OT: Favorite MLB parks & why-

[BlueDolphin]

Polo Grounds. Because it was the scene of my first big league game: NY Giants v. Boston Braves in 1949. Still remember my first impression coming out of the tunnel: How green it is! Monster HR by Monte Irvin.

PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Lovely ballpark, great fans. And you get to the ballpark from downtown by walking across the Roberto Clemente Bridge.

Only been to Fenway once. Thought it was a bit of a dump, but I can see how Red Sox fans would fall in love with it. (See Polo Grounds above.)

Haven't been to new Yankee Stadium but I've gone by it. Looks like something that might have been designed by Albert Speer.

 

[lange10]

Currently in the middle of a baseball stadium road trip with some buddies from high school. Hit Washington, Pittsburgh, Cleveland (for game 5 of ECF), Toronto so far and we're now headed to Chicago. Excited to see Wrigley. After Wrigley we're seeing Milwaukee, then Cleveland to catch an Indians game before going home for good.

PNC is awesome. Such a fun environment and beautiful park with the river, bridge and city in the backdrop. Nationals park was great as well. Restaurant in center offers a tremendous view of the game. Rogers Centre was surprisingly a great ballpark as well. Huge stadium and an awesome environment on a Friday night game versus the Sox.

As a Yankes fan, the new stadium is too corporate to me. I have more fun attending a game at Citi field. Really want to catch a game at Camden as well, I've heard great things.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Moving to San Diego soon and will be living downtown; can't wait to hit up Petco all the time

 

[intlzncster]

They all played at Yankee Stadium (old) too. Two of them even came immortal there along with Gehrig. So, a hunk of the great history of Fenway is that Yankees played there?

Uh, is old Yankee Stadium still around and I don't know about it? So you can go watch games there and feel that history from Baseball's golden age?

And to be technical, Babe Ruth played as a member of the Sox there too.

 

[Devland]

Since I can not stand baseball. The only baseball stadiums I have been in were to see football. I have been to the old Yankee Stadium (for Eagles-Giants games), The new Yankee Stadium ( UConn-Army) , Veteran's Stadium in Philly (for various Eagles games) and Memorial Stadium in Baltimore( Colts game). None were very good for football I guess Veterans was probably had the best football sight lines of the ones I went to. So I guess my favorites would be Veterans Stadium, Memorial Stadium and the old Yankee Stadium because they have all been demolished. To me baseball stadium's in general suck.

 

[auggie22]

I love NYC. Having said that, old and new Yankees Stadium was/is a major dump. They won a lot, but a day at the park there was never a great experience.

 

[Deepster]

Fenway
Yankee Stadium - Old and new
Shea and CitiField
The Vet and Citizens Bank Park
PNC Park in Pittsburgh
Camden Yards
Comiskey - the new one
Wrigley
Jacobs Field
Anaheim Stadium

My thoughts?

Wrigley >>>> Fenway. Fenway is really overblown. The new Yankee Stadium sucks. The old one had ghosts and mystique.

Sleeper pick? PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

Best stadium for me? Camden Yards. Beautiful stadium and setting. Awesome options around the area. It just doesn't me on any aspect of what you want in a game.

 

[storrsroars]

After Wrigley we're seeing Milwaukee, then Cleveland to catch an Indians game before going home for good.

PNC is awesome. Such a fun environment and beautiful park with the river, bridge and city in the backdrop.

The deal with Milwaukee is that to get the full Miller Park experience, you have to tailgate. Seriously, it's a big deal just like football. Miller Park is in the middle of nowhere, kinda like the Meadowlands so you bring your own entertainment.

Glad you liked PNC.

Anyone else coming to visit Pittsburgh, happy to offer suggestions on where to drink/eat/& stuff. Don't waste a moment at Primanti Bros. Carson St. in Southside, Butler St. in Lawrenceville and eastern Penn Circle are where the good times are.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Since I can not stand baseball. The only baseball stadiums I have been in were to see football. I have been to the old Yankee Stadium (for Eagles-Giants games), The new Yankee Stadium ( UConn-Army) , Veteran's Stadium in Philly (for various Eagles games) and Memorial Stadium in Baltimore( Colts game). None were very good for football I guess Veterans was probably had the best football sight lines of the ones I went to. So I guess my favorites would be Veterans Stadium, Memorial Stadium and the old Yankee Stadium because they have all been demolished. To me baseball stadium's in general suck.

