APPLEBEES PARK

Applebees Park was built for the 2001 Lexington Legends expansion team and has everything that we have come to expect from new ballparks. The first thing that needs mentioning is that although the Legends are a Class A ball team, the city is not - the fans have been starved for baseball for years and are welcoming their new team with open arms and a great new ballpark that could easily house a AAA team.

The stadium is located just off Broadway Street and the first thing that draws your attention is the parking - even an hour before game time the lot was filled with cars - it is almost like a major-league parking lot. Fortunately, it seems easy enough to get out of, there was no delay when we left.

There are some touches that indicate the importance of horses in Lexington. The front entrance of the park has four steeples similar to those one would see at a racecourse. As well, some plastic horses can be found around the stadium watching the game. 

The park offers a number of seating options, but all the best seats are already sold out. The three sections surrounding home plate are called club seats and cost $13 while the three sections surrounding the plate above the concourse are called Super Club and cost $15 (by far the most expensive minor league seats). The first three rows of the remaining infield seats are Field Box, and are $9. These are obviously the best seats in the park, and all 3 are sold out for the entire season. This doesn't leave much for the walk-up fan; there are $7 box seats which are fine, and a few $5 reserved seats in the upper section down the lines. The $4 lawn seats are good for a family, but bring a blanket, but the $4 bleacher seats are not that good as they are a bit far from the action and the announcer is difficult to hear.

Watching the game from the lawn

Nonetheless, the park itself is good, with a party deck in right field and the Budweiser Stables along the right field line for parties. You can move around easily and the staff is very friendly.  If you manage to get a club seat, there is the Maker's Mark Club restaurant just behind home plate where you can get some good eats. At least I think they are good eats, because I didn't have a club seat I wasn't able to try the food. You can stand in the entrance way, however, and watch the game from right behind home plate without any interruptions. With Louisville having opened a new park in 2000, Lexington has followed and complete a good Kentucky double play, definitely something that you should try to see if you enjoy the new retro-classic parks.