Ticket To the Game » Yankee Stadium

2009 Top 5 MLB Ballparks

David B — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:00:52 +0000

Everyone loves a good list, right? So here’s ours. America’s top 5 ballparks for 2009. These reviews come from our personal experiences, as well as the research we continue to pour into our first book (more on that coming soon). I’ve tried to leave the

#5 -Citizen’s Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA: A great mix of a cozy downtown park, with some of the consistently best food in the majors. As the Phillies continue to succeed on the field, I get the feeling that this park will age very gracefully. Good sightlines through, great, retro-styling, particularly along the outfield walls. The Ashburn Alley area along the centerfield concourses are like a baseball carnival during batting practice, without feeling overly kid-friendly in a way that would turn off the baseball purists.

#4 – Nationals Park, Washington, DC: I recognize this may be the most controversial of the top 5, as there have been few signature moments at Nationals Park that would have brought it into the national spotlight. I took an in-depth tour of the stadium last winter, and cam away so thoroughly impressed, that I had to include the park here. Getting a chance to sample the park from so many vantage points, I was consistently impressed with how there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. The staff we met were incredibly helpful and friendly. But, one of the things that really set Nationals Park apart, was this is the first new park that isn’t “me-too retro cool”. this is a modern park in an historical setting, and that’s a nice change of pace. As the ownership group digs its way out from under the mess MLB made of the on-field product during the Expos transition years, the crowds will come, and the park will have the energy it deserves filtering through the stands.

#3 – Wrigley Field – Chicago, IL: Man, it’s tough to put Wrigley as low as 3rd, because it is a truly awesome place to see a game. As much as I have ranked two aprks ahead of it, Wrigley is still a “bucket list” experience that doesn’t disappoint. Go sit in the bleachers for an afternoon game, drink an Old Style or three, and have a dog. Once you’ve done that, you have the baseline of the American Baseball Experience upon which you can make all further comparisons.

#2 – Petco Park, San Diego, CA: You’re in San Diego, so you’ve already got a leg up on the ballpark experience. It’s not too hot, or too cold. You’ve got a modern ballpark, but there’s a building that acts as the left field foul pole. You’ve got great food, a great downtown atmosphere.. the gaslamp district for pre and post game nightlife. It’s really a tremendous setting for a game, and the city-park feel of the concourses, including the tee-ball field and grassy berms for picnics just add to the laid back SoCal experience.

#1 – PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA. This is still America’s best place to watch a ballgame. If the team had been any good in the last 15 years, I don’t even think there’d be an argument. most of the country really didn’t experience PNC until it hosted the All-Star game, but the placement and layout really defined the aesthetic most nouveau downtown ballparks are hoping to achieve. The Clemente Bridge just frames the city perfectly in the outfield, and the in-game experience is quintessential Pittsburgh.

Honorable mentions: I know I’m going to get roasted for leaving off Fenway Park. The first year reviews of Citi Field and new Yankee Stadium were mixed, but I’m sure that history will be kind to these parks as they mature. I’m hopeful that planned renovations to Camden Yards will bring it back up the list.

World Series Ballpark Preview

David B — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:58:56 +0000

OK.. here we go… Seven games that decide seven months and over 2,500 previous contests to determine baseball’s champion. So, what do you need to know about these ballparks in order to get the most out of the Series.

Homers. Lots and Lots of Homers: these are Earl Weaver stadiums, the perfect place to get a couple guys on base and wait for the 3 run homer. The Yankees hit 136 of the 237 homers (57%) hit in new Yankee Stadium in 2009, while the Phils hit 108 of the 207 (52%) at Citizens Bank Park. As much of a hitter’s parks as CBP is, the Phillies hit even more on the road (116)
Baserunners: The Yanks have a home OBP of .368 and an OPS of .858. They’ve held their opponents to 40 less points of OBP, and 130 less in OPS. The phillies have a home edge as well, but it’s nowhere near as pronounced, nor their numbers quite as gaudy. These two teams combined for 1,252 walks this year, meaning nearly 8 per game in total… and that leads us to…
Long games: The average Yankees / Angels game in the LCS was just shy of 4 hours, with no game being completed in under 3 hours. The Yankees stadium policies allow you to bring your own water in a factory sealed bottle only. I think you can pack a snack, and with the price of World Series tickets these days, you might need to. Phillies games were about a half an hour shorter on average, with 2 games just barely eclipsing the 3 hour mark.

Playoff baseball isn’t really about the stadium, the way a regular season game can be… it’s really about the game on the field, and the energy in the stands. I’ll be interested to see how Yankee Stadium III holds up as a World Series venue. My last playoff visit to New York was for Game 7 against the Red Sox in 2004, and that was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. I’m hoping that the new park can shake some of its sterility tonight with some playoff magic of its own.

If any of you are going, please leave a comment, and let us know how your World Series experience stacked up against previous visits.

Save Yankee Stadium Gate 2

David B — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:44:18 +0000

Initial Heritage Park Plan

When the new Yankee Stadium was built, there were plans in place about how the grounds of Old Yankee Stadium were to be utilized to create an area known as Heritage Park. this would include retaining the original playing surface, as well as adding additional softball fields, a soccer/football field and some tennis courts to the surrounding area.

