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Blair County Ballpark -- Altoona Curve

Official Review by Joshua Guiher, Stadium Journey Regional Correspondent

Blair County Ballpark is home of the Altoona Curve, the Eastern League AA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The park is beautiful and a real model for how minor league parks should be built. The team itself is named after the infamous horseshoe curve built for the railroad.

The park opened in 1999 with a seating capacity of 7,210, although the largest crowd to ever watch a game was 9,255 on August 10, 2003. The park was built with over 69,000 bricks and has a great background in right field - a working rollercoaster, the Skyliner, from Lakemont Park that is only a few feet behind the fence.

Food & Beverage    5

Good food at great stadium prices. Some of the more popular items included the Kunzler hot dog ($2.75), walking taco ($4.50) and Italian sausage sandwich ($4.50). If you want something unique to the stadium, try the bologna and cheese cup ($3), the fried mac & cheese ($2.75), or pulled pork sandwich ($4.75). My personal favorites are the wings ($4 for 4 or $7 for 8) and the chili cheese fries ($4).

For drinks, they offer Pepsi products for $3 or $3.75 for fountain and 20oz bottles are $3 as are bottles of Gatorade. You can get a 20oz bottle of Aquafina water for just $1.75. Beer is $5 for 24oz and $6 for 32oz and they offer Yuengling, a Pennsylvania staple.

Atmosphere    4

You are always in for a good experience at a Curve game. They have four mascots; Steamer, who is a green smoke stack; Al Tuna, an orange fish named loosely on the town; Diesel Dawg, a dog mascot that the kids really seem to like; and Tenacious, a mascot that looks like a baseball player on steroids wearing a train engineer's hat with the Altoona Curve logo.

The mascots, PA announcer and the interns all do a great job of setting a nice mood and atmosphere for the game. I have never had a bad experience at a Curve game. They do a great job of balancing between "always having something going on to keep the kids interested" and "just letting you enjoy the game."

Neighborhood    4

There are parts of Altoona that I don't like to visit, but they are a few miles from where the ballpark is built. The park itself sits right along Interstate 99 and is very easy to get to. There are plenty of shops and restaurants in the area, most notably the strip mall containing a bunch of major stores, including Best Buy, less than a mile away.

If you want to go closer to downtown, then make a trip down 17th Street. If you want a great sandwich while in the area, look for Tim's American Cafe, located at the corner of 16th Street and Crawford Avenue.

Be sure to check out the Altoona Railroaders Museum and the horseshoe curve when you are in the area, even if you are not a train buff. It is quite amazing the things they were able to design and use with limited technology back in the day.

Fans    4

The fans consistently come out in large numbers and they are always into the game. The fans are very engaged to the game once they are there. The night I went was nothing special, just a logo poster giveaway, yet there were over 200 fans lined up before the gates even opened. Also, the fans were real polite the night I was there, allowing me room to take pictures without walking in front of my lens right as I went to snap a picture.

Access    5

Access is really easy, with the park being right off of Interstate 99. There is a standard parking lot on one side of the stadium and a parking garage on the other, which each cost just $3 for the night.

The concourses are really wide and bathrooms are some of the cleanest I have been in at a stadium.

Return on Investment    5

I feel that the return on investment is really good at Blair County Ballpark. You can get in for $5 and the best seats in the park are only $10. Combine that with a great stadium and a team that won the 2010 Eastern League championship and you have a great investment.

Extras    3

Great family oriented park with the kids' zone and multiple mascots. Well maintained park and friendly workers. Well worth the price of admission. By far my favorite minor league park to visit.

Blair County BP is awesome

I AM a railfan and go to Altoona several times a year for great trainwatching, but was never able to get to a game at BCBP until this past July. I was very impressed with the stadium, the amenities and the food. One treat not mentioned in the main review is Galliker's Ice Cream, a very refreshing thing to have on a hot July evening. Also not mentioned but worth noting is a special promotion done (at least at the game I attended): a player from the opposing team is designated "the Strike-Out Guy" at the beginning of the game, and if he strikes out at any time in the game, your ticket stub gets you a free Big Mac the next day at any Altoona-area McDonald's. We waited until the top of the ninth for our guy to whiff, and sure enough, he did! Whoo-hoo! Free Big Mac! I guess the owner of the team is also a McDonald's franchisee, and what a great way to pay back your fans. Al Tuna's home run dance in the outfield is a nice touch, too. Great park, don't miss it if you are in Altoona!

by CBJRedsOSUfan | Oct 12, 2011 11:31 AM

RE: Blair County BP is awesome

Altoona is great for train watching. Yes, the Galliker's Ice Cream is awesome, as is their Iced Tea which is carried in all of the local Sheetz stations. Thanks for the comments.

by collegiatestdms | Oct 12, 2011 12:13 PM

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