Feeling the (West Virginia) Power, sort of…
Charleston, West Virginia‘s Appalachian Power Park. Home of the West Virginia Power, single A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
On my way down to visit my son in Charleston, SC I made a completely impromptu visit to Charleston, West Virginia’s Appalachian Power Park, home of the South Atlantic League‘s West Virginia Power.
Check out my Flickr gallery of Appalachian Power Park!
The park, like so many other new Major and Minor League Parks, is situated in the city’s warehouse district. The stadium‘s official capacity is listed as 4400 but I’d be stunned if it could hold 3000. There was only one seating level and it felt much smaller that Joe Riley Park in Charleston, SC.
The playing surface looked as if it had seen better days. There was one particularly brown spot behind. But like Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park, I’m told that concerts and other events are also held here. Between that and the unusually dry summer much of the country has endured, I’m willing to cut the ground’s crew some slack.
As I mentioned earlier, APP is located in Charleston’s warehouse district and the designers did a great job of incorporating some of the existing architecture into the stadium’s design. The Power’s offices as well as concession stands, souvenir shops and suites occupy one of the neighboring warehouses.
I also liked the fact that, like so many other parks build recently, the concourse has full 360 degree access. This is especially nice for first-time visitors like myself.
APP’s scoreboard was impressive. Much nicer than that at “the Joe”.
Sadly, the Power lost. I left before the Lakewood BlueClaws rallied, as I had to get back on the road. All in all, it was decent experience. By no means was APP the best ballpark I’ve visited; but seeing a new ballpark is like eating a pizza or watching Star Trek: even when they’re bad, they’re still pretty good. there are few things I like to do more in this world than catch a baseball game. However as exciting as it was to see a new stadium, I was even more excited to see my son.
Soule of the Game 
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