Last week I drove across state from west Georgia to east Georgia to Augusta, home of the GreenJackets.  This was my fourth park from the South Atlantic League I've been to.  I've been to Rome, Savannah, and Greenville.  Rome is a beaut, Savannah is a classic, and Greenville is a gem.  I was thinking Augusta was going to be the same thing-and overall, I was not disappointed.

At first I was dumbfounded on how parking at the ballpark worked as no signs were up to park.  Instead you had attendants telling you where to park.  They were friendly, but not very clear as they told me to park over on the next spot as the first parking spot I came to was for season ticket holders only so I had to move, CLOSER to the field.  As I got to the next one they told me to park next to the people standing out by the car. As I got up to the spot, it was an actual GreenJackets player with his wife/gf and their toddler.  At first I went back thinking I was in the wrong area, thinking I would get in trouble, but the attendant said I was fine.

As we got in, the "greeters" welcomed my dad and I with big smiles and were glad to see us at the park.  They gave us our complimentary program and sent us off on our merry way.  We got to our seats after a kind usher told us where to sit.  As we were about to sit, an usher noticed our Detroit Tigers shirts and caps.  He was from Detroit as well and we had a discussion of Detroit sports in general for about 10 minutes.  After he left, I went to the team shop to get my traditional ballcap & shirt (and if they had one, pennant).  I went in and it was surprisingly a spacious store, but with little to offer.  They had ballcaps that originally were priced at $35 (which I hesitated, but I was glad I didnt) and most shirts were for $15.  The "rare" items they had were broken bats and stuffed animals for the GreenJackets mascot (though the real mascot was not even at the game which surprised me).  I got my shirt and cap (which went for $20 and not $35 thank God) and grabbed food.  The food selection had a little variety to it which surprised me (website said it was standard concession fare), but they had combo meals of chicken fingers, grilled chicken, and popcorn shrimp with seasoned fries.  I bought my dad chicken fingers, which I stole a finger and a fry and should have ordered that instead of my spiceless brat.  Prices for those were pretty good ($4 for a brat, and $6 for the chicken fingers combo) but $6 for dippin dots in a mini helmet.  Didn't care for that. 

The outside view was neat as it had a brick exterior meshed with metal beams colored in forest green.  I liked the murals of former players and a history of baseball in Augusta.  On the inside, it felt like a modern version of Savannah's Grayson satdium (most of that was wood while Augusta's was metal).  It had a roof on most of the seats so you can avoid heat and rain, but there isn't much of a scenic backdrop beyond the outfield walls.  The field itself was pretty big, even for a Minor League park, but I liked how they had the dimension in left-center at .366 in honor of Ty Cobb.  The scoreboard was something you would see off of an old Nintendo baseball game of inning-by-inning, ball, strike,out, and a small ticker board.  I know it is minor league and I shouldn't expect big things, but even single-A ball has video boards now and the ticker board would quickly put up the player and the basic stats of them for maybe 3 seconds.  That irritated me most of the game.

I was very surprised on the fans.  I always thought Augusta drew well, similar to Rome and Greenville, but I was off.  It was only 1,500, which is pretty low for what I am used to, even in Savannah.  But those that were there, were very much following the game and were cheering for the GreenJackets (there were actually a good number of Savannah fans too as they are only separated by a few hours drive). 

The seats we had were behind home plate.  We got reserved seats, but they were really enlarged booster seats.  They didn't fold up, which originally I liked but once you sit in them for a while you wish you could move around with the seat.  But we were in the shade on a very hot day so we avoided sunburn and sweat.  Sightlines were magnificent. 

In the end, another fun game in another fun South Atlantic League town.  I am 4/4 for seeing great baseball in this league.  I hope next year to get to Asheville, which I keep hearing magnificent things about.  My Minor League Park Tour of 2012 continues with Huntsville in 2 weeks (which I have heard horror stories about, but given the possibility of the Stars relocating out of Huntsville, it is a needed trip) and I hope to hit either Clearwater and/or Tampa in late June. 

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE STADIUM:

1.  The exterior.  Neat, clean, and just what a park should have.

2.  The employees.  All of them were friendly and made you feel wanted at the park.  A rarity.

3.  The atmosphere.  Definitely had a Minor League charm to this place.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THE STADIUM:

1.  The scoreboard.  Just too bland and basic.

2.  Souvenir variety.  Not much to it.

3.  Ticket prices.  For a minor league park, they are a little steep.  And they do that weekend/weekday ticket pricing which is confusing and I bet that really hurts fans to come out.

In terms of the Minor League Parks I've been to (this is my 7th one now), Augusta ranks 3rd behind Rome and Greenville.  My top 4 are all South Atlantic League parks.

1.  Rome

2.  Greenville

3.  Augusta

4.  Savannah

5.  Gwinnett

6.  Chattanooga

7.  Birmingham