No Baseball stadiums are designed to watch baseball in.
Watching football in them or the crazy combo craze of the 1970 's sucked.
A football only fan could not possibly understand the oneness of a baseball fan to the stadium. That's because almost without exception Pro football teams were pretty much vagabonds first playing in Baseball Parks or rented college football stadiums,then those awful combo things. The Multi- generational bond to their home with the fan was pretty non existant. Since even football only stadiums will have such a short life. Its questenable whether there ever could exist the love ,that the old baseball edifices represented. That is untrue of college football

 

[gampelcrazies]

For the people who say Fenway Park is a dump have you been to it recently/after the renovations they done? Not being bias but Fenway is defiantly my favorite. New Yankee Stadium sucks and should be nocked down. Camden Yards or PNC Park come in 2nd for me.

 

[methodology]

For the people who say Fenway Park is a dump have you been to it recently/after the renovations they done? Not being bias but Fenway is defiantly my favorite. New Yankee Stadium sucks and should be nocked down. Camden Yards or PNC Park come in 2nd for me.

My uncle has had season tickets for the past 60 years to fenway. I go 5 times a year. In no way is fenway better than Camden Yards or PNC except for the history and nostalgia. Camden and PNC blow fenway out of the water for cost, views, setting, seat room, etc.

If you are 6' or taller and weigh more than 2 bills fenway is a nightmare for you to enjoy a game while being comfortable

 

[FartMan69]

There wasn't enough Gold Bond in the world for the swamp ass i got at Turner Field. Good riddance

 

[Devland]

No Baseball stadiums are designed to watch baseball in.
Watching football in them or the crazy combo craze of the 1970 's sucked.
A football only fan could not possibly understand the oneness of a baseball fan to the stadium. That's because almost without exception Pro football teams were pretty much vagabonds first playing in Baseball Parks or rented college football stadiums,then those awful combo things. The Multi- generational bond to their home with the fan was pretty non existant. Since even football only stadiums will have such a short life. Its questenable whether there ever could exist the love ,that the old baseball edifices represented. That is untrue of college football

Maybe I'm different and I have stated this in threads about the Civic Center ( I know some people call it the XL center). I don't care what the building looks like or what the concessions are. Give me a football game, basketball game or boxing match and a good place to watch it from and I am happy. Hell I never even bring my phone in to the arena/stadium because I don't anything to distract me from the event. I think nowadays a majority of the fans in attendance spend more time playing with their phones than watching the actual game.

 

[UC990411]

Used to travel a lot for work and thus had the opportunity to catch games all over the place ranging from MLB to A in baseball plus NHL and AHL games. It was my 'thing' versus going out to a bar and chasing tail. So for MLB Venues...

• Arizona - Chase continues to support the fact that Phoenix is not a great sports town, crowd was so-so and what energy it did have, was lost in the vavern that tshi ball park is, though I do understand the need to have a dome in a desert
  
• Baltimore - Camden Yards is still a great place to see a game even after 20 years and I will always be thankful for its role is spurring development of today's stadiums
• Boston - Yes, it has a lot of tradition and is easy to get to; but, Fenway is too small, the seats are smaller, parts of the stadium are a dump and I am a Yankees fan
• Chicago Cubs - See Fenway; but, at least the Red Sox don't play at Wrigley
  
• Chicago White Sox - I went to US Cellur during a day game to catch the Yanks, not sure if I I am brave enough to go to a night game there, nothing to write about
• Colorado - The views while watching those little white balls fly out of the park is something and downtown Denver is a lot of fun. primarily complaint is that its a bit too big
• Detroit - Went to a lot of games at Comerica with a good friend, an underrated park in city that hopefully is turning it around
• LA Angels - Went to a pair of games here in SoCal, noting really stands out
• NY Mets - Shea Stadium - my old man is a Mets fan and went to a bunch of days games here, the stadium was junk; but, the atmosphere, especially int he mid 80's was nuts
• NY Yankees - Started going to Yankee games with my Grandfather back in the early 80's and loved the history and the energy of the old stadium and then later coming down for work and filling the pars nearby having a good time before and after waiting for the Subways to clear out. As for the new stadium, the best thing was building MetroNorth train stadium there, much easier to get to/from, the inside is nicer; but, its still crowded as very few folks can pay for seats in the lower bowl, feels like corporate America
• Oakland - Went with a Boston fan to see the A's play the Sox at the Coliseum, the stadium shoudl be burned down as the only highlight was a collection of really fine ladies while on the other end, saw 2 kids try to stab each other to death in the causeway over to the BART stadium after with one of the kids mothers swinging a pocketbook at them, no going back
• Philadelphia - Citizens is a good stadium that is easy to get to by car or public transit with an energetic crowd with the bonus of being able to score some great cheese steak sandwiches on the way in
  
