RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL/RGJ.COM TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013 ● 7D

Aces Ballpark, which hostsWednesday’s Triple-A All-StarGame, is one of the newestand nicest ballparks in thecountry.

But the $50 million stadi-um, which is wedged betweena train trench and the TruckeeRiver in downtown Reno, isn’tthe only Triple-A stadiumwith an interesting back story.

Here is a look at whatmakes 10 other Triple-A stadi-ums special.

McCoy Stadium (Paw-tucket Red Sox): The oldestTriple-A ballpark, McCoyStadiumwas completed in1942.

In 1981, the longest game inprofessional baseball historywas played here, a 3-2 PawSoxwin over Rochester in 33 in-nings. Future Hall of FamersWade Boggs and Cal RipkenJr. both played in the game.

Werner Park (OmahaStorm Chasers): Opening in2011, Werner Park in the new-est of the 30 Triple-A stadi-ums. It cost $36 million to

build ($14 million less thanAces Ballpark, which openedin 2009). Before the park’sopening, the team played atRosenblatt Stadium, home ofthe College World Series.

Coca-Cola Field (BuffaloBisons): The stadium has thelargest capacity of all minor-league teams at 18,025. Ithosted the first Triple-A All-Star Game in 1988 as well aslast year’s All-Star Game, the25th edition.

The Goo Goo Dolls’ musicvideo “There You Are” alsowas shot at the stadium in1991.

Durham Bulls AthleticPark (Durham Bulls):Whilethis ballpark isn’t the one seenin the 1998 movie “Bull Dur-ham,” it does have a bull signmounted above the 32-foot-high Blue Monster in left fieldas an ode to the movie. Thesign jokingly reads, “Hit BullWin Steak. Hit Grass WinSalad.”

Chukchansi Park (FresnoGrizzlies): The ballpark,named after Chukchansi GoldResort & Casino, had a recordattendance of 16,125 in 2012.

The catch is that game was asoccer match betweenMex-ican clubs América and Chia-pas, besting the baseball at-tendance record of 14,084 fansfor a Grizzlies-Giants tilt.

AutoZone Park (MemphisRedbirds): This is the mostexpensive Triple-A ballpark,ringing in at a cost of $80.5million when it was built in2000 (or $107 million in 2013dollars after inflation). Taco-ma’s Cheney Stadium is thecheapest Triple-A stadium($940,000 in 1940 and sincerenovated four times).

Victory Field (Indianapo-lis Indians): This is the mostpatriotically named Triple-Aballpark. The Indians’ oldstadiumwas named VictoryField from1942-67 after theU.S. victory in World War II.It was later renamed BushField, but when the old stadi-um shut its doors in 1996, itsreplacement got the nameVictory Field once again.

Knights Stadium (Char-lotte Knights): This is theswan song season for KnightsStadium, which opened in1990 but will be replaced by a

new stadium (BB&T Ball-park) in 2014. Charlotte at-torney Jerry Reese filed sev-en lawsuits to block the newstadium, hoping instead towoo a major-league team totown.

Herschel Greer Stadium(Nashville Sounds): Thisstadium has the coolest score-board in baseball. It’s a 115-foot-long black guitar withred, yellow and white trimbehind the left-field fence.The line score runs on theguitar’s neck. The park alsohas witnessed eight no-hit-ters, including back-to-backno-nos in 1988.

Security Service Field(Colorado Springs Sky Sox):The stadium’s elevation of6,531 feet makes it the highestprofessional baseball park inNorth America. Despite theelevation, this park isn’t hometo the single-season recordfor homers by a player.

That is held by Ron Kittle,who hit 50 homers with thenow-defunct Edmonton Trap-pers in 1982. The Trappersplayed at Telus Field (eleva-tion roughly 2,220).

SCHEDULE

TODAY»Media Day/Workout Sessionat Aces Ballpark, 1-3 p.m. Thisevent is open to the public.

WEDNESDAY» Triple-A All-Star Luncheonwith John Smoltz at Harrah’sConvention, 11:30 a.m.-1:30p.m.» 2013 Dolan Auto GroupTriple-A All-Star Game at AcesBallpark, 6:05 p.m.

TICKET INFOA limited number of ticketsremain for Wednesday’sAll-Star Game. Purchase ticketsat the Reno Aces Box Office, byphone at 775-334-7000 oronline at RenoAces.com.

TVThe Triple-A All-Star Game willbe televised by MLB Networkon Wednesday, starting at 6p.m. A replay will be shown atmidnight.

ONLY ON RGJ.COM

The RGJ sports team willprovide complete coverage ofthe Triple-A All-Star Gamefestivities through the All-StarGame onWednesday.

» Visit RGJ.com for completecoverage on your desktop,including photo galleries fromFanFest over the weekend andMonday’s home run derby;videos previewing the day’sevents and highlight recapsthroughout each day’s events;and stories, schedules andmore.

» Have a tablet? Visittablet.rgj.com for a tabletversion of the photo galleries,video highlights and completestories.

» On the go? Download theRGJ smartphone app for adaily schedule of events.During Wednesday’s All-StarGame, you can find lineups,recaps throughout the gameand more.

» Have a photo from All-Starweek that you want to share?Download the RGJ Sharesmartphone app to submitthe photo straight from yourphone or visit RGJ.com/shareon your desktop to submitphotos.

»We’re also on social media!Follow@RGJ_Aces and@RGJsports on Twitter for abehind-the-scenes lookthroughout the week. Or“Like” RGJ media onFacebook for photos anddiscussion throughout theweek.

By Chris Murraycmurray@rgj.com

Looking at notable ballparks

The Reno Aces’ Matt Davidson shows his winning form during the Triple-A All-Star home run derby Monday at Aces Ballpark. TIM DUNN/RGJ

The Reno Aces’ Matt Davidson smiles as he comes back on the field after winning the Triple-AAll-Star home run derby Monday. TIM DUNN/RGJ

Brock Peterson watches his ball leave theyard during the home run derby. TIM DUNN/RGJ

Local flair highlights Triple-A home run derby

A view of Aces Ballpark. DAVID CALVERT/RENO ACES