24. Safeco Field
My last park of 2014 happened when I went to the Pacific Northwest for a family wedding. My sister and I drove from Portland to Seattle for a few days before the wedding, and in addition to eating a lot of brunch we caught a Mariners game with a large group of friends. Susan and her girlfriend, jmartenstein and his girlfriend, and Frank joined my sister and I met on August 25 at an Irish pub near Safeco Field. After a few drinks we walked several blocks to catch a meaningless late season game between the Texas Rangers and the Mariners.
The game itself was a 2-0 shutout in favor of the visitors, the kind of game that most casual fans don't care for as the pitchers mowed down batter after batter. The starter for Texas went 8 and allowed only four base runners, and Texas squeaked across two runs, and that was pretty much the whole story.
Like Marlins Park, Safeco has a retractable roof that can be slid over the field when the famous Seattle rains arrive. The roof was open the night we were there, but I did see it hanging out over the railway yards. And that's about all I saw. To be perfectly honest, I missed a lot of the game while talking with my friends. I got up once to acquire some delicious garlic fries, but otherwise my view of the park was solely from our upper deck seats on the first base line. I didn't get to see the baseball bat chandelier because we didn't enter at the home plate rotunda. I missed the giant hand sculpture demonstrating different pitching grips by the garage. I didn't see either The Baseball Museum of the Pacific Northwest or the Mariners Hall of Fame. All of these sound interesting; I guess I should have read the Wikipedia article *before* I went to the game.
Based on what I did see, I'd rate this as one of the better 'all special in a unique way' generic parks. I do wonder why most of the new parks are all painted the same shade of green. I wonder if there was a sale :-0 I'm certainly going to go again if I find myself in Seattle on game night, and I say that as an A's fan who little bit contempt for the Mariners.
On a final note: Safeco opened in 1999. Due to the ballpark boom, this means that it is the sixteenth oldest active park, soon to be fifteenth. Our infrastructure priorities may be a tad misplaced.
Park Rankings
RankParkTeamFirst Visit# Visits
1 Marlins ParkMiami MarlinsMay 23, 20141
2 Wrigley FieldChicago CubsApril 23, 20042
3 PNC ParkPittsburgh PiratesSeptember 25, 20042
4 Jacobs FieldCleveland IndiansApril 17, 199963
5 Miller ParkMilwaukee BrewersApril 24, 20041
6 Camden YardsBaltimore OriolesJune 22, 20121
7 Kauffman StadiumKansas City RoyalsJune 9, 20131
8 Yankee Stadium (original)New York YankeesJuly 28, 20061
9Safeco FieldSeattle MarinersAugust 25, 20141
10 Comerica ParkDetroit TigersJuly 31, 20041
11 Target FieldMinnesota TwinsJuly 25, 20141
12 Turner FieldAtlanta BravesMay 5, 20071
13 Busch Stadium IIISt. Louis CardinalsAugust 8, 20131
14 Nationals ParkWashington NationalsJune 21, 20121
15 Citizens Bank ParkPhiladelphia PhilliesJune 23, 20121
16 Citi FieldNew York MetsJune 24, 20121
17 Rogers CentreToronto Blue JaysMay 21, 20051
18 Cinergy FieldCincinnati RedsAugust 8, 19984
19 Yankee Stadium (sequel)New York YankeesJune 25, 20121
20 The MetrodomeMinnesota TwinsJune 22, 19923
21 Shea StadiumNew York MetsJuly 24, 20061
22 Great American Ball ParkCincinnati RedsMay 9, 20041
23 U.S. Cellular FieldChicago White SoxApril 25, 20041
24 Tropicana FieldTampa Bay RaysMay 21, 20141
Background: Prologue Memory Interlude
The game itself was a 2-0 shutout in favor of the visitors, the kind of game that most casual fans don't care for as the pitchers mowed down batter after batter. The starter for Texas went 8 and allowed only four base runners, and Texas squeaked across two runs, and that was pretty much the whole story.
Like Marlins Park, Safeco has a retractable roof that can be slid over the field when the famous Seattle rains arrive. The roof was open the night we were there, but I did see it hanging out over the railway yards. And that's about all I saw. To be perfectly honest, I missed a lot of the game while talking with my friends. I got up once to acquire some delicious garlic fries, but otherwise my view of the park was solely from our upper deck seats on the first base line. I didn't get to see the baseball bat chandelier because we didn't enter at the home plate rotunda. I missed the giant hand sculpture demonstrating different pitching grips by the garage. I didn't see either The Baseball Museum of the Pacific Northwest or the Mariners Hall of Fame. All of these sound interesting; I guess I should have read the Wikipedia article *before* I went to the game.
Based on what I did see, I'd rate this as one of the better 'all special in a unique way' generic parks. I do wonder why most of the new parks are all painted the same shade of green. I wonder if there was a sale :-0 I'm certainly going to go again if I find myself in Seattle on game night, and I say that as an A's fan who little bit contempt for the Mariners.
On a final note: Safeco opened in 1999. Due to the ballpark boom, this means that it is the sixteenth oldest active park, soon to be fifteenth. Our infrastructure priorities may be a tad misplaced.
Park Rankings
RankParkTeamFirst Visit# Visits
1 Marlins ParkMiami MarlinsMay 23, 20141
2 Wrigley FieldChicago CubsApril 23, 20042
3 PNC ParkPittsburgh PiratesSeptember 25, 20042
4 Jacobs FieldCleveland IndiansApril 17, 199963
5 Miller ParkMilwaukee BrewersApril 24, 20041
6 Camden YardsBaltimore OriolesJune 22, 20121
7 Kauffman StadiumKansas City RoyalsJune 9, 20131
8 Yankee Stadium (original)New York YankeesJuly 28, 20061
9Safeco FieldSeattle MarinersAugust 25, 20141
10 Comerica ParkDetroit TigersJuly 31, 20041
11 Target FieldMinnesota TwinsJuly 25, 20141
12 Turner FieldAtlanta BravesMay 5, 20071
13 Busch Stadium IIISt. Louis CardinalsAugust 8, 20131
14 Nationals ParkWashington NationalsJune 21, 20121
15 Citizens Bank ParkPhiladelphia PhilliesJune 23, 20121
16 Citi FieldNew York MetsJune 24, 20121
17 Rogers CentreToronto Blue JaysMay 21, 20051
18 Cinergy FieldCincinnati RedsAugust 8, 19984
19 Yankee Stadium (sequel)New York YankeesJune 25, 20121
20 The MetrodomeMinnesota TwinsJune 22, 19923
21 Shea StadiumNew York MetsJuly 24, 20061
22 Great American Ball ParkCincinnati RedsMay 9, 20041
23 U.S. Cellular FieldChicago White SoxApril 25, 20041
24 Tropicana FieldTampa Bay RaysMay 21, 20141
Background: Prologue Memory Interlude