De Luca’s probably trying to stir stuff up with his “edgy” picks made in a Chicago paper.

Ranking ballparks for fan experience?!? Dumb. And this is one man’s opinion.

I wonder why “fun” is never taken into consideration over whether the park serves rack of lamb and mint juleps???

I went to the effort to parse this so you don’t reward the Sun-Times with ad views if you don’t want to. : )

Top 30 Stadiums: Chris De Luca ranks the best MLB stadiums to see a big-league game.

1. Fenway Park, Boston. “Green Monster, Yawkey Way, Pesky Pole—it’s tops.”
2. Safeco Field, Seattle. “Best place to see baseball with a roof over your head.” (My living room and 53” HDTV work out quite nicely for me, actually, and yes I have a roof.)
3. Yankee Stadium, New York. “It’s on its last legs, but the adrenaline still surges full blast.” (Wrigley Field: Adrenaline not included.)
4. Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City. “Defied conventional wisdom of cookie-cutter era ballparks.”
5. PNC Park, Pittsburgh. “Indelible image: Roberto Clemente bridge lit up at night.” (So, just to be clear, PNC wins because it has a bridge behind it.)
6. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles. “Fans arrive late and leave early. Too bad for them.”
7. AT&T Park, San Francisco. “The character is manufactured, but McCovey Cove is genius.”
8. Camden Yards, Baltimore. “It altered the course for the new ballparks and remains cool.”
9. Progressive Field, Cleveland. “They might boo Jim Thome, but the park is first-class.” (Who is they, Chris, the ballpark? I didn’t realize this was a list about top fans, not stadiums.)
10. Petco Park, San Diego. “A little of everything: warehouses, bay and downtown.” (Chris likes his baseball the way he likes his industrial districts: with lots and lots of warehouses.)
11. Nationals Park, Washington. “Says no to newfangled. It’s comfy.”
12. Coors Field, Colorado. “Main entrance screams ‘ballgame’.”
13. Comerica Park, Detroit. “Outfield view actually makes Detroit look nice.”
14. U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago. “Recent improvements make big difference.”
15. Angel Stadium, “Los Angeles”. “Major upgrade over Big A, but it feels fake.”
16. Wrigley Field, Chicago. “Breathtaking at first, then hold your breath.” (Again, I don’t really know what this means, besides that Chris tries really hard to be clever.)
17. Minute Maid Park, Houston. “NL’s best retractable dome. Love the train.”
18. Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati. “Nice and new but isolated from downtown.”
19. Busch Stadium, St. Louis. “Only a slight upgrade, but the food is better.”
20. Chase Field, Arizona. “No better place to be on a hot Phoenix day.” (I assume he’s talking about the right field pool.)
21. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia. “Anything seems better than the rat-infested Vet.”
22. Turner Field, Atlanta. “Giant photo of Hank Aaron’s home-run ball greets fans.”
23. Rangers Ballpark, Arlington. “It’s too big, too ugly and too much like Tom Hicks.” (Tom Hicks is a big, ugly stadium.)
24. Rogers Centre, Toronto. “Sometimes, roof actually works. The fake grass stinks.”
25. Miller Park, Milwaukee. “Worst of the new retractable domes; just too dark.”
26. Dolphin Stadium, Miami. “Love those banners for Griese, Marino, and Csonka.”
27. Shea Stadium, New York. “Sound system stinks, but it’s loud. Mr. Met deserves better.”
28. McAfee Coliseum, Oakland. “Al Davis must have forgotten the A’s play here, too.”
29. Metrodome, Minnesota. “Stained roof, baggies for outfield walls and it smells bad.”
30. Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay. “Keep reminding yourself: This is a baseball park. Really, it is.”

Upon further review, I just think this article is more along the lines of, “Crap, deadline is coming up in about 5 hours and I’ve got nothin. Hmm….let’s throw together a list of stadiums.”

Because WE are the ones going there. The cubs fans love it and that makes all us happy and the organization. Who cares about the the critics?

Then I thought “who the hell is Chris De Luca anyway?” Like people have said, as long as we think its the best that’s all that matters. But to add to that, he is probably the only sports writer that doesn’t like Wrigley, every major publication always rates Wrigley and Fenway in the top 2 as the best in baseball.

