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Posted

This is a thread for myself and other ballpark nerds to talk about stadiums, fields, concessions, shit to do, etc.  So probably mainly me talking to myself.  

I am no expert, but I am trying to knock out all 30.  I have been to 21 of them and will be knocking off 22, 23, and 24 in the next week and a half.   I have some good recs in a few of the parks that may not be common knowledge.  

I saw  @Elmer_Fudd is going to Oracle this summer, which is a great park.  Most peoples ranking/list have it as a top 3 park, if not then definitely in their top 5.   I have only been to that one once so I don't know much about it, but I agree it is one of the top parks in the league and the view is nice if you sit up high enough.  

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Posted

Thanks for making this thread.  Wife and I have been to 17 stadiums so far and Oracle will be number 18.  Its getting a little harder to catch more than one on a trip since we've done the 2-3 in one trip previously.  

If the A's would have stuck around one more season we would have gone to the Coliseum (even if most consider it a dump).  So will just have to wait for them when they start playing in Vegas.  

Kinda' wish Arizona would get a new stadium, Chase doesn't really look appealing.  

We've been to Tropicana Field, but would love to go back if (whenever that may be) the Rays get a new stadium. 

I've also read some articles that MLB could be adding two expansion teams by the end of the decade/start of the 2030's.

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Posted

Went to Chase Park last season and had a great time. Snakes vs Twins.  Certainly didn't fell like, "This sucks" while we were there.  Sat about 4 rows up 3rd base side right where the outfield grass starts.  I was also driving and getting in and out of there was not bad.

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Posted (edited)

For the minor league part, I love Whataburger Field. Cool location. Has anyone done Constellation Field for the Space Cowboys? 

Edited by n64ra
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Posted

IMG_0111.thumb.jpeg.b392cf60a293e7057b79ed3a10359d05.jpeg
 

OneOK Field in Tulsa is a great night at the ballpark.   There’s a derrick in right field that shoots flames when the Drillers score, and the beer cheese and sausage sandwich from the Siegi’s stand is outstanding.  The downtown Tulsa skyline makes a very nice backdrop at night.
 

Sucks that they are a Dojers affiliate, though.  

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Posted

Yeah the palm tree stockings on the Drillers are hateable.

agree that the games there are fun.  Went 3 years ago.

Posted
14 minutes ago, n64ra said:

For the minor league part, I love Whataburger Field. Cool location. Has anyone done Constellation Field for the Space Cowboys? 

I have been to Constellation twice.  Not bad, but I think Whataburger is cooler.  I did the higher price tickets at Constellation one time where you get access to the buffet shit and it was actually pretty good....happened to be for a 7 inning doubleheader so we got our moneys worth and game 2 ended with a walk off homer by David Hensley 

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Posted

I will be doing Philadephia, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland starting this weekend.  I am excited for PNC because that is normally top 2 or 3 in anyones lists/rankings I see 

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Posted
6 minutes ago, Scraps said:

I will be doing Philadephia, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland starting this weekend.  I am excited for PNC because that is normally top 2 or 3 in anyones lists/rankings I see 

We did Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Cincinnati all in one trip years ago (haven't been to Philly yet).  Lots of good eating joints/bars around Progressive Field to hit up before the game.  Also, you cant tell from watching a game on TV, but at Progressive Field in centerfield behind the trees is a neat area full of historical stuff about the history of the franchise.

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Posted

I have been to around 15 MLB stadiums (although a couple have been replaced/upgraded). 
 

Really like Twins stadiums as I like walkable downtown stadiums. 
Fenway is walkable from Back Bay and have done that as well a number of times 

Hated Nationals stadiums. This one to me needs to be an early season go as we went when Horns played Maryland and the weather was fucking miserable. 

Giants (Oracle) is another walkable one when you stay in San Fran (depending on where you stay obviously). Used to have a beer truck/food truck firepit set up close to stadium that was a good time. 
 

