Best neo-classical ballpark

Outside of Wrigley, the atmosphere of a particular ballpark is directly proportional to how good the team is. If the Pirates ever get good again PNC will be a happenin' spot (longshot I know, but you could have said the same for the Tigers five years ago).

 

Once you get inside, yeah. The surrounding neighborhoods suck wads.

. . . which is why Wrigley reigns supreme.

 

Go to Shea for nothing to do.

PNC's area is pretty good.

Jacob's is strong as well. Ask Gary Miller about it.

 

I think the next ballpark run I want to do is Philly, DC, PNC and Cleveland ( the bitch of those is getting the baseball schedules in synch. Did a two-day Yankee Stadium-Fenway trip by train and ended up seeing the Angels twice.

 

The hill was a bad idea, only because they were trying too hard to implement "playing hazard" features of older ballparks. The problem with that idea, of course, is that the old ballparks would have gotten rid of these "quirks" in a heartbeat if they had the room and/or the money to renovate. "Duffy's Cliff" was flattened at Fenway Park -- thereby creating what would become the Green Monster -- less than a year after rich owner Tom Yawkey bought the team. Ebbets Field's walls famously had a hundred nooks and crannies, but it was a product of the Flatbush neighborhood where it sat -- the same reason the Dodgers couldn't build a bigger park there and eventually had to move.

So there's no reason for the Astros to have a hill in center. They did it just because they could, and a structure that costs as much money as a ballpark should never include features designed "just because they can do it." What a waste.

That said, I really did like seeing the two games I saw at Minute Maid. Had some fantastic views from my seats.

 

I've got a pretty nice ballpark schedule ahead of me this summer, especially considering I'm getting married in July and there aren't any places to catch an MLB game in Hawaii.

Over Memorial Day, I'm doing a quick in-and-out of New York, seeing a Yankees game on a Sunday and a Mets game on Memorial Day night.

Then in June, it's a quick drive to the east coast to catch a game in Philly on a Saturday night. Then on Sunday, a drive to D.C. to catch a Nats game followed by a Pearl Jam concert that evening.

Good times...hopefully.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the Hill at Enron/Minute Maid was modeled after a similar one in left field at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. That one, and Duffy's Cliff, were necessary because the stadiums were below street level.

But with modern engineering/architectural capabilities, there's really no excuse for it. It's just dumb.

The center field hill is so far from home plate, though, that it almost rarely comes into play. Let's hope, for the sake of Michael Bourn's knees, that it remains so.

 

Was the grade the same?

Houston's seems so much steeper than the grade on the old Cincinnati pictures.

Buckweaver?

 

Crosley's was a 15-degree incline, according to Phil Lowry's "Green Cathedrals" (the definitive book on ballparks).

Wiki says Minute Maid's is 30 degrees.

 

Another difference was that the one at Crosley flattened out before it hit the base of the wall.

 

Wow.

That's insane.

What were they thinking?

 

I agree with buck to a certain extent in that there is a certain sameness to some of the new parks. still, they're great places to watch a game and soak in the atmosphere. balt. and SF are clearly above the others, to me, because of the settings. going to pittsburgh for the first time in june.