Ballparks

Few weeks ago I made the comment on Facebook that the new Marlins park was ugly, and AT&T in San Francisco was still the best looking ballpark in the majors.  I got a few responses of people telling me what they thought, so it got me thinking how would the 30 ballparks rank in the majors.  I'm not really doing anything scientific just putting my thoughts down as to why I like or don't like certain parks.  For the record I've only been to 4 current parks, 5 total parks.  I've been to Miller Park, Wrigley Field, US Cellular, and Chase Field.  So without further ado here comes another list.

30. O.co Coliseum, Oakland California, Opened in 1966.  This place gets my worst b/c it's the only dual-purpose stadium left.  It hosts the Raiders and A's, it's old and has zero ammenities.  Also it's in Oakland I've never been to Oakland but you never hear people say their going to Oakland, San Francisco yes, Oakland NO.

29. Tropicana Field, St. Pet,ersburg, Florida.  Opened in 1990.  The home of the Rays is junk.  It has a cross walk at the top of the dome that's in play.  The roof is white.  The field looks weird on TV and from what I've heard it's not in the best part of town.  The Rays are a good team and yet nobody wants to go watch them play.

28. Marlins Park, Miami, Florida.  Opened in 2012.  What is nice about this place?  The fish tanks behind home, the home run celebration sculpture in left center.  All the green, the fact it has a dance club in right field in case you don't want to watch the game.  It has a pool in left field which is cool but already done.  The place just doesn't seem like a ballpark to me that's all.  However, the retractable roof is the 2nd coolest roof in all of sports behind Milwaukee's.

27. Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario.  Opened in 1989.  The place is ok for Canada I guess.  It has a retractable roof but I've never seen it open.  It's all turt except for little patches around each base, it's ugly.  The field is also cookie cutter style of the 70's as well.  It does have a restraunt in it which was cutting edge in the 80's and now most new stadiums have some form of it.

26. US Cellular Field, Chicago, Illinois.  Opened in 1991.  New Comiskey as it was called missed the retro look by a year or two, had they only waited this place would be a lot cooler.  It still has that 70's cookie cutter field.  The pin wheel home run celebration thing is a bit 80's ish.  It's been a while since I've been there so I can't speak for how it is now, but I didn't really like the place when I was there.

25. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California.  Opened in 1962.  Yuck, Dodger Stadium is old, it's in LA, it houses the Dodgers, it let's people beat the shit out of opposing fans.  This place sucks, maybe it should be lower but it's old and Jackie Robinson played there so that helps.

24. Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas.  Opened in 2000.  The place is in downtown Houston so that's cool, but it has a hill in centerfield, in play.  A fucking hill are you kidding me.  It also has a train for it's home run celebration, not a fan.  Also, it's built on a block so the seats are right on top of the field and it's so small they put a large wall in left field, where have I seen that before?

23. Turner Field, Atlanta, Georgia.  Opened in 1996.  The place did host the Olympics so that's cool.  It though isn't a cool stadium.  They built it after the retro boom but didn't do anything retro.  Instead they made it look like the old stadium.  It still has the cookie cutter outfield.  I'm just not a fan of the place and the fact they were good for 20 years yet nobody goes it annoying.

22. Angels Stadium, Anaheim, California.  Opened in 1966.  They have renovated it.  But it's still the same as Dodger Stadium, open in the outfield, cookie cutter dimensions.  They did put some rocks out in the outfield but I don't know the place just screams 60's at you when you watch a game there.

21. Comerica Park, Detoit, Michigan.  Opened in 2000.  It has dirt from the pitching mound to home plate, how ugly is that.  It's Detroit though so it's got the history and stuff, ok park just not a fave of mine.

20. Petco Park, San Diego, California.  Opened in 2004.  The place is where the home run goes to die.  It's freaking huge. Over 350 to everywhere except the lines, and the ball doesn't carry b/c San Diego doesn't get overly warm in the summer.  They built the place to stop Barry Bonds from killing them all the time.  I walked right next to this park little over a month ago, it's in a nice area (the Gaslamp District), but it seems crammed in the middle of downtown, again I'm not a fan I want some room for my parks.

19. Citi Field, New York, New York.  Opened in 2009.  Anything to do with the Mets is gonna be second fiddle to the Yankees.  It has a giant apple for a home run celebration, whoopity doo.  It cost over 900 million and there isn't a single thing where your like whoa that's pretty cool.

18. Safeco Field, Seattle, Washington.  Opened in 1999.  I don't hate the place, I just don't like it.  It's a "retro-modern" park but it doesn't have a lot of the cool things other ones do.  It's location is right next to the football field and some of the better parks have better locations.

17. The Ballpark at Arlington, Arlington, Texas.  Opened in 1994.  It took the "retro-modern" theme to the extreme usting a little bit of all the old stadiums in the design.  I like the place just have 1 problem with it, when it gets warm I could hit a homer out of the joint.  To say it's a hitters park is an understatement.

16. Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.  Opened in 2008.  You don't get a look at the place since the Nationals aren't on TV a whole hell of a lot, I like the place though.  Has the downtown feeling but also the ballpark feeling.  Also, from the upper deck you get some good views of the capitol and Washington Monument.

We're entering the top half, frankly it started getting hard now, lots of nice parks with cool features.

