UPMC Park: Home of the Erie SeaWolves
Happy Opening Day from UPMC Park in Erie, Pennsylvania! Located in the downtown vicinity of Erie, UPMC Park offers a neat environment but has some downsides to go with it.
Erie SeaWolves (Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers since 2001)
Established: 1995 (in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League)
Ballpark: UPMC Park (opened 1995)
League: Eastern League
Notable Alumni: Alex Avila, Nick Castellanos, Curtis Granderson, Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Casey Mize, Fernando Rodney, Tarik Skubal, Justin Verlander
Championships: 2023, 2024
Location/ Scenery/ Amenities (0.8/5)
The stadium sits on the edge of the downtown area meaning a 5 minute walk north can bring you to the city center, however, if you stray off in any other direction, it puts you in some pretty sketchy neighborhoods.
I did enjoy the scenery at UPMC Park, however, it wasn't anything to write home about. The city of Erie isn't sprawling with sky scrapers, but sitting on the first base line will give you a glimpse of the Erie skyline. With that being said, if you do sit on the first base line for a evening game, the sun sets over the left field corner meaning you might get a pretty bad glare on a clear night.
UPMC Park offers the basic amenities seen in most ballparks which includes the Flagship Funland which is free to all children. The ballpark also has a stadium club on the left field wall along with a Bud Light Party Deck on the right field wall which includes box seats, picnic tables, and a concession stand.
Food (0.5/5)
The food scene at UPMC Park was absolutely abysmal. There was no crazy item or special dish. I started off with The Grog ($9.75) which was a 14 oz. cocktail in a souvenir cup with coconut rum, peach schnapps, and melon liquor served over orange and pineapple juice. It wasn't a bad cocktail but it was the craziest thing I saw during my time at the park. A few innings later, I opted for the Ox Roast Sandwich ($8.75). I wasn't really sure what I was expecting but when I received warm roast beef on small, store-bought hamburger roll, I was pretty disappointed. The ballpark did have a South of the Border cart that offered tacos and nachos as well as a stand from a local meat shop that was doing steak burgers. If I had known how boring the Ox Roast Sandwich was I might've turned my attention to those vendors. The best thing I had at UPMC Ballpark was the Peanut Butter Marshmallow Ice Cream ($6.50). The ice cream was made locally by the Penn State-Behrend Creamery and was absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately, the other food did not live up to that standard.
Entertainment (3.3/5)
The entertainment was one of the better aspects of UPMC Park. There wasn't any on field games but there was an array of cams that kept the crowd engaged. The most entertaining part of it all was Kevin who never failed to get the crowd hyped up. Kevin (left) was all in on dances and never passed up the opportunity to start a chant.
Sam's Score: 30.6/100
While it's great to have baseball back, my visit to UPMC Park was a pretty disappointing start to the 2025 baseball season. It is a great place to take a family if you are in the area but I wouldn't go out of your way to see this place. The food was lackluster for the most part and the ballpark was not in that great of a location. However, the entertainment (aka Kevin) was worth a mention.
