Photos by Joseph Oakes, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 3.14
Plumeri Park
221 Ironbound Rd
Williamsburg, VA 23188
Year Opened: 1999
Capacity: 1,000
Baseball In the Colonial Capital
Plumeri Park is the home of the William and Mary baseball team that plays in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) and is located in beautiful Williamsburg, VA. The facility is named after alumni Joseph J. Plumeri II who gave a generous donation to build the ballpark. The ballpark seats 1,000 and it opened on March 20, 1999, when the Tribe defeated Penn State 16-10.
Food & Beverage 3
Plumeri Park offers standard concessions in its single concession stand dubbed Rosy’s Café. Food selections include cheeseburgers, hamburgers, hot dogs, and veggie burgers. Snack items include nachos, bottomless popcorn, candy, chips, peanuts, and kettle corn. Beverage items offered are fountain Pepsi products, bottled water, Gatorade, craft/domestic beer, hard seltzer, and wine.
While this is a good selection, we recommend eating before or after if you are attending a game where there is a large crowd expected. When we attended a sold-out game, the concession line was insanely long and folks around us were gone 2-3 innings before they came back with concessions. While the facility will sit 1000, the concessions are not enough to handle nearly that many!
Atmosphere 3
The exterior of Plumeri Park is a nice brick façade that looks impressive from the outside. Inside the ballpark, there are two types of seats: reserved chairback seats between the dugouts and two sections of metal bleachers above each dugout. Only the top row of these bleachers has a bench back to these benches. The chairback seats are nice but be warned that they are severely obstructed due to the screen that is hard to see through and the poles holding it up. The bench seating above the dugout offers a much better view of the playing field. This area also enables you to spread out as the chairback seating is pretty tight. There is a single suite adjacent to the press box behind the plate, which also has eight private seats outside the suite.
A single scoreboard is located in left field that only provides basic info such as line score, balls, strikes, and outs. The playing surface at Plumeri Park is natural grass; the word “Tribe” is painted on the artificial surface behind home plate, while CAA is painted on the natural grass surface in front of each dugout.
Neighborhood 5
If you are looking for other things to do while in town for a William and Mary baseball game, there are many options in the Williamsburg area. Colonial Williamsburg has many colonial-style homes, shops, restaurants, and attractions in the downtown area.
One interesting restaurant with great food is Food for Thought, which has a menu as diverse as the minds of great American thinkers. Food for Thought’s décor features biographical pictures of inventors, scientists, and social leaders while the walls display thought-provoking quotes used to set the tone for a positive and enjoyable dining experience. Just down the street from William & Mary is Meadows Original Frozen Custard, which offers some of the best custard and concretes you can find anywhere.
Also, nearby is the Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement on the east coast; and Yorktown, the site where the British surrendered and the Revolutionary War ended. There also many other resorts and attractions nearby including theme parks Busch Gardens and Water Country.
Fans 3
During our visit, there was a sold-out crowd of 1000. However, this was due to playing nationally-ranked East Carolina. At least half of the crowd were cheering for the Pirates and not the hometown Tribe. For most other games the Tribe averages 400-500 fans per game.
Access 3
Plumeri Park is easily accessible from US 60 is Williamsburg, and is located just off of Ironbound Road. However, you must turn right as soon as you see the sign for Plumeri Park. If you wait to you see the ballpark itself at the corner of Ironbound Road and DePue Drive, there is no access the ballpark. This can be confusing if it is your first time, so be alert. If using a GPS, use 221 Ironbound Rd. Williamsburg, VA. Parking is free but is somewhat limited. When we attended a sold-out game, it was an adventure to find a spot. There was no parking attendant and people pretty much parked wherever around the outfield wall and the neighboring soccer stadium.
There is a single entrance to Plumeri Park along the first base side that is easily noticeable by a free-standing brick-building ticket booth. Tickets can be purchased here, and just beyond the stadium gates. Entrance is easy and there is no security; they just check your ticket. There are two “concourses” at Plumeri Park: an upper one above the seating bowl and a lower one underneath the stands. Directly behind the concession stand and press box is a brick tower with steps and an elevator that goes to the upper concourse. There are also steps on either side of the stands near the dugouts. Restrooms are on the lower concourse and are spacious and clean. Handicapped seating is plenteous on the upper concourse.
Return on Investment 4
Ticket prices are $10 for reserved chairback seats and $8 for general admission bleacher seats. With free parking and affordable concession prices, this is just about right as far as pricing goes for a day at the ballpark.
Extras 1
An extra point for the friendly ushers who came up and told us that we could sit in the chairback seats, even with bleacher tickets on a previous visit.
Final Thoughts
Plumeri Park is a nice little ballpark that is perfect for a program like William and Mary. If you’re ever in the Williamsburg area and are looking to catch some good college baseball, Plumeri Park is just the place for you!