Best stadium in baseball

I love Wrigley Field, but at this point a big part of that may just be familiarity. It's tough to separate nostalgia from my actual feelings on the experience. There are so many new ballparks now that it makes me feel grounded when I'm in Chicago to set foot in that place and feel that a Saturday afternoon in 2010 is the same as one in 1990 or 1970 or 1930, for that matter. I haven't been to Fenway, but Wrigley at this point feels like an anchor for the sport. I am probably in the minority, but I also loved the old Comiskey Park. Felt like the perfect South Side yin to Wrigley's North Side yang. If Wrigley is an afternoon picnic, the old Comiskey was the musty, rough around the edges neighborhood tavern the guys headed to afterward.

As far as the new parks go, and I've been to a lot of them, I love PNC Park. I don't know if I'd love it as much if the bridge wasn't yellow, but it is, and it looks awesome.

Worst: Oakland. No close second, either.

 

1. Wrigley Field.

2. Fenway Park

All the new HOK parks are essentially identical.

 

I grew up on Southern college football, and Wrigley is the closest thing to an SEC game-day atmosphere. We were about five steps off the train when I went a few years ago, and some sidewalk hawker told us his bar had $2 Old Style and 50-cent hot wings. Cha-ching.

They tailgate at Miller Park as well, but since the stadium is in the middle of a huge parking lot right off the interstate, it's more of a pro football feel.

 

Would love to visit Fenway and Wrigley, but in my biased opinion, there isn't a more beautiful ball park anywhere in the world outside of Kansas City.

Kauffman Stadium looked a hell of a lot better before the advertisers splattered their graffiti all over the fences, but it still is the most beautiful park in baseball.

 

I loved Camden Yards, especially for the 2/$5 tall boys at the bars outside the stadium before and after the game.

Fenway and Wrigley are exactly what you imagine they'll be before you go. Beautiful, historic places. It's been 10 years since I've been to the Jake, but it was a great place.

My least favorite of the current parks is Great American. Maybe it's because I grew up watching baseball in Riverfront/Cinergy, but something is missing at GABP. As dumpy as Riverfront was, there was a sense of history and nostalgia going in there. It was fun, as a kid, knowing that my dad had walked in Riverfront in 1975 to see the Machine play. It's not that GABP isn't nice -- compared to Riverfront its the Taj Mahal -- it's just that Cincinnati could have done a whole hell of a lot better. I feel the same way about Nationals Park. They're good parks. They aren't great.

As for minor league parks, Slugger Field in downtown Louisville has to be up there as one of the nicer new parks. There's not a bad seat in the place.

 

No. I hated that place. They shoehorned that thing into the space alloted and for that reason the concourses are really tight. I couldn't walk three steps without running into someone last year. Also the intense focus on food is out and out disgusting. It's like a glorified junk food restaurant with a baseball diamond in the middle. Really distracting.

I'm also of the belief that the seats in certain areas are too close to the field and not adequately protected from balls, bats or other objects. Some fan is going to get injured because of this poor design.

 

Interesting. I felt like they'd done a great job of utilizing the space, vs. shoehorning. As for being too close...I loved the feel of it. Different strokes, I suppose.

Really liked Indy's park, as well. After those two (and I've been to all three this season), Toledo's is the one that left me feeling sort of "blah." No question it's a HUGE upgrade fr/ Skeldon Stadium (or....dating myself a bit....the Lucas County Rec. center, as it will always be known to me), but it just didn't have a great feel. Felt like their concourse (particularly in the outfield area) was a terrific waste of space. Had a pretty hideous Brat there & WAY too many over served young 'uns in attendance.

 

Let me second the vote for AutoZone Park in Memphis. Very cool. You can see the sign on top of the Peabody Hotel from the outfield stands and it's a block-and-a-half walk from Rendezvous.

Since we're on minor-league parks, RiverWalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala., is outstanding. It's modeled after PNC, which is really all you need to say.

 

I'll echo your comments on Old Comiskey. That place had a true old time baseball feel--almost like you expected Ruth and Gehrig to pop out of the visitor's dugout. A lot of personality to the place--start out in your grandstand seat, make your way for an inning or two to the picnic tables behind the outfield wall in left and then work your way back to your seat.

 

I'll 27th (or whatever), PNC. Best one I've been to and it's not really even close. Haven't been to the newer ones on the West Coast, though.

 

Kauffman Stadium is indeed a pretty park, but its location, which is nearly impossible for out-of-towners to find, is a minus.

 

Glad I'm not the only Wrigley hater. Thought it was a dump. Fenway didn't do much for me, either.

I really loved the old Busch Stadium. Kauffman is definitely nice. Among the newer parks, I'm in the PNC camp and also give high marks to Comerica. Only parks I haven't seen yet are the two in Texas, two in northern Ca., Seattle, Denver and Arizona.