Wrigley of course is cool and they have really built up entertainment district around it. 
 

Dodgers stadium is a shit show to get in and out of. Wear comfortable shoes as you will be hiking to uber lot. 

Posted

I agree with Nationals Park -  did not like it and it would be ranked toward the bottom to me.  Rate Field (White Sox) sucks ass too.  Best thing they have at that place is visitor bullpen area there is a bar underneath seats behind the bullpen where you can watch warmups and then there is a craft beer cave down  there with a really nice selection 

Posted

One thing I forgot about Chase Park concessions is that they had Churro splits, like with a banana.  I got mine probably in the 7th inning or so, and the churros were so F'ing stale they were inedible.  My buddies were wearing my ass out for still eating the ice cream and everything else.  "The ice cream isn't stale"  LOL.

Would NOT recommend.  

our other food/ drinks were fine.

Posted

I've been to 14 I think. Oracle is definitely top 3, but I'm biased. I agree that the Nationals stadium is pretty terrible. It just doesn't have anything uniquely appealing about it. Camden, on the other hand, just up the road in Baltimore is an absolute gem. That park really set off the trend of moving parks back into the urban core and making them an anchor for placemaking and revitalization.  

Posted (edited)

Great thread idea. mdleast and I are doing a trip to San Diego in August. What are some good places to go to around the stadium? 

I've hit 13 stadiums so far. We've discussed Seattle for next summer. 

Top 5 for me so far: 

1. Wrigley

2. Fenway

3. Oracle Park

4. Dodger Stadium

5. Target Field

Haven't been to PNC Park or Camden. I know those need to happen but PNC will probably have to be a combined trip with Cleveland and Cincinnati to be worth it. Baltimore was out of town when we hit DC and Philly one year. 

There is a bit of sameness with the new stadiums so they get bonus points if they're around a good area or it's easy to get to them via rail or walking. I didn't mind the Nationals park for that reason. 

Edited by mdmost
Posted

I also agree that Camden is a top 10 park. It was like the 3rd park i went to so it has been awhile since I was there, but I thought it was great

Posted
1 hour ago, Scraps said:

I will be doing Philadephia, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland starting this weekend.  I am excited for PNC because that is normally top 2 or 3 in anyones lists/rankings I see 

PNC is awesome.

Tops that I have been to:

1 - Wrigley

2 - Oracle

3 - PNC

4 - Dodger

5 - Camden

6 - Target

Posted (edited)

I saw a game at the new Rangers park last September and thought it was fantastic, way better than the old one. Great food and drink options and that Loews hotel next to it is probably the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed. Such an easy walk, and then texas live was great after the game as well. Really surprising at how enjoyable it all was. I’ve been to 11 parks, my top 5:

1. Wrigley

2. New Yankee Stadium

3. New Rangers

4. Oracle in SF

5. Dodger Stadium

Close 6th: Fenway

Edited by Helobious
Posted



Great thread idea. mdleast and I are doing a trip to San Diego in August. What are some good places to go to around the stadium? 



Man the Gaslamp district is right there so you have a nice selection of places. I don't have anything specific for you but someone here has to. I just brewery hopped cause I am a brewery guy over food guy.

If yall venture over by Mission Brewing though it was tent city(shit ton of homeless) back in 2021 or so.
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Posted (edited)

I think Oracle is the most overrated sports stadium I've ever been to.  

The setting is beautiful, but the wind suuuuuucks and I thought the sight lines were terrible from the upper and lower decks.  Upper deck is so steep that you feel like you're a mile away.  Lower deck slope is not steep enough and it's hard to see around the people in front of you.  

My rankings would be:

1.  Fenway

2.  Coors

3.  San Diego

4.  Seattle

5.  Wrigley

6-10: Dodgers, Minnesota, Texas, KC, and Houston in some order.  

Have not been to PNC, and if we were doing this for all parks, old Tiger Stadium would be a runaway #1.  

