Red Sox Nation Meets Dixie

West End Field entrance off Main Street, Aug-2006.

The roof extends beyond the suite level to provide some shelter to the fans.

Field dimensions, including the left-field wall, are similar to those at Fenway Park.

• Location: Main and Markley streets, Greenville, S.C.
• Opened: 2006
• Home team: Greenville Drive, South Atlantic League (2006-present)
• Capacity: 4,200

Rating: 4 baseballs

By building this new park, thanks in part to a $12 million infusion from the Boston Red Sox, with whom the Greenville Drive are affiliated, the club has bridged old and new and helped give downtown Greenville a shot in the arm. Attendance for the first full season of play here exceeded 300,000, placing the club in the top tier among Sally League franchises. NOTE: The statement about receiving funding from the Red Sox to build the park has been disputed.

Fans enter either from the left-field side near Main Street or along the right-field side on Field Street, near Vardry Street. There is no home-plate entrance, as in the new park in Greensboro, N.C. Once inside, the main seating bowl is in one level, with no cross aisle and a relatively steep pitch for better viewing, as at Staten Island.

The outfield dimensions are very similar to those at the Red Sox’ home, Fenway Park. The field even incldues a post-up scoreboard built into a left-field wall painted green and almost as high as Fenway’s “Green Monster”. There is also some berm seating in the outfield, and a patio area called the “500 Club” in right field. About all they don’t have here is Monster Seats. That’s because condos are going in beyond left field; construction was in progress the day I first arrived, and by 2007 fans were watching the game from balconies, as they do at Wrigley Field.

The other things I found missing were a white board for the starting lineups, and stands offering those classic Southern staples, lemonade and sweet tea. I went back in 2007, since my first try in 2006 was rained out after 2½ innings, and they had not introduced these amenities yet. But these are minor drawbacks to a very nice park.