...in the opinion of one writer.
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...nparks,1,2305588.story?coll=cs-cubs-headlines
Best ballpark? Right here
By Paul Sullivan
Tribune staff reporter
April 21, 2003, 8:52 PM CDT
I duly concede nothing can beat Fred McGriff's ongoing quest to be the first player to hit a home run in 42 major-league ballparks.
It takes plenty of talent and a keen sense of self-importance to try so hard to become the answer to a trivia question.
But I'm afraid McGriff inadvertently has overshadowed my own quest to be the first sportswriter to eat junk food in every major-league park, an anti-Atkins odyssey that came to a conclusion last weekend at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
My checklist is now complete … at least until the new Philadelphia stadium opens next year. I've been to all 30 ballparks, in addition to 10 now-defunct ones. Growing up in a two-team town, going to a college halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo., and traveling with the Cubs and White Sox for the last decade or so, it sometimes seems that half of my life has been spent inside a stadium.
I've been lucky enough to get the opportunity to stick my head out of a scoreboard window at Wrigley Field, to kick the Phillie Phanatic at Veterans Stadium, to take a nap under the center-field flag pole at old Tiger Stadium, to scrawl my name inside the scoreboard under the Green Monster in Fenway Park, to get dangled by my feet over the left-field wall of Busch Stadium, to witness two Yankees stars duking it out in the clubhouse in Yankee Stadium and to slide into home during Disco Demolition at old Comiskey Park.
Just last week I caught my first foul ball at Wrigley Field, as eyewitness Felix Heredia of the Cincinnati Reds can attest. Being an aficionado of ballparks, as well as a compulsive-obsessive list-maker, I spent the flight back from Pittsburgh on Sunday ranking my favorite major-league parks from top to bottom.
I used the look, the view, the architecture, the food, the smell, the history, the ambience, the sounds, the fans, the comfort level and several other intangibles as my criteria.
In the end, it boiled down to one question: "In which ballpark would you most like to spend a day?" The answer is:
1. Wrigley Field: An obvious, but easy, choice. The ivy. The scoreboard. The bleachers. The brick wall behind home plate. The wells in the outfield. The view of the rooftops. Wrigley is a classic neighborhood ballpark like no other. Often imitated, never duplicated.
2. Fenway Park: So incredibly perfect that its charms are immune to the latest revenue-enhancing schemes of the current Red Sox owners, who recently placed $50 stool seats on top of the Green Monster. Might as well put the Mona Lisa in low-rise jeans.
3. Pacific Bell Park: Best of the retro ballparks, and privately financed to boot. McCovey's Cove is the nautical version of Waveland Avenue, and kids playing on the Whiffle Ball diamond in the left-field bleachers can watch themselves on their own Jumbotron. In the end, it's still about the kids.
4. Yankee Stadium: The mystique never wears off and public-address announcer Bob Sheppard is truly the voice of God. It's Valhalla come October when wrapped with bunting. But if old Comiskey had as many championship banners, it would have been just as revered as Yankee Stadium.
5. Camden Yards: Left-handed power hitters can take aim at a warehouse and not get arrested for vandalism. The distinct hickory smells from the barbecue grills on Eutaw Street waft throughout the ballpark, and the Orioles always look sharp in their home whites.
6. Dodger Stadium: Game's best view, especially when the hills are changing colors at sunset. Vin Scully's smooth voice can be heard on every car radio exiting the park during the seventh inning. Not to mention frequent "Squiggy" sightings for "Laverne and Shirley" fans.
7. Safeco Field: Have to love those hardy Mariners fans. They would rather freeze indoors with their coats on than shut the darn roof. Safeco provides a perfect complement of shade and sunlight during afternoon games, giving it a Wrigleyesque flavor.
8. PNC Park: The steel bridge and the vastly underrated Pittsburgh skyline make this one of the most aesthetically pleasing retros. It looks like Pittsburgh, unlike nearby eyesore Heinz Field, a retro football stadium with yellow seats.
9. Kauffman Field: An old favorite from my many excursions between 1977-79 to watch the South Side Hit Men play the Royals. Simple? Very. But also very open and relaxing. Like Santana, it's a '70s relic that's aging gracefully, and it has a Gates BBQ stand, too.
10. Coors Field: Can't beat those mountain vistas, but this artificially flavored home-run haven is becoming obsolete in the juice-free era. Too many slugfests rob Coors of its inner beauty, changing the essence of the ballpark experience.
11. Bank One Ballpark: The BOB is usually at its best on 75-degree afternoon games—or about twice a year. The swimming pool in right field has been ruined by the preening adults who inhabit it. Time to turn the pool over to the kids instead of the Botox crowd.
