Joker Marchant Stadium

New entrance to Joker Marchant Stadium, Aug-2003.

The seating bowl, as seen from the top of the first-base stands.

Looking out over the field after nightfall.

• Location: Tiger Town, Al Kaline Way off Lakeland Hills Boulevard, Lakeland, Fla.
• Opened: 1966 (renovated 2003)
• Home team: Lakeland Tigers (1967-2001, 2003-06), Flying Tigers (2007-present), Florida State League; spring training, Detroit Tigers (1966-present)
• Capacity: 7,100

Chronological Tour: Stop 258

Rating: 4 baseballs

The field was closed for renovation in 2002; the renovation added a new concourse area, replaced some seats, reconfigured the bullpens, and added a berm and picnic area, among other changes that cost $11 million. While one old-timer said she liked the old place better, I suspect that’s just nostalgia. I liked this park.

Aside from a bleacher area down the third-base line, everything here is stadium seating. The concourse and all the aisles are sufficiently wide. I could come there every night. Attendance at the game I saw, though, was only 405. And that’s not because of the rain; that’s about average, which is a shame.

Joker Marchant, by the way, was a city commissioner in the mid-1960s who helped spur the construction of the Tigers’ complex.