Top 10! Appalachian Power Park

Stadium Journey Magazine has named Appalachian Power Park, the home of the West Virginia Power, as one of its top 100 venues in professional and amateur sports and rated it tenth best of all Minor League Baseball parks in the nation. The magazine, published on Saturday, January 21, 2012, placed the Charleston, West Virginia ballpark at number 58 in its list of the 100 best stadiums, arenas, or facilities.

Stadium Journey Magazine and its corresponding website stadiumjourney.com utilized a five star rating system called FANFARE that judged a venue on food and beverage, atmosphere, neighborhood, fans, access, return on investment, and extras. Each venue was then reviewed by a staff member from Stadium Journey. Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts and the 2012 Super Bowl, ranked number one in the Top 100 list, which also features Lambeau Field, Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Verizon Center, and Target Field in the top five.

Appalachian Power Park had a composite score of 4.3 stars out of five on the magazine's FANFARE scale and garnered five stars in food and beverage, access, and return on investment. The park also received four stars in three other categories: atmosphere, neighborhood, and fans.

"I would consider it the best of the minor league stadiums I have visited," states Stadium Journey Regional Correspondent Joshua Guiher. "It's a clean park that looks like it was just built yesterday with a courteous staff who quickly and warmly answered any of my questions."

Only nine Minor League Baseball stadiums rated higher than Appalachian Power Park. Parkview Field, home of the Fort Wayne TinCaps, was labeled as the top stadium in Minor League Baseball. The remainder of the top ten range from short-season stadiums to Triple-A venues.

Appalachian Power Park was ranked higher than many notable venues like Old Trafford in Manchester, England (#59), Heinz Field in Pittsburgh (#60), Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark (#63), Soldier Field in Chicago (#76), and Yankee Stadium (#79) and Madison Square Garden (#82) in New York.

"I really enjoyed my visit to Appalachian Power Park and certainly will go back," said Guiher. "It's a new park that doesn't have much of its own history yet, but baseball has been played in Charleston for a long time and the antics of the fans have carried over, giving the team a nice core following, setting a good, enjoyable atmosphere."

The West Virginia Power open the 2012 season on the road at Hagerstown on April 5 and begin their home schedule at Appalachian Power Park on April 12 when the Greenville Drive come to Charleston, WV.

For more information, please contact the Power front office at (304) 344-2287.