Stadium Rant

So I mentioned stadiums in my last entry and I thought I’d expound on that a bit, just for fun. Here’s my personal rankings of those I’ve been to and my favorite memory from each one:

Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles). This the one they all copy now. It’s a classic. I saw the Red Sox play the O’s here in 1992 – the opening year. Sox won handily, so I was really happy. It’s just a great park. So much history around it too.

Ameriquest Field (Texas Rangers). Just beautiful. I spent about a third of the game just walking around the stadium admiring the architecture and observing all the little intricacies of it. The one game I’ve seen there was a 14-7 pounding of the Mariners, just last Friday.

Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox). I can’t put it #1 for two reasons: there are some bad seats with obstructed views (and all of them are too small) and it costs you an arm and a leg to get in the building. But the history is great and no park has more personality: the Fisk pole, the Pesky pole, the Monster, the weird angle in center field, the hand-operated scoreboard, etc. I’ve seen many games here, but the best was in 1996. Yankees leading in the bottom of the 9th. Sox come back and win it, beating John Wetteland. Yanks go something like 86-1 when leading into the bottom of the 9th and eventually win the World Series, but I saw the one loss. And it was gorgeous.

Chase Field (Arizona Diamondbacks). It’s a spectacle. Huge, with a big retractable roof. I spent a lot of time just taking it all in. It isn’t a classic like Camden Yards and Ameriquest, but it’s like an amusement park it’s so big and there’s so much to do. I saw one game there in April 2005 and got autographs from Derek Lowe (who used to be a Red Sox player) and Eric Gagne (who used to be good). Don’t remember much about the game – it was an extra-inning slugfest I think.

Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs). Another history lesson that gets high marks for its traditional bits – ivy on the walls, the scoreboard, et al. I’ve seen two games here. The one I remember best was April 2002. Cubs v. Mets. Jon Lieber pitched well, Cubs won 2-0. I didn’t see the end. I actually left early because it was so stinkin’ cold. Absolutely frigid. It gets bumped out of the top four for that reason alone.

Municipal Stadium (Cleveland Indians). This is NOT a typo. I liked the “mistake by the lake” for two reasons: 1) back in the early 90s you could walk right up on gameday and get cheap tickets anywhere in the park. 2) There was no one there, so it was really intimate and you had much more access to the players and game. The second time I was there the ticket lady told us players would be arriving soon and told us where to stand. I got the whole Indians team to sign my ball. Favorite game though: my first one there – Red Sox v. Indians (8/27/90). Ellis Burks hit two homers in the 4th inning, and the Sox won 12-4. That feat’s only been done about a dozen times -- OK, more like four dozen (I looked it up).

Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia Phillies). Essentially my home field. I grew up at this stadium, so even though it was giant concrete donut it gets props because of the memories there. I’ve seen at least a dozen games there, including a Greg Maddux five-hitter on opening day in 1992 (on his way to his first Cy Young). The best game though was the last game of the season in 1991. Phils had taken the first two from the Mets and the brooms were out. But David Cone went out and started mowing down Phillies. We started smelling history around the 7th when Dale Murphy came up. He went to 0-2 quickly and we were writing down the “K” on our scorecards – this is a guy who struck out 140 times a year after all. Well he popped up. We booed him! Dale Murphy – one of the classiest guys in the game - and we booed him. Of course Philly fans once booed Santa Clause too. Well Cone finished with 19 strikeouts, which tied Tom Seaver for the NL record (since broken by Kerry Wood). It was a three-hit shutout as well. A great and memorable pitching performance. Everyone in the stadium was rooting for Coney by the middle of the game.

The Metrodome (Minnesota Twins). Not a great stadium by any means, but there’s not much talent below this either. It gets higher marks though because it’s home to the little team that could – a small market, small budget team that wins consistently. It’s also here because my wife would be mad if it didn’t get a higher place. Best memory: my first game here. September 2002, Indians v. Twins. Sort of my first date with Naomi. She turns to me mid-game and says that the game is kind of boring. I tell her that it’ll get exciting in a second when Jim Thome hits a homerun. Period. Pause. Pitch. Swing. Contact. Gone. Naomi turns to me with her jaw hanging open. I do all I can not to laugh out loud. Just clap and smile slightly.

Dolphin Stadium (Florida Marlins). Another concrete donut. Bonus points for not having a roof in Florida. I like their guts. Also ranks high because it was a memorable game (in July this year). Red Sox thrashed the Marlins with two homers from both Manny and Papi and Lowell hit three doubles against his old team.

Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati Reds). Concrete donut #3. Completely forgettable. Saw the Dodgers play the Reds around 1992/93, courtesy of my brother’s girlfriends parents, who owned most of Cincinnati I think. Or at least one of the big towers downtown. Our seats were good – I remember that.

RFK Stadium (Washington Nationals). Hideous. Doesn’t rank last only because the access from the highway is phenomenal. The parking lot empties right out onto a major interstate. No lie. It took us about a minute and a half to get from our parking space to the highway. The game (July 2005) was against the Astros, but that’s all I can tell you. Oh, I got a nice umbrella though, which I’ve used a few times.

Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Devil Rays). It’s newer than many above it, and that’s why it’s down here at the bottom. With all these other great ballparks that have come out lately (see Camden Yards, et al.) is this the best they could come up with? Honestly. It’s ugly, graceless, boring and has speakers and catwalks that can (and have) interfered with balls in play. I’ve also seen the Sox lose here far too many times, including an opening day walk-off homer in 2003 that spoiled a great game from Pedro. High point: a Sox win in 2004 during which Manny hit a gargantuan home run. I think it was estimated at 483 feet.

So that's it until I get to some more parks. Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?