McCormick Field

McCormick Field sits just south of downtown Asheville on a wooded hillside in the Buncombe County Memorial Stadium area, with the Blue Ridge Mountains rising in every direction. Downtown Asheville — one of the most-celebrated small-Southern-city downtowns in the country and the canonical Appalachian arts/food/brewery hub — sits a short walk or drive north and is where most visiting fans build their game-day plans. The downtown's restaurant and brewery cluster is one of the most concentrated in the Southeast, with the South Slope brewery district immediately south of downtown (and directly between downtown and the ballpark). The Biltmore Estate, the largest privately-owned house in the United States, sits a short drive south. The Blue Ridge Parkway access from Asheville is a few minutes south. The neighborhood reads as a historic ballpark embedded in one of the most distinctive small-city tourism destinations in the country.

Plan to arrive about 45-60 minutes before first pitch — McCormick Field's compact hillside parking is constrained and many fans walk in from downtown Asheville. McCormick Field is one of the oldest continuously-operating minor-league ballparks in the United States, having opened on April 17, 1924 (Babe Ruth played here in an exhibition game in 1924 and again on barnstorming tours later in the decade). The current grandstand was extensively rebuilt in 1992 — the playing field and footprint date to 1924 but the structure has been substantially modernized while preserving the historic intimate scale and the wooded hillside setting. The Asheville Tourists are the Houston Astros' Single-A Carolina League affiliated club under MLB's 2021 minor-league reorganization (previously the Colorado Rockies affiliate from 1994 to 2020). The intimate scale and old-bones character make McCormick Field a frequent inclusion in best-of-MiLB-ballpark lists. Mobile-only tickets are the norm. Bag policy and gate-open times shift season to season; confirm on the Tourists' site before going.

McCormick Field opened on April 17, 1924, and is one of the oldest continuously-operating minor-league ballparks in the United States. Babe Ruth played here in an exhibition game in the inaugural 1924 season and returned on subsequent barnstorming tours, an oft-cited piece of McCormick Field's historic credentials. The current grandstand was extensively rebuilt in 1992, but the playing field and footprint date to 1924 and the intimate hillside setting has been preserved. Capacity sits around 4,000 (intentionally compact). The Asheville Tourists franchise has played here continuously and has been the Houston Astros' Single-A Carolina League affiliate since the 2021 MiLB reorganization (previously the Colorado Rockies affiliate from 1994 to 2020 — the Tourists were notable as the Rockies' first lower-level affiliate and the franchise carried the Rockies' purple-and-black-influenced colors). The ballpark was named for Dr. Lewis McCormick, a Buncombe County health officer. McCormick Field is consistently included in best-of-MiLB-ballpark and best-historic-ballpark lists alongside Rickwood Field (Birmingham) as canonical pre-WWII MiLB venues still in use.