McKechnie Field

This is a great place to watch a ball game. Clear sight lines. Even twenty rows back there is a feeling of being in the front row.
As stated in other reviews the aisles are tight. People over six feet tall have inadequate knee room. But the molded plastic seats are well shaped and comfortable.
There is a good selection of food which is somewhat better than typical event food. There is an eating area near the vendors on the first base side that includes tables and some grassy areas. It’s nice they resisted making it all concrete.
While there is paid parking nearby there is also ample free on street parking within a reasonable walking distance. This provides an opportunity to enjoy a walk through a neighborhood of traditional Florida cottages, most of which are well maintained.
Nice ballpark. The only real knock is the narrow aisles.

You know, I’ve been a Pirates’ fan through and though. Yes for most of my adult life – with the exception of the 2013 & 2014 seasons – the Bucs have had losing seasons. And yes, I kind of slammed them in my last review. Hey, a part of being a fan is to be able to criticize your favorite team.
Well anyway, for several years now my husband and i have made our annual trek down to Bradenton to escape the Pittsburgh cold and take in some Spring Training. And for my money, with the exception of PNC Park, there’s no better place to see a Pirates’ game than at McKechnie. The atmosphere here is just so relaxed. It’s the perfect place to escape the winter blahs.
In the past we’d sit in the grandstand down the the first base line because they actually looked better than the horrid bucket style seats that used to be in the reserved grandstand. The good news is that they’ve been replaced by regular stadium seats. Our seats were in Section 12, right behind first base for both games we attended. We saw them lose to the Twins on the 13^th and beat the Orioles on the 15^th. Hey, ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ on a road trip ain’t bad!

Wanted to do 5 stars, but could not. Great 90 year plus park! Totally redone, yet they kept the old charm. Just a little too crowded in the bleacher type seats, of which are most of the park. Part of a record crowd for a detroit– Pittsburgh spring game. After a few beers, our entire section decided to cheer quite loudly for a new tiger, joey pancake, who did not let us down. Came through with a 2 run single!

Here for a Spring Training game against the Yankees. Seats in Sec 17 on 3^rd base side were horrible. Hot in the sun, bleachers with no backrest and crowded in. Saw some empty seats up high in the outfield so we too a walk. The last row in the outfield was perfect. Backrests, shade, room to spread out, a nice 20 mph breeze right in the face, and fun people having a couple of beers. Recommend you save a few $$ and go for the cheap seats in the left outfield.

My wife and I were on vacation on Anna Maria Island and we saw that the Bradenton Maurauders were having a Sunday Morning, 11 AM game the day after we arrived. Very cool.
It was the last game of the season so all souveniers were 50% off, so I picked up a great hat.
We sat right behind home plate and they were getting rid of most of their beer as well, so I picked up a few brews I hadn’t tried. Nice.
The outfield has a cool bar with Florida beers, so of course I had to get one of those bad boys.
This is the Pirates minor league park as well, It shows.
Classy minor league ball park, and we had a great time!

Beautiful stadium! Absolutely loved our visit during spring training to see the world champion Boston Red Sox take on the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The hot dogs were fantastic and I really appreciated that the vendor stopped selling during the National Anthem to show some patriotic respect.
Bring a hat if you are going to sit in the bleachers, you will get lobsterfied in the Florida sun as you are distracted by the action in the field.
Mckenchie Field is proof you can do baseball right here, in the outdoors. Perhaps if our very own Rays got a little more local support they might be able to play baseball the way it was intended as well — outside.

HOLY COW! This place has the BEST beer selection I have ever seen in a ball park! Seriously… Kona from Hawaii had multiple beers on draft, Yuengling was flowing, there were probably 20 different craft bottles available, and they’d brought a microbrewery from Pittsburgh down as well. (Of course flavorless «lite» beers were also available.)
Food was also on-​par although some of the lines moved veeeery slowly. Nice touch is the grass, lounge chairs, and picnic tables near the vendors. There isn’t a true grassy outfield here, just a bar facing the field with lots of chairs, and tons of bar height tables for you to sit or stand around with your beer and your food. There’s even a 4-​sided bar with frozen margaritas and daquiris! Parking is $ 5 but includes FREE shuttle to and from your car. There’s a new brewery being built right across the street from the stadium, should be open for 2015.
Biggest word of warning… those bridges get SUPER congested. Leave extra time because you’re going to need it! If you’re planning to come down from Tampa Bay area, double or triple the amount of time you think you’ll need to get there.
People were so friendly here and it was much more of a relaxed party atmosphere compared to the games in Arizona.

