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The best of the pre-'90s parks
Here we examine the Major League parks that opened prior to 1990. Can you believe that we're down to having only eight big-league parks that are over two decades old?
If you've looked at The Wrigley Collection pages, then you know that I think Wrigley Field is the best ever, and belongs in a category all by itself. However, for the sake of consistency, I'm including it in this list. Note that Busch Stadium in St. Louis was removed from this list in 2006 when its new cousin (with the same name) opened next door. RFK Stadium was deleted in 2008 when Nationals Park made its debut. Of course, (old) Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium were removed when (new) Yankee Stadium and Citi Field opened in 2009. And mercifully, the bottom dweller on this list for years, the Metrodome, was removed in 2010 because Target Field is now where the Twins play.
1. Wrigley Field
2004 and 2005 were not great years for this grand old place, as falling chunks of concrete, plumbing problems and legal wrangling kept Wrigley in the news for all of the wrong reasons. However, following some renovations and expansions, the place is looking as good as ever. If you want to read a lot more about Wrigley, visit our special section devoted to Friendly Confines called The Wrigley Collection.
2. Kauffman Stadium
It took me years to finally visit the pride and joy of KC, and when I finally did in '99, it was love at first sight. The love affair has continued year after year as I keep returning to one of my very favorite parks. What a gem! Talk about a place that was ahead of its time! When this baseball-only facility opened in 1973 (in an era when cities were all rushing to construct multi-purpose doughnuts), it was easily two decades ahead of the game. And when natural grass replaced the artificial stuff in '95, the coronation of the Royals' park was complete. Plus, since nowhere are the fans and ushers friendlier, I devoted a page to the subject. When almost $250 million was poured into renovations prior to the 2009 season (including an incredible new team Hall Of Fame), the already-great ballpark was transformed into an entertainment mecca. And as I've said repeatedly in interviews and on Pat Sajak's American League Ballpark Tour show, the fountains in the outfield represent the single best feature of any sports venue anywhere.
3. Dodger Stadium
After seeing it on TV for decades, I finally visited it in '97. I was only scheduled to go to one game there, but I was so enthralled with the place that I changed my schedule to come back the next day. The word that always comes to my mind about Dodger Stadium is "palace." It really is a baseball palace . . . the way the structure is "built into" the hillside of Chavez Ravine . . . the palm trees . . . the attractive "pavilion" bleacher sections . . . the way it's so beautifully maintained . . . the view of the hills. No wonder the franchise is worth so much money -- the purchase price includes this stadium, too!!
4. Fenway Park
Now that Tiger Stadium is no longer the home of Detroit's team, Fenway is by itself as the oldest Major League ballpark. Built in 1912, the grand ol' park sits along Yawkey Way -- which, by the way, is closed to vehicular traffic prior to games so food and souvenir vendors can set up stands to hawk their wares. Any lover of classic ballparks wants this treasure to remain on the baseball landscape indefinitely, and in March of 2005, the ownership of the Red Sox announced that this will indeed be the case. This means that there are no plans on the drawing board for a new stadium.
5. Rogers Centre
It's almost not fair to include this park in the "pre-'90s" list, since it opened mid-way through the 1989 season . . . but this place is impressive. If bigger is better, then this is the best, as whether you're standing inside or outside of it, its sheer size is overwhelming. My favorite stat about this stadium is that you could stack two Metrodomes on top of each other, and they still would fit inside Rogers Centre. Anyway, some really nice improvements were made to Toronto's stadium prior to the 2005 season, including a brilliant new video screen and all-new artificial turf.
6. Angel Stadium of Anaheim
When the Disney folks took control of the Angels and Anaheim Stadium, a very welcomed renovation of the facility occurred. With no football tenant left to appease, the place was turned into a Disney-esque baseball-only park, with rocks and fountains beyond the outfield walls. They didn't have a lot to work with, but they made the most of it. The Disney ownership is now gone, but their legacy (the great renovations to this facility) remain.
7. The Coliseum
As multi-use stadiums go, this one is by no means the worst. It's a drawback that the seats behind 1B and 3B are pretty far from the playing field, but the overall facility is pretty nice. The monstrous football stands they built beyond the outfield wall absolutely do not fit with the rest of the stadium, though. This is also a facility that has gone through several name changes (Oakland Alameda County Coliseum to Network Associates Coliseum to McAfee Coliseum to simply The Coliseum).
8. Sun Life Stadium
Even though baseball didn't come to the stadium until 1993 when the expansion Marlins moved in, I'm not including this in the "built since 1990" section because it wasn't. This place opened for football in 1987, and football is the only sport that should be played in it. If you've seen a baseball game here, I'm sure you'll agree that configuring it for baseball was strictly an afterthought. This is the facility that was known as Pro Player Stadium when the Marlins won their two World Series in 1997 and 2003, although it's now on its fourth name since then. The team expects to move into a new retractable-roof ballpark in Miami in 2012. Thank goodness!
No doubt, you have your own thoughts on the rankings above. Your ability to respond to anything I've said is simply a click away.
Visit the Major League Photo Album page for shots of all of these parks.
