Best AAA Baseball Stadiums

There's just something about minor league baseball. Played in mid-sized cities, with prospects battling to get their shot in the Big Leagues, AAA baseball is the perfect place to see the potential next stars of MLB. We've visited every current AAA ballpark, and have compiled our list from 1-30.

1. Coca-Cola Park - Home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs

   

   Coca-Cola Park has been winning awards since it opened in 2008, and we have it as the best AAA stadium experience. The Phillies top affiliate is only 60 miles from the parent ball club.

2. Durham Bulls Athletic Park - Home of the Durham Bulls

   

   In the heart of basketball country, where legendary names like Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski are commonplace, stands a minor league baseball gem. The Bulls have been a staple in Durham since 1913 and have been rather infamous ever since the release of the 1988 feature film Bull Durham. Although you won't find Crash Davis and Nuke Laloosh here, you will find a baseball experience that will rival any other in Triple A Baseball.

3. Raley Field - Home of the Sacramento River Cats

   

   It would not be a stretch to say that the Triple-A affiliate for the Oakland Athletics has a much better ballpark than the boys in Oakland. Afterall, it's hard to say O.co Coliseum is a "ballpark" at all. Raley Field however has been charming fans since it hosted the first ever Sacramento River Cats game in 2000.

4. Isotopes Park - Home of the Albuquerque Isotopes

   

   It may not be "Duff Stadium" -- the mythical venue of the minor league team in the television show, "The Simpsons," but the real-life Isotopes Park is just as entertaining. When minor league baseball returned to Albuquerque in 2003, the team chose a name with national appeal, borrowing the nickname from a 2001 episode of "The Simpsons," in which the owners of the hometown Springfield Isotopes threaten to move their team to Albuquerque.

5. Werner Park - Home of the Omaha Storm Chasers

   

   Werner Park is one of the most unique baseball ballparks in the country. It looks nothing like a traditional minor league ballpark. When fans walk in they immediately see the field. It is open with much of it in direct sunlight and the Storm Chasers have taken the "family experience" to a new level with tons of activities and games for all fans.

6. Fifth Third Field - Home of the Toledo Mud Hens

   

   Built to replace the architecturally-bland Ned Skeldon Stadium, Fifth Third Field was completed in 2002. Instantly, it drew rave reviews from fans and ballpark connoisseurs. Newsweek writer Mark Starr wrote that Fifth Third was the best venue to watch minor league baseball and other publications gushed at unique features within the new park. The home of the Toledo Mud Hens became an overnight success - a shining example for smaller-scale stadiums that followed.

7. Spring Mobile Ballpark - Home of the Salt Lake Bees

   

   In most places, baseball in 1994 was tumultuous. The eventuality of the players' strike loomed ominously over each major league park. Baseball die-hards sought refuge in the minor leagues, particularly the beautiful, brand-new Franklin Quest Field in Salt Lake City, home of the expansion Salt Lake Buzz. Neither the team nor the stadium currently bear the same name, but Spring Mobile Ballpark, home of the Salt Lake Bees, remains as much a crown jewel of the Pacific Coast League as it has ever been.

8. Frontier Field - Home of the Rochester Red Wings

   

   The Rochester Red Wings have been a mainstay of the International League. They are actually a community owned baseball team, with shareholders and a local board of directors. The fortunes of the franchise have been shepherded by the Silver family. The namesake stadium, Silver Stadium, was a neighborhood ballpark in use for a generation, until the franchise relocated to their new downtown ballpark, Frontier Field, in 1996. This venue is truly one of the jewels in all of AAA baseball.

9. Huntington Park - Home of the Columbus Clippers

   

   Opened in 2009, Huntington Park is home to the Columbus Clippers, the AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Everything is working in the favor of this being a great minor league baseball experience. There is close geographic proximity to the MLB team, plenty to do around the stadium, good food, and great views of talented players who are just one step away from the show.

10. Principal Park - Home of the Iowa Cubs

    

    You may never see Des Moines, IA unless you live there or are passing through on your way to somewhere else, but it's very underrated and the perfect home for a sports franchise. Iowans pride themselves on being family friendly and self-supportive, and Principal Park has done a great job of merging those two characteristics together to form a unique and fun ballpark and fan experience.

11. Louisville Slugger Field - Home of the Louisville Bats

    

    Louisville Slugger Field, home of the Louisville Bats, is a great baseball stadium located in downtown Louisville along the banks of the Ohio River. There's plenty to do before the game, there's plenty to do during the game, and there's plenty to do after the game, all at a fair price.

12. AutoZone Park - Home of the Memphis Redbirds

    

    Opened in 2000 and ushering in both a new century and a new era of professional sports in Memphis, TN, AutoZone Park is, simply put, one of the finest minor league baseball stadiums in America. From its neo-traditional design (based on iconic Camden Yards) to the Bluff out in left field, everything about AutoZone Park is designed to provide a unique, thoroughly enjoyable baseball experience.

13. Coca-Cola Field - Home of the Buffalo Bisons

    

    Located right in downtown Buffalo off the I-190, the venue is one of the original "retro ballparks", with an original capacity of 21,500 seats, and was designed with the idea of being expanded for an eventual Major League Baseball expansion team. Since that dream ended, numerous renovations and enhancements have shrunk the capacity to 17,679 seats, still one of the largest at the AAA level.

