Mel Olson Stadium
Burien, WA
Review by Mike
Mel Olson Stadium is the home of the DubSea Fish Sticks of the summer collegiate Pacific International League. This is not the first ballpark to stand on this spot in Burien, Washington, south of Seattle and in the glide path of SeaTac Airport. White Center Stadium, a stylish wooden ballpark occupied the site from 1940 until it burned down in 1977. It took just two years for King County to build this new concrete and steel stadium, which opened in 1979.
This is an interesting place, comprised of two large, straight grandstands, one along each foul line and no seating behind home plate. That premium spot is reserved for a squat press box that sits directly behind home plate. And when I say “directly”, I am not kidding, because Olson Stadium has almost no foul territory. The press box cannot be more than 20 feet from home plate. I’m sure there’s a whole lotta flinchin’ goin’ on when a pitch is fouled straight back into one of those windows, protecting only by a very flimsy looking net.
Both grandstands feature all bench seating and each is covered by a full roof with a few poles to just obstruct views enough to give the ballpark a classic, old-timey feel. The playing surface on the infield is FieldTurf, with natural grass in the outfield. The stadium is set in a park, with residential housing visible beyond the fence. The parking is right next to the stadium, so might I suggest getting there early so you can park at the distance reaches of the lot to avoid dents and broken glass.
A basic, but wholly adequate scoreboard keeps track of proceedings in right-center field. The dugouts are tucked in under the grandstands with the safety netting extended out beyond the front of the dugout to keep corralled foul balls from dropping onto the players heads. I wonder if they thought of this first or it took a couple of doinks to the noggins to make them adjust the netting this way.
Mel Olson Stadium is a really nice ballpark, with an incredibly intimate feel due to the steep pitch of the grandstands and the postage stamp size of foul territory. All of this earns it a solid 3 hot dogs, but I am giving an extra hot dog for the incredible array of gastronomic options at the concession stand. Check out the photos of the menu below, but I’ll list the choices here, just to make your mouth water; 5 types of hot dogs, 4 types of nachos, fish sticks, fish stick po’boy and fiesta shrimp, 3 types of fries, 3 types of tacos, 4 sandwich options, 2 types of mac & cheese, and beignets for dessert. You don’t see this variety at most MLB parks. Oh, and the Fish Sticks logo is awesome, a fish stick swinging a French fry bat. I plan on going back just for the food!
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Mel Olson Stadium had so many cool logos and plaques and such an amazing snack bar menu, that this is a rare page that has more Peanut Gallery photos than ballpark photos!
