Mirabito Stadium
Binghamton, NY
Review by Gary & Mike
GARY: Traveling north through New York state on our way around Lake Ontario, Susan and I stopped in Binghamton, NY to check out the home of the AA affiliate of the NY Mets. Unfortunately, we had some miles to cover and were a few hours too early to see Jose Reyes play a rehab game for the team that would change its name to the supposedly more fan-friendly Binghamton Rumble Ponies, a reference to Binghamton’s reputation as the “Carousel Capital of the World”.
Mike saw a game in 2005 and Gary visited in 2016. Each wrote a review. The editor has decided to interweave these reviews on this page because he thinks it's a cool idea, and he's the editor.
MIKE: This is a comfortable, but unremarkable ballpark. The stands wrap around the field to a point just beyond the infield. A modest roof covers some of the patrons behind home plate. The concessions and facilities are all located under the stands, although there was a deck down near the first base foul pole that housed a picnic/BBQ area.
GARY: Located in downtown Binghamton on the shores of the Susquehanna! River, Mirabito Stadium was built in 1992 and is named after an area power company. With a capacity of just over 6,000, the seating section divides its reserved seats from the general admission by a concourse that runs horizontally between them around the park. Every seat in the ballpark is of the blue chair back style regardless of the section and there are some luxury boxes above, flanking the press box.
MIKE: The view beyond the fence was of a train yard, something I always enjoy in a ballpark and while I stood taking pictures, several trains shunted back and forth. We also got to enjoy a balloon festival floating by beyond left field.
GARY: While the skies looked like they would open up and cancel this July game, the B-Mets, led by the likes of future Mets Ahmed Rosario, Dom Smith, Juan Lagares and Lee Mazzilli’s son, LJ, would go on to defeat the Fisher Cats of New Hampshire. Overall, Mirabito Stadium is a simple, functional place to see a AA game.
MIKE: All in all this is a perfectly agreeable place to see a AA baseball game, though nothing I would travel a great distance specifically to see. On the night I was there Steve Trachsel was pitching a rehab start for the Mets, so we had plenty of time to take in the atmosphere.
2016
84
2005
81
