Anyway, the trend of moving minor league baseball back downtown has been sweeping through the South the past 10 to 20 years and Birmingham just broke ground on a new stadium right smack in the middle of the city (2nd Avenue South, if that tells you anything). I meant to pass along some renderings but didn't remember until now:
Regions Field | Birmingham, AL
The Barons are moving back. They are still AA and are back with the White Sox after a stint w/ the A's. The interesting thing about Regions is the orientation. If you look at the 2nd pic at the link above, that is Birmingham's skyline over the 3rd-base dugout which is north of the stadium. That means the centerline of the field (from home to centerfield) runs east/west...a huge no-no in general and specifically forbidden by MLB rules. But south of the stadium is UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) and scenic Red Mountain with the largest cast iron statue in the world - Vulcan, God of the Forge, looming 56-feet tall atop a 123-ft. tall pedestal that itself sits at the top of Red Mountain - a 1,025-ft high ridge that defines the southern edge of the valley where Birmingham sits.
The original plan adhered to MLB rules and faced north, but UAB - which owned most of the land where the stadium is being built - did not want fans with their back to the school. So the footprint was turned to where fans can see downtown from the first-base line and UAB/Red Mountain from the third-base line. The architects just had to get creative about subtly shielding the field from the late-afternoon sun.
On the same topic, Charlotte is planning to build a home for the AAA Charlotte Knights (coincidentally, also a White Sox affiliate) downtown - right across the street from my place, actually. The Knights currently play in Fort Mill, SC...roughly 40 miles from Uptown Charlotte. They haven't broken ground yet, and lots of people are bitching about it (because there are, you know, dark-colored people downtown...it's a Southern tradition), but it will get done.
I absolutely LOVE the move to downtown stadiums. I've been to see a game at AutoZone Park in Memphis and the stadium that is considered the first and best example of reinvigorating downtown w/ minor league baseball, AT&T Field in Chattanooga, TN.
Did the minor league teams up north stay around downtown? The migration to the suburbs was kind of a cultural thing in the South.