12. The Ballpark in Arlington: Nothing says Texas like a bunch of crazy fans diving headfirst onto the grassy knoll in center in search of a home-run ball. Best upper deck of the retros. The park as a whole is too big, but that's considered a good thing in Texas, where the state motto is "Supersize it."
13. Busch Stadium: Renovation has helped this once dull park look presentable, but a team with as much tradition and fan support deserves an eye-opening retro like Pac Bell or PNC Park. Will St. Louis blow it when the new one finally gets built? Let's hope not.
14. Minute Maid Park: Former Cub Kevin Tapani coined the term "Enroned" in 1999 for cheap home runs landing over the ridiculously short porch in left of the former Enron Field. By incorporating parts of many other ballparks, it's supposed to be the best of all worlds. Instead, it's forced and kind of tacky, like the choo-choo train in left.
15. Jacobs Field: A very functional retro that looked fine when it opened and was packed every game. But now that the novelty has worn off and the Indians are back to being the Indians, the Jake seems middle-of-the-road at best.
16. U.S. Cellular Park: Lower deck and bleachers provide a fine atmosphere, but upper deck is still a problem. Best food in the majors, and very kid friendly, in spite of its recent problems with Springer Nation rejects running onto the field.
17. Comerica Park: The Tigers owner abandoned a classic American ballpark to put a merry-go-round inside a food court, begetting the curse of Tiger Stadium. Detroit has tuned out Comerica Park and the lowly Tigers while crying over the sweep of the Red Wings.
18. Qualcomm Stadium: One of the last of the dwindling "bowls," outliving Three Rivers and Riverfront, but on its way out. The weather is always nice in San Diego, and on the rare occasions it's full, Qualcomm is probably the loudest of the '60s-era ballparks. Just ask the '84 Cubs.
19. Miller Park: As if the leaky roof wasn't bad enough, they decided not to move Bernie Brewers' chalet over from County Stadium, building him a new crib that looks like a glorified toll booth. Cheeseheads (no fools indeed) already are avoiding the Keg in droves.
20. Edison Field: Dennis Miller referred to the Edison rock formation in left-center as a miniature golf course on steroids. The Angels' Rally Monkey was once semi-funny, but then again, so was Jimmy Kimmel.
21. SkyDome: Once a must-see ballpark, it's famous now for having the game's loudest sound system, overwhelming one's baseball senses with music, commercials and sound effects. Post-modern, faux-chic and suddenly an anachronism.
22. Network Associates Coliseum: Like Jerry Reinsdorf and new Comiskey Park, Oakland Raiders chief Al Davis left his huge imprint on the renovation of the Coliseum, sticking a gaudy upper deck in the outfield. "Mt. Davis," as it's called, obscures the rolling hills that provided some much-needed scenery, forever dooming Oakland's already low self-esteem.
23. Great American Ball Park: Not so great after all. Cold, unoriginal and very, very red. It's officially the new "new Comiskey" now that the old new Comiskey has changed its name. Cincinnati had its chance, but dropped the ball, as usual.
24. Tropicana Field: Fake grass that looks real is the highlight of this domed monstrosity, which features a real team that looks fake in St. Petersburg.
25. Pro Player Stadium: Also known by its stage name, Rain Delay Stadium. This is baseball squeezed into a football stadium. Marlins fans still are obsessing over the quick break-up of the '97 champs, putting the blame squarely on Jerry Krause.
26. Turner Field: Yogi Bear and other cartoon characters vie for kids' attention with Atlanta's Chipper Jones and Gary Sheffield, in a sad case of AOL Time Warner synergy run amok. Hey Yogi, watch the game.
27. Metrodome: After being cooped up all winter in a tiny ice-fishing shelter, what clear-minded Minnesotan wants to spend a beautiful June night in the nation's ugliest dome? Public-address announcer Bob Casey is easily the most grating in sports, but more tolerable since "Chuck Knaaaaaa-blauch" was traded years ago.
28. Veterans Stadium: This will be the tearful final season for the Phillies in the Vet, a virtual clone of Three Rivers and an abomination for such a great sports town. Smells like one of Clay Dalrymple's old socks. A fitting epitaph: "Mike Schmidt Cried Here."
29. Olympic Stadium: Used to have a retractable roof. Now it houses a contractable team. Likely the last season for major-league baseball in Montreal, so it's au revoir to this second-rate domestrosity. Not to rub it in, but the Montreal Olympics weren't so hot either.
30. Shea Stadium: Shea is the dump de tutti dumps, and nothing is quite as annoying as hearing a jet fly overheard, drowning out natural ballpark sounds. When they eventually blow this place up, Ron Santo should get to push the button.