14. Victory Field - Home of the Indianapolis Indians

    

    Indianapolis has quickly become one of the best sports cities in America. One could argue that this ascension began with the completion of Victory Field in 1996. Since 1902, the team has been known as the Indians, even though they have been affiliated with the White Sox, Phillies, Expos, Reds, Brewers, and currently the Pirates. As a result of their many affiliations, stars from several MLB franchises have played in Indy. The list includes Harmon Killebrew, Roger Maris, Dave Concepcion, Randy Johnson, and Paul Konerko. The wide concourses are filled with banners honoring this history.

15. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark - Home of the Oklahoma City RedHawks

    

    If you are a baseball fan you have to love a ballpark located on Mickey Mantle Way. They have done a nice job of honoring Oklahoma's baseball heritage with beautiful statues of Oklahoma's very own Johnny Bench, Warren Spahn and Mickey Mantle located right outside the ballpark. Those statues should get any fan in the mood for baseball, in this case, Pacific Coast League AAA baseball.

16. The Dell Diamond - Home of the Round Rock Express

    

    The Texas Rangers Triple-A affiliate Round Rock Express can be found just 15 miles northeast of Austin on I-35, in the growing community of Round Rock. Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan and his son Reid, are part owners of the Express and the lead dogs behind this franchise. The ballpark has about 30 private suites, a swimming pool, hot tub, basketball court and playscape among a plethora of other amenities.

17. Aces Ballpark - Home of the Reno Aces

    

    Aces Ballpark was built in just over a year and opened in time for the Aces' first home game in April, 2009. The park is bounded on the south by the Truckee River, which provides an interesting view from both outside and inside.

18. Cheney Stadium - Home of the Tacoma Rainiers

    

    With the renovations, they managed to make many improvements, while still keeping the stadium in the same, beautiful area. The stadium is still wide open, offering plenty of different seating options, and still offers a terrific family experience.

19. Security Service Field - Home of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox

    

    Security Service Field, home of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, represents the city in its name and the ballpark is clearly the place to be on a mid-summer's night, as the city's proud baseball fans flock to the field for fun.

20. Coolray Field - Home of the Gwinnett Braves

    

    The outfield seating is on a sloped lawn, and behind that are inflatables that kids jump in throughout the course of the evening as their parents attempt to have a good time. But above them is a great-looking digital screen that flashes stats and headshots of the players and runs silly little clips from "The Simpsons" and A League of Their Own at opportune times.

21. McCoy Stadium - Home of the Pawtucket Red Sox

    

    In some places, the stadium is the star. Others, it's the product on the field. If you're lucky, you might get both; if you're unlucky, you get neither. More often than not, you land somewhere in the middle. McCoy Stadium, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, falls into that middle category.

22. NBT Bank Stadium - Home of the Syracuse Chiefs

    

    Professional baseball has been played in Syracuse since 1877. The Chiefs have been around since 1934 and after spending many decades at venerable MacArthur Stadium, they moved just a short walk over to Alliance Bank Stadium (originally P&C Stadium) in 1997.

23. Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium - Home of the Tucson Padres

    

    The lower concourse provides plenty of great seating, much of which are right up next to the game action, and down the foul lines there is bleacher seating on the upper concourse. There is even an upper deck which includes eight suites which have their own private seats, all of which have a great view of the action. Plenty of grass seating in the outfield is also available.

24. Cashman Field - Home of the Las Vegas 51s

    

    Las Vegas is not considered a sports destination, unless you believe gambling, drinking, and eating to be sports. But there are over 2 million people who live here and they need some distractions of their own. In the summer, the Pacific Coast League's Las Vegas 51s provide the entertainment out at Cashman Field, an older facility that still offers ball fans some quiet enjoyment away from the lights and noise of the casinos.

25. Zephyr Field - Home of the New Orleans Zephyrs

    

    Even though Zephyr Field has a couple of neat extras that you won't find at most ballparks like 16 VIP luxury suites, a swimming pool, two hot tubs in right field, the Coors Light Party Shack located in the right field corner and the Metairie Bank Home Run Porch located behind the left field wall, it still lacks that extra spark.

26. Herschel Greer Stadium - Home of the Nashville Sounds

    

    Greer Stadium is located just south of downtown Nashville near the intersection of I-65 and I-40. Greer Stadium was built in 1978 and has served as the Sounds' home field for over 30 years. The stadium has a nice variety of items on their menu and their prices are very reasonable.

27. Harbor Park - Home of the Norfolk Tides

    

    Harbor Park's $76 FCI comes in above the Triple-A average ($67.77) and nearly $20 more than Durham Bulls Athletic Park, home of the International League's beautiful ballpark across the North Carolina state line.

28. Chukchansi Park - Home of the Fresno Grizzlies

    

    The ballpark's architecture and scale, with a two deck configuration, a ring of suites and a club level premium seating porch gives this ballpark a major league feel when it is full of fans.

29. Knights Stadium - Home of the Charlotte Knights

    

    Knights Stadium is a study in contrasts - unrealized potential, broken promises and opposing forces that keep the stadium from being the best it can be. Ownership and Charlotte leaders want to move the Knights to Charlotte's Center City, but have faced continuous opposition from a lawyer who also owns some competing property.

30. PNC Field - Home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

    

    The park setup itself is pretty basic, with 2 levels of seating with a suite/press box level in between. The lower box seats are green, while the seats well down the lines and in the upper deck are orange. They look to be recycled from an old major league field. They are mislabeled in many places, leading to confusion over which seat is really yours.