15. Yankee Stadium, New York, New York.  Opened 2009.  It's a basic replica of the old stadium, but it's not the old stadium.  They got the monument park, some of the history, but not all the history.  The old park you could say Babe Ruth played right field here, this stadium your like Brett Gardener set foot in this outfield not the same.  Another negative is the place is so homer friendly it's almost unfair.  314 down the right field line and the ball carries that way easily.

14. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia Pennsylvania.  Opened in 2004.  I won't say this about anywhere else but Philly did a cool thing putting all there facilities in one area, the Flyers, Phillies, 76ers, and Eagles basically share parking lots.  It has the dual level bullpens, with the visitors on top of the home which is neat.  I'm not huge Philly fan but this place is pretty all right.

13. Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri.  Opened in 2006.  It replaced the 70's Busch Stadium.  Has a great view of the Arch over center field.  The park is a great place in a great baseball city.

12. Coors Field, Denver Colorado.  Opened in 1995.  The only home the Rockies have had is gorgeous park.  They have the "Mile High seats" a band of purple seats in the upper deck that are a mile about sea level.  It also has a micro-brewery in right field how cool is that.  Known as the homer capitoal of the Majors, now the balls are kept in a humidor before games to cut down the bombs.

11. Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri.  Opened in 1973.  The only cookie cutter park I've ever liked.  They have the waterfalls in right field, the scoreboard is also has a crown on top of it.  The place is kind of plain but for some reason I love it and it's the field I want to go to 3rd most behind Fenway and AT&T.

10. The Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati, Ohio.  Opened in 2003.  Again a stadium that replaced a cookie cutter.  I've heard nice things about the place.  It tends to be hitter friendly I've likened it to a little league field.  I think the city of Cincinnati gets forgotten a lot but it's one of the best baseball cities of them all.

9. PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Opened in 2001.  The fact they stole the Giants idea of having a water landing for home runs beyond the stadium doesn't hurt them in my eyes.  It's right along the Allegheny River and location helps a lot.  It has good views of downtown Pittsburgh, it's a nice place just wish they had a nice team.

8. Miller Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Opened in 2001.  The roof of this place alone is awesome.  It's a clam shell and how it opens and closes is unreal.  It's location isn't the best but when you can pull off the freeway, park, and start drinking 200 ft from the entrance I don't need to be downtown.  I do prefer the old Bernie Home Run celebration but the new one is ok.  It's also much better than the old county stadium.

7. Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois.  Opened in 1914.  The world's largest urinal also happens to be the 2nd oldest park in the pro's.  The Ivy, the hand run scoreboard.  The place is cool, and this year they added some screens and cooler seating making it a little more modern.  The rooftop seats across the street is also pretty cool, now if only it could host a World Champion, the Cubs have never won it all while playing in Wrigley, maybe they should tear it down and build a new place.

6. Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio.  Opened in 1994.  The place took over in the 90's.  Camden Yards started the "retro-modern" look, but then Jacobs Field showcased it by having good teams and always being on TV.  It has the multiple level fences the new style is known for.  I loved the place as a kid but now since the Indians aren't as good I wonder if it's lost some of it's luster.

5. Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona.  Opened in 1998.  My favorite park I've ever been too.  The bullpens in the corners are cool.  The pool in right center was inovative that nobody had seen.  Also, the retractable roof is pretty cool.  A feature I like is you can walk from 3rd base to 1st base on the concourse and watch the game the whole time it's so neat.  I'm sure other parks have that feature but Chase was the first time I've seen that.  Another thing is it gets loud in that joint, not many parks get loud but I've witnessed it.

4. Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Opened in 2010.  An open air stadium in Minnesota who would've dreamed of such a thing.  I'll blame global warming.  The place has great views of downtown, and I'm not sure why but I think it's just a great place.

3. Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland.  Opened in 1992.  The place that started the movement.  2/3 of today's parks took their cues from this place.  I'm on record of saying just b/c your first doesn't make you best but this place is close.  The wherehouse district helps a lot.  It was the first to have the two tierd bullpens.  It was helped by having Cal Ripken's consecutive games streak happening in it so you saw it a lot. 

2. Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts.  Opened in 1912.  The oldest park around.  A cathedral to baseball, it's celebrating it's 100th year of existence.  What isn't to love about Fenway?  The Green Monster, the huge Citgo sign, the short porch to right.  The place is awesome and has some of the most passionate fans in the country.  I know Boston gets shoved down our throats but don't blame Fenway for that the place is a landmark and hopefully will be around forever.

1. AT&T Park, San Francisco, California.  Opened in 2000.  They took the retro-modern look and put it into overdrive.  The best part of the park is the location.  The bay is amazing and all along the outfield seats you can look out over it.  The splash landing over right field was unique.  Giant glove in left center is cool.  The fact you can walk in the right field fences and watch for free is neat.  Don't forget the giant Coke bottle in left.  Triple's alley in right center, where it's 421 to the alley is awesome.  I read an article about a guy in 2010 during the World Series was standing on a stairway in left field just looking at the bay, not paying attention to the game at all and the reporter asked him what he was doing he said he was just lost in the beauty.  This was during the World Series and the guy couldn't believe what he was seeing OUTSIDE the stadium.  Has to be a great place and I can't wait to go there someday.

 There you have it, I know it's long winded and I hope I can go to everyone of these someday.  Come back tomorrow for more stuff or follow me on twitter @derekbredeson.