First Horizon Park: A Solid Minor League Park
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On Thursday, June 20, I attended a game at one of Tennessee’s newest ballparks, First Horizon Park, which provides a great game day experience, but with a few flaws.
Home of the Nashville Sounds, the Triple-A affiliate to the MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers, First Horizon Park opened its doors in 2015, replacing Herschel Greer Stadium, which played host to the team from its inception in 1978 until 2014.
I had been to a few games at the old stadium, but I had never made my way down to the newer park since it opened until now.
For my review of First Horizon Park, I will rate five different categories: surrounding city, parking, stadium design and seating, food options and game day atmosphere. Each category will be rated 1-5 stars and these ratings will be solely my opinion.
First Horizon Park is located at 19 Jr Gilliam Way in Nashville, TN, north of the Tennessee State Capitol building and was built on the former site of the Sulphur Dell ballpark, which occupied the spot from 1885 until 1963. There are plenty of things to do in Nashville, so if you wanted to make a whole day trip out of the occasion, you could, but try to leave for the game early if you want to avoid traffic. The park is also located near the Tennessee State Museum, and there is also a selection of restaurants in the vicinity of the stadium. Overall, I would rate the surrounding city of First Horizon Park 4/5 stars.
Parking is relatively easy at First Horizon Park. When purchasing my ticket on Ticketmaster, I also bought a $15 parking pass for the Nashville Sounds Garage, which is located just outside of right field. Getting in and out of the garage was relatively easy, and the walk to the ballpark wasn’t bad. Besides this garage, there are several other options for you to park at. Parking at First Horizon Park is an easy 5/5 stars for me.
The first thing that sticks out when you see First Horizon Park is the guitar-shaped scoreboard, a carried-over design element from Greer Stadium, but with a more modern touch.
The park also features some other fun activities, such as mini golf, corn hole and an inflatable slide.
There seems to be no shortage of good seats at First Horizon Park, with the more notable options including the field suites, which contain rows of seating behind home plate that begin below the playing surface. The stadium’s upper deck puts fans almost on top of the action and the grass berm outside of left field is the cheap option for fans who want to sit on a blanket with their family.
Ticket prices for this game ranged from $12-$58. The ticket I bought for the game set me back $30 (including fees) and was in the last row of section 109, situated behind the home dugout and at the midpoint of third base and home plate. While it felt close to the action, my view of the city skyline and any potential fly balls were obstructed by the upper deck, however I was well shaded from the sun. Overall, I would give First Horizon Park’s design 4/5 stars.
Food options at First Horizon Park are plentiful, with barbeque nachos, pork sandwiches, hot chicken and the usual ballpark affair such as hot dogs, popcorn and traditional nachos just to name a few. While the hot dogs were excellent, the hot chicken tenders were lacking in heat and a bit chewy. If you want your hot chicken fix before the game, it’s probably better to stop by Hattie B’s or Prince’s if you have the time.
With it being designated a “Throwback Thursday” game, there were discounted options for soda and beer, such as a $2 small soda and $4 16 ounce can of Budweiser, Bud Light or Miller Lite.
While First Horizon Park does give fans plenty of options for food, the hot chicken brings the score down quite a bit for me, so I’m giving the food a score of 3.75/5 stars.
The game day atmosphere was pretty enjoyable. Apart from the usual affair of pre-recorded organ music, sound effects, half inning contests and seventh inning stretch, there was the Country Legends Race. Similar to the Washington Nationals’ Racing Presidents, where participants wear caricatured costumes of past U.S. Presidents with really large heads, the Country Legends Race instead uses costumes of country music icons such as Johnny Cash, George Jones, Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton.
Younger fans are also given the opportunity to be a junior announcer, where they announce the batting lineup for the home team for an entire inning.
Minor League Baseball is well known for teams having an alternate identity for a few games a year, and while the Nashville Sounds’ usual alternate identity is the Nashville Hot Chickens, on this occasion, they dressed up as the Malmo Oat Milkers as part of a partnership between the MiLB and Oatly where each minor league team will dress up as the Oat Milkers for one game during the season.
There were still quite a few empty seats, but the atmosphere was still fun enough for a minor league ball game, so I’ll give the atmosphere at First Horizon Park a 4/5 stars.
Averaged out, I give First Horizon Park an overall score of 4.15/5. While it does have a few flaws, they didn’t detract from the overall game day experience. It was a great place to catch a game and I will be back sometime. If you’re looking to go to a Minor League Baseball game this summer, First Horizon Park and the Nashville Sounds are a solid choice.