Edited by Beau Vine
Posted

mdleast is a big beer guy so I know he'll line up some good places for us. I feel that's part of why it moved up to this year's trip. That and being in California. I had wanted to hit up Seattle first. Last year was Coors Field and that was a fun long weekend with the Rocky Mountains NP as part of the trip. We'll hit up La Jolla and a few of the beach towns on this trip. We usually arrive on a Thursday, sight-see on Friday, hit the game and stadium area on Saturday, and fly home late on Sunday. 

Posted
1 hour ago, Scraps said:

I will be doing Philadephia, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland starting this weekend.  I am excited for PNC because that is normally top 2 or 3 in anyones lists/rankings I see 

I've been to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia for Cubs' series and Cleveland for a couple of one-off games when visiting my wife's family.  Pittsburgh is great.  We stayed downtown and just walked across the Clemente bridge for the games. Obviously the skyline view is great and they did fireworks over the river after one of the games.  I will say that it was probably a better experience because we went during the small period when the Pirates were actually good.  For Philly, we also staid downtown, but its not really walkable to downtown because of the sea of parking lots surrounding their sports complex area.  The stadium itself was nice enough, although it rained all weekend, so we did not get to fully experience everything.  If I recall, they have a big billboard blocking a lot of the downtown view, which is unfortunate.  Progressive was decent, but I honestly do not remember much memorable about it.

I have been to 17 MLB stadiums, but that includes four parks that are no longer in use (O.Co, Astrodome, RFK, Yankee Stadium (Old)).

As a DC-area resident, I have been to Nationals park dozens of times.  The park itself is pretty bland, but they have built up the area around it quite a bit over the last couple of years and so the gameday experience is much better than it used to be when they first built it.  They have also improved the range of eateries in the stadium, so there is a better mix of local places and chains.  To be honest, it has grown on me over the years, but I would probably rank it right around average for newer parks.

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Posted

If I'm ranking stadiums, I would do go as follows:

1. Wrigley

2. PNC

3. AT&T

4. Camden Yards

5. Fenway

6. Yankee (old)

7. Minute Maid

8. Coors

9. Nationals

10. Progressive

11. Citizens Bank

12. Citi

13. SunTrust

14. Astrodome

15. O.Co

16. RFK

17. Great Rate (Or whatever the White Sox are currently calling that monstrosity)

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Posted

+1 on what scraps said about Petco/ Padres. That whole area around the stadium is walkable, and basically street taco and beer heaven. That is a very fun trip.

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Scraps said:

I will be doing Philadephia, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland starting this weekend.  I am excited for PNC because that is normally top 2 or 3 in anyones lists/rankings I see 

Every part of PNC is amazing. From walking across the Roberto Clemente bridge to the view of downtown Pittsburgh to the open concourses and the great sight lines. Just don't jump up too fast if you're sitting on the railing.

Edited by elfenix
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Posted
7 minutes ago, Iceman said:

+1 on what scraps said about Petco/ Padres. That whole area around the stadium is walkable, and basically street taco and beer heaven. That is a very fun trip.

And make sure you read all the bricks surrounding the Tony Gwynn statue.  Bring Kleenex.

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Posted

So much love for Camden. Lived there many years and tried not to miss a rangers series).  Old St.Louis was such a shit hole but fun. Easy for Sosa to send roid soaked homers out of.   Trust is growing on me....really nice part of town (if there is such a thing in ATL) but it's a very pleasant experience. 

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Posted
Every part of PNC is amazing. From walking across the Roberto Clemente bridge to the view of downtown Pittsburgh to the open concourses and the great sight lines. Just don't jump up too fast if you're sitting on the railing.
I had already bought my ticket to next tuesdays game there prior to dude falling off and i am going to be about 10 seats over from where he was. Sec 144 row A.

Not trying for a follow up lol
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Posted
1 hour ago, mdmost said:

Great thread idea. mdleast and I are doing a trip to San Diego in August. What are some good places to go to around the stadium? 

