Our Top 5 Ballparks

From time to time, you will come across some arbitrary ranking of the 30 MLB ballparks.

Today, Mark Zuckerman who covers the Washington Nationals for Comcast Sportsnet/Washington unveiled his ranking of the ballparks from 1-30. As anyone affiliated with the Nats would do, he listed the Braves (and Turner Field) unnecessarily low. He had his reasons.

For the most part, it would be hard to dispute his Top 5 as they are often the Top 5 that are cited – in one order or another – by most experts.

I would love to unveil my own ranking of all 30 ballparks but I simply haven’t been to all of them. It’s on my list of things to do and I am well past the half-way point. I have been to five of the Top 10 on Zuckerman’s list.

Many of the ones he ranks in the middle of the pack, however, are some I really enjoyed – Cincy, Milwaukee, Cleveland. He says there isn’t anything memorable or distinguishable about them. Fair enough. That’s his call. 

I started reading his blog aloud to the ones and there were immediately strong opinions in the room. So, we decided to do our own ranking. Since we haven’t seen all of the parks in person, we agreed we’d just rank the ones we’ve experienced.  And we decided not to rank stadiums that are no longer in use. We also left Turner Field off our list since we have been there SO many times. 

I did a simple point scale (5 points for first place down to 1 point for fifth). I also asked everyone to list their least favorite ballpark. He puts Oakland at the bottom. We weren’t that critical of it.

Our least favorite – the choice was unanimous – was Comerica Park in Detroit (with all due respect to my friend Will P.). To be fair, we were there on a hot Sunday afternoon. But, it was also July 4th and there was nothing special about the day – no flyover, no songs, no bunting. Blah.

And, whereas Zuckerman thinks the stadium is interesting. I just didn’t get that vibe. 

Now, to the good stuff. Here is our composite Top 5 (and point total):

Our Top 5
1. Fenway (19)
2. AT &T (14)
3. Wrigley (9)
4. Great American Ballpark (7)
5. Oriole Park at Camden Yards (4) (tie)
5. Kauffman (4)

Fenway Park, of course, was amazing. We visited on a cool night and enjoyed singing along with Red Sox nation to the strains of Sweet Caroline. Unfortunately, the Sox lost to K.C. that night.

Our night at A T & T Park was a quintessential Bay Area spring night – chilly. But, we felt the warmth of the wonderful Giants fans as they bested the Diamondbacks.

We went to Wrigley on two consecutive trips to Chicago and, on both occasions, the winds off Lake Michigan were swarming around the corner of Addison and Waveland. Still, we loved it. No one felt the chill!

Our family has been to the Great American Ballpark many times but the one I will never forget was the time Paul Gary met Paul Wilson. I told you about that occasion last summer and what a class act Mr. Wilson is.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is the first of the ‘new era’ ballparks. It is a wonderful place to see a ballgame as we did, as a family, at the end of one of our vacation trips to the D.C. area. Kauffman Stadium, in Kansas City, has a nice neighborhood feel. It was a nice, pleasant evening during our visit to that facility. We all loved it.

So, there you have it…the Gary Top 5. Now it’s your turn…what would be your Top 5 major league ballparks?

And here, for the record, is how each of the four of us ranked our individual Top 5s.

Holly                         

1. Fenway Park
2.  AT &T Park
3. Wrigley Field
4.  Kauffman Stadium
5.  Great American Ballpark
Least Favorite: Detroit 

Lisa

1. Fenway Park
2. Wrigley Field
3. Miller Park 
4. AT &T Park
5. Oriole Park at Camden Yards 
Least Favorite: Detroit   

Paul

1. Fenway Park
2. Great American Ballpark
3. AT & T Park
4. Kauffman Stadium
5. Wrigley Field
Least Favorite: Detroit 

Jeff

1. AT & T Park
2. Fenway Park
3. Oriole Park at Camden Yards 
4. Great American Ballpark
5. Wrigley Field
Least Favorite: Detroit 

JG

Originally posted 7/24/2014