A Class Act Named for a Class Act

Walking into Hank Aaron Stadium, Jul-1999.

The park’s unique design includes boxes at ground level, like Dodger Stadium.

A view from the stands toward the left-field berm as the sun goes down.

• Location: Off Government Street near I-65, Mobile, Ala.
• Opened: 1997
• Home team: Mobile BayBears, Southern League (1997-present)
• Capacity: 6,000

Rating: 4 baseballs

Hank Aaron Stadium, named after one of Mobile’s favorite sons, is one of the nicest new minor league facilities I’ve seen in a long time. I was impressed from the start by the concession stands named after old ballparks (Ebbets Field, Polo Grounds, etc.), as well as the attention paid to the fans in the form of podiums placed in front of the whiteboard for the day’s lineups.

All the seating in the park is “upper deck”, although there are box seats below the second-deck portal level. Just above ground level is a series of luxury boxes, situated a la Dodger Stadium, above which the regular seats sit.

There’s no doubt in my mind that this ranks among the best minor league fields in the country. It deserved the Double-A All-Star Game it hosted in 1999.