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River Bandits, Frisco nab award for best ballpark improvements

We continue our announcements of the 2008 Ballpark Digest awards with the winner of Best Ballpark Improvements. Or, rather, winners; when we were confronted with two truly noteworthy sets of improvements, we decided to honor both: the Frisco RoughRiders (Class AA; Texas League) for improvements to Dr Pepper Ballpark and the Quad Cities River Bandits (Low Class A; Midwest League) for upgrades to Modern Woodmen Park.We continue our announcements of the 2008 Ballpark Digest awards with the winner of Best Ballpark Improvements. Or, rather, winners; when we were confronted with two truly noteworthy sets of improvements, we decided to honor both: the Frisco RoughRiders (Class AA; Texas League) for improvements to Dr Pepper Ballpark and the Quad Cities River Bandits (Low Class A; Midwest League) for upgrades to Modern Woodmen Park.

In both cases teams spent money on newer facilities. The changes made to Dr Pepper Ballpark include the addition of Deuce’s Playground, a three-story complex and several slides and activities for kids; new James Hardie siding all around the ballpark; 180 feet of LED banners along the left- and right-field lines; and a brand-new terrace area with a concrete base, picnic tables and landscaping. For the River Bandits, the changes were more extreme: the team added a Tiki Bar/Tiki Bed/Tiki Lounge to the right-field area, installed a hot tub next to the picnic area, and planted a small corn field down the left-field line, allowing players to enter the field a la Field of Dreams. Both teams arrived at ballpark renovations from different viewpoints. The RoughRiders have been one of the most successful teams in the Texas League since opening their doors, so spending a lot on ballpark renovations may not have been truly necessary: a successful team, however, is one that mixes it up every season. On the flip side, the new River Bandits owners came into town needed to stir things up after a ballpark renovation failed to attract hordes of fans to the former John O’Donnell Stadium. And what better way to stir things up than a Tiki Bed and a hot tub? You can see both below in the video.