| Oldsmobile Park (as it was originally known) is home to the Lansing Lugnuts, a team which has gotten a lot of attention due to its odd nickname. The park is set in downtown Lansing, but unfortunately does not face the skyline. The state capitol and city skyline can be seen from the outfield concourse, however. With a beautifully landscaped exterior, complete with fountains and baseball statues, I expected the interior to be equally nice. But I found it to be a bit underwhelming in comparison. It is built in the standard 1990's mold - an open concourse overlooking the field with luxury boxes stacked on top. Overall, I found the park to have a very big feel to it. This is probably because of how high the seating bowl is as well as the very large outfield concourse area. The park is sunk below street level which allows pedestrians to peer inside and get a glimpse of the action. Seating is made up of about half box seats and half benches (with backs). Large grassy concourses are located behind the outfield fences to accommodate the overflow crowds and those who can't sit still. Several picnic areas are located in the outfield and a special "luxury" picnic area is located on the field level along the 3rd base side. The concourse area behind home plate is a bit narrow, but this is partly due to the numerous concession stands and carts that are setup along it. Speaking of concessions, the Lugnuts have a great variety of food options here - from foot long brats to Mexican to healthy wraps to Philly cheese steak sandwiches. And while prices might be on the high side, quality is excellent and portions are huge. This is one place I would definitely recommend eating out at. As for the atmosphere, it was very typical of what you'll find at 90% of the parks across the country. This means lots of sounds effects, loud music, tons of commercials and/or sponsor shout-outs, and multiple mascots. Also a few between inning games were played - these included Bungee Tug-o-War, Sing-A-Long, and the always popular Kiss-Kam. For a baseball purist like myself, the atmosphere was just a bit too over the top for me. Despite my complaints about Oldsmobile Park, obviously the fans of the area have spoken, as it is perennially one of the best draws in the Midwest League. But its lack of intimacy and less than relaxing atmosphere do not make it a "must-see" ballpark in my book.
|
