Reading Municipal Memorial Stadium

Entrance to FirstEnergy Stadium, Sep-2011.

Interior view from the left-field bleachers, Apr-2001.

The view from home plate: mountains, trees, and scoreboard.

• Location: Centre Avenue (PA 61) south of PA 12, Reading, Pa.
• Opened: 1950 as Reading Municipal Memorial Stadium
• Additional names: GPU Stadium (2000), FirstEnergy Stadium (2002)
• Home team: Reading Indians (1952-61, 1965), Reading Red Sox (1963-64), Reading Phillies (1967-present), Eastern League
• Capacity: 9,000

Chronological Tour: Stop 22

Rating: 4 baseballs

The park, erected in 1950, is the oldest in the Eastern League, and there are places where it shows, such as the narrow concourse. But this is offset by some recent renovations that make Reading a wonderful place to sit back and enjoy a game.

All the seating in the park is no older than the early 1990s, and the seating capacity has been expanded in recent years by additions in left field as well as a BOB-style swimming pool beyond the right-field wall. In addition, a new entry plaza erected for 2011 takes some pressure off the crowded concourse that may have been suitable in 1950 but no longer worked efficiently.

The best part of the stadium, however, is a staff that makes everyone feel at home. From public address announcer Dave “Frenchy” Bauman to the ticket takers, ushers, and concessionaires, Reading is a wonderful place.

The club has also bent over backwards to keep the experience affordable. General admission tickets are still $8 (and on weekdays, that includes quite a few seats under the spacious roof), and the Berks hot dogs, the best in the league, are only $1.75 each. (Prices are as of 2011.) They finally had to raise the price from $1, but the concessions are still very reasonable.