Baseball Returns to Charlotte, Uptown

The main entrance is actually down the first-base line, at Mint and 2nd Streets.

From down the third-base line, Bank of America Stadium (home of the NFL Panthers) is visible.

From behind the plate, fans get to see the Charlotte skyline.

Chronological Tour: Stop 368

• Location: Bounded by Mint Street & Graham Street (US 29 / NC 49), Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (2nd Street) and 4th Street, Charlotte, N.C. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 2014 as BB&T Ballpark
• Additional names: Truist Field (2020)
• Home team: Charlotte Knights, International League (2014-present)
• Capacity: 10,200

Rating: 3 baseballs

The fans have flocked to the ballpark in droves since its opening (only standing room was available when I arrived an hour before first pitch on the same day as a major NASCAR race several miles east), but perhaps because I have visited so many parks, I was distinctly underwhelmed by the facility, especially given that it hosts Triple-A ball in an otherwise major league city.

Originally named for BB&T Bank (Broadway Bank and Trust), which was headquartered in the Tar Heel State, the park adopted the name of the bank’s new owner, Truist, in 2020. Truist is the result of a merger between BB&T and SunTrust, an Atlanta-based institution that sponsored the Braves’ suburban ballpark when it opened in 2017.

Getting to the Game

In a trait common to a few recently built ballparks, there is no home-plate gate. There are service entrances along MLK Boulevard near Graham Street, but the main patron entrance and ticket offices are down the first-base line at the corner of Mint Street. There are also outfield entrances along 4th Street, and each of these includes an automated ticket kiosk shielded from the elements.

Watching the Game

The area behind the plate is taken up by a separate premium area, the Budweiser Home Plate Club. This is an enclosed, air-conditioned area restricted to club ticket holders. However, there are regular seats (at a higher price) located in front of the club, directly behind the plate.

General admission ticket holders can enjoy the game from a grass berm in left field; however, part of the berm is obstructed by the scoreboard. There are also five regular seating sections in the outfield, designated Home Run Sections.

Public address announcement is competent and proficient, as is the information on the video board. However, there is no dedicated scoreboard, and while the basic game information (runs, hits, errors, inning, count, outs) is constantly displayed on auxiliary matrix boards, the numbers become difficult to read when both runs and hits reach double digits. This is not the case on the main video board – but the score display is often removed from the main board for promotional reasons, especially between innings.

Enjoying the Game

The kids’ play area is largely behind the batter’s eye in center field. There are also the requisite picnic areas in the outfield. In the infield, the club has provided rails for standees to consume food, score the game, etc.