• Pittsburgh - PNC is another very underrated ballpark in my opinion, good seats, has a good atmosphere, good food and the city skyline in the outfield is sweet
• San Francisco - AT&T is hands down the best baseball park in America and I am a Yankees fan. Great location, seats, food, etc.
• Tampa - The Rays actually play MLB baseball in Tropicana, really? The only good points are the tickets are cheap and Yankee fans outnumber Ray fnas 2 to 1 at most games.
• Texas - It was hot, the crowd is dull, and there is nothing around whatever that field is called now
• Toronto - The stadium is not much to write home about and one of the few dual-purposes ones left; but, I have enjoyed several games from my room or the hotel bar in the Renaissance and its has easy access to the great city of Toronto

On my still to do list are Citi Field (Mets), the National's new digs, and Target Field (Twins) and I would also go to St. Louis just because they have some serious baseball fans at Busch.

Not worth commenting after this

 

[gampelcrazies]

My uncle has had season tickets for the past 60 years to fenway. I go 5 times a year. In no way is fenway better than Camden Yards or PNC except for the history and nostalgia. Camden and PNC blow fenway out of the water for cost, views, setting, seat room, etc.

If you are 6' or taller and weigh more than 2 bills fenway is a nightmare for you to enjoy a game while being comfortable

I also have season tickets and agree with the seats. But when I go to newer stadiums like PNC and Camden Yards I don't get the same feel for the game as I do at Fenway. Watching games at Fenway, Wrigley, Old Yankees Stadium and Shea Stadium you feel close and a part of the game.

 

[David 76]

For some Yankee fans the facts that your immortal stars played there is huge.
For Yankee traditionalists like myself, the destruction of the Stadium was traumatic.
It's probsbly the only time since I left CT that I actually felt saddened.
When you went to the Stadium from the time you're five to adulthood with your uncle ,father,brother ,and visits there were almost pilgrimage like . I took my kids there as a grown man. The loss of that place left an emptiness that a slick new stadium can't fill.
It's almost like your old family house was razed.

I couldn't believe they left the original footprint either. Lose all that and still not improve your neighborhood. Crazy.

 

[uconnfan68]

I'll qualify by saying I haven't been to AT&T Park yet, but I think that's the only current park that could rival PNC. The only issue with PNC is that as it had to fit in a specific footprint, the concourses are too narrow. When there's a full house, it's hard to move. Otherwise, it's about as perfect as you can get.

Been to Fenway dozens of times. It's historic. And it's accessible by the T. And it has a flukey LF wall. And that's about all the pluses I'll give it, although when they had the rooftop boxes in LF, those were pretty sweet (no line for beer or dogs!). Prior to the Monster seats being installed, I seem to recall some stat that less than a third of Fenway seats actually face home plate.

Wrigley beats Fenway hands down for atmosphere immediately outside the stadium and the variety of beers/foods inside. And until this year, Cubs fans were nice people.

Of the ones I've been to, Camden Yards, Progressive and surprisingly Edison (or whatever they're calling the Angels park these days) are all solid. Camden is especially fun in the bleachers as that's where the "real" Yankee fans sit and it's a blast baiting them (the traveling fans have much higher baseball IQs than the ones that go to Yankee Stadium itself!)

However, Petco Park's environs have something no other MLB park can offer. Directly across the street from right field is actual New Haven-style pizza made by actual NH-style devotees from CT . I will attest that it makes the grade as an excellent facsimile, although with slightly less char.

The worst I've been to of current parks is Toronto. At least when they had that couple making love in the hotel with the curtains open a decade ago, that could be something to look forward to.

