Canada’s Favourite Ballpark: Week 3

Monday, July 25, 2011

Canada’s Favourite Ballpark contest is here! Please vote for your favourite ballpark below. The ballpark that receives the most votes by August 1^st at 10am ET will advance to the semi-final round.

Best of Luck to all ballparks!

PLAY BALL!

Kiwanis Park – Moncton, NB

Moncton’s Kiwanis Park has a long history of baseball excellence in the province of New Brunswick. Since being donated by the Kiwanis club of Moncton in 1953, The park has been the place for Baseball in New Brunswick. From major leaguers to Minor ball teams, this park has become the premier destination for baseball in Atlantic Canada. Kiwanis has seen its share of big leaguers come through its gates over the years. Former Major league all stars Ryan Dempster and Jason Dickson have both pitched there. MLB’s all time pinch hit home runs leader Matt Stairs has played there, as well as countless other Canadian greats.

Kiwanis has hosted its share of big events as well. In 1994, the park hosted the Blue Jay Cup (now known as the Canada Cup). In 1997 it hosted the World Junior Baseball classic, a tournament where Canada shared the bronze medal with the United States. It’s also hosted the senior nationals in 2004, and this year the Canada Cup will return to Moncton.

At the local level, the park is home to the Moncton Mets and the Hub City Brewers of the New Brunswick Senior Baseball League. Kiwanis Park is the place in southeastern New Brunswick where people, young and old, gather to watch the great game of baseball.

Butler Park – Trail, BC

Butler Park, located in Trail BC has been the center piece in Trail’s rich sports heritage since the 1890’s.

On the banks of the Columbia River, Butler has hosted many community events from city celebrations, Relay for Life, Kids Day Triathalon, soccer, softball and of course baseball contests.

Butler has hosted Eddie Feigner, “The King and His Court” softball team plus numerous Babe Ruth Provincial, PNW Championships and our crown jewel event, the 1995 Sr. Babe Ruth World Series.

Currently all Trail Youth Baseball teams, Trail’s American Legion baseball program and the Trail Orioles Sr. Men’s ball club call Butler home.

This summer, Butler will host the Trail Jays AAA American Legion District Playoffs, their annual Summer Tournament and the Western Canadian Sr. Men’s Championships hosted by the Trail Orioles.

There have been nine local baseball players that have been part of Canada’s National Team program as well as MLB All-Star Jason Bay who have grown up playing at Butler.

Butler Park is truly a classic ball park. It has a vibrancy and unique character like none other. Players and spectators love experiencing Butler.

Butler Park…….. a strong candidate for “Canada’s Favourite Ballpark”.

Stade de Trois-Rivières – Trois-Riviéres, QC

The stadium was first opened to public in 1938. Since then, several baseball teams have played in it starting with the famous Royals, followed by the Aigles of the Eastern AA League, Cincinnati Red’s farm club. Famous names have played in Trois-Rivières and among them are Ken Griffey Sr. where his famous son enjoyed running up and down the stairs, Dan Drissen and Ray Knight.

Several championships have been hosted : 1994, 2004, 2009 and 2010 junior nationals, 1989 World Juniors, 1992 and 1999 National Selects, 2005 Midget Nationals.

Several teams in the midget, junior and senior divisions are now sharing the stadium.  

The stadium was fully renovated in 2009 with investment of 9 millions. The scoreboard bought for 170 000 $ is also part of this great facility.

For all of those reasons and for all the volunteers who have worked in the stadium for years, our stadium should be highly considered for the choice of the top stadiums in Canada.

Rev. Ronald Cullen Field – Windsor, ON

Built in 1972 in the heart of a 97 acre sports complex known as Mic-Mac Park. The field was originally named the Babe Ruth Diamond as the Mic-Mac Club of Windsor was hosting the 1972 Mid-Atlantic Babe Ruth Baseball Championship.

In 1995 the diamond was renamed Rev. Ronald Cullen Field in honor of his years as a prominent coach, teacher and mentor.   The facility received the Ontario Parks Association Engineering Award. Cullen Field features Major League dimensions, lighting, seating for 5000, scoreboard, four dressing rooms and large dugouts.

Over the years the field has served as the headquarters and main field for numerous major events including the 1986, 1987and 1993 World Youth Baseball Championships, Baseball Canada’s first single site National Championships and the Ontario and Canadian National Championships, Midget, Junior and Senior. For a number of years it was the training site for Canada’s Senior National Baseball team. The field also serves as home for local teams in the Can-Am and Mic-Mac Leagues, high school leagues and is the site of the League’s Annual Championships. This will also be the site of the 2011 National Junior Championship.

 The entire Complex is maintained with great pride by the City of Windsor Parks Department.

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