Ranking the Big Ten Baseball Stadiums

College baseball returns this week! Somebody wake up Kevin Warren and remind him that baseball is a sport that the Big Ten does, in fact, compete in.

In the meantime, let's take a look at and rank the complete afterthoughts some members of this conference threw together when they remembered they had baseball teams. And yes, the word "stadiums" is a bit generous for some teams in this conference, but bear with me. And hey, in the last decade some members of this conference decided to actually start taking baseball seriously and built some stadiums that would be the envy of your local little leaguers.

14. Wisconsin

Stadium Name: None
Capacity: 0
Opened: Never

Wisconsin cut their baseball program in 1991 due to budget constraints. This was very lame and they are the only Big Ten program without a baseball program. Since 1991, they have finished dead last in the conference every single season, except for the cancelled 2020 season, where they finished tied for last with every other team in the conference. Apparently they used to play at a place called Guy Lowman Field. I can only assume the site is now a parking lot where teenagers do hard drugs and have copious amounts of unprotected sex because that's what teens do when they don't have college baseball to watch.

Shame on you, Wisconsin.

13. Rutgers

Stadium Name: Bainton Field
Capacity: 1,500
Opened: 1953

I almost ranked this field lower than Wisconsin. I honestly know high school fields considerably nicer than this. I mean, just look at that press...box? Shed? Shack? Shipping container? I need a tetanus shot just looking at it!

This is the only stadium in the Big Ten that doesn't have lights. From what I can gather, all the parents just park in left field and turn their headlights on. Or they just don't play night games, I dunno. When I finally meet the one Rutgers fan on the planet, I'll ask him.

Bainton field was last renovated in 2007, which just makes it even sadder. What did this place look like before that? When fans from the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 flip through the channels and see a game being played here on BTN, it just confirms all their worst preconceptions of Big Ten baseball.

12. Illinois

Stadium Name: Illinois Field

Capacity: 3,000
Opened: 1988

The name delivers exactly what it promises. This is certainly a field where Illinois plays.

This is a perfectly functional baseball stadium, but that's all it is. It strives to be nothing more than a venue in which Illinois can play baseball. It's just so...ordinary and uninspired. Like ordering a stadium off the internet. It's like they just scrolled through the first page of results, checked to make sure the reviews were decent, and picked out the most basic small stadium template and called it good enough.

Not to mention the view past the outfield wall is a freaking graveyard. Unlike Rutgers, I would watch a game here if given a good opportunity, but this place isn't giving anyone a reason to want to see it.

11. Iowa

Stadium Name: Duane Banks Field
Capacity: 3,000
Opened: 1974

There's not much particularly wrong with Duane Banks Field, but pretty much every problem with Illinois Field also applies here. This is a very similar field to Illinois field, with one small improvement that ranks it higher. It has seatbacks instead of benches.

That's it.

I mean the outfield wall looks out into an...intersection? Really? Some of the other fields in this list at least have some pretty trees behind their outfield walls or perhaps a halfway decent view of campus.

But traffic???

I guess that's technically a step up from a literal graveyard, but just barely.

10. Michigan State

Stadium Name: McLane Baseball Stadium
Capacity: 2,500
Opened: 2009

Michigan State's website describes McLane Baseball Stadium as "one of the finest baseball facilities in the Midwest" which is an ambitious description for the stadium famous for being the one with the stupid little hill in right field. I can't think of a bigger insult to the rest of the Midwest's baseball facilities. I mean this place finally just had lights added to it in 2019.

The hill would be slightly more charming if it was just a weird quirk that someone (wrongly) thought would be a fun home field advantage, but the real story is just flat out embarrassing. They couldn't make the right field wall deep enough because a river runs right behind it. When you build a baseball stadium on a plot of land not big enough to hold a baseball stadium, you know you're playing Big Ten baseball.

Where this stadium scores points is its beautifully maintained natural grass surface (finally!), it's solid view of trees, and the seating is actually pretty nice. The upper sections have bench seats, but the lower section does have seatbacks and it's easy to move around the stadium without disturbing others while still having a nice view.

I do like the idea of a joint stadium with the softball stadium in theory, but in practice here it's terrible. A decently hard hit home run to left field could easily end up in right field of a live softball game. And the concession stand and bathrooms are actually located between the two fields, meaning you have to physically leave the stadium to use the restroom or get concessions. This is the only stadium on this list besides Nebraska that I have actually sat in for a game and that element was indeed incredibly annoying.

