By Josh:
It takes something special to wow me when I go to a new stadium. Let’s be honest I get to watch baseball games at one of the best stadiums in all of MLB, Safeco Field. I’ve seen all but one of the stadiums in Phoenix for Spring Training, and I’ve been too quite a few minor league and college stadiums.
I’ve seen the best and the worst of stadiums and this week when I walked into Avista Stadium in Spokane, WA for the first time and I can say I got to see the best of stadiums. Going to stadiums in Hillsboro and Eugene I often compare those stadiums to the nice ones in Phoenix, but when I walked into Avista I couldn’t compare it to those stadiums because I think it would be on the high end of even spring training facilities.
It was an amazing stadium that captivated me almost as soon as I walked in.
Now I know that Spokane was a AAA team at one point but even with that knowledge the stadium is amazing beyond that.
Like every other minor league stadium there were no bad seats. Even sitting in one of the highest and farthest seats in the park the view was still amazing and comfortable. The All-Star game that I went to was a standing room only sellout crowd but I never felt crowded.
The concessions area was quite large and made for short and fast lines. The Grandslam burger that I had was really good. The Dip In Dots ice cream was good as well. Prices weren’t as high as I initially expected for stadium food. A large pop was $4, which is normal, and the burger I got was only $6, if I remember right.
The gift shop was in an easy to get to location and was a nice selection of apparel and souvenirs.
The thing that also stood out to me was the staff at Avista stadium. They were excited and really helped to set the tone for the stadium. The atmosphere in the stadium is exactly what you would hope that you would find at a minor league and even a major league stadium.
Avista Stadium is the best minor league stadium I’ve been to. If there is a better minor league stadium in the USA I would love to visit it.
I’m glad that you enjoyed your visit to Avista Stadium. As a Spokane Indians fan for over 40 years, I have seen hundreds of games at that ballpark. Our team owners (George Brett & his brothers) have teamed with Spokane County to do an incredible job of making improvements and changes over the years. We have a great facilty to watch minor league baseball, and I am very proud of it.