Review from July 26, 2018​
Greenville Drive vs. Hickory Crawdads
UnMet Expectations in Greenville
By: Matthew Preslar

This may be the most beautiful park entrance and playing field in all of Low A baseball. We can’t think of any venue on our South Atlantic League tours that can compare. The stadium and surrounding community is much more reminiscent of Major Leagues or Triple A. To me, this entrance reminded me of our home ballpark and the Charlotte Knights. The city around the stadium made this a place where we could spend a day and walk in shops and eat at the local restaurants. This had everything we needed to make a day of this outing.

As the gates opened, we loved seeing the features that made this park a replica of Fenway. Even on our first visit, it was like I had seen this park for years on TV. However, aside from the actual playing field, the inside of the stadium did not quite match the Major League feel of the outside. 

We always enjoy when a concourse wraps all the way around a stadium. Some of our favorite pictures from ballparks come from behind the outfield wall. We also like how the wrap-around concourse makes the stadium feel never ending. You can make three or four laps around the field and notice something new every time; even if it's just the field looking differently as it goes from day to night. Sadly, Fluor Field had a very small concourse, and we saw it all in one pass.

Another negative from the night was the lack of value in the Thirsty Thursday promotion. The feature $1 selection was only one variety in a can, available in only one location of the park. Combine this with the outrageous parking price of the church lot neighboring the ballpark, we just did not feel there was any added value in what we purchased that night. We got a good seat at a fair price, but nothing that knocked our SOX off in terms of family entertainment. Fluor Field was an eloquent baseball stadium that excelled in style but needed more substance.

FLUOR FIELD AT THE WEST END
Greenville, South Carolina

HOME OF THE:
GREENVILLE DRIVE

MLB AFFILIATE:
BOSTON RED SOX

BUILT: 2006
CAPACITY: 6,700
MiLB LEVEL: HIGH-A

RELATED POSTS

OUR RATING: 
44 / 50

TICKET VALUE 9/10

  • $12 for our Seats in “Home Plate Box”
  • $10 in Sections on Top of Dugouts
  • $9 Reserved (down the line)
  • $8 Pesky Porch Section (way down 1st base line)
  • $16 on top of Green Monster (1st row swivel seats, 2nd row 4-top tables)
  • Tickets are $1 more on day of event
  • Additional $1 fee to print at home - for most venues print-your-own is free

CONCESSIONS  9/10

  • $6 Souvenir Soda with $2 refills
  • $3.50 bottled drinks
  • $2-5 for chips/snacks
  • $5-6 Entrees
  • $3.75 helmet ice cream...cheapest we have seen for helmet!
  • Hand scooped ice cream in many flavors available at "Sweet Caroline's"
  • Chic Fil A, Subway, Carrera Cantina offering menu items beyond the classic ballpark fare
  • Red Sox themed Concession Stands (Splendid Splinter's / Sweet Caroline's)
  • Customer can order food from BYPASS LANE APP and get food delivered to any seat in the park
  • Advertised Thirsty Thursday, but only one canned beer available at $1 price, located in ONE section of the park (500 Club); no one under 21 was even allowed to walk in that section​

FAMILY FRIENDLINESS  6/5

  • Large, free, fenced in playground area near main entrance and berm
  • Benches and picnic table on top of berm section
  • Reedy Rip’it frog mascot
  • Many activities between innings
  • Very visible first aid room on concourse
  • Kids Souvenir cups featuring Reedy the frog mascot

ATMOSPHERE  8/10

  • With Fluor Field being a Fenway replica, including the Green Monster, we approached the park with excitement. Greenville was a 2018 Wish List destination we'd been looking forward to for months
  • We arrived very early and were able to take some picture on top of the Green Monster before any of the ticket holders arrived. Typically, fans are not allowed up there during the game without a ticket for those seats. It's a great view that only a select few fans can appreciate.
  • We were in awe from the front entrance as we arrived in town several hours early... there is beautiful brick work (some reused from old mills in Greenville), with abundant Red Sox branding.
  • Dining and shops around stadium created a Major League feel around the ballpark.
  • Noticed several DRIVE employees dressed in business casual... they looked very sharp and professional
  • Some signage inside the stadium on the history of baseball in Greenville
  • Overall, the inside of the stadium did not match the hype of the grandiose entrance
  • Fluor Field has a strict "Clear Bag" policy... not friendly to unknowing visitors, and not common in other Minor League Parks across the Southeast. 
  • Magazine style programs
  • Many between inning activities with BB McCoy break dancing bat boy and Jake the Diamond Dog

CHARACTER  9/10

  • Perhaps the most grand entrance in all our adventures in the SALLY League
  • City is set up to encapsulate the ballpark... this model should be a goal for the development of SRP Park a couple hours away in North Augusta, SC
  • A scale replica of Fenway Park, with a slightly shorter Green Monster wall
  • Food stand named after Ted Williams (Splendid Splinter’s) and a few other pictures of former Red Sox players
  • Team is named "DRIVE" after automotive manufacturing in Greenville, but yet, team and stadium focuses ALL marketing and promotion on being Red Sox, with nothing auto related
  • Painting in bathrooms mimic vintage baseball imagery with Red Sox accents
  • Home team white uniforms closely resemble Red Sox home whites (except the Drive wear Red hats while Red Sox wear Navy hats)
  • Shoeless Joe Jackson statue at entrance to ballpark, and museum (with VERY LIMITED hours) across from second entrance​

PARKING  3/5

  • $10 in paved lot adjacent to stadium, owned by local church
  • Several other lots $5 but a longer walk
  • Many other ballparks provide free parking or $3-5 fee, while parking decks in major cities have not exceeded $6

TICKET VALUE
(10 points)

• Ticket Prices
​• View from Seat

​CONCESSIONS
​(10 points)

• Variety, Quality & Price of Food
• Variety of Drinks / Souvenir Cups
• Length of Lines at Concession Stands

​FAMILY FRIENDLINESS
​(5 points)

• Play Areas
• In-Between Inning Activities & Contests
• ​Mascot
• Family Bathrooms

​ATMOSPHERE
​(10 points)

• Local Experience
• Sound-Effects & Music
• Programs
• ​Restrooms

​CHARACTER
​(10 points)

• Home Team Uniforms & Colors
• Architecture of Stadium
• History of Stadium
​• Tributes to MLB Affiliate / Local Players
• Location of Stadium & Surrounding Scenery

​PARKING
(5 points)

• Price for Parking
• ​Size, Quality & Location of Lot