BALLPARKS VISITED - 27/30

Still Yet to see...

Yankee Stadium

Citi Field

Camden Yards

Tier Rankings Explained

One thing I've noticed having been to many different ballparks is that it's really hard to rank them... A lot feel pretty similar to one another where any day of the week I could vote one stadium over another. However, there are clearly that are much better than others and a few that are much worse. So instead we have a top, middle, and bottom tier ranking, but I am not ranking these within each tier. The only claim I can make is every elite tier is better than every top tier and so on. My criteria one what makes a ballpark "great" in my eyes may be different than others. Here are some features that I take into consideration: Atmosphere, character, food, and views (of the field and sight lines).

Elite Tier

Wrigley Field

Nothing else needs to be said...

Oracle Park

It's iconic for a reason. An absolute beauty of a ballpark along the bay where there isn't a bad seat. What amazed me as well was that every seat felt like you were on the field. The intimate in-game experience, mixed with nice wide concourses with great food options makes this a must visit place.

PNC Park

I'm a sucker for great views of a skyline, and this is about as good as it gets. The fans are rowdy (but not obnoxious), the food is good, the atmosphere in pleasant... Pittsburgh itself is in my opinion an underrated city too.

Fenway Park

To be honest, this one is this high on here solely for the history. You just feel like you are a part of baseball with Fenway and so the atmosphere immediately makes it elite. There definitely are some areas that need to be updated, small seats, poor views... but honestly who cares. It's Fenway.

Top Tier

Petco Park

One of the best parts of Petco is that since it's "Petco" there are seats where you can take your dogs to the game. The park feels very modern (even with the warehouse building) but the layout makes the stadium feel huge. But they do a good job of keeping non-baseball activities out of the baseball area so diehards and casual fans can all have a great time.

T-Mobile Park

Maybe this is recency bias, but I really enjoyed everything about T-Mobile Field (except their locker/bag policy). They have the best ballpark gimmick though where they drop hotdogs with parachutes from the upper deck.

American Family Field/Wrigley North

For this particular type of stadium and experience, it is unmatched. Although it's not always the "ballpark experience" I'm looking for, I can't say I've ever had a bad time here. The fans can be too much, but it's spacious, great tailgating, awesome food, and really just has it's own character

Truist Park

This could be another bias of mine because my best friend is a Braves fan, but what makes Truist a top tier lives primarily with the Chophouse and The Battery. The area around Truist is built up really well and something all other stadiums seem to be striving toward. Also Blooper is awesome.

Coors Field

The location downtown between a ton of gastro pubs is a huge plus. You can spend a whole day in and around Coors eating and drinking. Throw in the views of the Rocky Mountains and the fact that every game you see will be high-scoring, there isn't a bad time to be had here.

Kauffman Stadium

Another one that is in this level mostly due to it's history and just "feeling" like baseball. The fountains are beautiful and sharing a parking lot with the Chiefs stadium made for easy in/out access. There could be some modernizing done, but overall it's still above most others. To me, Kauffman was a blueprint for what most newer parks strove to become.

Progressive Field

Everything with Progressive is just above-average. There's nothing wrong with it, but nothing overwhelming great either. What puts it in a top tier though is that you can get a hot dog with mac and cheese, bacon, and fruit loops. That's a memory I can never forget.

Middle Tier

Target Field

I will never understand why they built an outdoor stadium in Minneapolis, it was very cold. Just an average downtown stadium, but what makes Target Field unique is that you enter the park on the second level and look down into the field, so you get a great first impression.

Angel Stadium

It gets it's highest scores from being in a great location with great weather to be honest. There's nothing offensive here, but tight seats and a weird Train pump up song don't offer a great vibe. There are worse ways to spend a day though, so overall it's fine.

Rogers Center

If Rogers Center was only an outdoor park, I may have ranked it higher. But when the roof is closed it's an entirely different (and not as nice) of an experience. There are some great sight lines with the CN Tower in the outfield, especially at night.

Globe Life Park in Arlington **

This one is a little bit of a cheat because it's no longer in use. I have not yet been to the new Globe Life so the rankings may change. But to be honest I do not remember anything good or bad about my time here, other than it being surprisingly cold in April. It just screams mid because I don't remember anything.

Minute Maid Park

I'm not a huge fan of indoor stadiums if you can't tell. They are louder, echo more, and the atmosphere feels more like a basketball game than a baseball game. I wasn't able to experience it with the roof open, but based on the look it still seems like it would feel indoor. However, Minute Maid has some unique characteristics that give it a little charm. It is definitely a step above the other indoor parks.

Great American Ballpark

Here and Citizens Bank are generic, cookie-cutter, modern stadiums following the same sort of template. There really isn't any charm, but there's a cool kids area outside the concourse and it's along a river. Could be a lot worse, but nothing amazing here.

Citizens Bank Ballpark

If you mixed my reviews for Globe Life and Great American Ballpark you would get Citizens Bank. A very generic run-of-the-mill stadium that I have no memory of because there was nothing special about it. I did see Ben Zobrist in the Liberty Bell gift shop which was pretty cool.

Chase Field

I am due for a visit back to Chase Field, it may change my opinion having not been there for a while. But it was generally fine. I give it credit for the pool in the outfield. It at least has some distinct feature to differentiate itself from similar parks

Comerica Park

Another pretty generic ballpark, but it an underrated part of an underwhelming city. Although you feel really far from the game in the upper deck, it does offer some pretty cool views of the city. Baseball is better when the Tigers are good, and maybe them being good could bring some improvements to an average stadium.

Bottom Tier

Nationals Park

As I said with Progressive being just an overall above average stadium, Nationals Park is an overall below average one. Not a great location, no character, expensive, and just generally not a great atmosphere. Plus when I went it rained for hours, which meant we had to spend even more time here.

Dodger Stadium

Quite possibly the most controversial opinion I have, but I did not like anything about Dodger Stadium. The hot dogs were stale, it was a super long walk to get in/out of the stadium, you have to sit in a ton of traffic both ways too. The effort to get to the game is too much for a pretty lackluster game experience.

Busch Stadium

What makes Busch Stadium so bad is that it is filled with pompous Cardinals fans who think they know everything and are better than everyone else. They also just make up attendance numbers. I hate this place. But when they carve the arch into the field to mirror the arch outside the outfield wall it's pretty cool.

LoanDepot Park

I will give them credit... they tried. You can tell they attempted to put a city influence here and give it a little culture, but it just doesn't hit the mark. It's too loud for an indoor stadium, you feel sort of trapped inside, it's hot and muggy. Great vision, poor execution.

Avoid at all Cost Tier

Oakland Coliseum**

Another one with an asterisk because it won't be around anymore. But this place was trash and will not be missed. The drive into Oakland is a nightmare, the ballpark is in the middle of nowhere, the seats are too far from the stadium, the hotdogs were gross... just nothing redeeming here.

Tropicana Field

The roof falling off of this place may be the best thing that ever happened to it... I feel slightly bad though ranking it this low because the workers here were some of the friendliest people I've met. But when you have 500 fans and are playing in silence in what feels like a stuffy gymnasium, it's just not a great time overall.

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