After visiting 29 Minor League stadiums during the 2008 baseball season, my choice for "Minor League Ballpark of the Year" is Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island, NY. RCB Ballpark is located on Staten Island next to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. What caught my eye right away was the unique entrance to the ballpark. The entrance features sails to go along with the scenery. Once fans enter the stadium, they see the breath-taking view of Manhattan. Another cool feature is the replica of the Verranno-Narrows Bridge atop the high definition video board. As far as the scenery goes, this park features one of the best backdrops in the Minors.

It is refreshing to visit a minor league stadium that is not just a carbon copy of all of the other minor league stadiums. The first noticeable difference from a lot of minor league parks is that the seats are blue, rather than a dark green. Also, the seats are situated at a very steep incline which makes watching the game a lot better. The outfield walls feature crystal clear ribbon video board. No horrible advertisements plastered all over the walls.

One feature that many Minor League ballparks are missing is a tribute to the history of the team. At RCB Ballpark, they have managed to incorporate the history of the francise throughout the stadium. The luxury suites are all named after former New York Yankees. Even SI's mascot pays homeage to the MLB affiliate, "Scooter, the Holy Cow".

I was pleasantly surprised at the reasonable prices at the concession stands. After just attending a game at nearby KeySpan Park, I was expecting to see similar "New York City" prices. Soft pretzels were a reasonable $2.75 and chicken fingers and fries were an economical $5.00.

The atmosphere was very laid back and stress-free. Everything done at Richmond County Bank Ballpark is done with class.