Jerry Uht Park

Jerry Uht Park
Erie, PA

Team: Erie Seawolves
Affiliation: Detroit Tigers
Capacity: 6,000
Completed: 1995
Jerry Uht Park Video

If I needed to describe Jerry Uht Park with just one word, that word would be "unique". There is a standard grandstand configuration on the third base side, but in order to conserve the space needed to squeeze the park tightly into a city block, the first base side consists of two decks. This provides a wonderfully quirky feeling to the park, one of the many things that makes this a special place. Even the view from the seats is somewhat unique, with the huge Civic Center arena dominating the left field view and a residential area in right field.

The Seawolves played in the New York-Penn League before shifting to the Eastern League in 1999. Thus, Uht Park was initially built as a single-A facility, and in some ways it shows. The construction is a bit

cheaper than in some of the other new parks. For example, you can see the wood trusses under the roof, and there is a lot of sheet metal siding instead of concrete or brick on the interior walls. Nonetheless, this is a fine facility that certainly belongs in AA ball. I heard some of the fans say, however, that the team is considering moving back down to single A in order to affiliate with a closer team, perhaps the Pirates or the Indians. After all, not many people in Erie are all that concerned about the Anaheim Angels. This was no more evident than in the stands, where just over 2,000 showed up. Whatever the case, I wish this team well; I had a tremendous time here.

My visit to Uht Park was the beginning of a new perspective on visiting ballparks for me. A few weeks before I went to Erie, a friend of mine suggested that I try to get comments on the various stadiums from the players' point of view (you can see his suggestion in the "Bulletin Board" section). So, I tried contacting the team about this, and they were extremely hospitable, even to the point of allowing us in the clubhouse! We were able to get comments from players, coaches, and staff. Check them out in our "People" section!

Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to this park. Facility-wise, this may not be the best park out there, but it's good enough to be near the top, and I had a lot of fun here. The people were amazingly friendly, from team management to players to concession workers. It's a shame more people in Erie don't take advantage of this park.

2001 Update: The Seawolves changed their affiliation from the Anaheim Angels to the Detroit Tigers.

The mascot - C. Wolf

One of the luxury boxes