5 Ballparks We Love

[RedBirdBrain]

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5 Ballparks We Love



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5 Ballparks We Love
Busch Stadium (© Tim Parker/Reuters/Corbis)

Busch Stadium
St. Louis
Opened 2006

Descriptions by Jay Berman for MSN City GuidesIf you have trust in the never-ending cycle of the game, it seems appropriate that one of baseball's oldest cities would have its newest ballpark.

The St. Louis Cardinals—who joined the National League in 1882, just six years after it was founded—moved from the old Busch Stadium to the new Busch Stadium in 2006. They opened to a capacity crowd on April 10 and then went on to sell out each of their 81 home games before going on to win the World Series. That's a tough debut to improve upon.

The contrast between the old Busch Stadium and the new one, just across the street in downtown St. Louis, is vivid. The old, oval park was nondescript. The new one is an echo of parks built a century ago, with brick and steel and even the team logo in iron filigree at the end of each row of seats. Cardinals fans know the game, and they would not have settled for less.

Because they have been around so long, the Cardinals seem to have more famous alumni than any other team, with the possible exception of the New York Yankees. Rogers Hornsby, Dizzy Dean, Stan Musial, Ken Boyer, Bob Gibson and Ozzie Smith never got to play in the new park with Albert Pujols, but they would have fit in nicely.

-RBB

[Jeffro]

Lake DeWitt aside, the new park really is pretty awesome.

[El Establishment 1]

I think it kind of sucks.

Looks very Lego-ish.

Nothing special about it.

[sportschick]

Next time I'm up in Pittsburgh, I'm gonna try to hit PNC...Guess I should say, this summer, when I'm up there I'm gonna try to catch a game in PNC...

[Bleacher Creature]

I think it kind of sucks.

Looks very Lego-ish.

Nothing special about it.

It's much much better than the previous park. I love the openness.

[007]

It's much much better than the previous park. I love the openness.

Agreed on that part, but it still sucks...

Problem with the openness: the concourse is either littered with beams or stupid kiosks...

Nice on the outside, erector set-style construction on the inside....

[dooz]

all 5 of these parks are relatively new.. I guess Camden is 15 years old now (seems like just yesterday)

anyways, I think the real gems are some of the older parks.

[kennyboyerfan]

I think it kind of sucks.

Looks very Lego-ish.

Nothing special about it.

I'm not sure I'd say sucks, but I agree with the "nothing special" part. OK, wait: It's cool that you can see the Arch. But it's got that quasi-theme park/shopping mall feel that most modern facilities have. Of the "newer" parks, Camden Yards is still my favorite.

[dooz]

i am from kc so i am biased towards Kauffman.. the renovations of Kauffman are going to be awesome.. I can't wait til it is finished.. a full open concourse that goes around the stadium, the new huge scoreboard (which is already in place), etc.

[Johnny H]

Next time I'm up in Pittsburgh, I'm gonna try to hit PNC...Guess I should say, this summer, when I'm up there I'm gonna try to catch a game in PNC...

I'm guessing you won't have much trouble getting a seat.

[Jeffro]

i am from kc so i am biased towards Kauffman.. the renovations of Kauffman are going to be awesome.. I can't wait til it is finished.. a full open concourse that goes around the stadium, the new huge scoreboard (which is already in place), etc.

I'm looking forward to going to Kauffman for the first time this summer. I've only seen ballgames at Old Busch, New Busch and Wrigley.

[007]

i am from kc so i am biased towards Kauffman.. the renovations of Kauffman are going to be awesome.. I can't wait til it is finished.. a full open concourse that goes around the stadium, the new huge scoreboard (which is already in place), etc.

It's definitely a nice park...enjoy it every time I go there...

RE: open concourses -- did they finally put in more corridors on the lower level? One thing I remember aboot walking around the lower concourse was the lack of air movement...seemed rather stagnant down there when it was 90-degrees and humid

[Bleacher Creature]

i am from kc so i am biased towards Kauffman.. the renovations of Kauffman are going to be awesome.. I can't wait til it is finished.. a full open concourse that goes around the stadium, the new huge scoreboard (which is already in place), etc.

IMO, Kauffman and Dodgers Stadiums represent the gold standard of ballparks. Everything else takes a back seat.

[El Establishment 1]

Just really disappointed in the new park.

If they were going to tear down a perfectly good stadium, they should have blown us away and not cheaped out on anything. No reason that St. Louis does not deserve one of the best parks in the nation.

Pittsburgh gets a better one? KC? Baltimore? Cleveland?

Come on.

Just nothing special about it.....nothing at all. Even the OF concourse, where we were told we could watch the game....sucks ass.

Just sucks.

[kennyboyerfan]

IMO, Kauffman and Dodgers Stadiums represent the gold standard of ballparks. Everything else takes a back seat.

I used to say that Royals Stadium was the only ballpark in America where you could walk out cleaner than you walked in. Very pristine.

But I was there a year ago, and it seemed pretty aged to me. It will be interesting to see how it looks after the remodeling.

I will say this -- I've never been to any public facility where the parking was easier to get in and out of.