Joe Riley Park

Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park

Home of the Charleston RiverDogs and The Citadel Bulldogs baseball

Opened: 1997

Seating Capacity: 6,000 (includes standing room)

Location: Fishburne Street and Lockwood Drive in Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina

Games seen in Database Era: 42 between May 13, 2008 and August 10, 2013

Latitude: 32.790854 N

Longitude: 79.961253 W

Distance from my house point-to-point (as the crow flies): 82.79 miles

Driving time from my house: 1 hour and 50 minutes (110 minutes)

The stadium in the major leagues most consider responsible for starting the new trend in baseball teams building new stadiums to boost economic revenue is Baltimore's Oriole Park at Camden Yards. At the minor league level, there are two parks in the Carolinas that started the same trend at the minor league level as well. Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which like the stadium in Baltimore was designed by HOK (now Populous) opened in 1995 and began the trend of minor league stadiums boosting their revenue through new stadiums. Most pre-1995 stadiums still standing are either open for historical purposes, or has the team ownership wanting a new ballpark. But the post-1995 stadiums are still going strong, as they were built during the new ballpark craze.

And this is where Charleston's Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park comes in. The stadium, built in 1997, is often shortened to "The Joe" or "Riley Park". Because I already have a Riley Park nearby that I have been to more frequently, I prefer either the former nickname or extending the latter to "Joe Riley Park". The city's minor league team, the RiverDogs, immediately flourished in their new home. The stadium replaced the deteriorating College Park on Rutledge Street a few blocks east of the Citadel campus. This ballpark, a few blocks south of the Citadel campus, benefits from its location near the Ashley River. The river can be seen in the distance behind the right field wall, and there is a marsh located behind the first base concourse as well. The ballpark has a great setting, and that is a big reason behind the success of the team. The other reason behind the success of the team is the marketing of team president Mike Veeck. Veeck is perhaps best known for helping his father organize Disco Demolition Night for the Chicago White Sox in 1979, which is also the reason Veeck is working in minor league baseball rather than the major leagues like his father. Veeck has made Joe Riley Park known for bizarre promotions, such as Nobody Night where fans were barred from entering in the first five innings so the official attendance could be zero.

And part of that might be perhaps the reason why I do not enjoy coming to the RiverDogs that much anymore. At first, I enjoyed the "Fun is Good" atmosphere. And it still can work up to a point. But as has been the trend since the ballpark craze of the mid-1990s at the minor league level, the atmosphere has become dominated by promos rather than baseball. I enjoyed coming to the Joe to see minor league baseball players when it first opened, and watched as the players moved up from Class A Charleston to Class AAA Durham within the Devil Rays organization. For a while, I became an avid Devil Rays fan in part because of my experience watching games here. But just as I began to not enjoy the park's atmosphere as much, team owner Merv Goldklang (who along with Veeck owns several minor and independent league teams) switched the affiliation of the RiverDogs to the New York Yankees. And the Yankees' minor leaguers only serve as trade bait to get big name stars for the big league club, and that really takes the fun away from watching the RiverDogs. And as a result, I am less likely to go to a minor league game in Charleston now than I am in Myrtle Beach, Augusta, or in particular AAA Charlotte. 

But yet I have seen Joe Riley Park for 39 games in the last six years, good enough for this stadium to be my eighth featured on here. So how have I gone to so many games here? The answer is that for many years this stadium has been the host of the Southern Conference Tournament. I attended the majority of the games in the Southern Conference Tournaments in 2008 and 2011. The Southern Conference Tournament is always a must-see, as I have seen plenty of notable occurrences that one just does not see watching baseball elsewhere. In the 2008 tournament, there was an average number of ten runs per team in each game (per team, not combined), led by a bizarre game between Elon and Wofford where Elon won 21-12 in part because of a 15 run inning. The games meant for some late nights due to its high scoring nature. But nothing can top the 2011 tournament, where #8 seed Western Carolina upset #1 Elon in 20 innings. That game started just after 5 PM and did not end until 19 minutes before midnight. And there was still a game after that! And that meant that on the morning of May 26, 2011, there was a baseball game that started at 12:30 AM and ran until 3 AM between College of Charleston and Georgia Southern. Starting a game between 12 and 6 AM is very rare, but it has happened here at Joe Riley Park.

Unfortunately, the Southern Conference Tournament's primary site is now at Fluor Field in Greenville. It is a shame, since the SoCon Tourney gave this stadium more crazy fun than the RiverDogs could ever try to artificially create. And while the RiverDogs are the stadium's best known tenant, the Citadel's baseball team is the park's primary tenant officially. This is because Joe Riley Park was built on Citadel land, and the military college worked into the lease agreement with the city interminable playing rights. And while I also do not usually like going to see Citadel baseball either, the Bulldogs do a good job at hosting a number of early season tournaments even if they no longer get to host the conference tournament every year. So while I may not be a fan of the teams that regularly play here, there are still good reasons to visit Joe Riley Park. There is always something going on here and it is a stadium worth visiting no matter the level of baseball being played here. 

