Pelicans Ballpark is revered for its experience. Here’s what makes the stadium special
Pelicans Ballpark was rated the No. 1 minor league ballpark experience by Stadium Journey for 2021, marking the ninth time in 10 years Myrtle Beach’s park has been in the website’s top 10 in all of minor league baseball.
The Pelicans and park have received several other entertainment-related awards as well.
So what makes attending a Myrtle Beach Pelicans baseball game so special?
It’s a combination of many factors including the configuration of the park itself, its location, available activities, nightly promotions, between-innings entertainment, food and beverage offerings, and the creativity of the Pelicans staff.
“It’s not just a baseball game for us, it’s a show, and I think when folks come and experience that they feel like they’ve been someplace and seen more and taken in more than just a baseball game,” said Pelicans Associate General Manager Kristin Call. “We put such an emphasis on the in-game fan experience. We want to make sure you have a great time.”
What’s special about Pelicans Ballpark
Pelicans Ballpark was a nice stadium when it was built at a cost of about $13 million for the franchise’s inaugural 1999 season, and the team has made several improvements over the years to enhance the fan experience.
Many allow larger groups to enjoy the game together.
A beach — now dubbed Tito’s Beach Party — for groups of up to 100 people was installed in 2006 down the left field line and is believed to be the first ever at a minor league park. It’s adjacent to the visitor’s bullpen.
The Bullpen Experience Deck offers a row of seats for up to 25 on the home clubhouse above the Pelicans bullpen behind the right field wall, and includes a pregame/early game buffet.
A picnic area down the right field line features numerous picnic tables covered by a tent canopy and includes a pregame/early game buffet.
The top level of the stadium features nine luxury suites. Some have full-season leases while others are available per game.
“Those are just really great views and experiences here within Pelicans Ballpark,” Call said.
The Road to the Show Wall in the first base concourse features plaques of the more than 175 former Pelicans players and coaches, including current Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker and reigning National League MVP Freedie Freeman, who have reached the majors, with the year they were in Myrtle Beach and year and MLB team they debuted with.
The ‘Cubsification’ of the ballpark
When the Pelicans became a farm team of the Chicago Cubs in 2014, the park underwent a “Cubsification” to bring a bit of the Cubs’ Wrigley Field experience to Myrtle Beach.
The right field grille was rebranded the Clark & Addison Grille, the menu was adjusted to fit the Cubs theme, and the structure features a Wrigley Field marquee and collage of former Cubs greats. The Windy City Wieners hot dog cart was created, and Wrigley Field’s tradition of raising a W Flag after each win has been incorporated with a flag pole on the left field side.
Grissom Plaza at the end of the third base concourse features inscribed donated bricks in the shape of the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field.
The Pelicans pro shop is well-stocked with a variety of Pelicans and Cubs items.
“If you’re coming out because you love baseball and you want to see Ed Howard, the Cubs top draft pick in 2020 . . . and that’s your gig, we’ve got that for you,” Call said. “If you don’t care about baseball at all and are just here to hang out with friends, family, coworkers, whoever, we’ve got that too. You don’t have to watch a game. Win or lose, you can kind of drop your worries at the gate and have a great night.”
Nightly activities, promotions
Pelicans Ballpark offers a special promotion every game night, including $2 Tacos and Tallboys Tuesdays, Wiener Wednesdays, Thirsty Thursdays, Sippin’ Saturdays, and Family & Fireworks Fridays featuring kid-friendly themes and activities and post-game fireworks.
There are fireworks after the games Friday, Saturday and Sunday this Fourth of July weekend.
The Pelicans drew national social media attention and orders from around the country for its beer bats offering earlier this year featuring long plastic cups in the shape of a bat.
There is a 50-50 raffle every night with half of the winnings going to the winner and half going to either the Pelicans Community Fund or a partnering charity.
Mascots Splash and the Rally Shark interact with fans throughout games and partake in pumping up the crowd, as do promotional staff employees.
For kids and families, the Grand Strand Optimist Club Playground at the end of the first base concourse features slides and climbing structures, Speed Pitch measures how fast you can throw, T-Ball tests your hand-eye coordination with a wiffle ball oscillating in the air above a tee, a Prize Wheel awards gifts, and there’s a Pop-a-Shot basketball game and bounce house.
