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Baseball's 10 worst ballparks. Ever!
espn ^ | 6-20-12 | jim caple

Posted on 06/21/2012 10:31:55 AM PDT by TurboZamboni

The late Dan Quisenberry once said of the Metrodome, "I don't think there are any good uses for nuclear weapons, but then, this may be one."

And he only pitched in 16 games there his entire career.

Torii Hunter, on the other hand, played 10 full seasons in the Metrodome, so maybe he had a better read on it. This is what he told me about his former home just before the Twins moved out: "If they need any kind of help blowing it up, I will definitely be there. I will push the plunger. Boom. Boom. I will not miss the Metrodome at all."

The funny thing is, I kind of do. As much as I love the Twins' new field, I had a lot of great times at the Metrodome. (I asked my future wife out on our first date from the pressbox phone while covering the Twins' 1991 worst-to-first championship season.) Or, as my mother frequently told me, if you grew up in hell, you would miss it when you left. But even as much as I enjoyed the actual games on the field, I have to admit the Metrodome was not a good place for baseball.

But was it so bad it deserves detonation, either via dynamite or nuclear weapon? Was it the worst stadium in baseball history?

(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: ballpark; baseball; metrodome; worst
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To: dfwgator
At least the arches gave old Busch a little more personality than the other “ashtray” stadiums.

I suppose. I'm not an STL native so I never liked it much - though my kids (who were born here) are very nostalgic about it. I grew up around D.C. and used to go to Senators games at RFK - another monstrosity.

61 posted on 06/21/2012 1:27:51 PM PDT by Da Bilge Troll (Defeatism is not a winning strategy!)
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To: Colonel_Flagg
I was there that night. If you look at the replay, you'll see that by the time Hrbek's glove hand is under Gant's leg, Gant is already out. His momentum had already taken him off the bag.

We'll have to agree to have different opinions on that. I watched it on TV, where I saw repeated replays from many different angles.

It was a great Series, with some outstanding pitching performances and some memorable heroics.

My suffering came during earlier World Series. I grew up a Reds fans, with a relative who played ball for the Big Red Machine. Too many Series lost to the Orioles and the A's.

62 posted on 06/21/2012 1:36:22 PM PDT by Scoutmaster (You knew the job was dangerous when you took it)
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To: KC Burke
Sports venue architecture’s biggest shift came from Kansas City

I'm inclined to agree. Royals Stadium was the first of the new-old style baseball venues that are so refreshing, though being below ground level in the upper deck takes some getting used to. I've never been to Camden Yards but it looks fantastic as well and the new Bush Stadium is near perfection as long as it's not too hot. ;-)

63 posted on 06/21/2012 1:38:54 PM PDT by Da Bilge Troll (Defeatism is not a winning strategy!)
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To: Da Bilge Troll

I want to say that in 1972 they contracted for the two stadiums for 57 million. The last renovations spent over that in each stadium. Doing a major football stadium is now north of 350 million and in Dallas I think they spent a billion.


64 posted on 06/21/2012 2:52:41 PM PDT by KC Burke (Plain Conservative opinions and common sense correction for thirteen years.)
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To: dfwgator

It was used for 12 and a half seasons. It was a makeshift thing but without it there would have been no team. There were some memorable games at the old Ex and the final game ended with a walkoff homer in extra innings. It was a nice way to say goodbye.


65 posted on 06/21/2012 3:07:14 PM PDT by xp38
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To: TurboZamboni
I see the toxidome made it (Tropicana field )

The stadium itself isn't that bad considering in the midde of summer you can watch a ballgame in the AC....

It feels like a minor league ballpark...

Of course it is build in the worst hood in St. Pete and there are almost no decent bars or restaurants except one in the area...

66 posted on 06/21/2012 3:26:42 PM PDT by Popman (When you elect a clown: expect a circus...)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets
I both love and hate Fenway Park. I first went there in 1972 as a 9-year-old with my father. I can still remember walking up the ramp and seeing the bright green playing field for the first time. It was like an explosion in my eyes! Then when we got to our seats - a giant pole was right in front of us! So the love/hate relationship was right from the start. I think at the time, 40% of the seats at Fenway were "obstructed view".

During the late 1970s, when I was a little older, I went to 30-40 games a year. Back then, it was cheap. I could go to all the games I wanted to on newspaper route money. I can still remember paying $1.25 to get a bleacher seat and after about the fifth inning, depending on attendance, they would let you buy a "grandstand pass" for an additional 75 cents and you got a standing room ticket that allowed you to roam the park and occupy any empty seat.

I usually got to work myself to the front row by the end of the game as many people left early to get a jump on traffic - especially if the game wasn't close. One time it paid off. The Red Sox were down something like 7-2 in the ninth and they came from behind to win. I saw the whole comeback from right behind the dugout and could practically touch Carl Yastremski as he trotted back to the dugout after making the winning hit.

Back in the 1970s, they sold beer to any kid who had the balls to ask for one. So I was 16 years old and drinking beer in the park! I think it was only 75 cents at the time. It's about $8.50 now.

Good times. But they really need to build a new ballpark. Turn Fenway into a museum or something. Keep the green monster intact and build hotels and restaurants all around the perimeter of the old field and people will still come even though the ballpark is now retired. It will be a gold mine for decades to come.

