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Visalia Oaks - User Comments Add your own

Awesome Minor League Ballpark -- 2004-07-20

After visiting about HALF of all the minor league ballparks around the country,Recreation Park is my favorite,because, you can't sit any closer to the plate, making the sight lines the best! You can go to a game in Rancho,or Lake Elsonore and pay more money and sit FARTHER away from the action.I'd rather sit in an older,more intimate game setting then get ripped off at Rancho.Very reasonable ticket and concessions,and never a hassle with parking(FREE)make Visalia a great place to see a game.Yes, I'll be Driving about 350 miles to see a couple of games next week,but what the heck-It's minor league baseball!

Jeffrey Neumann

What a difference ! -- 2003-09-03

Since I was quick to condem Recreation Park I must now step forward and comment on the renovation.

Wow! What a difference! The ballpark is still very small (1,800 capacity) But is it now a VERY comfortable place to watch a ballgame. Very intimate and cozy. New seats, great picnic pavilion and concessions......an inexpensive GREAT hamburger grilled over an oak fire.

It's still not a Lancaster/San Bernardino/Rancho Cucomonga/Lake Elsinore, but it has a charm of it's own. I would highly recomend catching a game in this small little jewel.

By the way, several days earlier we attended a game in Bakersfield's Sam Lynn Ballpark with the opponent being Visalia. They allowed a Visalia Oak player to sing the National Anthem. I thought "this ought to be interesting", stood up and took off my cap. About two lines into the anthem I realized I was witnessing one of the best performances of the Nationl Anthem I had EVER heard! His name Isaac Pavlik. If you are ever at a ballgame and hear his name announced as the singer of the National Anthem, stand up, pay attention and witness an outstanding performance.

Ron Wheeler

Newly Renovated Recreation Park -- 2003-05-21

I'm pleased to let you know that Recreation Park has received quite the facelift. Over $800,000 was spent on upgrades this past season. Included in the improvements are: New stadium seating throughout the main grandstand, upgraded field lighting, new speakers, wrought-iron fencing around the perimeter, a new main entrance with three points of entry, mesh behind the backstop instead of chain link, a new four tier wooden picnic deck and more. Recreation Park has managed to become a very comfortable but still intimate park to watch a game. I recommend visiting Visalia for a game sometime. I think you will be pleased with all of the new fan ammenities.

Jennifer Whiteley

Thirty Years Later......It's still......... -- 2002-04-29

Drove up from Bakersfield to catch an Oaks game this April and visit where I lived thirty years ago. The bar-b-que area down the leftfield line is about the only thing that has changed. Well, the routing of foot traffic thru the grandstand was slightly changed to gain a second row of "box seats." My wife and I sat in the fourth row of the grandstand and were closer to home plate than the pitcher. The Oaks catcher played at the AAA level last year and must have wondered what he had gotten himself in to reporting to Visalia. At least he didn't have to spend the night chasing foul pop-ups. In the event of a wild pitch the runner on third is well advised to stay put.

Yes, thirty years ago Recreation Park and Sam Lynn(Bakersfield)were adequate minor league parks. Today............as I said before, the good fans of Visalia deserve better.

Ron Wheeler

it ain't THAT bad -- 2002-04-11

I went to an Oaks game the other night and I didn't think it was that bad. It was annoying that the concourse was only accessible from the top of the grandstand or around those concrete hills (supposedly they used to have a wooden grandstand but put concrete over it when it started to fall apart) and some of the seats were at weird angles, but I really liked it. The crowd (albeit only 500-something) was really into the game, annoying sound effects were kept at a minimum, it was a really pleasant atmosphere for me. Yes it's not exactly a gem of a park, but I thought it was a great glimpse into what minor league baseball used to be like.

Brian Schulte

Poor old Recreaction Park -- 2001-06-13

No self respecting Advance A team should have to play in such a park! The good people of Visalia deserve better and it is ashamed the City Fathers in this charming, growing Central Valley town cannot build a new ballpark. Can you tell I used to live there? I've seen plenty of visiting catcher splatter themselves on the screen behind home plate chasing a pop up foul ball.

Ron Wheeler

Visalia -- 2001-06-12

Hands down the worst ballpark in the California League, probably in the country. This has the feel of a high school field. They put in metal benches on the concrete recently but that’s not much of an improvement. There are only about 200 seats in the whole place and they’re either right on top of home plate (there’s essentially no foul territory) or in front of a common walkway where people traipse by all game long. There’s one guy who sits in the first row and heckles the opposition all night, and a few boosters are forever passing around petitions and the like to keep the team in Visalia, but the populace doesn’t seem to care, and why would they with a dump like this on their hands. If they don’t get a new park they’re going to Reno. I'm sure Visalia is a nice town but their ballpark isn't worth going out of your way for.

Jack Walsh

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