We just did San Diego last summer and loved it.  As was mentioned, tons of eating options around the stadium.  We did bubs at the ballpark.

Saw on your other post about La Jolla cove, we went to it as well.  Would try and get to it pretty early as the parking can fill up.  Went to Mission Beach on another morning.  We also did the San Diego Zoo, but that can take almost all day to see everything (think we did the whole place in 5+ hours, that was also stopping to eat).

This trip also included Angels and Dodger Stadium as well.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Iceman said:

One thing I forgot about Chase Park concessions is that they had Churro splits, like with a banana.  I got mine probably in the 7th inning or so, and the churros were so F'ing stale they were inedible.  My buddies were wearing my ass out for still eating the ice cream and everything else.  "The ice cream isn't stale"  LOL.

Would NOT recommend.  

our other food/ drinks were fine.

I ordered this once and the churros were fresh. Lady saw me carrying that monstrosity and said "you're never going to be able to eat all of that?"

I looked at her and said well now I am.  I felt poor to quite poor for a couple of hours after that but it was very much worth it.

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Posted
4 hours ago, Elmer_Fudd said:

 

If the A's would have stuck around one more season we would have gone to the Coliseum (even if most consider it a dump).  So will just have to wait for them when they start playing in Vegas.  

Gotta get to Sacramento if you want to see all of the "major league" parks 

 

Quote

We've been to Tropicana Field, but would love to go back if (whenever that may be) the Rays get a new stadium. 

Same with Steinbrenner. 

The Rays looked like they were on the verge of getting a new stadium in St Pete before the hurricane hit last year. But between the county needing to find money for hurricane remediation and some new county commissioners it looks like the Rays will abandon that and try to move. Which they've been talking about for 20 years. 

Maybe by 2035 there will be teams in Charlotte, SLC, and Portland. 

Posted (edited)

Churro splits taste amazing, but they are also incredible gut bombs.

 

I mean, you're eating ice cream covered donuts.

Edited by Beau Vine
Posted
11 minutes ago, elfenix said:

Gotta get to Sacramento if you want to see all of the "major league" parks 

 

Same with Steinbrenner. 

The Rays looked like they were on the verge of getting a new stadium in St Pete before the hurricane hit last year. But between the county needing to find money for hurricane remediation and some new county commissioners it looks like the Rays will abandon that and try to move. Which they've been talking about for 20 years. 

Maybe by 2035 there will be teams in Charlotte, SLC, and Portland. 

Sacramento and Kauffman need to be on the list since both are finite. We went to the Coliseum two years ago when we combined SF and Oakland games over a long weekend. Coliseum was a bit of a toilet but it reminded me of the old days of ballparks like Arlington Stadium.  

Posted

The best part of the Coliseum experience was the hordes of entrepreneurs outside the stadium selling bootleg merchandise and beers out of coolers.

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Posted
8 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Sacramento and Kauffman need to be on the list since both are finite. We went to the Coliseum two years ago when we combined SF and Oakland games over a long weekend. Coliseum was a bit of a toilet but it reminded me of the old days of ballparks like Arlington Stadium.  

Kauffman will be around for a bit. KCMO voters voted against a sales tax that would have gone towards the new stadium so the Royals have to go back to the drawing board. Seems like KC is more focused on giving the Chiefs whatever they want.

