The Barons of Baseball

Baseball in Birmingham has deep roots, going back as one of the charter members of the Southern League in 1885, with Rickwood Field constructed as their permanent home in 1910. Minor league ball stayed in the city for just over 100 years, until the team moved to the suburb of Hoover in 1987. After twenty years without professional baseball, Birmingham brought their wayward Barons home to downtown in 2013, where the AA affiliate of the White Sox has played ever since.

Their new digs are Regions Field, in the heart of the city. The 8,500-seat stadium was built in just over a year, in time for opening day in 2013. Birmingham-based Regions Financial Corporation bought the naming rights for the team, and starting with that opening-day sellout, the returned Barons have been a success story ever since.

Regions Field is a stand-out minor-league park for a historic franchise, above-average in nearly all areas, but getting there and getting around can be a bit problematic.

Food & Beverage 4

Regions Field definitely has a better-than-average selection of consumables for you to choose from, but the prices sometimes creep up.

The two main concessions are on the promenade by first and third base, both dishing out the same selection of ballpark standards: burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers and wings, and pizza ($4-$12). But the best bet is Dreamland Bar-B-Que in the Magic City Food Court just past first base, serving up BBQ delights in pulled pork, sausage, burger, and ribs forms ($8-$18). A rotating selection of food trucks is also usually on-hand near center field.

The regular concessions deliver up an uninspiring selection of Bud Light, Coors, Blue Moon, and Leinenkugel ($6, 16-oz). Magic City Cocktails in right-center adds in specialty cocktails ($8), and a slightly better selection of drafts and cans is available at the draft beer concession at home plate ($8 for 24-oz domestic, and $7 for 12-oz premium), also adding wine to the drinks menu ($6). But your first stop should be the first base beer stands, which have a rotating selection from local breweries TrimTab, Cahaba, and Good People.

There’s not even a question. Go to Dreamland and get yourselves some ribs, or at least a pulled pork sandwich ($18, $8). You’re welcome. Why wait until after the game to snag some home-town brews? Grab from the rotating selection in the draft beer area by first base ($7). But go *early* especially at Dreamland. Big crowds mean big lines, and nearly all the concession stands get mobbed, so unless you like waiting, grub up as soon as you go in.

Atmosphere 5

If you distill it down to its parts, Regions Field can seem like many other modern-era, minor league ballparks. There’s the wide promenade that circles the park, above the one row of seats that run down from it. A second, two-level row of party decks, luxury boxes, and the press box rise above it. And there’s the giant digital video board in left-center field against the view of downtown, along with the various party areas dotting the promenade.

But that is missing the forest for the trees. You already know you’re dealing with something special before you go inside, with Birmingham’s name splayed outside across one side of the park (and turns into a light show for night games). The park is wedged into existing downtown streets, with the interesting outfield dimensions such a locale produces. It is not just a great park, it is a *well-designed* park. It crams in over 8,000 people, yet feels incredibly intimate, and that’s a harder trick than it sounds, and nothing about it is run-of-the-mill.

Mascot Babe Ruff the dog and the always-enthusiastic, top-hatted human RC run the fun and games between innings. Most of the entertainment is minor league standard, though there are some unique twists such as a closest-to-the-target airplane-throwing contest (sponsored by the local airport), and the in-game hit-by-pitches being sponsored by a local injury lawyer.

All the seats have great views, so don’t feel a need to splurge for dugout seats. The berm seats in left are just as good as the baseline box seats, so it is a perfect stadium to save some dough and just lounge on a hill and watch a game.

Neighborhood 5

Perhaps not a national star, Birmingham is a southern city that shines in its own way. With a downtown ballpark, you may as well take advantage of all it has to offer, most of it within walking distance.

There’s not enough space to list all the restaurants in foodie-heaven Birmingham. The ballpark is right by the biggest cluster of restaurants by the train station. No matter what you’re looking for, you’ll probably find it. Best of the best include Asian Fusion Bamboo on 2nd, Italian Bettola, and Dreamland Bar-B-Que.

If you get bored in Birmingham, you’re not trying. One must-visit is the free Negro Southern League Museum right next to the park. Another is Rickwood Field, the Baron’s original, permanent home and still-in-use, century-old ballpark, a short drive west of downtown. Otherwise, follow your interests. You should probably visit the important Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the Civil Rights District.

Need something kid-friendly? Try the McWane Science Center. Want to get your music on? Try the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame or Iron City. Looking for liquid fun? There are several breweries in town, with a couple right by the park. There’s too much to list. Poke around, and you’ll likely find it.

