| Despite being host to a New York-Penn League
team, Ripken Stadium feels more like an Atlantic League park - probably because
that's what it was originally designed for. This means that the concourse
overlooks the field with the luxury boxes stacked on top. Also typical
of an AL park, there is the annoying and useless center concourse. Because
of the center concourse splitting the seating into two levels, many of the
seats have poor sightlines. This is especially true of the upper level
seats which are not pitched enough causing heads in rows ahead of you to
block the view of the field. The concourse is very spacious and contains
plenty of concession stands. Concession variety was limited and prices
expensive when I visited in the first year of the park, but upon a return visit in 2012 they had improved greatly. They now offer BBQ, Mexican, and seafood. Especially popular are the crabs which can be purchased at the "shack" in the RF corner. Also off the
concourse behind home plate is a large gift store, stocked with plenty of
Cal Ripken merchandise as well as Ironbirds apparel. Ticket prices
are high here, but the team makes up for it by providing free programs and
not charging for parking. Typical of most new teams, they go
through the motions of doing the same on field contests and dances (YMCA,
Chicken Dance, etc.) Fortunately, sound effects were kept to a minimum
and there was no mascot to be found. Ripken Stadium features two scoreboards
- one providing the line score in left field and one with a video board in
right field. An interesting feature is the lack of permanent ads on
the outfield fence. There are just two large rotating ads. Despite being 10 years old now, the ballpark is feeling a bit worn. Part of this is because there is still lots of unpainted concrete, which is one of my pet peeves. Ripken
Stadium is atill certainly a nice enough park (especially for the NY-Penn League, but doesn't break any new ground
and offers little that is unique or memorable. Cal Ripken may call this the best
minor league park, but I won't be.
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