Plus, they give Sparty an actual fenced-in bullpen, but the visitors have to warm up their arms on the warning track. That's just rude.

9. Maryland

Stadium Name: Shipley Field at Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium
Capacity: 2,500
Opened: 1956

An older stadium from 1956 that has managed to use its age as part of its charm instead of being to its detriment. While it does lose points for not having seatbacks, those benches at least look more comfortable than the standard metal slabs you usually find. Where it really scores points is in its view and its concourse, complete with white columns.

A concourse is something none of the stadiums ranked below have had, but it's a big deal. Being able to walk around above the seats and get concessions while still having a good view of the field is a game changer. Not that it looks like there's much in the way of concessions back there, but it's better than nothing! And while columns are kind of a cliché with old college football stadiums, it's pretty unique for a college baseball stadium and I like it.

It still has turf, but adding the team logo is always a good way to make the most of it. It also loses points for not having a proper video board, but the view of campus past the outfield wall is quite charming and easily the best view so far.

8. Michigan

Stadium Name: Ray Fisher Stadium
Capacity: 4,000
Opened: 1923

The oldest stadium in the Big Ten is basically a textbook example of everything NOT to do with your outfield. It's like Michigan looked at their in-state rival's tragically sad right field and poorly placed softball field and refused to be outdone. Okay, so the outfield itself is mostly fine, but it's literally everything beyond the fence that's the problem.

An ugly track facility with an outdated scoreboard sits in right field. In left-center, the field awkwardly extends out further and almost connects with the soft-ball field. Only a narrow walking path separates the baseball center field from the softball centerfield. And then of course there's the awful brick wall in left field. I checked on google maps, and that brick wall is literally just a brick wall for the sake of it. It looks like maybe they store some equipment in there, but an equipment garage could have been placed literally anywhere else.

I remember watching Nebraska drill a home run ball to left on TV once only for it to bounce 3/4ths of the way up that brick wall and it just ended up being a double instead.

In fairness, Ray Fisher Stadium does have a really nice grandstand and an actual bullpen that's not just in foul territory. And the stadium exterior looks like a stadium that actually means business. That counts for a lot. This stadium is just dumb in the most inexplicable ways. It does a lot of the broad strokes right, which is what gets it this high, but fumbles a lot of the basics.

 

7. Minnesota

Stadium Name: Siebert Field
Capacity: 1,420
Opened: 1971

The asymmetrical press box is certainly a choice that was made. It looks like they just forgot to build the left section or that they ran out of money halfway through building the damn thing.

As far as turf goes, I do like adding the team's logo in the outfield. Some might find it tacky, but I like it. The script "Siebert Field" behind home plate is also a nice little touch. Again, there isn't a ton here that's different from the last few stadiums, but what separates this field is the better view past the outfield and the twin grass berms along each side. I'm a big sucker for berm sections. Giving fans the option of sitting in normal seats or taking a blanket and stretching out in the grass is always a plus. Provides a great option for families with kids too.

Siebert field was renovated sometime in the last decade and looking back at the old stadium, it's a massive upgrade. If we were talking about the stadium pre-renovation, it would have barely beat Rutgers.

Yikes. Moving on.

6. Northwestern

Stadium Name: Rocky and Berenice Miller Park
Capacity: 500
Opened: 2017

Let's address the elephant in the room. Northwestern has no business being this high on the list. You know it. I know it. Yet here they are. And they've done it by building the nicest stadium for 500 people that I've ever seen. Considering Northwestern's baseball fanbase, that's 499 too many but that's another discussion entirely.

Before opening the park in 2017, Northwestern would have easily ranked down there with Rutgers, and this stadium still does have its issues, mainly the scoreboard is tiny and the view of the Soviet-style apartment buildings and warehouses past the outfield fence are an enormous eye-sore. Its tiny capacity also has to count against it to a degree.

But the stunningly modern exterior façade, simple elegant concourse, and comfortable looking seating score it a lot of points. For a baseball program like Northwestern, this is pretty much the Taj Mahal.

5. Purdue

Stadium Name: Alexander Field
Capacity: 1,500
Opened: 2013

With Northwestern and now Purdue, we're finally getting to the genuinely nice Big Ten stadiums. Alexander field is a smaller stadium, but an excellent example of how to do a small stadium right. A gorgeous concrete facade and press box, comfortable looking seatbacks, real bullpens, a natural grass surface, a decent view and concourse, and berm seating!

There's really not much this stadium does wrong. About the only knocks against it are the small scoreboard without a proper video board and its small capacity. It's nicer than pretty much everything that's come before on this list, but doesn't have enough scale and oomph to compete with the rest of the list. This is a really nice stadium, though. I'd love to see a game here someday.