Located in the heart of downtown, there are hotels all around the park. Closest is the upscale Home 2, Hilton Garden Inn, Courtyard Marriott, and SpringHill Suites. Just to the north are the more budget Kings Service Center and Tourway Inn, and just northeast by the train station are the upscale John Hand Club Hotel, Elyton Hotel, and Fairfield Inn & Suites. A little north and south of downtown are a dozen more options. Suffice to say, you won’t have slim pickings as to where to sleep.

Fans 4

Birmingham truly embraced the Barons’ return, and since that first opening-day sellout, they pretty much kept going, topping their league in attendance. While everyone isn’t there just for baseball, you can’t ignore the level of support.

The Barons perennially top the Southern League attendance charts, usually by quite a margin over their closest competitors. It is safe to say they are the cream of this AA-crop, at least as far as ticket sales go. Though there are a lot of sellouts, there are also empty seats. That said, there’s always a healthy crowd at the games, and a good portion of the crowd is into the on-field action and not just there for a family night out.

One incredibly nice tradition is the “Seventh Inning Wave,” where fans are encouraged to turn on their cell phone lights and wave to the children’s hospital patients beyond the right field wall and watch them wave back. I don’t want to know what kind of hard-hearted monster you’d have to be not to enjoy that.

Access 3

Regions Field is conveniently located in the center of the city, though driving is problematic with some crucial construction, and big crowds plug up the concessions for the duration of the game.

Regions Field is within walking distance of the Birmingham Amtrak Station downtown (which also has a Greyhound bus station), so you really don’t need much transit to get there. Nearly all the bus routes in the city go to the park or to the train station ($1.25), so you won’t have any difficulty getting there from around the city, either. Driving is into the heart of downtown, which is just to the east on I-65 and just south of I-20. Though *beware*: a “three-year” construction project closes off the downtown section of I-20 and is a bit of a traffic nightmare. Birmingham International Airport is just to the north of downtown, and Atlanta’s Hartfield-Jackson is about two-and-a-half hours to the east.

The parking situation isn’t ideal. It is easy enough to get there on foot for locals (or from a close-by hotel), but if you’re driving and don’t have a Baron’s parking pass, you’re either at the mercy of sometimes fickle street parking (free), or three pay lots a couple of blocks from the stadium ($10).

There are two main entrances to the park, by home plate and third base. You can generally get some shade waiting to get in by the third base entrance, and that can matter in the Alabama sun. The entrance process is quick and painless, even with the large crowds.

While the big crowds aren’t a problem on the comfortably large promenade, concession lines are another matter. By game time, nearly all the concessions have long lines, and the especially popular ones such as Dreamland have epic lines that escape their queue barriers. Big-league, multi-inning waits are possible, so try and grab your food as soon as you enter.

Return on Investment 4

The Barons generally deliver on the good value on which minor league baseball lives and dies. The best seat in the house costs just $15, but other things can get relatively pricey.

Tickets are broken out in four categories: Dugout Premium (by the home dugout, $15), Field Reserved (home plate and infield seats, $13), Baseline Box (along the short outfield, $10), and GA/Berm (as you’d expect, $8).

The food overall is pretty affordable, but there are a good number of options that top out over $10, relatively expensive for this level of the minors, though beer prices are refreshingly affordable. Parking is free if you can grab a street spot, $10 a lot. The program is $1 for a standard minor league, game day pamphlet and an attractive cardstock scorecard. The kids’ play area is also $5, a little on the high side.

Extras 4

Though the park is only six years old, the new stadium already has a lot of character built into it.

The history of the franchise is celebrated with famous player pennants hanging from along the promenade–and if you didn’t know that this was the minor league club where Michael Jordan played, you will be told several times before you leave–as well as murals painted on the stadium walls. A statue to Willie Mays is outside by the home plate entrance, and even the ticket booth is dedicated to a long-time worker.

The SwitchYard is a tiny little trailer park within the stadium by the first base concourse, a fun little area to play various camp games, or just sit and drink among old airstream trailers. The Baron’s Sports Depot is a standard-issue team store open before and during the games.

And you also find few stadiums with such daring architecture, and the nods to their previous home at Rickwood Field as well as the city’s history and industry are a welcome addition that keeps the park from being anything but generic.

Final Thoughts

Besides some access issues, there’s nothing but good news with Regions Field. It is a stand-out park smack in the middle of a subdued gem of a city. Your only problem may be getting one of the hottest tickets in town.

____

Did you enjoy this content? Help support our work by becoming a supporter of Stadium Journey on Patreon. Supporter levels begin at just $2/month.