67 posted on 06/21/2012 3:43:42 PM PDT by SamAdams76
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To: Scoutmaster
It's hallowed ground. :)

But seriously, I'm not even much of a fan of baseball, but there is something so perfect, so elegant and so lovely about the field and structure that I was overcome the first time, and every other time that I have been there. Watching a game there is like nothing else.

68 posted on 06/21/2012 4:10:38 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: KC Burke

That stadium deserves a better team. The team might not be that good, but it looks like a great place to catch a ballgame.....PNC Park is another park that looks great, I love the ballparks that are in the city and not in the burbs....I love the Ballpark in Arlington, but it would be nicer with the Dallas skyline in the background.


69 posted on 06/21/2012 5:31:08 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: TurboZamboni

BFL


70 posted on 06/21/2012 5:50:35 PM PDT by hattend (Firearms and ammunition...the only growing industries under the Obama regime.)
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To: Vigilanteman
"Polo Grounds"

A writer named Bill Jenkinson calculated that Babe Ruth would have hit over 100 homeruns in 1921 had he played in modern-dimensioned ballparks. Pitchers would throw balls outside the strike zone, and Ruth would swing at them. Because frequently those were the only balls he could reach. Many pitchers refused to throw him a hittable ball in the strike zone. He still clocked a number of them hitting quite a few over 450 to left-center and centerfield at the old Grounds. Most were just easy fly balls as the centerfield fence was 490 ft away.

71 posted on 06/21/2012 6:26:03 PM PDT by driftless2
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To: Prov1322
Did your Grandpop tell you the illustrious history of that stadium? After the final breakup of the A's in the early 30's up until the time old Connie sold the team in 1950 (I think), they still kept the old ballpark in good shape, replacing worn seating, shade awnings and the like even with a last place team. The Philadelphia Phillies then became the main tenants and were fortunate enough to have the great Whiz Kids team just as old Connie retired.

I'm not sure exactly when, but it was sometime in the early to mid 1960's that they made a conscious decision to stop maintaining the park and let it go downhill. I'd forgotten they even tried to make it into a community center. Sad. Even Pittsburgh saved a part of old Forbes Field.

72 posted on 06/21/2012 6:33:52 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: driftless2
Nobody bettered the Babe. Nobody.

Anytime these modern people start prattling about the greatness of Aaron or Bonds or whomever might have exceed his record, they not only forget about the years he played in the Polo Grounds with that astronomically deep center field, they also forget that he played the first quarter of his career as a pitcher and a damn fine one at that.

I tell the prattlers to multiply every career offensive statistic by at least 1.25 and name me any other position player who would have made the Hall of Fame as a pitcher.

73 posted on 06/21/2012 6:40:56 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: TurboZamboni

I saw ballgames in both of the Canadian stadia on the list (Exhibition Park, the Big O). As I recall, both of them (not just the Ex) had problems with dive-bombing seagulls.


74 posted on 06/21/2012 7:43:38 PM PDT by RansomOttawa (tm)
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To: TurboZamboni

Hate to say it, but I liked Riverfront. The cheap seats at the top of the second deck still had a decent view of the game. Great American Ballpark may be nicer, but the sight lines aren’t quite as good. Busch stadium felt like a pit and the new Busch was a great improvement.

...and what the Metrodome lacked as a baseball park, it did have an amazing vibe during crucial games. I was at the Twins-Tigers one game playoff a couple years ago and that was an awesome atmosphere.


75 posted on 06/21/2012 7:50:39 PM PDT by MediaMole
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To: GonzoGOP

One thing you have to say for the Cubbies though, is that they inspire more religious fervor than even Billy Graham.

After all, Billy was never able to get thirty thousand people in a stadium to jump up in unison and scream...

J—— C-——!


76 posted on 06/21/2012 8:16:20 PM PDT by Erasmus (Zwischen des Teufels und des tiefen, blauen Meers)
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To: SamAdams76

I remember $1.30 bleacher seats at Yankee Stadium (I grew up in New York) when a paper route paid $9.00/week, without tips. I remember drinking beer in Pete’s Blarney Tavern at night sitting at the bar next to two cops in uniform, when I was 15. At least I was paying for my beer.


77 posted on 06/22/2012 4:36:15 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (The Democratic Party strongly supports full civil rights for necro-Americans!)
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To: Vigilanteman
Oh, yeah! He was a die-hard Phils fan but not an A's fan...never asked him why and didn't care by that time since they were long gone. I was always fascinated that Philly had both AL and NL teams at one time!

Related Note...growing up a Philly sports fan develops a certain mental toughness for the junk that you plow through in real life. If you can be an every-game-following fan of the worst teams in football and baseball growing up, then you can overcome anything! (even Joe Kulharich and King Hill...LOL)

78 posted on 06/22/2012 12:58:20 PM PDT by Prov1322 (Enjoy my wife's incredible artwork at www.watercolorARTwork.com! (This space no longer for rent))
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To: C19fan

Tropicana Field in St. Pete Florida isn’t so great,either.

The parking sucks and it’s in a bad area.


79 posted on 06/30/2012 8:46:31 PM PDT by POWERSBOOTHEFAN (It's hurricane season! Yay!)
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