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Buffalo Bisons - User Comments Add your own

Want to see real good baseball? Try Buffalo. -- 2005-07-30

I have been to Toronto, D.C., Baltimore and philadelphia- but the best place to see professional baseball is none of these major league cities. Instead, its a little place that gets very little respect called Buffalo New York. Welcome fans to Dunn Tire Park- the name underrepresents the classic stadium feel. For $10 you can sit right up behind the dugout and enjoy a team that features power hitting and solid pitching, and yes guys, they do try harder at this level.

Adam Kisailus

Bisons Games -- 2005-05-31

Dunn Tire Park is an excellent park to watch a ball game in. Tickets and parking are reasonably priced as are concessions. A 16 ounce beer from one of the vendors for $4.50 is one of the cheapest prices I have seen at a sporting event. The Bisons are also the reigning IL champions and are very exciting to watch. They hardly ever dissapoint with a poorly played game. The Indians organization has provided the Bisons with top-notch players for the past decade and it is reflected in the quality of play. This year is no exception with the team clicking all the way through the line-up. Come on fridays to see the fireworks or come any other day of the week when it is less crowded and you can take your pick of seats. Typical game times are 705: monday-wednesday, and saturday. 105: thursday, 735: friday, and 205: sundays. If you are in Buffalo it is worth the trip to come see the game and hang out for a few hours. There are also some bars nearby where you can get good food and a cheap bottle or two. The Swaney House and McBride's. Ask just about anyone at the game and they should be able to direct you to either.

James McCarthy

Let's Go Buffalo -- 2002-08-02

No one has mentioned Dunn Tire Park's best feature; the jumbotron scoreboard in centerfield. The fan gets an intimate view of all the action plus replays and crowd shots etc. on the CF scoreboard. Just like sitting at home but actually being there. As for crowds not being into the game, that is true at every minor league park. I have seen fans leave by the droves in the 7th inning of tie games. Fans are there for the event itself, not necessarily the game. Also a correction on ticket prices; box seats go for $9.50, reserved for $8.50. Finally, despite being only 15 years old, Dunn Tire looks a bit dated. It's a fine stadium, but newer parks like the ones in Indy and Toledo make Dunn Tire look like Crosley Field.

Dale Stamann

Bison Baseball & A Response to Former Season Ticket Holder's Submission -- 2002-03-13

I was lucky enough to see most of the Sabres' playoff games on their way to the Cup finals in 1999. I watched four painful Super Bowl losses by the Bills in the early 90's. I even was at the Skydome for the Twins' AL Championship clinching win over the Bluejays. With all that said, most of my finest sports moments have come at Dunn Tire Park, the home of the Buffalo Bisons. I was only about 12 when Pilot Field opened up in 1988. My father split season tickets and he and I attended 40 games a year for about 8 years. I have seen some terrific games and some forgettable ones... games on the coldest April nights and on the balmiest July afternoons. But few things compare to that old feeling that still comes over me whenever I step foot in the ballpark. The smells of the field and the concessions, the sounds of the crowd, the PA, the dixie land band, and best of all fastballs popping the catcher’s mitt and sharply hit balls coming off of the bat. It's baseball in, perhaps, it's most innocent form. In these times of labor strife and overpaid athletes, I truly enjoy a set of hard working players shooting for "the show." It is, as the former season ticket holder pointed out on this website, their main job. I say, so be it. I have seen the likes of Moises Alou, Jeromy Burnitz, Rick Reed, Joey Meyer, Rick Smith, Greg Tubbs, and a host of others come through Buffalo on their way up to or down from solid Major League careers. Are there times I wish Buffalo landed a franchise back in the early 90's? Of course.... but then I realize that Buffalo would be just another Kansas City Royals or Tampa Devil Rays, maybe the franchise would even be earmarked for contraction. Major League baseball is an hour and a half due north up the QEW, and perhaps it is better that way. Buffalo should be proud to have a proud and storied franchise in a beautiful facility and, best of all, the product on the field has been wonderful.

Bisons' Fan

Feel that Bison beat!! -- 2001-09-06

There is nothing in the world like relaxing at Dunn Tire Park (Formerly NorthAmericare Park, Formerly Pilot Field) on a nice sunny day. Dunn Tire park is one of the biggest and nicest stadiums in all of the minor leagues, and was the crown jewel of all minor league stadiums when it was built to attract an expansion franchise in 1988.