The Pelicans have entertainment that involves spectators after every half inning either on the field or the video display board in centerfield.
Knockerball is a competition with two fans running into each other inside inflated plastic balls. There are T-shirt tosses, hip-shake competitions to release balls in a pouch, men’s ribbon dancing, seat upgrades for lucky fans, and fan cams including kiss cam and air guitar.
“We have something for everyone is a big key to the success,” Call said. “We don’t take ourselves so seriously that we can’t have a good time. If we’re having a good time it’s easier for the fans to have a good time. [Sometimes] that means we’re shooting off fire cannons or smoke guns and the lights are dancing.”
Food and beverage options
Pelicans Ballpark offers a variety of food and drinks more befitting a full-service restaurant than a sports stadium, and there are a multitude of F&B stations throughout the park.
The Clark & Addison Grille features several unique items named after former Cubs including a Chicken Bog Ball and the Deep Dish Pizza Burger.
Windy City Wieners features the Chicago Dog on a steamed poppy seed bun topped with neon relish, diced onions, fresh tomatoes, a kosher pickle spear, a dash of celery salt, yellow mustard and sport peppers.
Chicken & Waffle Bites are Waffle-battered Chicken nuggets with syrup, whipped cream and powdered sugar.
Seafood includes locally-made crab cakes and shrimp and clam baskets. Also available are burgers, sausages, pulled pork, steak and chicken cheesesteaks, a buffalo chicken sandwich and the traditional stadium fares of nachos, pretzels, pizza, popcorn, Cracker Jack, peanuts, etc.
Ice cream is available in cups or waffle cones, there’s a root beer float, and carts include Dippin Dots, fresh squeezed lemonade, cotton candy and fresh caramel popcorn.
Adult beverages come in several varieties. There are up to five beers on tap and many bottled and canned selections, buzzed ice cream and Tito’s vodka mixed drinks.
“It’s a very robust menu,” Call said.
Rankings and honors
Other past Stadium Journey rankings for Pelicans Ballpark include: No. 1 High-A Ballpark Experience (2019); No. 1 Ballpark Experience in South Carolina (2018); Top 50 Ballpark Experience in All of Sports (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016).
Stadium Journey has nearly 50 writers who travel to games and write reviews to give readers knowledge before they attend a game at a venue.
The website presents its rankings for overall experience factoring in food and beverage, overall atmosphere, the neighborhood, the fans, access (which includes parking, traffic, restrooms and concourses), return on investment, and an “extras” category. Crowd reviews are the primary tiebreaker for ranking ties.
“The club combines a great product on the field with a beautiful facility in a hard-to-beat location,” wrote list author Mark Viquez in January. “Great food; excellent choice of craft beers; free parking; nearby Broadway at the Beach; Splash and Slider; friendly welcoming staff; and Myrtle Beach combine to make TicketReturn.com Field an easy choice for your visit. It is one of the best in the minors. The salty air and the ocean breeze are truly the best compliments to baseball.”
The Pelicans or the ballpark have won numerous other awards in the past four seasons.
In both 2017 and 2018 Trip Advisor awarded the Pelicans a Certificate of Excellence and a Top 5 “Things to Do” honor.
Between 2017-19 the Pelicans were finalists or nominees for eight Golden Bobblehead awards recognizing the best minor league promotions of the season within six categories. The recognized promotions included Cubs-A-Palooza, Derby Eve and Deaf Awareness Night, which was named Ballpark Digest’s Promotion of the Year and a Minor League Baseball Promotion of the Year finalist, and led to a Pelicans’ Deaf Awareness Night jersey being enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
The Pelicans won the 2019 Carolina League Excellence in Marketing & Promotions Award, and 2020 SC Governor’s Conference on Tourism & Travel Community Award.
“The fan experience is not just when you walk in the gate, it’s tires in to tires out,” Call said. “. . . We want to make sure the experience you have here completely outweighs whatever effort it took you to get here because we want you to keep coming back.”
This story was originally published July 2, 2021 at 3:59 PM.
