Monongalia County Ballpark named Ballpark of the Year

Monongalia County Ballpark, the home of the West Virginia Black Bears and West Virginia University Baseball has been named the winner of the BaseballParks.com Ballpark of the Year for 2015. For more of Baseballparks.com’s review, click here for Page One and Page Two. Here is a link to the official press release for this award. Joe Mock of BaseballParks.com will present the plaque symbolizing the award to the Black Bears prior to their home game on August 26.

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Here is a little history on the award as stated on BaseballParks.com, “Starting in the year 2000, we began honoring very special ballparks with an award. Our Ballpark of the Year was awarded to the best new or substantially rebuilt park for that year, and it is now a highly coveted honor, desired by both architects and teams that are proud of their new facilities. And rest assured that a fair amount of politicking takes place, as the park designers and front-office staffs lobby me to select their park. But regardless of the lobbying efforts, I make my own assessment each year. And I make that assessment without any regard to which league or which architect won the previous year. I make no effort to “spread around” the award across geographic areas, levels or leagues. Each and every year, I look at the new or rebuilt ballparks in that year and make a selection based on which one has the best combination of superior design, desirable location and amenities for the fans. From a subjective perspective, I’m also always on the lookout for parks that are different or special, especially if they are particularly suited for the area in which they are located. If the park could’ve been dropped in a completely different part of the country and not seem out of place, then there’s something wrong.”

“The winning ballparks have come from all levels,” Mock observed. “We’ve had parks from the Majors, Triple-A, Double-A, even spring training. Not since the Brooklyn Cyclones’ park received the award in 2001 has the winner come from Short-Season A ball, but Monongalia County Ballpark certainly deserves this honor.”  PNC Park won this award back in 2001 when it opened.

As many of you know, Rum Bunter has been providing additional coverage of the Black Bears inaugural season. Assistant Editor Justin Frazee has given you an Opening Preview, Series Recaps, Interviews and even had Editor Jason Rollison down to take in a game and give some thoughts. We can’t even begin to tell you how nice this park is. The quality of the atmosphere here is for everyone from the baseball die hard, to the casual fan, to the family looking to take the kids out for a fun affordable evening. I highly encourage you to check out the schedule and take that trip to Monongalia County Ballpark to experience it first hand!  For tickets and additional information, visit www.westvirginiablackbears.com, visit the ticket office at the ballpark, or call 304-293-8422.

Next: Black Bears/Cutters Recap