So I’ve been to all 30 ballparks … and the thing that’s easy to forget is baseball has never had so many gorgeous ballparks. I grew up in the 1970s and early 1980s when ballparks were dumps. There were almost no exceptions.
This is the golden age.
Here is my ranking of all 30 ballparks:
No. 30: O.co Coliseum (Oakland A’s): Not good for football either.
No. 29: Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Rays): Dark and depressing spot in the middle of sunny Florida.
No. 28: U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox): I want to like it more than I do.
No. 27: Rogers Centre (Toronto Blue Jays): Still fun to watch roof open and close. But Astroturf? In 2014?
No. 26 Turner Field (Atlanta Braves): Nice enough, but antiseptic. Anyway, the Braves are leaving.
No. 25: Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati Reds): Great Hall of Fame.
No. 24: Marlins Park (Miami Marlins): Points for being different, but too gaudy for my tastes.
No. 23 Chase Field (Arizona Diamondbacks): Swimming pool is most notable feature.
No. 22: Nationals Park (Washington Nationals): Wish it had more Washington character.
No. 21 Globe Life Park in Arlington (Texas Rangers): How many different names can one ballpark have?
No. 20: Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees): Hard to balance old and new; I don’t think they quite got it.
No. 19: Citi Field (New York Mets): Even a romantic like me was ready to lose Shea Stadium.
No. 18 Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros): Fan of Tal’s incline in center – an homage to old Crosley Field.
No. 17: Angel Stadium of Anaheim (Los Angeles Angels): You often find it at bottom of such lists, but I love everything about it. I’m instantly happy just walking in.
No. 16: Miller Park (Milwaukee Brewers): Excellent park but it doesn’t quite stand out in today’s competitive world of ballparks.
[ RELATED: A different opinion on ranking all 30 parks ]
No. 15 Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia Phillies): Beautiful ballpark, lots of fun when Phillies were winning.
No. 14 Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers): Really grown on me through the years, thoroughly underrated.
No. 13: Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals): Not overly thrilled with design but it instantly infused with Cardinals passion.
No. 12: Progressive Field (Cleveland Indians): Was a Top 10 ballpark in its heyday, and still is pretty fantastic … but small crowds can be depressing.
No. 11: Coors Field (Colorado Rockies): Beautiful and the baseball there is singular.
No. 10 Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City Royals): A wonderful place to watch baseball and has been since it was built in 1973.
No. 9: Target Field (Minnesota Twins): Love the way it fits snugly into the Minnesota downtown.
No. 8: Petco Park (San Diego Padres): Gorgeous ballpark in San Diego – how could it miss?
No. 7: Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles Dodgers): Showing some age, but still spectacular.
No. 6: Safeco Field (Seattle Mariners): If the Mariners start winning, this scene could be like San Francisco.
No. 5 Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles): Just a wonderful little ballpark in a wonderful baseball city.
No. 4 Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox): Inconvenient, crumbling, lousy sightlines and magical.
No. 3 PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates): So fantastic, I’m surprised every single time I go.
No, 2 AT&T Park (San Francisco Giants): Like PNC Park with a bay and a full house every night.
No. 1 Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs): Of course.
[ MORE: FIND OUT WHY WRIGLEY FIELD IS NO. 1]
