PRINCE GEORGE'S STADIUM

Prince George's Stadium is located just south of Bowie, behind a shopping mall near the intersection of US50 and US301. Built in 1994 to house the Bowie Baysox, it seems older than that as the field is not in good shape and the upper level of seating is entirely benches, a feature that is more common in older parks. 

Bowie has the distinction of being the most expensive park we have encountered - the field box seats are $14, and consist of the first three rows of seating throughout most of the stadium. The reserved seats are $12 and take up the remaining box seats. The rest of the seats are General Admission, at $8 the most expensive cheap seats in the minors. GA seats surround the park, which is good, but with no backs on the seats, you are paying a lot of money for a sore butt. Having said that, we recommend the GA seats and moving to the box seats in the middle innings.

Box seats

The surroundings of this park are fairly ordinary: there is a grassy area down both lines which serves as a smoking area; private picnic areas are also down each line. A kids play area along the first base line includes a carousel, but it is not free: you need to buy tickets at $1 each (or 12 for $10) to enjoy this area. 

Before you think this is too negative, I will mention that there are a number of good things about the park - first is the front entrance, which has a small diamond imprinted in the bricks out front. After entering, the lineups and EL standings are displayed - they have been computer generated, which makes them easy to read. As well, you will get a free program which is a bonus.

The main concourse is wide and the food windows are very long and have lots of cashiers ready to help you, so the wait for food is short, even with the large crowd. Speaking of the fans, they were some of the liveliest we have seen. Nearly 10,000 were out to watch their last-place team and they were energetic and cheered their team throughout the game. The food was too expensive, so we didn't sample much, but what we did have was OK. 

The final note should go to the promotions - there were a couple of interesting ones here that we hadn't seen before. The first was put on by a local chicken restaurant - an inflatable cow holding the sign "Eat Mor Chikin" was set up and the contestant was blindfolded - he had to use the crowd noise to find the cow and push it over. As well, the Blues Brothers were on hand, their antics were amusing and kept the crowd entertained during the entire evening. 

Overall, the high prices of everything makes this a difficult park to recommend. I believe that the minors should be affordable, and that is not the case here. I liked the crowd, but otherwise this park is not worth the money you would pay. Head up to Baltimore where you can get good seats for similar prices if you know where to go.