Although I'd been to hundreds of games at Shea, dozens at the old old, and new old Yankee Stadium, and a bunch at the old Vet, I haven't been to CitiField, new Yankee or Citizens yet.

Used to like to be able to get to a game with a 20 minute drive when I was in San Diego (old stadium, just football now). In first year I couldn't figure out why all the fans had winter coats.

 

[David 76]

Uh, is old Yankee Stadium still around and I don't know about it? So you can go watch games there and feel that history from Baseball's golden age?

And to be technical, Babe Ruth played as a member of the Sox there too.

Yes, Babe played on both. He became immortalized in NY
I have season tickets to old Yankee Stadium. It's great. No crowds

 

[mauconnfan]

I also have season tickets and agree with the seats. But when I go to newer stadiums like PNC and Camden Yards I don't get the same feel for the game as I do at Fenway. Watching games at Fenway, Wrigley, Old Yankees Stadium and Shea Stadium you feel close and a part of the game.

Not the same feel as fenway? Is it possible you're a Sox fan? LOL

I mean I get the bias and not liking the new stadium but anyone thinking it should be locked down is not being fair. I mean all in all it's beautiful, roomy and everything Fenway isn't quite honestly. The only thing better is venue, which fenway has because of the changes around the stadium. Other than that it's still really ugly.

 

[Danzz]

Fenway and Camden Yards with Camden Yards getting the edge. None of the intensity of Yankee Stadium and Fenway, great food (Boog Powell's BBQ behind RF) and a good atmosphere. Worst Stadium that I've been to was the original Yankee Stadium. Girders blocked views from a lot of seats and never liked Ballantine beer from the old days. Missed the monuments in play in CF and can't figure out why they moved them. They used to let fans exit the field through CF and it was a thrill for a kid to actually walk across the OF grass. Tradition aside the Stadium sucked.

 

[storrsroars]

I also have season tickets and agree with the seats. But when I go to newer stadiums like PNC and Camden Yards I don't get the same feel for the game as I do at Fenway. Watching games at Fenway, Wrigley, Old Yankees Stadium and Shea Stadium you feel close and a part of the game.

Neither NY stadium made me feel "close to the game" unless I had field level box seats in the single letter alphabet rows.

Makes me wonder if you ever watched a game from the mezzanine or upper deck at Shea or upper deck at old Yankee Stadium.

I've only sat in the bleachers at Camden and it was fine. Wrigley is Wrigley and field level almost feels like a spring training game. I have lower level box seats at PNC, though I got bounced to the upper deck for the 1st WC game a few seasons ago. My complaint was not the view. It was that the seats didn't have beer cup holders. The farthest out upper level seats at PNC do suck though, although I imagine that's pretty much the case anywhere. Better to stand on the rotunda with the nutjobs.

 

[mauconnfan]

Geez guys of course you never felt close to the game at Yankee Stadium - it's not a band box of seats on top of each other like at Fenway holding under 40K it held huge crowds up to 60K plus. If you were in the upper deck at Yankee Stadium for big games, which were often as many of you wouldn't know, it just meant something to be there. It was a winning tradition after all.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I'm going to try Marlins Park this weekend.

Have fun. From what I have been told, you may be the only one there

 

[Danzz]

Geez guys of course you never felt close to the game at Yankee Stadium - it's not a band box of seats on top of each other like at Fenway holding under 40K it held huge crowds up to 60K plus. If you were in the upper deck at Yankee Stadium for big games, which were often as many of you wouldn't know, it just meant something to be there. It was a winning tradition after all.

I come from a family of Yankee fans so I never got to Fenway until I was an adult. Saw some great WS games at the old stadium as far back as the late 50's. Missed a diving slide by Berra into 1st base on a great play by Red Scheindest because of a friggin girder. Had great experiences at Yankee Stadium including Mike Garcia showing us how to grip a forkball in the Cleveland bullpen. Autographs from Red Barber, Art Ditmar, Hank Bauer and even Lew Burdette before a WS game.
Have had great fun at the stadium as a kid but it doesn't change the fact that the ballpark sucked.

 

[krinklecut]

Here's my actual list in order, though I haven't been to many:

Fenway
AT&T
Citi
Turner
Yankee 1
Yankee 2
Shea
Oakland