Benjamin Hill travels the nation amassing tales about what makes Minor League Baseball distinctive. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler e-newsletter, introduced by Circle Okay, is a mere style of the smorgasbord of delights he provides each week. Learn the total e-newsletter right here, and subscribe to his e-newsletter right here.
Synovus Park, the house of the Columbus Clingstones, was certainly one of 4 new Minor League ballparks to debut in 2025. Or was it?
The Clingstones play in what might maybe be extra precisely described as a massively previous ballpark, previously often known as Golden Park. The grandstand and brick archways ringing the concourse stay intact, supplemented by an array of recent buildings and group areas. It is brand-new and historical , a merging of the Nineteen Twenties and 2020s right into a singular Minor League expertise.
The Clingstones, Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, moved to Columbus, Ga., after relocating from the Jackson suburb of Pearl (the place they had been often known as the Mississippi Braves). Columbus is Georgia’s second-largest metropolis, situated within the heart of the state’s western edge. A Clingstone is a sort of peach — one whose flesh “clings” to the pit — so it figures that the crew makes use of peach as a main colour and even has an all-peach alternate uniform.
Golden Park opened in 1926 and hosted skilled baseball from the soar, beginning with the Columbus Foxes of the Southeastern League. The final crew to play there previous to the Clingstones had been the 2008 Columbus Catfish, who then relocated to Bowling Inexperienced, Ky., and have become the Scorching Rods.
The Legacy Gateway Arches, situated on the first-base aspect of the ballpark, slot in with the ballpark’s authentic architectural aesthetic. They solely date to 1996, nonetheless, when Golden Park hosted Girls’s Softball within the Olympics (which had been in any other case held in Atlanta, situated roughly 100 miles north).
The arches characteristic photographs from varied eras of the ballpark’s historical past, paying tribute to legendary native figures like “Goody Goody Peanut Man” Willie Bowman. One signal has a listing of baseball notables who performed in Columbus, and it’s a most formidable array.
Most followers enter the ballpark by means of the right-field entrance, making the arches one of many first issues they see. The Orchard crew retailer is to the appropriate of the doorway, whereas additional again and to the left is the Aflac Membership (a second-level premium space).
Synovus Park is situated simply west of the Columbus Civic Heart, dwelling of the Lions (Enviornment League soccer) and River Dragons (hockey). Parking tons are situated in between the 2 services, and (as I by chance found) restricted parking on close by Magnolia tree-lined residential streets is offered as properly.
The Chattahoochee River, separating Georgia from Alabama, runs alongside the first-base aspect of the ballpark. The pathway alongside the river is a part of the 22-mile Columbus Riverwalk, an effective way to discover the world on two toes or two wheels.
The concourse behind dwelling plate is bounded by brick archway and concrete wall, with the underside of the seating bowl offering much-needed shade. Right here is the place I had the best sense of being in a traditional ballpark, as a result of they do not make ’em like this anymore.
And as regards the “debate” whether or not it is a new ballpark or a renovated previous one, I definitively selected the previous after seeing this steep ramp main from the concourse to the seating bowl. This vantage level jogged my memory of a number of traditional ballparks, together with Birmingham’s Rickwood Area.
The seating bowl construction could also be classic, however the seats are all new.
I talked to a number of locals about Golden Park and the distinction between these days and the Synovus Park reboot in 2025. Shawnesse Benton, a stadium operations employee who exuded Southern hospitality, first attended video games on the ballpark in the course of the Columbus Astros (1970-88) period. That crew rebranded because the Columbus Mudcats previous to the 1989 season, and in 1991 moved to Zebulon, N.C., and have become the Carolina Mudcats.
“It is actually sentimental to me to see what’s occurred, as a result of it was nothing like this,” she stated. “To see it reworked like this has been actually superb.”
In the meantime, on the sector, the Clingstones wore their peach-colored uniform tops. These items actually pop.
One key Clingstone this season was pitcher Ian Mejia, who went 12-3 with a 2.67 ERA over 131 1/3 innings pitched. He stated that he had no thought what a clingstone was previous to the season, however that the identify is, “Becoming and catchy, and the colours are superior.”
The anthropomorphic peach on the Clingstones uniform is, in fact, a dwelling, respiration ballpark entity. Fuzzy the mascot, a fruit with formidable dance strikes, roams Synovus Park all recreation lengthy.
To pattern the peach cobbler and different Clingstone delights, I recruited a Designated Eater with an improbably superior identify: Bear Elder.
Bear is initially from Conyers, Ga., however moved to Columbus on the age of 8. He attended loads of video games at Golden Park as a child and was now absolutely embracing this new period. As for his actual identify, I am undecided he ever advised me. He stated that he was nicknamed Bear on the age of 1, because of the “growling noises” he was liable to make.
Bear cherished the peach cobbler, remarking that “it must be scorching, however that is one of the best peach cobbler I’ve had chilly. … All the time get this, whether or not you need dessert or not.”
On this early Saturday night, Bear’s dessert was a part of a large ballpark meal that absolutely put him into hibernation. One spotlight was the Fountain Metropolis Burger, an homage to Columbus’ nickname (town has a preponderance of public fountains, most relationship to the early twentieth century).
The Fountain Metropolis Burger is topped with pimento cheese, bacon, pink onion jam and crunchy onions.
“The pimento cheese has kick to it, and the jam helps cool it off,” stated Bear, giving it a “9 out of 10.”
Subsequent up was the Burnt Finish Brisket Sausage, topped with peach barbecue sauce and pickled pink onions.
“Peach barbecue sauce is my favourite on this factor,” stated Bear. “9.5 out of 10.”
The Pulled Pork Nachos are served in a full-size helmet, a meal appropriate for a Bear.
Different highlights of Bear’s culinary odyssey included Mexican-style avenue corn and Blue Razz Lemonade, an incandescent vodka cocktail. The Clingstones’ meals and beverage crew, led by basic supervisor Alex Lilley, is off to an awesome begin.
I, in the meantime, bought off to an awesome begin whereas dressed as Mustard within the Clingstones’ Scorching Canine Race. Sadly, I tripped close to the end line, permitting my opponents Scorching Canine and Relish to hurry on by.
After I return to Columbus, Mustard shall have his revenge.
Good night time from Synovus Park, Minor League Baseball’s oldest new ballpark. Or possibly it is the opposite means round.
