Lake Elsinore Diamond
Lake Elsinore, CA
Review by Mike
Lake Elsinore Diamond is the home of the Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League. Finding myself at loose ends in San Diego one May day, I ventured up the I-15 for an hour or so in hopes of finding an open gate at Lake Elsinore Diamond. Fortune shined on me as the whole ballpark was open for maintenance while the Storm were on the road.
What I found is a very nice Single-A ballpark. The single-level grandstand favored the 3rd base side, running all the way to the foul pole with an enclosed club down at the far end, while the 1st base stands ran to just beyond 1st base with a "grassy" berm filling the rest of the distance to the right field pole. The long drought that plagued California at the time had taken its toll here, as it should more accurately be called a "dusty" berm.
I liked that the roof over the concourse ran the full length of the stands, rather than stopping at the end of the overhead press box and luxury boxes, as one usually finds in ballparks of this general design. What with the majority of the seating on the 3rd base (west) side and the fully-covered concourse, it seems that the park was designed to provide shade to the majority of the fans during evening games as the sun sinks to the west.
The right field pole is only 310 feet from home plate and a tall home run fence with an embedded manual scoreboard stretches from the corner to left-center. There is a very nice view of the nearby mountains beyond the outfield and the whole place was clean and well-cared for.
My only complaint is also a compliment because, while I appreciated that they chose to stay away from the usual boring forest green seats you see everywhere, the maroon seats they choose were not exactly to my taste. This is a really nice ballpark nestled between San Diego and Los Angeles, just inland from the coast and set near a lake... Lake Elsinore, as it happens. I didn't see a game, but no one threw me out when I wandered in, which is always worth half a hot dog in my book.
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2017
129