What a great ball park! Went to see a Pirates exhibition game here yesterday and had a fantastic time! The park itself looks and feels warm and all aglow with grooviness. The seating is up close and personal with the game so you really feel engaged.
I dunno, maybe it’s because I have spent most of 2014 in single digit temperatures for the most part, but being there, beer in hand, sun on my face, watching a ball game in early March was just exhilarating!
PNC park needs to take concession tips from this place. Their prices were a little more in tune with the financial reality for most of us.
I didn’t get to check out the outfield boardwalk or tiki bar because I was with family and the chance just wasn’t there but it looks pretty awesome.
Yeppers … McKechnie Field is a pretty freaking sweet place to see a game!

One of the nicer Florida State League parks. I went to see Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco play. It’s fairly new and has good concessions. Lots of trees around. Parking is hard to find though b/​c it’s in the middle of a commercial area.

The only other stadium I’ve been to during spring training is Ed Smith, so I was pretty impressed with the size of McKechnie field. They have a pretty cool boardwalk area that overlooks the field. For watching the game, it was weird to have different events and contests without a big screen to watch. The food vendors were the same ones throughout and included the regular fare of hot dogs, burgers, Italian sausages, cheesesteaks, and fries. There is this one large food stand that is connected, but apparently you can only order fries at certain registers within that stand… (I don”t know why they can’t walk down a few feet to get some fries…)
The pierogi race and dancing parrot were a nice touch since there was no big screen to entertain me in between innings :)

This is a beautiful stadium. I never went to it before the millions of dollars they put into it, but wow it is great here. Not only can you enjoy a beautiful game, but also there is a great new outfield boardwalk fully equipped with a full tiki bar serving drinks. I think going to a Pirate game here beats going to one up in Pittsburgh for sure!

I was kind of stuck between two and three stars here so I decided to round up. McKechnie Field is a throwback to the parks of the past, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. To me there’s nothing wrong with a classic ballpark without all of the bells and whistles like a Jumbotron in center field.
Where McKechnie falls short is the seating. They are old, molded plastic seats that don’t fold up. Add that to the lack of legroom in the sections behind home plate and you’ve got 10 people having to literally exit a row is someone wants to get in or out at any time. The seats are just plain uncomfortable for anyone over average height, so at 6’6″ I had a bit of a tight squeeze.
The other issue is that the aisles going up to the seats are uneven and don’t have hand railings. As a result for two of the games we went to there my father couldn’t make it up to the seats. We also saw more than a few older people having issues trying to get up and down the stairs. Totally unacceptable and needs to be addressed by the Pirates.
In the past McKechnie was a great place to get autographs on both the home and away sides down the lines by the clubhouses. Recent «improvements» have cut the space down by about half on the visitors side and moved the clubhouse door much further away from the fans. On the home side, for some reason, they’ve put up a fence to block the fans from getting autographs from the Pirates.
To be fair, the Pirates are a pretty fan friendly team and will usually sign going down the front row as they make their way from the clubhouse to the dugout. I have to give some special props to the team’s superstar Andrew McCutchen for signing a LOT of autographs at the games we went to. I believe everyone in the park that wanted his signature got them.
The food at the ballpark is average fare, with the exception of the foot-​long hotdogs you can find at the smaller self-​standing stands. A foot-​long dog with kraut is as good as any ballpark I’ve ever had.
No review of McKechnie would be complete, at least for a spring training standpoint, without mentioning the Pirate mascot, the Pirate Parrot. One of the most entertaining mascots in the game. I know, kind of a weird thing to review, but the guy will keep you entertained! Just about busted a gut when he came out in his «McClucken» outfit in honor of Andrew McCutchen.
This is easily a five star venue IF and WHEN they re-​do the seating to feature more comfortable seats with a bit more legroom and easy access for those who don’t get around so well anymore. I’m hoping they do that soon now that the next closest park, Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, has made massive improvements over the past few years.

McKechnie field has been in Bradenton for years. It is showing its age. There are plans in the works to spruce things up.
Their new A-​Division Bradenton Marauders baseball team just started playing games last year and they are looking to improve the fan experience each year.
Look for new concession offerings and many other great things to come. Come out to a ballgame — there’s 70 home games to choose from and it’s a lot of fun. My wife got 15 foul balls and a pink baseball bat last year! It;s a blast.