The World Needs More Kevin

Opened: June 1, 2006

Capacity: 5,570

Affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals

This seems to be a new trend. Have a large college town get a low level minor league baseball team and share it with the university’s baseball team. I have never seen a PSU baseball game but I have been coming up here since 2012 when they were a Pirates affiliate. Since then they have gone back to the Cardinals as the Pirates have their affiliate down in Morgantown. The Spikes have done well, they’ve won 2 league titles in recent years.

How did I get there?

US 322 from Harrisburg. The park can be accessed from either the Park Avenue or College Avenue exits. Parking is $5 though when I went up in 2017 for the season finale it was free, at least I think it was. I didn’t pay anyone and my car wasn’t towed.

Ticket prices

Not bad. I usually sit in the Bullpen box and I think they are $10. My thinking is that they want to encourage students to come out so the prices are kept a bit lower. There is a large grandstand in right field that was $1 on certain nights when I first started coming up.

Finding my seat and amenities

This can be a bit confusing. There are seats in the 100s, 200s, 300s, and 400s and they are positioned farther away from the plate but you have to read the sign at the entrance to know which side you should go to. The food is OK, there is a burger place in right field that is really good and the Berkey Creamery has a stand for ice cream. It’s just my opinion but I think it is the best ice cream in the world. Get to the park early and you can also visit the real thing on campus.

In game experience

It’s the usual stable of entertainment with promoting Penn State added in. I have been up twice to see the Spikes play the Williamsport Cross Cutters and the students seem to get really into it, though for the big rivalry the actual fans don’t. Maybe that is because the students are from Philly since the Cutters are Philly’s farm team. I don’t know.

Getting out

You are in the shadow of Beaver Stadium so no matter how bad traffic is you can always think to yourself it could be worse. It is normally not that hard.

Wrap

I’ve started hitting local breweries for dinner while coming up. It may not be cheaper but it is tastier. This is a beautiful park, especially with the mountain in the background.