10. Rogers Centre
My one visit to Toronto's Major League Park was in 2005, which was the very first season that its name was switched from the SkyDome to Rogers Centre. Rogers Centre isn't an absolutely terrible name. At the very least it nails down that it is in Canada simply because of the misspelling-to-American-eyes of 'Centre', but I'm going to call it the Skydome in much the same way that Cinergy Field is really Riverfront. Plus, Skydome just SOUNDS cooler, and I suspect that if I polled Toronto residents they probably call it the SkyDome in much the same way that Clevelanders call Progressive Field the Jake.
When it first opened in 1989, the SkyDome was the very first fully functional retractable roof stadium in baseball*. There was an attached hotel where the windows of some rooms overlooked the field. Inexplicably, they didn't install one-way glass in those windows which led to periodic news stories like this, including this class statistic:
For stats nuts, the Blue Jays are 2-3 when hotel guests are caught getting naked or getting it on.
On a more practical note, the Blues Jays managed to put a good team on the field when the SkyDome was new. Yeah, they got spanked by the A's in the 1989 ALCS (the best Rickey Henderson moment ever, IMHO), but they recovered from that hiccup and ran up some record attendance numbers as a result, culminating in their back to back World Series wins in 1992 and 1993. Since that 1993 win, the Blue Jays haven't been back to the playoffs since.
In other words, when Mike & I caught a game on Saturday, May 21, 2005, the Jays were in the midst of a then eleven year playoff drought. Worse, from the perspective of the park, is that a whole bunch of new parks had opened since 1989, and virtually all of them are much nicer than the SkyDome. The novelty of a retractable roof had long since passed as it is practically de rigeuer for new parks, if they bother to have a roof at all. Without that novelty, SkyDome doesn't have a lot going for it. It has a great location in Toronto that can easily be accessed by rapid transit, but the amenities inside are closer to the 1970s multi-purpose stadiums than to the 1990s retro stadiums.
We sat on the third base side of the infield and enjoyed the game well enough, but the park itself is nothing special. It's basically Riverfront, but prettier and with less humidity. Nothing really stood out, pro or con, except for the bathrooms. The SkyDome has the largest bathrooms I have ever seen in my life. Unlike most parks, which have smaller bathrooms scattered throughout the park, the main level of the SkyDome had one giant bathroom facility. I'm talking 50+ urinals and even more toilets, all scrupulously clean compared to most ballparks. It was a sight to behold, especially because the game was comparatively poorly attended and when I went in the entire place was empty. However, I think we can agree that if the bathroom is the most memorable thing about the park, the park is lacking.
The game was probably more notable for who we went with. Mike & I crashed with my friend and old co-host Jean. My then roommate Micah was also friends with Jean, and while he wasn't inclined to watch baseball he went along to hang out with her. More importantly for game purposes, at the time Jean was dating a guy who had a seven or eight year old son named Che (yes, after Che Guevara). The guy (whose name I've blanked on) thought it would be fun to take his son to the game with us, but had to work until 10 minutes after the scheduled start time. We agreed to take his son to the game and have him meet us there. I guess Mike & I look trustworthy or something. So we sat with this eight year old who we'd met the day before, and ultimately his dad was quite late and Che started to freak out a bit until his dad turned up in the fourth or fifth inning. That was a little weird.
**Technically Montreal's Olympic Stadium had one if you ignore the slight detail that it didn't actually work very well.
Park Rankings
RankParkTeamFirst Visit# Visits
1 Wrigley FieldChicago CubsApril 23, 20042
2 PNC ParkPittsburgh PiratesSeptember 25, 20042
3 Jacobs FieldCleveland IndiansApril 17, 199963
4 Miller ParkMilwaukee BrewersApril 24, 20041
5 Comerica ParkDetroit TigersJuly 31, 20041
6Rogers CentreToronto Blue JaysMay 21, 20051
7 Cinergy FieldCincinnati RedsAugust 8, 19984
8 The MetrodomeMinnesota TwinsJune 22, 19923
9 Great American Ball ParkCincinnati RedsMay 9, 20041
10 U.S. Cellular FieldChicago White SoxApril 25, 20041
When it first opened in 1989, the SkyDome was the very first fully functional retractable roof stadium in baseball*. There was an attached hotel where the windows of some rooms overlooked the field. Inexplicably, they didn't install one-way glass in those windows which led to periodic news stories like this, including this class statistic:
For stats nuts, the Blue Jays are 2-3 when hotel guests are caught getting naked or getting it on.
On a more practical note, the Blues Jays managed to put a good team on the field when the SkyDome was new. Yeah, they got spanked by the A's in the 1989 ALCS (the best Rickey Henderson moment ever, IMHO), but they recovered from that hiccup and ran up some record attendance numbers as a result, culminating in their back to back World Series wins in 1992 and 1993. Since that 1993 win, the Blue Jays haven't been back to the playoffs since.
In other words, when Mike & I caught a game on Saturday, May 21, 2005, the Jays were in the midst of a then eleven year playoff drought. Worse, from the perspective of the park, is that a whole bunch of new parks had opened since 1989, and virtually all of them are much nicer than the SkyDome. The novelty of a retractable roof had long since passed as it is practically de rigeuer for new parks, if they bother to have a roof at all. Without that novelty, SkyDome doesn't have a lot going for it. It has a great location in Toronto that can easily be accessed by rapid transit, but the amenities inside are closer to the 1970s multi-purpose stadiums than to the 1990s retro stadiums.
We sat on the third base side of the infield and enjoyed the game well enough, but the park itself is nothing special. It's basically Riverfront, but prettier and with less humidity. Nothing really stood out, pro or con, except for the bathrooms. The SkyDome has the largest bathrooms I have ever seen in my life. Unlike most parks, which have smaller bathrooms scattered throughout the park, the main level of the SkyDome had one giant bathroom facility. I'm talking 50+ urinals and even more toilets, all scrupulously clean compared to most ballparks. It was a sight to behold, especially because the game was comparatively poorly attended and when I went in the entire place was empty. However, I think we can agree that if the bathroom is the most memorable thing about the park, the park is lacking.
The game was probably more notable for who we went with. Mike & I crashed with my friend and old co-host Jean. My then roommate Micah was also friends with Jean, and while he wasn't inclined to watch baseball he went along to hang out with her. More importantly for game purposes, at the time Jean was dating a guy who had a seven or eight year old son named Che (yes, after Che Guevara). The guy (whose name I've blanked on) thought it would be fun to take his son to the game with us, but had to work until 10 minutes after the scheduled start time. We agreed to take his son to the game and have him meet us there. I guess Mike & I look trustworthy or something. So we sat with this eight year old who we'd met the day before, and ultimately his dad was quite late and Che started to freak out a bit until his dad turned up in the fourth or fifth inning. That was a little weird.
**Technically Montreal's Olympic Stadium had one if you ignore the slight detail that it didn't actually work very well.
Park Rankings
RankParkTeamFirst Visit# Visits
1 Wrigley FieldChicago CubsApril 23, 20042
2 PNC ParkPittsburgh PiratesSeptember 25, 20042
3 Jacobs FieldCleveland IndiansApril 17, 199963
4 Miller ParkMilwaukee BrewersApril 24, 20041
5 Comerica ParkDetroit TigersJuly 31, 20041
6Rogers CentreToronto Blue JaysMay 21, 20051
7 Cinergy FieldCincinnati RedsAugust 8, 19984
8 The MetrodomeMinnesota TwinsJune 22, 19923
9 Great American Ball ParkCincinnati RedsMay 9, 20041
10 U.S. Cellular FieldChicago White SoxApril 25, 20041