Aberdeen, Bowie and Delmarva begin process to receive public improvements for ballparks, meet MLB standards by 2025

Not all ballpark improvements are eye-catching, or even noticeable.

“I gotta modernize an elevator,” Kyle Torster, the City of Aberdeen’s Director of Public Works said last month regarding Ripken Stadium, home of the IronBirds.

Yet, such improvements are needed to keep aging ballparks functioning. And in the case of some specific renovations, they’re required so minor league teams retain their affiliation with Major League Baseball.

MLB dictated in 2021 that each of its minor league clubs play in stadiums that meet certain standards for players. Last year, the state of Maryland set aside public money for that purpose, authorizing the Maryland Stadium Authority to issue up to $200 million.

Maryland’s three Orioles-affiliated minor league teams — the High-A IronBirds, Double-A Bowie Baysox and Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds — recently sent letters to the stadium authority requesting some of those funds. Each of those teams play in ballparks that are between 20 and 30 years old and though the parks have many needs, the fund’s top priority is to meet MLB’s new requirements so the clubs remain affiliated.

MLB is requiring each club to have “modernized facility standards better suited for professional athletes,” per a news release.

Minor league rosters and staffs have grown in size in recent decades and so clubhouses, for example, are now required to be larger. There are also now more women in pro baseball, serving as coaches and umpires, and ballparks will need to have more than just men’s bathrooms on the service level — which used to be the case in some instances.

MLB cut the number of minor league teams from 160 to 120 in 2020, eliminating affiliations with teams in places such as Frederick and Hagerstown. It has now decreed that each remaining team play in a ballpark up to the new standards by 2025.

“Major League Baseball has reorganized their minor league system,” Michael Frenz, the stadium authority’s executive director, said last year. “Cities have lost teams, and the primary reason has been the adequacy of their facilities. This will help Maryland’s municipalities keep their minor league teams.”

Ballparks in Frederick, which is home to a yet-to-be-named Atlantic League team in addition to an MLB Draft League squad, and Waldorf, home to the Atlantic League’s Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, might be able to access the $200 million fund, though those teams are not official affiliates of MLB. Separately, the home of the Blue Crabs just received a $1.5 million state grant for renovations.

And Hagerstown, which is in the midst of receiving a $70 million ballpark funded by the state and will host an Atlantic League team in 2024, could also request money from the stadium authority, though its park will be built with MLB’s standards already in place.

The $200 million fund could further be accessed by other sports venues like equestrian centers or venues for youth sports tournaments, but stadium authority criteria outlined a pecking order: “i. minor league baseball stadiums with affiliated teams; ii. minor league baseball stadiums with nonaffiliated teams; iii. other Sports Entertainment Facilities that generate positive economic impact for the State.”

So, the ballparks in Aberdeen, Bowie and Delmarva will first receive renovations.

“The priority is on those three right now,” Al Tyler, vice president of the Capital Projects Development Group of the stadium authority, said last month.

Those upgrades could range from improved batting cages to newer washers and dryers.

Owners of those parks will likely hope for repairs beyond what MLB requires. Torster noted that Aberdeen’s ballpark has seats and concrete which, worn down over time, need to be replaced.

The City of Aberdeen hired architecture firm Ewing Cole in 2022 to assess the city’s ballpark needs, finding that the ballpark required $57 million in improvements, of which at least $9 million is related to achieving MLB standards. (Those figures could be different, however, from the standards MLB mandates.)

The stadium authority is waiting to learn what each park requires. Some renovation could begin as early as this year.

Local leadership in Aberdeen, Bowie and Wicomico County (home of the Shorebirds) sent letters to the MSA in October and November requesting that the stadium authority consider awarding grant money to each of them.

“Though many improvements have been made in recent years, the Stadium will require additional renovations in order to meet recently adopted Professional Development League standards, as required by Major League Baseball,” a letter from Wicomico County leadership said.

“Other stadium improvements, including those specifically requested by the Baltimore Orioles, are also needed to make the stadium more modern and viable long-term, and to deliver a first-class product to players, coaches and fans.”

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