My Own]

Aviators would be sweet...but I'd be really jealous if they used that name, b/c that would be a sweet name for the Hillcats in 10-15 years

I rather have a Class A team then a AA team to be honest....although I'm sure the average person wouldnt agree or know the difference other than thinking seeing much better competition which could case but you sometimes get bypassed by the young prospects while Class A is generally a must stop for every prospect since it's considered their first true test against true professionals and not just ball players...it all depends on how you market it to the public and tell them what they are watching

But at the same time, look at the new trend of players skipping AAA and going straight from AA to the Majors.

Your right...in fact I rather have a AA team then a AAA team....all to often in AAA you're seeing 99% of AAAA ball players its the best baseball you'll see other then the MLB but you're only seeing stars of your local town rather then the stars of the nation in the next few years...it depends on if you rather see young studs that are prodigy's or good baseball


and I know that if you use the logic equation i just created I am saying I would rather have a A team then a AAA team...but that's not true

[SuperJon]

I think the Ernie Shore number is inflated. I've been there on nights it was packed and haven't felt it was that much. My favorite memory there was in 2005 when my high school was in the western finals of the playoffs. We put 1500 people in the stands for a high school baseball game. And I was the PA announcer.

I played there when I was in high school back in '99. We only had a couple hundred in the stands but it was a great experience. We also played an alumni game there the following year which was fun but only about 50 people showed up.

A bunch of people played AAU games there growing up.

[RubberMallet]

this by far was my favorite park i had been to

http://www.ballparkreviews.com/frisco/frisco.htm







you can watch the game from the streets and you look down into the field from the street...its awesome...

our revamped john o'donnell field here is really really nice too....

[sweetnahmah1]

This is Frawley Stadium, home of the Wilmington Blue Rocks, only other place I've been to besides Lynchburg.




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[Hold My Own]

I did a project on that Dr Pepper Park...it's always reminded me of the Texas Rangers park for some reason...not really sure why...maybe the outfield




What is up with all the Trains, Bridges at these parks? Is that a Train that crosses the outfield?

[JDUB]

burlington indians is terrible. my highschool uses it for their games, and thats probably the best quality players that stadium ever sees. the team is terrible as is the stadium. people just go for the beer

[Sly Fox]

The reason why Dr. Pepper Park reminds you of Arlington is Tom Hicks wanted it that way. Hicks influenced that whole Frisco sports park from the Stars complex to the ballpark. I love the soccer facility there as well.

[Hold My Own]

Well there you go! At least I'm not crazy!