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Posted

My list is in the order in which I visited them:
Mile High Stadium, ca 1976, for Denver Bears game.  
Arlington Stadium, Texas Rangers
Gold Sox Stadium, Amarillo
Midland Angels Stadium
Whatever the Durham NC stadium was called in 1990, Durham Bulls
Dan Law Field, Lubbock Crickets
Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego Padres
The Ballpark in Arlington, if not for weather, i prefer it multiple times more than the new Rangers park.  In the mid 90's my employer had great seats, but people bitched that the March/ April games were too cold.  I benefitted.  LOL.  Texas Rangers
Minute Maid Park/ Daiken, Houston Astros
AT&T Stadium/ Engel Field- Chattanooga Lookouts  Highly recommend as a good time and good downtown area
Constellation Field, Sugarland Skeeters
OKC Redhawks and whatever stadium was called then.  Fun times in Bricktown.
OneOK Field, Tulsa Drillers
Dr Pepper Ballpark, Frisco Roughriders
Oriole Park at Camden Yards. 3 Yordan dingers and blast from Correa that still hasn't landed.  Astros won 23-2. Have also been to Army-Navy game in Baltimore, and their downtown Inner Harbor/ Stadium setup is awesomely walkable.  I'd go back even if my teams weren't playing.  Go to Fort McHenry too!!!
Rangers Cooktop Grill Stadium-  I get the need for it, still haven't accepted that The Ballpark was done.
Petco Field- great downtown area and fun fans. San Diego Padres
Sutter Health Park- went to a Sacramento River Cats game last summer.  Would be weird seeing the A's there now.  River Cats probably a better game.
Louisville Slugger Field- saw the Bats play.  Louisville downtown area is awesome.  See also: bourbon everywhere. Would definitely go again.
Coors Field- great stadium in fun downtown area. Great beer options both in metro and on-premise. Hit the weather right, and it is damned near perfect for baseball. Colorado Rockies.


 

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Posted

I was in San Francisco in June 2012 for the US Open and had two games to choose between to attend at Oracle (AT&T Park): Tues or Wed. 

I chose Tues.  The most notable event that night was Rory McIlroy throwing out the first pitch in otherwise non-descript 6-3 Giants win over the Astros.

Wednesday night however:

https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/Matt-Cain-throws-perfect-game-as-Giants-win-10-0-3632764.php
 

I could hear the roars from the stadium in the 6th/7th inning from where we were staying near Union Square and still kicking myself I didn’t try to get down there and sneak in 

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Posted
1 hour ago, mdmost said:

Sacramento and Kauffman need to be on the list since both are finite. We went to the Coliseum two years ago when we combined SF and Oakland games over a long weekend. Coliseum was a bit of a toilet but it reminded me of the old days of ballparks like Arlington Stadium.  

My cousin is dead center in the loneliest seat in sports

PXL_20240806_025159119.TS_exported_2152_1748373775365.thumb.jpg.636fc41857b4ed50b564d096029b56ac.jpg

 

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Posted

The ones I have been to: Oakland Coliseum, Truist Park, Fenway, Wrigley, Coors Field, Angel Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Target Field, new Yankee Stadium, Citizens Bank Park, Oracle Park, National Park, Globe Life Field, Ballpark at Arlington, Arlington Stadium

The ones I haven't been to yet in order of interest: Petco Park, T-Mobile Park, PNC Park, Oriole Park, Kauffman Stadium, Great American Ball Park, Progressive Field, Comerica Park, Astros ballpark, American Family Field, Citi Field, Busch Stadium, Rogers Centre, Chase Field, Rate Field, Chase Field, loanDepot Park

mdleast figures we can try for the Astros some weekend in the future since it's just 4 hours down the road. Kauffman can be a quick trip since it's a short flight. I'd group the Ohio teams and Pittsburgh as a long weekend to make it worth the airfare. Detroit and Toronto could be the same weekend since it's a 4 hour drive. Milwaukee and White Sox can be the same weekend for the same reason but I would have to see about a Wrigley visit again. I've been 4 times already. I figure we could squeeze a Baltimore-Mets double into one weekend if we flew into one, took the Amtrak to the other, and then flew out of that city. We did that on the disastrous Maryland game weekend at FedEx. Flew into DC, Nationals game, watched the Herman abortion, took the train to Philly to watch the Phillies, and flew out the next day. Baltimore was out of town that weekend as that was much more preferred and just under an hour away from DC. Arizona, Miami, St Louis would have to be one off trips and therefore rank the lowest. 