Copyright © 2003, The Chicago Tribune
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...nparks,1,2305588.story?coll=cs-cubs-headlines
Best ballpark? Right here
By Paul Sullivan
Tribune staff reporter
April 21, 2003, 8:52 PM CDT
I duly concede nothing can beat Fred McGriff's ongoing quest to be the first player to hit a home run in 42 major-league ballparks.
It takes plenty of talent and a keen sense of self-importance to try so hard to become the answer to a trivia question.
But I'm afraid McGriff inadvertently has overshadowed my own quest to be the first sportswriter to eat junk food in every major-league park, an anti-Atkins odyssey that came to a conclusion last weekend at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
My checklist is now complete … at least until the new Philadelphia stadium opens next year. I've been to all 30 ballparks, in addition to 10 now-defunct ones. Growing up in a two-team town, going to a college halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo., and traveling with the Cubs and White Sox for the last decade or so, it sometimes seems that half of my life has been spent inside a stadium.
I've been lucky enough to get the opportunity to stick my head out of a scoreboard window at Wrigley Field, to kick the Phillie Phanatic at Veterans Stadium, to take a nap under the center-field flag pole at old Tiger Stadium, to scrawl my name inside the scoreboard under the Green Monster in Fenway Park, to get dangled by my feet over the left-field wall of Busch Stadium, to witness two Yankees stars duking it out in the clubhouse in Yankee Stadium and to slide into home during Disco Demolition at old Comiskey Park.
Just last week I caught my first foul ball at Wrigley Field, as eyewitness Felix Heredia of the Cincinnati Reds can attest. Being an aficionado of ballparks, as well as a compulsive-obsessive list-maker, I spent the flight back from Pittsburgh on Sunday ranking my favorite major-league parks from top to bottom.
I used the look, the view, the architecture, the food, the smell, the history, the ambience, the sounds, the fans, the comfort level and several other intangibles as my criteria.
In the end, it boiled down to one question: "In which ballpark would you most like to spend a day?" The answer is:
1. Wrigley Field: An obvious, but easy, choice. The ivy. The scoreboard. The bleachers. The brick wall behind home plate. The wells in the outfield. The view of the rooftops. Wrigley is a classic neighborhood ballpark like no other. Often imitated, never duplicated.
2. Fenway Park: So incredibly perfect that its charms are immune to the latest revenue-enhancing schemes of the current Red Sox owners, who recently placed $50 stool seats on top of the Green Monster. Might as well put the Mona Lisa in low-rise jeans.
3. Pacific Bell Park: Best of the retro ballparks, and privately financed to boot. McCovey's Cove is the nautical version of Waveland Avenue, and kids playing on the Whiffle Ball diamond in the left-field bleachers can watch themselves on their own Jumbotron. In the end, it's still about the kids.
4. Yankee Stadium: The mystique never wears off and public-address announcer Bob Sheppard is truly the voice of God. It's Valhalla come October when wrapped with bunting. But if old Comiskey had as many championship banners, it would have been just as revered as Yankee Stadium.
5. Camden Yards: Left-handed power hitters can take aim at a warehouse and not get arrested for vandalism. The distinct hickory smells from the barbecue grills on Eutaw Street waft throughout the ballpark, and the Orioles always look sharp in their home whites.
6. Dodger Stadium: Game's best view, especially when the hills are changing colors at sunset. Vin Scully's smooth voice can be heard on every car radio exiting the park during the seventh inning. Not to mention frequent "Squiggy" sightings for "Laverne and Shirley" fans.
7. Safeco Field: Have to love those hardy Mariners fans. They would rather freeze indoors with their coats on than shut the darn roof. Safeco provides a perfect complement of shade and sunlight during afternoon games, giving it a Wrigleyesque flavor.
8. PNC Park: The steel bridge and the vastly underrated Pittsburgh skyline make this one of the most aesthetically pleasing retros. It looks like Pittsburgh, unlike nearby eyesore Heinz Field, a retro football stadium with yellow seats.
9. Kauffman Field: An old favorite from my many excursions between 1977-79 to watch the South Side Hit Men play the Royals. Simple? Very. But also very open and relaxing. Like Santana, it's a '70s relic that's aging gracefully, and it has a Gates BBQ stand, too.
10. Coors Field: Can't beat those mountain vistas, but this artificially flavored home-run haven is becoming obsolete in the juice-free era. Too many slugfests rob Coors of its inner beauty, changing the essence of the ballpark experience.
11. Bank One Ballpark: The BOB is usually at its best on 75-degree afternoon games—or about twice a year. The swimming pool in right field has been ruined by the preening adults who inhabit it. Time to turn the pool over to the kids instead of the Botox crowd.
