The Minor League Ballpark Guides series spotlights each stadium across baseball’s affiliated ranks. Each edition provides ballpark highlights, from concessions to seating options to in-game entertainment to mascots. Ballpark Guides also take travelers through each facility’s surrounding area, encompassing the best places in town to eat or drink, nearby tourist attractions and more. Plan your Minor League Baseball road trip today!
For Giants prospects, the journey to the Bay Area has a distinctly California look, albeit with a twinge of southern flavor. Along the way, four unique ballparks — and cities — take center stage.
Let’s give them their due:
Single-A: San Jose Giants, Excite Ballpark
Many Minor League teams have rich partnerships with a parent club, but few affiliates can match the San Jose Giants’ ties to the big league organization just up the 101 Freeway. The city’s connection to the Giants runs so deep that in the decades before the construction of Oracle Park, there were plans at various points to move the big league team to San Jose. Read more »
High-A: Eugene Emeralds, PK Park
Welcome to Eugene’s PK Park, where Giants play before they’re fully grown. The hometown Emeralds share their stadium with the Ducks, an amiable bear and a perhaps not-so-amiable sasquatch. Read more »
Double-A: Richmond Flying Squirrels, The Diamond
Professional baseball in Richmond dates all the way back to 1884, and a Minor League team has called the city home in nearly every season since. Flying Squirrels was the winning selection in a “Name the Team” contest, chosen primarily because it would be popular with kids and families. (It doesn’t hurt that squirrels love nuts, because the state of Virginia is chock full of peanuts.) Read more »
Triple-A: Sacramento River Cats, Sutter Health Park
California’s capital city is arguably the greatest American baseball town to never have had a big league team. Sacramento’s love affair with the game goes back at least to the Gold Rush, with a slew of great players coming from the area and the local franchise serving as a stalwart through the glory days of the Pacific Coast League. Read more »