New Ballparks

[muwarrior69]

Growing up in New Jersey I am a lifelong Yankee fan. My dad was a Giants fan and my mom a Dodger fan. As a kid I went to many Giant/Dodger games in the old Polo Grounds and at Ebbits field in Brooklyn. When I was seven my dad finally gave in and I went to my first Yankee game at the old stadium in 1954. Now that New York has two new ball parks I was just wondering who now plays in the oldest ball parks. I know the Red Sox play at Fenway which opened in 1912 and the Cubs at Wrigley which opened in 1914, are the two oldest. The next oldest I think is Dodger Stadium (1962?), and then the Kansas City Royals, after that it gets a little fuzzy. Any thoughts? ...and correct me if I am wrong.

By the way the new Yankee Stadium is just out of this world.  I know, I am biased. The new Citi field does remind me of the old Ebbits Field.

[reinko]

I am headed to Citi Field tomorrow afternoon to watch my Brewers take down Johan and the Mets.  I am pretty stoked.

I think old ball parks are great for historical purposes, but most of them are dumps to watch games in.  I have lived in Boston for 6 years now, and loved going to Fenway the first few times, but after awhile I dreaded it.  So many of the seats are facing the wrong direction, concessions and bathrooms were a mess, thousands of obstructed view seats.

True new ball parks lack a lot of historical character, but the game watching expeirence is infinitely better.

Also some teams now are doing the stadium renovation thing too, Kaufmann in KC and the Cell in Chicago look great, haven't been there but read and heard good things about those as well.

[bma725]

You had the first three correct.  Fenway, Wrigley and Chavez Ravine are the three oldest.  But Kaufmann Stadium is not 4th oldest, that distinction goes to Angel Stadium aka Edison Field aka the Big A.  It was built in 1966, but has been remodeled a few times since.  

Technically I suppose you could include Oakland Alameda a well.  It was built in 1966, but the A's didn't move out of KC until 1968.  

Looking at the years they opened is a bit odd.  There's the two from the 1910s...and then nothing again until Chavez Ravine.  There's also only 1 from the 1970s and 2 from the 1980s, both of which are about to be replaced.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_stadiums

[muwarrior69]

Did'nt know that about Edison Field.... thanks.

[Dish]

Baseball is so unique in the sense that the ballpark means so much. My wife (not a huge sports fan, but gets into it) and I are taking our summer vacation just to go to new ballparks that she's never been to. It wasn't even my suggestion, it was her's.

You see it in other sports to a degree (Lambeau, MSG, college venues), but baseball stadiums themselves are such a part of sports culture. We'll go see a Pirates/Giants game at PNC this July, and we could care less who will win, but have a great time being there....Sox fan is me is refraining from any Cubs joke here  

I've been to Fenway once, and never want to go back. Combonation of the good (perfect Saturday in July, Pedro threw a 3 hitter, Manny hit a bomb on to the highway in left) and bad (seats designed for someone 4'5'' and 100 lbs).

Be interested to hear takes on Citi Field and new Yankee Stadium.

[GGGG]

My grandfather grew up about a mile from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.  Saw Ruth and Gehrig play when he was a kid.  Everytime the Yankees were in the World Series he went to at least one game.  (He saw Reggie Jackson's three HR performance in 1978.)  He died about four months before the Yankees started their last run of WS victories.  He would have loved it.

That being said, I think he would definately approve of the new park.  Progress is progress.

[muwarrior69]

My uncle was a driver for all the big shots at Johnson & Johnson (headquartered here in New Brunswick, NJ) and they gave him tickets to the 1956 World Series. I saw Don Larsen's perfect game, what a thrill for a 9 year old. My cousins who lived in Pittsburgh in 1960 got tickets to game 7, I saw Mazeroski's homer at Forbes field and to say the least he broke my heart. I also got to see Wiile Mays' last homer of his carreer (651?) when he played for the Mets. My all time best was at County Stadium in Milwaukee in 1965, my freshman year at MU. The Braves announced they were heading to Atlanta so they were pretty much boycotted by the town at the end of the season. The last three games were against the Dodgers and so some of us went to the game and we got seats right behind the Dodger dugout. My buddy and I got autographed baseballs signed by Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax; and back then they were more than happy to do so. Baseball is the greatest game, after college basketball.