Stadium Visit: Northeast Delta Dental Stadium (Manchester, NH)

It was a beautiful Saturday and my partner (who is a hockey fan, but not a baseball fan) asked if there were any baseball games to go to.  Turns out, the closest game was in Manchester NH.  It's an hour and a half drive to Manchester, so I was surprised when I heard her say "Okay, buy the tickets".


The New Hampshire Fishercats were hosting the Hartford Yard Goats at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.  Eastern League (AA) action.  On the drive up, I was looking at parking options, and the options seemed sparse.  When we got to the stadium, we were able to park in a commercial lot that I guess is leased by the team for weekend game days.  But It was an incredibly cramped lot, and I can see where a mid-week game could cause parking chaos. 

It was a short walk to the main gate, which is to the right side of the box office.  After getting passed the ticket takers, you walk past the team store, which is small - but not cramped.  Lots of t-shirt and hat choices.  Most recent team card set looked like it was from 2015.  They did have a nice range of stuff featuring their "New Hampshire Primaries" alternate. 

After the team store, its a nice wide set up steps up to the concourse.  The steps let you out right at the 3rd base line foul pole.  To the left is a pub with some patio seating and a small roofed stage (at the end of the night, a couple of guys were playing songs for the lingering fans finishing their beers).  The patio has great views of the field and a river that runs opposite the third base side of the stadium.

The first impression was the very wide concourse, which handles the traffic from the single entry point very well.  The view was also great.  The outfield wall is red brick with a manual scoreboard at the base of the left field fence.

Concession stand was wide with plenty of points of sale.  Sight lines to the field were great.  The video board in centerfield is big and bright.  Seats are wide with plenty of foot space. 

The only complaints are game day operations related.  I couldn't find a line-up anywhere.  They have two video boards, once square one in centerfield and a long one in the leftfield wall.  Nowhere do they put the linescore or line-ups.

The other complaint is that there is constant music.  Between pitches - 10 seconds of music. Between innings - music.

But, those two complaints are way overshadowed by how beautiful the ballpark is.  Northeast Delta Dental is my 28th baseball stadium and could be a top 5 park.