Not you… DeLuca. His explanations are worthless. So if those are worthless, so is the list.

Wanna see a real ranking? Here’s one. It’s a little dated and I know there are new parks popping up like zits all over the country but you’ll get the point.

There’s credible statements backing up the claims.

http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?page=ballparks/wrigley

but miller park is too far down and wrigley is too far down. Also, I think filling up the stands goes a long with fan experience. There’s something to say about a stadium that has 40000 in it compared to a stadium with 20,000 and then in regards to KC and Pitt, lucky to have that much).

Number 4? Not. So. Much.

If he’s willing to put the rat-infested Yankees stadium high, why would Wrigley be penalized for not being ‘modern’?

defend the Metrodome too much, as it is truely a dump, but I’ve been there a number of times, been in the bowels, and on the field (been in the press-box and on field for Twins and Vikings games as I work in radio in Minnesota), and it doesn’t smell any more than any other park/stadium I’ve been in. Now, that doesn’t make it any less of a dump…

And I agree that Kauffman is a nice ballpark. Not #4 nice, but I’m sure with the improvements (new scoreboard, improved concourses) that are going in, it will be a real jem.

Moose

... some of you may not have seen this ESPN assistant editor’s report on her trip to Wrigley in 2002.

Yes, that’s me she wrote about.

his opinion. There is nothing like a ballgame at Wrigley period. Still need to make my way to Fenway and wish I could make time to see Yankee Stadium.

I wish people wouldn’t automatically bash writers because they don’t agree with their opinions. Disagree with his opinion but there’s no reason to question his motives.

What I really disagree with is his overall double standard… Wrigley seems to be down the list because of the lack of modern amenities. But then Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium are all in the top six. Perhaps someone can shed some light as I’ve only been to Dodger Stadium of the three, but its my understanding that the other two lack those modern amenities.

Once you’re in your seat at Wrigley, its a great place to see a game, as long as a pole isn’t in your way. But there is no denying that there are a lot of elements that really make the Wrigley experience challenging. The main concourse is a dump compared to the open, airy concourses of new ballparks. The bathrooms are too few and overly crowded. The traffic patterns at Wrigley following a game borders on dangerous. This is why Wrigley needs a complete overhaul, as many of us have been calling for. So I think there is a lot of validity to putting Wrigley far down the list but if the new owner of Wrigley decides to do the necessary overhaul, this hopefully will become a moot point.

Not sure why he feels that Ranger’s ballpark is “big and ugly”. Having been there, its a gorgeous building amidst some rolling green hills next to a nice pond. Its in the middle of nowhere, but it is a very nice park.

DmL

especially since it’s more “intimate”.

and finally going to Fenway, I will put Fenway second behind Wrigley, but it’s close.

I had an absolute blast at Fenway. The atmosphere was incredible, the fans were polite and knowledgeable and the view from our seats was great. (I’m still wishing I had skipped the Fenway Frank though)

my full list:

1) Wrigley
2) Fenway
3) Miller
4) Busch (old)
5) Comiskey (new)
6) Metrodome

NA : Comiskey (old) , I’ve been there but I don’t have a strong memory of it

Yep….from his rankings, he really seems to like the new, outdoor stadiums. I’ve been to a bunch of games in Arizona and that stadium is awesome, even with the roof closed, so it should be much higher than it is.

Yes, we all know Wrigley is not the best when it comes to amenities, but to make it 16th is a big ridiculous.

Is apparently short for . A REALLY BIG JUMBOTRON. B. Really expensive designer
food. C. Lots of corporate seating you can’t afford. D. Short lines in the restrooms.

I just spent the weekend at the new Nats Park. It is perfectly nice but nothing special.
I really got bored at reading totally silly stuff about players ( do I have to know Zimmerman’s hobbies ?). I skipped all the pricey food ( they let you bring stuff in no problem but a bit of a walk to find anything) but did have a reasonably priced Blood
Mary which I appreciated.

Seriously we all know that “modern amenities ” is what teams do to rake in the big bucks very little of it should matter to a baseball fan or even someone going to their
first game. The bathrooms at Wrigley are fine and for the record the lines are shorter than the food lines this weekend.
Do you go to see a game or to take a quick piss ?