Posted

The last three I want to see are Petco, Oracle and PNC. I was going to go to PNC this year but life happened. 

I've been to Kauffman, Arlington, Minute Maid, Guaranteed Rate, Wrigley, Busch, Camden, Constellation, Yankee, Fenway and a shit load of Atlantic League independent parks across the east coast.

Camden was the absolute best, we saw Marwin hit one on Eutaw St after Colin Moran killed his face. That was awesome. I know not MLB, or MiLB but saw some games in the Cape Cod league few years ago and that whole experience was incredible, my son was 8 at the time and still talk about that trip 

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Posted

Reading this thread with everyone throwing around the stadium names reminds me just how much I hate corporate naming rights of stadiums. 

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Mez2 said:

I know not MLB, or MiLB but saw some games in the Cape Cod league few years ago and that whole experience was incredible, my son was 8 at the time and still talk about that trip 

This is one of my greatest parenting victories:

When my daughter was in HS, we took a trip to Boston.  We went to a Sox game, then rented a car and drove to Cooperstown for a couple of days.  Then we drove several hours through heinous traffic to get to a Cape Cod League game.  We were sitting on the berm in Falmouth (?) watching the game and I started worrying that this was too much baseball for her.  Literally right about that point she piped up, "I wish they had something like this in Wimberley.  I'd make my friends go every night."

 

Edited by Beau Vine
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Posted
7 minutes ago, Scraps said:

Cincinnati's is underrated IMO. I loved it. Reds HOF right there too is 5 stars.

Cincinnati, in general, is underrated. Wife was offered a job there 6 years ago and it really surprised me how much I liked the city. The only reason we didn’t end up moving there was I also received a job offer in Houston at about the same time and the $$ in Houston won out.

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Posted

Agreed. I found great breweries and shit to do for the 4 days i was there.

Also learned exactly where the term "hookers" came from during a city tour.

For my ballpark tour the guide was Paul Oneills brother.

Posted
2 hours ago, royiv said:

Seems like KC is more focused on giving the Chiefs whatever they want.


And the Chiefs want the Truman Complex to themselves, unfortunately.

I hate it, myself. Maybe shit falls through, but doesn’t seem like it will. Kehoe is calling a special session shortly to get something done, the KS “offer” has to be answered by 6/30. Although it’s not really a compelling one, and I can’t see them taking it.

The Arrowhead/Kauffman setup is pretty great. Ballpark moves downtown and now it’s a shitshow for parking and ingress/egress. See: Sprint/T-Mobile center.

But we’re right back to where we were, and what the Chiefs want. 

Posted
6 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:


And the Chiefs want the Truman Complex to themselves, unfortunately.

I hate it, myself. Maybe shit falls through, but doesn’t seem like it will. Kehoe is calling a special session shortly to get something done, the KS “offer” has to be answered by 6/30. Although it’s not really a compelling one, and I can’t see them taking it.

The Arrowhead/Kauffman setup is pretty great. Ballpark moves downtown and now it’s a shitshow for parking and ingress/egress. See: Sprint/T-Mobile center.

But we’re right back to where we were, and what the Chiefs want. 

Sad thing is the Royals don't need a new stadium.  Kaufman is an awesome stadium to catch a game IMO.

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Posted

Stadiums left for us to see in order of most wanting to see for me (not including Oracle since will see it in two months).

Fenway, Camden, Wrigley, Safeco (Seattle), Comerica, A's new stadium in Vegas (going off artist drawing), Citizen Bank, Rogers Centre, whatever Miami is called these days, Chase, Nationals, White Sox (Rate?).

Figure we'll try to do Baltimore/Nationals/Phillies in one trip.  Both Chicago's in one, and probably Detroit/Toronto.  The rest will probably be just a one stadium trip (unless Tampa ever gets a new stadium, then will shoot for it and Marlins in one).

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