Stadium Rankings: Part 1

As promised, here's the first wave of my stadium rankings. I mentioned before that these are completely subjective, with no attempt whatsoever to be fair and balanced. I'd love to hear what people think about my rankings. A reminder: I've been to quite a few of these parks, but there are many more which I have never seen live. My rankings are based on what I've seen on TV mostly, along with hearsay.

This is part one of the post, which will cover stadium's #21-30, in reverse order.

#30 - Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Devil Rays)
I don't think many people will argue about this one. The place looks absolutely dead, it's got a giant catwalk that goes across the roof and gets hit semi-regularly, and it was built long, long before the Devil Rays showed up to try to attract a team, so it isn't ever a modern facility. I pretty much have nothing good to say about this ballpark.

#29 - RFK Stadium (Washington Nationals)
I know very little about RFK, but it looks like a baren wasteland and is old. 'Nuff said.

#28 - Dolphin Stadium (Florida Marlins)
Built for football, it looks like a minor league team is playing whenever they have baseball games there. The color scheme is weird, the left-field clock used to be kind of cool but now is just annoying, and no one ever shows up.

#27 - Metrodome (Minnesota Twins)
Believe it or not, I kind of like the Dome. That said, we all know the sightlines suck, the speakers are an annoyance, and that damned milk-jug has to go.

#26 - Shea Stadium (New York Mets)
Another stadium I don't know too much about, but it looks like it was built for another era, and the Apple in the outfield is pretty stupid.

#25 - McAfee Coliseum (Oakland Athletics)
This place is a monstrosity, but looks far better as a baseball stadium than the other multi-purpose outdoor parks on this list (RFK & Dolphin Stadium). I might even consider moving it up the list, but for the ridiculous amount of foul territory and the fact that the field gets chewed up beyond repair once the Raiders start playing.

#24 - Rogers Centre (Toronto Blue Jays)
Not a bad ballpark - but I don't have a lot to say about it. At least it's roof can open, and at least it doesn't have obstructions in play. It doesn't go higher because it's a little bit older, and because even with the roof open it still looks like a dome. Plus, they should have left the name of the place as Skydome, so it gets a deduction for that.

#23 - Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros)
Probably the most controversial of my low-3rd choices. I understand that it's new, but man did they try too hard when they built this place. Let's see...we have a giant hill in center (and as if that wasn't enough, let's just put a flagpole in play), left field is about 200 feet from home plate, and there is a stupid train in left as well. The place always seems dark, and they play that horrible buzzzzzzzzing sound when one of the killer B's jacks one. Sorry, Houston fans, but this place doesn't deserve a higher ranking.

#22 - U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox)
I've actually been to this place, and I have to say I wasn't impressed. It's a newer park, but was built just before teams started going back to smaller, more intimate ballparks. The day I was there was probably tainted a bit, because it was bitterly cold and I was somewhat miserable. That said, I didn't feel the place had much life to it, and it just doesn't compare with many of the other ballparks in baseball.

#21 - Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Probably a great park in its day, it suffers in comparison to many newer parks. I've never been to Chavez Ravine, but I'd like to go; perhaps if I saw it in person I'd give it a boost in the rankings.