| The wait for minor league
baseball on Long Island finally ended in the spring of 2000 with the arrival
of the Long Island Ducks. Brand new Suffolk County Sports Park (previously knows as Citibank Park) is home to the Ducks. While
it is a nice enough new park, all the Atlantic League parks are starting
to look too similar. It is built almost identically to The
Sandcastle and Somerset County Ballpark
There are two entrances to the ballpark, both which bring you on to the
concourse area that overlooks the playing field. Luxury boxes have been
built over the concourse. Seating extends almost from foul line to foul
line and is split by a center concourse which serves no purpose. Several
new parks have this middle concourse which only takes away some seats that
might be closer to the action. The park also has two huge cutouts behind
each dugout for handicapped people. This also takes away some very good
seating. Also, the sightlines could be better. For such a new park you
would expect a great view from any seat, but I didn't find this to be the
case. Numerous railings and seats that aren't sloped enough made it difficult
to see the action at times. There are good things about Suffolk County Sports Park, though.
The concessions were affordable and varied, though not that tasty. And
the between inning promotions were limited to only a few. The setting for
the park is nothing special (it is located in a commercial park and next door to a large courthouse) meaning there is absolutely no view beyond the outfield fence.
Access to the park is very easy and parking plentiful and free. Overall, a nice enough
place to see a game, but not much that would make it stand out among other
Atlantic League parks.
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