Seating Capacity: B+

The stadium can hold 6,000, which usually works. But for various highly attended events, like the USC-Clemson game held here in 2012 or independence fireworks, the Joe could stand to seat more. It has the same capacity as Columbia's Capital City Stadium, a former minor league park built six years earlier that did not function well for professional baseball. Joe Riley Park is easily big enough for most Citadel games, although those can get full for a game against College of Charleston where the conference title is at stake. And usually it is big enough for the RiverDogs as well. But the stadium is certainly capable of being crowded, as it is not unusually big for a minor league stadium (it is definitely not small either though). Most of time, it does work better than USC's Carolina Stadium. 

Quality of Seats: B-

All seats have a back, which is nice. But unlike most parks that came after it, the upper seating is entirely bleacher seating. It is comfortable enough, given a roof. But the roof at this Riley Park is not as good as Sumter's Riley Park. And there happens to be more seating on the third base line than the first base line. That is largely a product of the marsh limiting construction on the first base side (the main entrances are in left field and behind third base), but the stadium faces south with the sun shining directly on the seats of the third base side. The seats are much better than at old minor league parks just before Joe Riley Park's time, but compared to the other stadiums built during the ballpark craze the seating here is not as good.

Attractiveness/Uniqueness: B+

The best feature of the park is how well integrated it is into its surroundings near the Ashley River. You can see the Marriott, the US-17 bridge to West Ashley, and the river itself from left to right looking out towards the outfield. The stadium is well landscaped, particularly with the trees overhanging the seats down the left field line near the main entrance as well as Shoeless Joe Hill down the right field line. There are two reasons the park does not get an A grade in this category: most of the landmarks behind the outfield wall are too far away, and the stadium's view of Brittlebank Park is not that good. If you are seated low or down the first base line, it is also hard to see the beauty of the Ashley River as well. The grandstand also looks a bit plain in its integration with the surrounding area, particularly looking towards the parking areas of  Fishburne Street past third base. But Joe Riley Park is nevertheless an attractive place, far more so than Charlotte's stadium or even Myrtle Beach's. 

Concessions: B-

The range of food is okay here. You do have barbeque options, as well as a pretty good grill that is also used by the Citadel. For RiverDog games, there are plenty of food options of different kinds. But pizza can be iffy here, and finding the best stand can be a bit of a challenge. While the selection is much better than at most college stadiums, it is about average for a minor league stadium and not quite as good as at Carolina Stadium. But we still have Carolina Stadium-style prices here. You can definitely have a meal here (not always easy at some stadiums), but not a meal with good bang for the buck (which is all too typical as well). 

Parking: C-

There are plenty of lots available on Fishburne Street near the stadium, and you can usually get a space. You might have to drive around the lot to find one, and then have to cross the street to get to the stadium. That would not be too bad, except it costs $5 for RiverDog games (the Citadel does not charge for parking on the other hand). And if you are heading to US-17 coming out of the game, traffic can often be a problem getting back to the highway. It is probably best to head east on Fishburne Street and take Rutledge either north to Interstate 26 or south to US-17 as an alternate route coming out of the stadium. Access to the stadium area (which also includes the Citadel's football stadium and Burke High School) is somewhat limited, but better than most of its Charleston neighbors.

Lighting: C

Joe Riley Park is not a poorly lit stadium, but is not particularly well lit either. The technology here is a bit dated compared to other professional stadiums, with little media access for the USC-Clemson game in 2012. But most of the time like other aspects of the stadium it works. You may not always get good pictures here at night, but you can see the game and your way around the stadium alright. Even at 3 in the morning!

Fans: D+

Unfortunately, the best attended team here is a minor league baseball team that is brought in by marketing ploys rather than real baseball fans. You certainly get some dedicated baseball fans here for both tenants. And the team frequently promotes its affiliation with the Yankees, although I am not sure if most South Carolinians are interested in rooting for a powerhouse New York team. The crowd is not as bad at some minor league and collegiate summer stadiums. But it is not as good as the AAA parks and other venues where fans come primarily for baseball.

And you can go to the other extreme with Citadel baseball fans. Citadel baseball fans are very similar to the Legion fans in Sumter: mostly old, traditional Southerners who can get too intense in following their team. It is best to have a good balance of the two, which you can find on the other side of the Cooper River at College of Charleston games. 

Other Stuff: C

When the stadium was built, it seemed like a state-of-the-art place in 1997. Now, not so much. The video board and main scoreboard are not connected to each other, with the scoreboard in left field and the video board in right field. The main concourses are behind the grandstand rather than on top of it like at Carolina Stadium and most newer minor league parks. Much of the seating as mentioned before seems a bit old and outdated now. But just because it is getting older does not mean it is not modern enough. Compared to the older half of minor league stadiums, it is much more modern. It is even much more modern than Kannapolis, a fellow South Atlantic League stadium only slightly older. It is a comfortable enough experience going to a game at The Joe, although as mentioned there could be better emphasis on the game rather than the team's marketing ploys/PR stunts. 

Summary: Joe Riley Park used to be one of my favorite minor league stadiums to visit. Now it is much less so. Sixteen years have passed, and the home team has gone from an affiliation with a likable MLB team to one with a very unlikable MLB team. The RiverDogs are more about hype than baseball, a movement that Veeck has been a leading pioneer towards. But sometimes Veeck's version of fun can be good, and it is certainly worth an occasional visit to the RiverDogs. And it is also worth a visit to a Citadel game or one of the college tournaments. It may not be a great place to go to all the time, but the park is always active and ready whenever you are for a visit.

Overall GPA: 2.375