Dashing Around the Bases

Exterior of BB&T Ballpark, Aug-2010.

Looking down the left-field line from the concourse beyond the outfield berm.

The view from behind the plate, overlooking downtown Winston-Salem.

Chronological Tour: Stop 352

• Location: First and Green streets, Winston-Salem, N.C. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 2010 as BB&T Ballpark
• Additional names: Truist Stadium (2020)
• Home team: Winston-Salem Dash, Carolina League (2010-present)
• Capacity: 5,500 (approx. fixed seats)

Rating: 3 baseballs

Since most of the parking is beyond the outfield, the main entrance and box office here is beyond the outfield. The only folks who walk in behind home plate are club seating ticket holders. The arrangement works fairly well, although the lack of escape routes does make egress a little bit slow.

While the park was certainly functional when I attended, it was incomplete. It appears that they plan to build a team store down the first-base line; as it stood at my visit, the team store actually occupied most of the space behind the plate that was originally designed as the press box. The radio crews do have separate booths off the room, but newspaper reporters have to work elsewhere. The space is tight enough that during that initial season, the line to pay for souvenirs bought from the store is on the concourse. As of 2019, there is a small store in the outfield, but merchandise is still sold behind the plate in a reconfigured space.

I also noticed in 2010 that there was no whiteboard for the starting lineups. The visiting lineup was read rather quickly and with little advance notice, making it difficult to get it down on paper. By 2019, the club was posting standings and lineups on the concourse, and a single sheet with lineups and the Dash roster was available at the customer service desk.

Otherwise, the park seems to work fairly well. Sightlines are good. The park is larger than some other High-A facilities, although its size compares favorably to the park in Wilmington. The biggest issue on my return visit was the removal of the old freeway through the middle of town, which made getting to the ballpark from out of town rather awkward. The state Department of Transportation was reconfiguring the former Interstate 40 into a lower-grade freeway, the Salem Parkway, which is now open and so access has been restored.

I was taken aback by higher-than-usual prices for this level of ball on my 2024 visit. Perhaps prices were higher because it was a fireworks night, but I did notice that the park was not jampacked for that promotion. I wonder if the higher prices have driven some fans away.

One pleasant, and notable, item is that the carousel from the old park was transplanted successfully to this facility. It operates in a separate kids’ area beyond center field.