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Networks:

League: Pacific Coast

Class: Triple A

Affiliation: Arizona Diamondbacks

Stadium Built: 2009

 

Ticket Prices: $7.00 to $29.00

Parking: Mostly $5 at local garages. Limited street parking available.

Address: 2500 Evans Street, Reno, NV 89501

 

Directions: From Interstate 80 West – Take Exit 14 for Wells Avenue. Turn left on N. Wells Avenue. Turn right onto Kunezli Street. Take a slight right onto E. 2^nd Street.

 

From Interstate 80 East – Take Exit 14 for Wells Avenue. Turn right onto N. Wells Avenue. Turn right onto Kunezli Street. Take a slight right onto E. 2^nd Street.

 

From US Highway 395 North – Take Exit 66 for Mill Street. Turn left onto Mill Street. Turn right onto S. Park Street. Turn left on Kenezli. The stadium will be on your right, and the closest parking garage will be on your left.

 

 

Food: *** Disappointing. Although hot dogs are good ($4.50). The selection is limited to general concession faire with very little alternative selections. Soda costs $3.25 to $4.50. Beer costs $5.00 to $7.00 for domestic. Premium beer costs $6.00 for a 16oz or $7.50 for a 20oz, which gives no cost savings per ounce to go with the bigger beer. 

 

Review: It might be possible to come to Reno, stay downtown, and never even realize you are a few blocks from a stadium. Part of a redevelopment effort to the downtown area, this new stadium positioned right along the Truckee River is by no means ubiquitous in its outside appearance. 

 

Where to park offers a little bit of mystery as well for the first time visitor. With downtown stadiums like PGE Park and Chukchansi Park, it becomes obvious that stadium parking is limited and that one of the local garages with fixed event prices should be utilized. Perhaps it’s the development immediately around the building that makes one think there is a main parking lot, but more likely it’s the lack of signage. If you do as I did, and turn too many times, you may find yourself on the wrong side of the railroad tracks and/or river and needing to drive a mile or so out your way to get back to the ballpark. Most of the garages are at a set $5 event parking. One of the closer lots is at the Men’s Club for $10 which includes a $10 drink voucher at the club. This is not well marked, so if you are with family, or just not into going to such an establishment after the game, you may want to avoid this lot. The closest lot is located just across Kunezli from one of the main entrances, but also expect a bit more traffic at this lot.

 

Inside, the stadium feels intimate. Perhaps "small" would be a better word. Officially the capacity is listed at 9100, but only 6500 of those are fixed seats. This makes Ace Ballpark considerably smaller than places like Sacramento’s Raley Field (14,680 – with 11,000+ seats) or even Cheney Stadium in Tacoma (capacity of 9600 most of which are seats).    Also present at Aces Ballpark is a grassy berm positioned over the bullpens in right field, which also allows a bird eye view of pitchers warming up, as well as two outfield party areas that are open to everyone when not used for events. With the exception of a press room down the first base line, the entire second story of the stadium is filled with luxury boxes. It doesn’t take much to imagine that revenue from high priced game viewing was something the team was counting on when they built the stadium.

 

“Spartan” might be a good word to describe the general look of the stadium. No signs hang on the outfield wall, although a few large signs are hung over the left field fence and as well as on the bullpen wall. Although complete with a large video board, the main scoreboard is also pretty simple. Just about the only flash are the strobe lights that come on above the right outfield every time the Aces score.

 

“Clean” would be another name to describe the inside of the stadium. This place is spotless. A lot of that has to do with the fact that it is so new, but it didn’t take much to notice even senior staff cleaning around the sinks after a restroom break or picking up a wrapper spotted on the walk way. Like someone who makes a special effort to keep their new car clean for as long as possible, the staff here seems to be going out of their way to keep Aces Ballpark in pristine condition.

 

The field is also in great shape. I will choose the word “beautiful” this time. Again, the pristine quality of the field is likely the result of the stadium being so new. Given that the stadium was finished just before the start of the season, one can imagine that it has not hosted too many non-baseball events. Nor has the field come under the rigors of season to season play. Yet the late season game I went to was played on a field in great condition, in a desert no less, that the it's obvious the Aces has a grounds crew that has been on top of their game.

 

Perhaps one of the nicest attributes of Aces Ballpark is the number of little surprises that make a stroll around the stadium worthwhile. It even seems as if the team encourages people to walk around the stadium, with a sign letting the visitor know that three trips equals one mile.   The game is readily viewed from almost anywhere along this stroll, with plenty of places to set your food or beverages along the way. Just beyond right field are sunken train tracks that shoot under downtown Reno (most probably didn’t even know they were there). In the corner down the right field line, the Truckee River is viewed just beyond the gate.   A free kids’ play area is also located in the outfield. 

 

As far as food, what’s missing are the alternative food stands so common to many stadiums these days. Instead, most of the faire is at the concessions, and limited in choices. Because the Aces Cheesesteak sandwich at $6.50 was listed in red and everything else was blue on the menu, I figured this was the item to try. I should have known better. Having once worked in Philadelphia for extended periods, I became fondly familiar with places like Pat’s and Jim’s, and I’ve never had a cheesesteak outside south Philadelphia that has tasted as good as what these famous estblishments create. That makes me tainted. I really enjoyed the hot dog I had after by cheesesteak though, so judgment on food quality is still open for debate.

 

Aces Ballpark itself might not be the most obvious destination ballpark, but being just a couple blocks from Reno’s downtown casinos, an hour from Tahoe, and plenty of desert and/or mountain activities nearby, one can find plenty of excuses to get to the Reno area. Once there, by all means, take half a day to see a game at the new ballpark.  While not on the list of must see stadiums, Reno’s new park makes a worthy impression and offers a very pleasant experience.

 

Pluses: New stadium. Very clean. Great stadium for strolling. Good views of the game throughout. Great playing surface.

 

Minuses: Limited food selections. Sort of bland appearance.

 

Tip: Park in one of the local downtown garages that advertises $5 even parking, then walk the couple blocks to the stadium.   You’ll save yourself a trip or two around the stadium looking for the parking lot.

 

Posted dimensions: 338, 410, 424, 340

 

Fence: 20 ft. in left, 8 ft. for the rest of the park.

 

Scouting report: With dry air, wind, and an elevation above 4,000 feet, the designers of Aces Ballpark felt the need to create a large field to balance out the hitter friendly attributes of this location. The spacious outfield makes this seem like it would be a pitchers’ heaven, but well-hit balls will fly.

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