The End of the Tour... For Now
Over the Sundays of 2015 I have chronicled my trips to Major League Baseball Parks over the years. As a result of the 2015 tour, when I write up my 2016 game stats I'll be able to say that I've seen every team in baseball play at least once. Next up is seeing every team in their home stadium at least once. How far do I have to go?
As of this writing, I have been to 27 parks. Four of those have since been demolished, so I have been in 23 active parks. That leaves seven active parks to go. To complicate matters, in 2017 SunTrust Park is slated to replace Turner Field in Atlanta so I really have eight parks left. My expanded plan to address these parks is as follows:
2016:
- Take a week to ten days and hit up Minute Maid Park in Houston and Globe Life Park in Arlington. I'll start planning this as soon as the 2016 schedule comes out.
- Take a long weekend and go to Fenway Park in Boston.
2017:
- Take a long weekend, visit my sister, and go to the newly opened SunTrust Park in Atlanta.
- Take two weeks and hit the rest of California, starting down in Los Angeles with Angel Stadium of Anaheim and Dodger Stadium, then driving all the way north to AT&T Park in San Francisco. Finish it all off with a trip to the Oakland Coliseum, home of my favorite team, the Oakland A's. Alternately, split this trip into Northern California and Southern California and spread it out over two years.
I will of course add summaries of these parks when I see them. But what happens once I've seen them all? I'm not going to go out of my way to visit minor league parks. Most of the Major League parks were built in the last 30 years, and the older ones largely are seen as classics, but it's certainly well within the realm of possibility that new stadiums will be built for the teams in Oakland, Tampa Bay and Toronto sooner rather than later. And hey, Turner Field is barely 20 years old and they are replacing it. So it seems likely that new parks will rise and one of my favorite excuses to travel will return again.
In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed this little jaunt down memory lane. Or lack of memory lane, as the case may be. My list is highly subjective, but for those of you who might be interested in doing a ballpark tour of your own, I'd split it up roughly like this:
1-9: A must-see park. Worth traveling to that city just to see the park.
10-19: A perfectly acceptable park. If you love baseball and are in the city, by all means check it out.
20-27: A subpar park. If you're a completist or your favorite team is playing there in the playoffs, go ahead, but you were warned.
Now, I just have to figure out what to write about next for my Sunday series in 2016...
This article was pre-recorded; I am on vacation.
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 Petco ParkSan Diego PadresApril 27, 20151
9 Yankee Stadium (original)New York YankeesJuly 28, 20061
10 Chase FieldArizona DiamondbacksApril 25, 20151
11 Safeco FieldSeattle MarinersAugust 25, 20141
12 Coors FieldColorado RockiesApril 20, 20151
13 Comerica ParkDetroit TigersJuly 31, 20041
14 Target FieldMinnesota TwinsJuly 25, 20141
15 Turner FieldAtlanta BravesMay 5, 20071
16 Busch Stadium IIISt. Louis CardinalsAugust 8, 20131
17 Nationals ParkWashington NationalsJune 21, 20121
18 Citizens Bank ParkPhiladelphia PhilliesJune 23, 20121
19 Citi FieldNew York MetsJune 24, 20121
20 Rogers CentreToronto Blue JaysMay 21, 20051
21 Cinergy FieldCincinnati RedsAugust 8, 19984
22 Yankee Stadium (sequel)New York YankeesJune 25, 20121
23 The MetrodomeMinnesota TwinsJune 22, 19923
24 Shea StadiumNew York MetsJuly 24, 20061
25 Great American Ball ParkCincinnati RedsMay 9, 20041
26 U.S. Cellular FieldChicago White SoxApril 25, 20041
27 Tropicana FieldTampa Bay RaysMay 21, 20141
Background: Prologue Memory Interlude
As of this writing, I have been to 27 parks. Four of those have since been demolished, so I have been in 23 active parks. That leaves seven active parks to go. To complicate matters, in 2017 SunTrust Park is slated to replace Turner Field in Atlanta so I really have eight parks left. My expanded plan to address these parks is as follows:
2016:
- Take a week to ten days and hit up Minute Maid Park in Houston and Globe Life Park in Arlington. I'll start planning this as soon as the 2016 schedule comes out.
- Take a long weekend and go to Fenway Park in Boston.
2017:
- Take a long weekend, visit my sister, and go to the newly opened SunTrust Park in Atlanta.
- Take two weeks and hit the rest of California, starting down in Los Angeles with Angel Stadium of Anaheim and Dodger Stadium, then driving all the way north to AT&T Park in San Francisco. Finish it all off with a trip to the Oakland Coliseum, home of my favorite team, the Oakland A's. Alternately, split this trip into Northern California and Southern California and spread it out over two years.
I will of course add summaries of these parks when I see them. But what happens once I've seen them all? I'm not going to go out of my way to visit minor league parks. Most of the Major League parks were built in the last 30 years, and the older ones largely are seen as classics, but it's certainly well within the realm of possibility that new stadiums will be built for the teams in Oakland, Tampa Bay and Toronto sooner rather than later. And hey, Turner Field is barely 20 years old and they are replacing it. So it seems likely that new parks will rise and one of my favorite excuses to travel will return again.
In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed this little jaunt down memory lane. Or lack of memory lane, as the case may be. My list is highly subjective, but for those of you who might be interested in doing a ballpark tour of your own, I'd split it up roughly like this:
1-9: A must-see park. Worth traveling to that city just to see the park.
10-19: A perfectly acceptable park. If you love baseball and are in the city, by all means check it out.
20-27: A subpar park. If you're a completist or your favorite team is playing there in the playoffs, go ahead, but you were warned.
Now, I just have to figure out what to write about next for my Sunday series in 2016...
This article was pre-recorded; I am on vacation.
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 Petco ParkSan Diego PadresApril 27, 20151
9 Yankee Stadium (original)New York YankeesJuly 28, 20061
10 Chase FieldArizona DiamondbacksApril 25, 20151
11 Safeco FieldSeattle MarinersAugust 25, 20141
12 Coors FieldColorado RockiesApril 20, 20151
13 Comerica ParkDetroit TigersJuly 31, 20041
14 Target FieldMinnesota TwinsJuly 25, 20141
15 Turner FieldAtlanta BravesMay 5, 20071
16 Busch Stadium IIISt. Louis CardinalsAugust 8, 20131
17 Nationals ParkWashington NationalsJune 21, 20121
18 Citizens Bank ParkPhiladelphia PhilliesJune 23, 20121
19 Citi FieldNew York MetsJune 24, 20121
20 Rogers CentreToronto Blue JaysMay 21, 20051
21 Cinergy FieldCincinnati RedsAugust 8, 19984
22 Yankee Stadium (sequel)New York YankeesJune 25, 20121
23 The MetrodomeMinnesota TwinsJune 22, 19923
24 Shea StadiumNew York MetsJuly 24, 20061
25 Great American Ball ParkCincinnati RedsMay 9, 20041
26 U.S. Cellular FieldChicago White SoxApril 25, 20041
27 Tropicana FieldTampa Bay RaysMay 21, 20141
Background: Prologue Memory Interlude