I grew up in Buffalo, saw the 1st ever game in April 1988 at Dunn Tire Park and try to catch a Bisons game whenever I am home. I now live in New York City, and I can honestly say I would rather go to Dunn Tire Park than Yankee Stadium, since the stadium is so large, there are plenty of empty seats on most nights (with the rare exception of a Friday-night-Bash) and you can sit close to field and truly enjoy the game.

Ticket prices are dirt cheap, about $6/ticket... There is ample parking for $3, and the ballpark is located right off the highway and is accessible via public transportation.

You never know who you might see in a Bison uniform, current stars Bartolo Colon, Brian Giles, Jeromy Burnitz, Moises Alou, Sean Casey among others have spent considerable time in Bison uniforms.

The Bisons have had their share of Ken Phelps' all-stars as well, as Jeff Manto, Jason Hardtke, Dave Rhode, Anthony Medrano, and AAAA sluggers such as Nigel Wilson, Phil Hiatt, Ryan Thompson, and Karim Garcia have all donned a Bisons uniform in recent years..

Joseph Kowal

Bisons and AAA in general -- 2001-08-24

The Buffalo Bisons may be the best-run AAA team there is, and I make no bones about saying it. That said, however, going to a Bisons game is the best argument for never wasting a dime on minor league baseball if the majors are within striking distance (4 hours by car or less).

This situation was illustrated at the recent July 3 game, when the agenda featured a solid Bisons game against their supposed rivals, the Rochester Red Wings, alogn with a concert by the world-renowned Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. The game was a sellout. We arrived just a few minutes before game time to find the concession areas clogged with folks trying to get their items before the first pitch, or so one would think. Come game time, the stands remain sparsely populated, the few seated folks chatting amongst themselves while the teams begin play. As the evening progresses, the stands never quite fill. A check of the concession areas show they're still clogged. TVs above each concession stand show the game action but only a few fans are watching the game they've paid to attend. Nearly no one in line reacts while the home team scores on TV.

It's simple -- no one cares about minor league ball. Oh, sure, there are some faithful fans of this and every minor league club -- they're the ones who complain when a player is lifted from one team and moved up (ever notice that no one ever complains when a guy is dropped to a lower level club?). Those people have forgotten Earl Weaver's comment, last seen in his autobiography: "the job of every player in the Orioles organization, from lowest rookie league team on up, is to help the O's win the World Series...nothing more, nothing less." The few fans of minor league teams like the Bisons forget that players who excel are expected to climb the ladder to help the big club win.

Take the lack of interest in the team and add it to a wonderful ballpark with good sightlines, nice concession offerings, convenient downtown access by car, bus or light-rail train and you end up with a full house on hand at a ballpark for Fourth of July fireworks, a Philharmonic concert, goodies from the ice cream counter or roast beef stand and --- VOILA! --- you get a typical Bisons sellout crowd. Is there anything sadder than a baseball crowd that isn't there for baseball?

I was once a Bisons season ticket holder. When the team announced its goal of attracting a major league club, I rounded up a group of friends and we got four top-notch seats. No one really wanted to see the minor league games, but as an investment in a future of big league games the tickets were a small price. When the owners announced, a few years later, that the majors were simply too high-priced for dear old Buffalo, we dropped our tickets like so many hot potatoes. After all, we could always buy tickets to see the Bisons -- the team drew record ticket sales for the minors, but tickets were always available, sometimes for free.

I recently went to an Arizona Diamondbacks game at the BOB in Phoenix. The tickets there weren't too much more than those at the Bisons games, and their product was legitimate, not just a reason to sell hot dogs and soda. I doubt that most Western New Yorkers would blanch at paying $15-$20 for a good seat to a major league game right in their own metro area.

Furthermore, the local hockey team, the Sabres, charge well over $30 for most of the seats at every one of their regular season games. The best seats go for over $75, and that's with the season ticket holder discount.

So, in closing, don't waste your time at a Bisons game. If you really love baseball, it will break your heart. If you're just in town and looking for a baseball experience, you won't find it there.

Former Bisons Season ticket holder

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