12. The Ballpark in Arlington: Nothing says Texas like a bunch of crazy fans diving headfirst onto the grassy knoll in center in search of a home-run ball. Best upper deck of the retros. The park as a whole is too big, but that's considered a good thing in Texas, where the state motto is "Supersize it."
13. Busch Stadium: Renovation has helped this once dull park look presentable, but a team with as much tradition and fan support deserves an eye-opening retro like Pac Bell or PNC Park. Will St. Louis blow it when the new one finally gets built? Let's hope not.
14. Minute Maid Park: Former Cub Kevin Tapani coined the term "Enroned" in 1999 for cheap home runs landing over the ridiculously short porch in left of the former Enron Field. By incorporating parts of many other ballparks, it's supposed to be the best of all worlds. Instead, it's forced and kind of tacky, like the choo-choo train in left.
15. Jacobs Field: A very functional retro that looked fine when it opened and was packed every game. But now that the novelty has worn off and the Indians are back to being the Indians, the Jake seems middle-of-the-road at best.
16. U.S. Cellular Park: Lower deck and bleachers provide a fine atmosphere, but upper deck is still a problem. Best food in the majors, and very kid friendly, in spite of its recent problems with Springer Nation rejects running onto the field.
17. Comerica Park: The Tigers owner abandoned a classic American ballpark to put a merry-go-round inside a food court, begetting the curse of Tiger Stadium. Detroit has tuned out Comerica Park and the lowly Tigers while crying over the sweep of the Red Wings.
18. Qualcomm Stadium: One of the last of the dwindling "bowls," outliving Three Rivers and Riverfront, but on its way out. The weather is always nice in San Diego, and on the rare occasions it's full, Qualcomm is probably the loudest of the '60s-era ballparks. Just ask the '84 Cubs.
19. Miller Park: As if the leaky roof wasn't bad enough, they decided not to move Bernie Brewers' chalet over from County Stadium, building him a new crib that looks like a glorified toll booth. Cheeseheads (no fools indeed) already are avoiding the Keg in droves.
20. Edison Field: Dennis Miller referred to the Edison rock formation in left-center as a miniature golf course on steroids. The Angels' Rally Monkey was once semi-funny, but then again, so was Jimmy Kimmel.
21. SkyDome: Once a must-see ballpark, it's famous now for having the game's loudest sound system, overwhelming one's baseball senses with music, commercials and sound effects. Post-modern, faux-chic and suddenly an anachronism.
22. Network Associates Coliseum: Like Jerry Reinsdorf and new Comiskey Park, Oakland Raiders chief Al Davis left his huge imprint on the renovation of the Coliseum, sticking a gaudy upper deck in the outfield. "Mt. Davis," as it's called, obscures the rolling hills that provided some much-needed scenery, forever dooming Oakland's already low self-esteem.
23. Great American Ball Park: Not so great after all. Cold, unoriginal and very, very red. It's officially the new "new Comiskey" now that the old new Comiskey has changed its name. Cincinnati had its chance, but dropped the ball, as usual.
24. Tropicana Field: Fake grass that looks real is the highlight of this domed monstrosity, which features a real team that looks fake in St. Petersburg.
25. Pro Player Stadium: Also known by its stage name, Rain Delay Stadium. This is baseball squeezed into a football stadium. Marlins fans still are obsessing over the quick break-up of the '97 champs, putting the blame squarely on Jerry Krause.
26. Turner Field: Yogi Bear and other cartoon characters vie for kids' attention with Atlanta's Chipper Jones and Gary Sheffield, in a sad case of AOL Time Warner synergy run amok. Hey Yogi, watch the game.
27. Metrodome: After being cooped up all winter in a tiny ice-fishing shelter, what clear-minded Minnesotan wants to spend a beautiful June night in the nation's ugliest dome? Public-address announcer Bob Casey is easily the most grating in sports, but more tolerable since "Chuck Knaaaaaa-blauch" was traded years ago.
28. Veterans Stadium: This will be the tearful final season for the Phillies in the Vet, a virtual clone of Three Rivers and an abomination for such a great sports town. Smells like one of Clay Dalrymple's old socks. A fitting epitaph: "Mike Schmidt Cried Here."
29. Olympic Stadium: Used to have a retractable roof. Now it houses a contractable team. Likely the last season for major-league baseball in Montreal, so it's au revoir to this second-rate domestrosity. Not to rub it in, but the Montreal Olympics weren't so hot either.
30. Shea Stadium: Shea is the dump de tutti dumps, and nothing is quite as annoying as hearing a jet fly overheard, drowning out natural ballpark sounds. When they eventually blow this place up, Ron Santo should get to push the button.
Copyright © 2003, The Chicago Tribune
