Stadium Rankings: Part 2
This post will rank the middle third of Major League stadiums, from #11-20.
Same rules apply as with the lower tier: completely subjective, no attempt to be fair, yada yada yada. Let me know what you think.
#20 - Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City Royals)
I'm probably going to catch some flak for ranking Kauffman so low, because a lot of Twins fans have made the trip to KC and taken in a game there, and it is a very nice ballpark. However, there are a LOT of very nice ballparks out there now, and Kauffman doesn't measure up to the newer facilities. I'm knocking some points off for how ugly the place is from outside: seriously, it has to be one of the most horrific entrances to a ballpark that I've seen, what with concrete splayed as far as the eye can see. Also, there's no view; now, this doesn't really matter for purposes of watching a game...if I go to a ballpark I go for the baseball, not the scenery. However, when ranking ballparks, such things should be considered. Unfortunately, I can't justify putting Kauffman any higher on the list.
#19 - Chase Field (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Looks like a nice enough park when I see it on tv, but it loses out because I haven't been there and other ballparks look just a little bit nicer.
#18 - Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati Reds)
Brand new and very, very Red. Which makes sense. It beats out Chase Field because it looks more like an actual ballpark, but it just doesn't do it for me overall, hence the low ranking.
#17 - Coors Field (Colorado Rockies)
Martin is going to kill me. I could have put Coors higher, but I wasn't as impressed as I thought it would be. It looks nice from outside, and there's nothing wrong with it, but it wasn't as charming as I thought it would be. I don't like three-tier stadiums, because they don't look as intimate as the two-tier version. And other stadiums, the one's higher on the list, tend to just have a better overall look to it. Again, this is an incredibly subjective list, but Marty, you can fire away at me if you'd like. Also, that outfield is triples-heaven...way too big (although I don't know how you could avoid that).
#16 - Ameriquest Field (Texas Rangers)
I should probably put Coors ahead of Ameriquest, but to me they are essentially interchangeable ballparks.
#15 - New Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals)
It gets put here because it didn't look THAT great to me, but it's brand new. In other words, I don't know enough about it to rank it effectively, so it gets plunked in the middle of the order.
#14 - Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia Phillies)
Looks a little nicer on TV than New Busch, but similarly I don't know a lot about it. Again, though, this ballpark seems like it tried a little too hard.
#13 - Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers)
A very nice ballpark. It looks better to me than the very similar Chase Field, and I enjoyed the experience of the game there. Hence, the top 1/2 ranking.
#12 - Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers)
Has a better feel than some of the even newer stadiums (like Citizens Bank and New Busch).
#11 - Turner Field (Atlanta Braves)
A classically simple park. Newer, with good looking lines and no major, annoying gimmicks. Frankly, #'s 11-17 are probably fairly interchangeable, but my gut told me to rank the parks this way, and it feels right to me. Only the Coors/Ameriquest situation is really a toss up for me.
Same rules apply as with the lower tier: completely subjective, no attempt to be fair, yada yada yada. Let me know what you think.
#20 - Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City Royals)
I'm probably going to catch some flak for ranking Kauffman so low, because a lot of Twins fans have made the trip to KC and taken in a game there, and it is a very nice ballpark. However, there are a LOT of very nice ballparks out there now, and Kauffman doesn't measure up to the newer facilities. I'm knocking some points off for how ugly the place is from outside: seriously, it has to be one of the most horrific entrances to a ballpark that I've seen, what with concrete splayed as far as the eye can see. Also, there's no view; now, this doesn't really matter for purposes of watching a game...if I go to a ballpark I go for the baseball, not the scenery. However, when ranking ballparks, such things should be considered. Unfortunately, I can't justify putting Kauffman any higher on the list.
#19 - Chase Field (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Looks like a nice enough park when I see it on tv, but it loses out because I haven't been there and other ballparks look just a little bit nicer.
#18 - Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati Reds)
Brand new and very, very Red. Which makes sense. It beats out Chase Field because it looks more like an actual ballpark, but it just doesn't do it for me overall, hence the low ranking.
#17 - Coors Field (Colorado Rockies)
Martin is going to kill me. I could have put Coors higher, but I wasn't as impressed as I thought it would be. It looks nice from outside, and there's nothing wrong with it, but it wasn't as charming as I thought it would be. I don't like three-tier stadiums, because they don't look as intimate as the two-tier version. And other stadiums, the one's higher on the list, tend to just have a better overall look to it. Again, this is an incredibly subjective list, but Marty, you can fire away at me if you'd like. Also, that outfield is triples-heaven...way too big (although I don't know how you could avoid that).
#16 - Ameriquest Field (Texas Rangers)
I should probably put Coors ahead of Ameriquest, but to me they are essentially interchangeable ballparks.
#15 - New Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals)
It gets put here because it didn't look THAT great to me, but it's brand new. In other words, I don't know enough about it to rank it effectively, so it gets plunked in the middle of the order.
#14 - Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia Phillies)
Looks a little nicer on TV than New Busch, but similarly I don't know a lot about it. Again, though, this ballpark seems like it tried a little too hard.
#13 - Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers)
A very nice ballpark. It looks better to me than the very similar Chase Field, and I enjoyed the experience of the game there. Hence, the top 1/2 ranking.
#12 - Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers)
Has a better feel than some of the even newer stadiums (like Citizens Bank and New Busch).
#11 - Turner Field (Atlanta Braves)
A classically simple park. Newer, with good looking lines and no major, annoying gimmicks. Frankly, #'s 11-17 are probably fairly interchangeable, but my gut told me to rank the parks this way, and it feels right to me. Only the Coors/Ameriquest situation is really a toss up for me.
posted by JST @ Thursday, August 03, 2006
1 Comments:
At Tue Aug 08, 09:18:00 AM ,
The Scribe said...
I've been to eight major league ballparks and Kauffman was one of the best I've seen of those eight. Obviously Wrigley is better, but Kauffman beat out Comiskey (I still call it Comiskey) by virtue of the fact that the outfield backdrop is beautiful and I think its pretty cool when fake geysers shoot out of the outfield backdrop.
The knock against Kauffman, like you said, is the exterior. It's nothing special to look at, it's next door to Arrowhead and is located arbitrarily outside of downtown Kansas City.
Kauffan beats out Miller Park (in my opinion0 bc whenever I've been in Miller Park I feel like I'm watching baseball being played in a warehouse. The top is closed far too often, and although the park looks neat, its not the best baseball watching atmosphere. I do think the rightfield plaza is a pretty sweet view though.
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