| It is quite amazing that Golden Park is still hosting pro baseball. The Red Stixx (which left in '02) were a lame duck in their final season and it certainly seemed like the Catfish have been on their way out for the past four seasons. The owners had their eyes on Columbia, SC, but were unable to get a new ballpark built there. After
extensive renovations in 1996 (it played host to softball in the '96 Olympics),
Golden Park is fine place to see a game. The park has a covered grandstand,
though much of the covered seating is taken up by the newly constructed luxury
boxes. The box and reserved seating are individual folding chairs,
while the general admission seating is metal benches. A large concourse
featuring concession stands and a small gift store is located underneath
the seating areas. Concessions are limited in variety but prices are
reasonable. The exterior of the ballpark is beautiful - the facade
is red brick and the numerous sidewalks are well landscaped. Because
of the "lame duck" nature of the team during the '02 season, it was obvious
when I went that the management was not giving much of an effort. Attendance
was poor, the grounds crew was awful as they didn't know how to unroll the
tarp, and there were numerous blank ads on the outfield wall. The area
certainly seems to be big enough to support pro baseball, but perhaps softball
has become the sport of choice here after the '96 Olympics. Despite
the construction of many new parks in the SAL, Golden Park is still a sufficient park for the SAL. But with attendance not increasing much, it is hard to imagine the Catfish staying to many more years.
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