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Created by:
Jeff LeCrone

Clipper Magazine Stadium
Lancaster, PA

Team: Lancaster Barnstormers
Affiliate: None
Opened: 2005
Capacity: 7,500
League: Atlantic
Year First Visited: 2005

I

In the late innings of the only game I ever attended at Clipper Magazine Stadium, a team official asked me what I thought of the place. 

I told him that if I hadn't seen dozens more just like it, I'd be highly impressed.  

As it is, Clipper Magazine Stadium is a very nice place to catch a ballgame.  It's just so much like many of the other ballparks I've visited that it held very little originality for me.  But, as I often say when I talk about ballparks built on this template, originality doesn't matter to the average fan who hasn't been to any other places, because to them, it is original.

Clipper magazine Stadium is a standard open-concourse ballpark with seating that goes down from the concourse.  It's got all of the things you'd expect in a new ballpark - luxury boxes, a nice large video/score board, a large air-conditioned souvenir store, and plenty of promotions. 

One nice feature is the 360-degree concourse that allows you to walk the entire way around the stadium while keeping an eye on the game.  I can't help it - I'm a walker, and it is difficult for me to stay still the entire time I'm at a ballgame.  But I also like to watch, so to be able to do both at the same time is a plus. 

Unfortunately, whatever view you might get as you look out from the stands is obscured by a series of giant advertisement banners.  While I'm sure that this provides a lot of income for the team, it takes away from one of the only things that can help make this type of park unique - the view of the surrounding location. 

There is a barn-like building in right field, an obvious nod to the agricultural aspect of the team's name.  It's called the "Home Run Pavilion", even though it's in foul territory.  Go figure.  Also, it seems slightly out of place, as the farm theme isn't really emphasized anywhere else in the stadium.  That's a shame, because it would have added some creativity to an otherwise paint-by-the-numbers stadium. 

Bottom line:

This is a nice, clean, fun place to be and was a good introduction to the Atlantic League for me.  I'm sure this place will entertain home town fans for years to come.  But, since I've seen so many just like it, I'd have to say that the lack of originality makes it about average.



 

 


 

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