Happy Memorial Day to all of you! I hope you're using the long weekend to spend quality time with family and friends, and maybe catching some baseball too.
Tonight, I visited PK Park for the first time. As I indicated in my earlier blog posting, I strove to keep an open mind, set aside the anti-Oregon bias I have, and judge the new park dispassionately with the same scrutiny and diligence as every other park I have been to.
PK Park is a fine venue that really doesn't do a whole lot to astound the average fan. The first thing that immediately strikes you, however, is how small the facility actually is. The listed capacity for PK Park is only 3,500. You would think with all the Nike money that was put into the design and construction of the park that there would be some gimmick or quirk, but PK Park doesn't have any of that. I know that it sounds like a boring park, but there isn't anything blatantly wrong or right with it. It just gets the job done.
95% of the seating at PK Park is individual fold-down chairs that encircle the infield stretching the length of the baseline. Down the left-field line is a small section of bleachers that is general admission/student seating. The seating is really an added treat. The designers of the park gave the seating bowl an incredibly steep pitch which allows for all patrons sitting in the main bowl an uninhibited view of the game without having to worry about the tall people sitting in front of you.
Alongside the right-field line is an impressive outdoor beer garden that serves all the alcohol for the entire park. In addition to the beer garden, there is a functional grill that serves hamburgers and hot dogs. There are tables and chairs set up, as well as bar-style seating that faces the field. This was a nice touch that I have seen work well at other parks. I'm sure come dollar beer nights, that area will be the place to go.
The playing surface has to be the one unique aspect of the park worth mentioning. With the exception of the pitching mound, which is clay dirt, it is all FieldTurf. The infield is simply brown-colored FieldTurf. As a result, in the sectors surrounding the bases, the black rubber pellets had coagulated because of all the sliding into the respective bases. I feel this made the field look bad and sort of cheap at the same time. I'm well aware that the FieldTurf saves maintenance costs because of the two organizations competing on it, but real grass and dirt are a part of the game.
The last gripe I'm going to make about PK Park are the ticket prices. $15 for college baseball is a joke. I paid less than that to see both the Nationals and Orioles play. Combined with the $3 it was to park, the expense really is ludicrous.
So, what to make of this new park? To tell all of you the truth, I have mixed emotions. I think that PK Park is a perfectly suitable college venue, but it may have a hard time supporting a professional franchise. The Minor Leagues are so dependent on fan entertainment at the games. I'm talking about a wide variety of concessions, on-field promotions, affordability of ticket prices. These are the things, if done right, contribute to a successful Minor League franchise. PK Park is a fine venue that won't degrade the game at all, but it just doesn't have the infrastructure in place to have a Minor League type operation. People will go to Oregon Duck baseball games because the Oregon Ducks are a brand-name. Every sports fan across the country knows who the Oregon Ducks are. No matter what, fans will go out to see the Ducks. The Eugene Emeralds don't have that luxury of a marketable product outside of the Eugene-Springfield community.
I'm going to lay out a challenge for the Emeralds: prove me wrong. If the newly-revamped Emeralds organization can make Minor League Baseball at PK Park a successful operation, I will eat my words and concede to reassessment of PK Park on those new terms.
From a physical, ballpark design, standpoint, I have to rank PK Park decently. It didn't do anything to really make me mad, but it didn't do anything to make the experience worthwhile. It had some nice touches and I came away from the game with a smile. But in the final analysis, I saw some flaws that temper the initial enthusiasm I had.
It may be a while before I write any updates to this blog. The SoCal roadtrip isn't for another three weeks, so there will be some down time. Of course, however, if there is anything noteworthy, I will certainly throw in an update.
Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)
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