The new parks of 2000 

Ballpark Changes in the Majors

Here's what BASEBALLPARKS.COM had to say about the three parks that opened in 2000:

It's no secret that we are in the midst of a huge ballpark-construction boom!  Three new Major League stadiums debuted in April 2000, on the heels of the launch of Safeco Field in Seattle in July of '99 (click here for our page devoted to Safeco).  Click here to go to our special page -- complete with photos! -- which commemorates the retiring of the Kingdome, Astrodome, Tiger Stadium and 3Com Park, the four Major League parks which saw their last games during '99.

SAN FRANCISCO   Pacific Bell Park, on the edge of the water in the China Basin part of downtown, saw its tenants (the Giants) play their first game there on April 11 against the team with which they once shared a cross-New York rivalry, the Dodgers.  The Polo Grounds, the home of the Giants when they played in upper Manhattan, didn't allow any homers to land in the water, but Pac Bell has (thanks largely to Barry Bonds)!  And the view of that water -- San Francisco Bay -- has led many to say that the vista beyond the outfield of this park is the best in all of baseball.  HOK did a masterful job in designing this park, and if you want to see more shots and learn a lot more details on the field named BASEBALLPARKS.COM's New Park of the Year, please visit our special Pac Bell page.  

DETROIT   Venerable Tiger Stadium, opened for Major League Baseball in 1912, has been replaced.  A mile away, Comerica Park saw its first regular-season game on April 11.  While its scoreboard is gargantuan, the new stadium itself is the smallest "new" park in the Majors, with a seating capacity of just over 40,000.  One great advantage of this lack of seats is that most of the area beyond the outfield fences is "open," allowing a great view of the downtown skyline.  Other interesting features include huge fountains beyond center field and a home-plate shaped patch of dirt surrounding home (thanks to BASEBALLPARKS.COM visitor Tim Saracki for the photo at left).  A local architectural firm teamed with big-time ballpark-designers HOK to create the plans for this beautiful new throw-back facility, which plays on the circus-tiger theme with an old-style carousel and Ferris wheel behind the stands.  The cost of Comerica Park:  $285 million.

HOUSTON   Just because the Astrodome isn't hosting the Astros any longer, don't make the assumption that the team has given up indoor baseball -- well, at least some of the time.  New Enron Field has a retractable roof, but unlike the stadium in Phoenix, it's not just the overhead panels that slide open and closed.  At Enron, a good portion of the side walls slide with the roof (see the photo below right)!  And when HOK designed this park, a limited seating capacity was the order of the day, as there are less than 41,000 seats.  And can you believe that one point of the outfield wall is 436 feet from home?!?  But don't you believe for a second that this is a pitcher's park, as the short porches down the lines have been collecting a staggering number of home runs since the opener.  Another fascinating aspect of this park is a 24-ton antique locomotive that runs along a track above leftfield (note:  before the corporate-sponsorship name came along, the stadium was going to be called The Ballpark At Union Station).  The first games at Enron were exhibitions between the Astros and the Yankees on March 30 and 31 (the left-hand photo below was taken then).  The initial regular-season contest was against the Phillies on April 7.  For a lot more on Enron, visit our special page devoted to this spiffy new park by clicking here.

A WORD ON NICKNAMES -- The three stadiums which opened in 2000 differ greatly on how easy it is to hit home runs.  This has spawned some nicknames for the new parks which the cities and team owners would prefer not be widely used.  Because of the very short dimensions down the lines in Enron, lots of home runs have been hit.  Did you know that during the 35 years that the Astros played in the Astrodome, the most home runs hit by both teams in a single series was 12?  Well, in early April, the Astros and Cards combined for 18 homers in a three-game series at Enron.  Such prolific dinger production has people thinking that it is easier to hit it out of Enron than even Denver's high-altitude park . . . prompting some to call Houston's new facility "Coors Light."  Two other commonly heard names for Enron -- used often on ESPN -- are "Home Ron Field" and "Ten Run Field."  In Detroit's spacious new Comerica Park, the opposite is true, as precious few balls are leaving the yard.  This prompted Tiger Bobby Higginson to refer to the new park as "Comerica National Park."  And the short dimensions at San Francisco's Pacific Bell Park have struck enough fear in pitchers that some have nicknamed the stadium "Horrific Bell Park."

Go to 2001 MLB Ballpark Changes