We begin our final segment of competition in the 2019 Best of the Ballparks fan vote, as we ask you to choose among 64 summer-collegiate ballparks. There is an abundance of riches here, so vote!

When we refer to an abundance of riches, we’re talking about an amazingly wide variety of ballparks used in summer-collegiate leagues across the United States and Canada. This year we’re maxing out our bracketing software and presenting 64 noteworthy summer-collegiate ballparks. We’re not presenting this as a definitive list of the “best” summer-collegiate ballparks — indeed, winnowing this list to 64 was an epic feat in and of itself — but we feel this list is representative of the wide variety of facilities currently used in summer-collegiate baseball, ranging from WPA facilities and ballparks hosting Negro Leagues games to former Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A ballparks. (Yes, we did take history into account when compiling this list.) We began this competition with last year’s winner–Corbett Field, home of the Souris Valley Sabre Dogs–and randomly generated the rest of the brackets. Yes, this initial list is a long one, but we think it’s worth your while.

We know from marketing stats that a third of our readers work in the baseball industry, so we’re tapping into that collective expertise. And we know from our research that a third of our readers sell to the baseball industry, so that expertise will be valuable as well. The remaining third — fans, media, government — will certainly have a different view on things as well. We can’t wait to see what our readers — whom we consider to be the smartest folks in baseball — say about the best of the ballparks.







We are running the contest with seeded brackets, so there will be plenty of action in coming days. Here’s our schedule for the Best of the Ballparks 2019 summer-collegiate vote:

First Round: Now through June 24, 3 p.m. Central

Second Round: June 24, 3 p.m. Central – July 1, 3 p.m. Central

Third Round: July 1, 3 p.m. Central – July 8, 3 p.m. Central

Fourth Round: July 8, 3 p.m. Central – July 13, 3 p.m. Central

Fifth Round: July 13, 3 p.m. Central – July 18, 3 p.m. Central

Final Round: July 18, 3 p.m. Central – July 23, end of day

Here’s our schedule for Best of the Ballparks 2019 vote:

MLB: Completed

Low A: Completed (Fort Wayne TinCaps)

High A: Completed

Class AA: Now-June 23

Class AAA: Now-June 30

Short Season A/Rookie: Now-July 12

Independent: Now-July 8

Summer Collegiate: Now-July 23

Some things to note. First, you are allowed to vote multiple times, but you can only vote once per day. Second, you don’t need to fill out a full slate: partially filled lineups will count. A running tally of the vote will be presented. Signing up for the Ballpark Digest newsletter means you’ll receive regular updates on the votes.