4. Indiana

Stadium Name: Bart Kaufman Field
Capacity: 2,500
Opened: 2013

I have never been to a game in this park, but I have walked around it on the way to Indiana's football stadium and this is a beautiful modern college ballpark. It has a great grandstand, a really nice looking exterior, berm seating, a really nice looking video board, and one of the nicest concourses in the conference. There's also a good patch of grass behind the first base berm where people can play catch. I like little things like that.

It's also the first stadium on this list to have any sort of outfield seating, with a beautiful berm section in right field that can also be used for additional bleacher seating, which Indiana did when hosting a regional. This is also one of the few stadiums to host the Big Ten Tournament before it was pretty much moved permanently to Omaha.

Put natural grass on this field and it's practically perfect.

3. Ohio State

Stadium Name: Bill Davis Stadium
Capacity: 4,450
Opened: 1997

Finally taking a big jump in capacity here and again, there's really not much to complain about here. Great seating, a solid concourse, natural grass, real bullpens. I also really like that patio on the 3rd base side. The only real faults are that the view is just okay, most of the seats are benches (but they do have back support), and there is no berm seating.

Where Indiana did have berm seating and a bit nicer concourse, the capacity really wins out here. Indiana's content with a nice little college ballpark, but the size of this one says this program really means business. I mean the team that plays here is pretty hit or miss, but the ambitions of this program can be clearly seen here.

This is another in-conference stadium that has hosted the Big Ten Tournament, which it did as recently as 2012. If hosting in Nebraska wasn't an option, I wouldn't mind having this place feature heavily in the rotation. This is a stadium you could show off to an SEC program without feeling too embarrassed.

2. Penn State

Stadium Name: Medlar Field at Lubrano Park
Capacity: 5,570
Opened: 2006

A stadium truly fit to host regionals, but will probably never get the chance.

Like Northwestern, Penn State has absolutely no business having a park this nice. They almost always finish near the bottom of the conference and have virtually no fan support, yet here they are. And yes, Penn State is the primary tenant for this ballpark. I guess the story of this one is a wealthy booster who liked baseball wanted to give Penn State a nice park and went half-in with a local Double-A team. That minor league team has since moved out, but the Nittany Lions now share the park with a summer league team.

Again, lots of comfortable seating, natural grass, a decent scoreboard, and one of the rare Big Ten stadiums with any sort of outfield seating. Not to mention the view of Mount Nittany is fantastic and easily the best in the conference. It's also just 1 of 2 Big Ten teams to have any kind of box seating. It's just such a shame the team is so regularly terrible. They haven't even been to the NCAA tournament since this park opened over 15 years ago.

1. Nebraska

Stadium Name: Hawks Field at Haymarket Park
Capacity: 8,500
Opened: 2002

Was there any doubt? When Haymarket Park opened in 2002, it was widely considered to be the nicest college ballpark in America. It's been surpassed a few times in the two decades since, but it can still go toe-to-toe with almost every park in the nation. It's certainly the envy of the entire Big Ten.

This park has a little bit of everything. In terms of seating options alone, it has plenty of comfortable seatback seats (including a 2nd balcony), tons of berm seating that wraps around the entire outfield, patio seating with picnic tables, box seats that stretch from first base to third, and premium seating complete with tables in right field.

The stadium also features a first-rate press box and the best concourse in the Big Ten that wraps around the entire stadium. Seriously, I love that I can go walk a few laps around the stadium and still have a perfect view of the game the entire time. There's also plenty of grassy areas outside of the berm seating to play catch, a freaking playground, a large video board, spacious bullpens, a great view of Memorial Stadium, Pinnacle Bank Arena, and downtown Lincoln, and perhaps the best natural grass surface in all of college baseball (seriously, the grounds crew here regularly rakes in national awards).

Only two real gripes. One is that the concession stand lines can get a bit long, but I think that's more of a staffing issue than the stadium itself. The secondary scoreboard is also very lacking. When sitting in right field, the 2nd scoreboard on the third base balcony is tiny and virtually impossible to read on a sunny day. Fix that and you pretty much have a perfect park.

Final Ranking Recap

14. Wisconsin

13. Rutgers

12. Illinois

11. Iowa

10. Michigan State

9. Maryland

8. Michigan

7. Minnesota

6. Northwestern

5. Purdue

4. Indiana

3. Ohio State

2. Penn State

1. Nebraska