Unfortunately, there has been some neighborhood objection to this plan, and the new “current plan” calls for a bastardization of the original playing surface that would leave no recognizable artifact of the original Yankee Stadium.

Along comes the “Save Gate 2” plan. By saving one of the most endearing images of Yankee Stadium’s artifice, this group hopes to preserve Gate 2, and have it act as an entrance to Heritage Park that will save the sense of history.

Ticket To The Game endorses the “Save Gate 2″ plan, as it meets community demands and preserves a bit of stadium history going back more than 80 years. For Brooklyn Dodger fans who know there is literally nothing left of where Ebbets Field used to be, they should be sympathetic to this idea, even if it is for the Yankees.

Amanda from “Baseball Stadium Reviews” chimes in with her ballpark tales

Amanda — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:39:23 +0000

Hello, ballpark fans! This is Amanda Lippert of www.baseballstadiumreviews.com writing a guest blog entry. Recently, Ticket to the Game posted an entry about women who make stadium road trips, so I was asked to describe my experiences with stadium road trips. Being a Yankee fan, my first baseball game was back in 1986 at Yankee Stadium. It wasn’t until 2002 that I really got interested in visiting ballparks other than Yankee Stadium. Now, in 2009, I have visited 20 Major League Stadiums and 91 Minor League Stadiums.

Generally, when taking a stadium road trip, my rule of thumb is to attend a game every night. The day is usually dedicated to traveling to the next city for a game. Prior to last year, I did some of my road trips alone. Then last year, I met someone online through a personal ad and began dating him. After we had exchanged a few e-mails, he told me he also had an interest in baseball stadiums and also maintained a stadium website (www.ballparkreviews.com) Talk about a coincidence! After that, my stadium road trips were taken with him. This past February, we got engaged in Cooperstown and we will now be continuing our stadium journeys together, but maintaining separate websites, of course! We even occasionally take separate stadium road trips since he is a little bit further along (actually, A LOT further long) than I am as far as the number of parks visited.

Last Summer, we took a 7 day trip out to Southern California and went to 7 stadiums. One of my favorite parks out in southern California is Sam Lynn Ballpark in Bakersfield. Sam Lynn Ballpark is the only park that faces the setting sun, which means evening game times need to be moved until after the sun sets. The game I attended had 808 fans in attendance with a game time temperature of 106 degrees, which made the team name of the “Blaze” seem very appropriate. Sam Lynn Ballpark is one of those types of parks which has dedicated season ticket holders and fans that are really into the game. The fans who go to a “Blaze” game are going for one reason….to watch baseball. They aren’t going for silly on-field contests, promotions, or just to eat concessions. They are going because they have a love for minor league baseball at its purest. I have found that some minor league parks can get way too carried away with their wacky promotions and contests, thus taking the focus away from the game. These types of parks tend to have atmospheres which are not conducive to actually paying attention to the game. While these parks might be nice places for families, they are not the types of parks I would prefer to watch a game, unless I enjoy the constant barrage of sound effects, kids who can’t sit still, and annoying advertisements in between each pitch. I recently wrote an entry on these types of parks in my blog which can be accessed through my site, www.baseballstadiumreviews.com.

Speaking of minor league baseball at its purest, Damaschke Field in Oneonta, NY is another park that I enjoy very much. Just like Sam Lynn Ballpark, Damaschke Field offers a relaxed atmosphere to watch a game. Instead of fans tackling each other for t-shirts being thrown into the crowd, you might actually see fans keeping score. Instead of kids jumping around on inflatables in a play area, kids are actually watching the game. Damaschke Field doesn’t even have a liquor license, that’s how pure the place is! You go there for one thing….baseball.

I tend to enjoy the parks that have some kind of distinguishing characteristic which sets them apart from the other parks I have visited. For example, Greer Stadium, home of the Nashville Sounds, has the best scoreboard ever! The guitar shaped scoreboard is definitely the most unique scoreboard I have seen in my travels. I also find it interesting to see the architecture of stadiums when other structures are assimilated into the design of the stadium. For example, the Western Metal Supply Co. building in Petco Park in San Diego and the B&O Warehouse at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Sometimes it’s not what’s inside the ballpark that makes it a unique, but it’s what is around the park. For example, the bridges in the background of PNC Park in Pittsburgh have to be the best backdrop in Major League baseball. Also, I love the mountains in the background at The Diamond in Lake Elsinore, California and the Gateway Arch beyond the outfield wall in Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

This week, Brian and I will be heading out on a 10 day trip to visit 10 stadiums. The trips will include visits to US Cellular Field, Miller Park, Comerica Park, Wrigley Field, and a few minor league parks. Stay tuned to my website, www.baseballstadiumreviews.com for photos and reviews. I also maintain a Facebook page, so become a fan of my site using Facebook.

Thanks to Ticket to the Game for allowing me to post a guest entry!

Who knew $2,500 / game seats were a bad idea?

kings33 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:37:38 +0000

Yankee Stadium

After the housing crash and the stock market debacle, I guess $2,500 a game tickets weren’t exactly investment grade anymore. New stadiums have always been about luxury boxes and corporate revenues, so this shouldn’t be a big surprise. the Yankees shouldn’t care much either, as the bulk of their real revenue comes from TV, not “butts in seats”.