In my opinion, thank God they don’t play there anymore. But I did notice that the stadium still stands, which I don’t really understand. Not only was it my least favorite old stadium, it is my least favorite ever. I found the stadium to be filthy, run-down, and scary. Due to the lack of parking, we got dropped off, and had to get picked up. Well, it was not a very nice place to be waiting around for a ride at 10:00 at night. We sat in the lower deck of the right field bleachers, and it was dark and gloomy out there (quite a contrast to Wrigley Field). If I remember correctly, the tickets were pretty cheap, and food probably was too, but it was a horrible experience, and one I am glad will not be repeated.

Another stadium that I am not sad to see get torn down, or at least vacated. I saw a night game, and with the combination of the dark night sky, the overhangs on the roof, and the artificial turf, you would swear that you were at a domed stadium. The combination of a higher outfield wall (maybe 15 ft.?) and artificial surface probably helped to make this place a doubles haven, but in my opinion, gave it a very non-baseball like feel. The new football stadium was being built next-door at the time, and it was obvious that the city was trying to clean up the river front area, but I got there like 3 or 4 years too early.

If there is something that I can say that is good about it (other than the fact that it will soon be torn down), it is that it was not as bad as I expected. Everything I had heard or read about it, made me almost dread going there. But I am fair, and had to see it once before it was torn down. But it was still pretty bad. It was a sweltering 95 degrees that day, and due to the shape of the stadium, absolutely no outside breezes come in, making it an uncomfortable visit. Someone recently remarked to me that they should turn it into a piece of art by filling it with Rice Krispies and milk. Personally I would rather just see it gone, but it was an interesting idea. The food was only so-so. We had $1 hot dogs that were huge (tasteless, but huge!). Due to the heat, there was very long lines for ice cream type products even late in the game. I would call the fans "New York-wannabes". They boo the opposing players. They boo certain ones of their own players, even for the slightest mistake (Pat Burrell, etc.). They cheer their favorite players (Thome), even for the most meaningless play (sure it was a good sacrifice by the cleanup hitter, but they are down by 5 runs in the ninth), and they certainly didn't seem to be knowledgable enough to be doing things like that.

One good thing that is going on has to do more with the city than the stadium, but I need to mention it. They are following a trend towards a sports complex, with their football, baseball, and basketball/hockey stadiums all together. They can then share parking lots etc., and here in Philly, it was easily accesible by 2 or 3 major expressways which was very nice. Accessible to locals anyways. I might still be driving in circles were it not for a local resident pointing me in the right direction. I don't know what these complexes do if there is more than one game going on, but I like the way they have it, and I know it will never be like that in Chicago, which is somewhat disappointing.

Not such a nice place. Pros= Cheap, tailgating allowed, my seats were close to field. Cons= Zero personality, cavernously scary. Fans were kind of scary too.

Ahhhh, my college days. This was back in the days of the ugly outfield, and the artificial turf, so I am sure they would get a better ranking now. I saw a Cubs game there in ’88, on a Thursday night late in September, with both teams far out of the hunt. The bleachers were empty, but they were also literally 25 feet away from the outfield fence. And that was if you were lucky enough to sit in the front row. In ’89 I sat in the 5^th row by first base, with a bunch of Cardinal fans, on a Saturday afternoon, and hated the whole time. If I remember, parking was next to impossible, or impossibly expensive. But I think a lot has changed since McGwire got there, so things are probably different now.

Altogether much better than I expected. Totally a place for football, not baseball. Food and (ahem) drink was more expensive than I would have thought (it is Minnesota!). Can't see a pop-up or flyball to save my life (more on that later). But also many good experiences, therefore not the worst stadium I ever went to. Will I be sad to see a new stadium there? Absolutely not. Curious to see how many games get cancelled/postponed due to weather, for certain, but it is not really my problem.

We found parking about two blocks away for $7. Indoors. We joked later that the same spot in Wrigley we be at least $37. We parked here. Armory Interesting atmosphere around the stadium. Food and drink for sale. Twins gear available. Games and stuff to play. Very carnival-like atmosphere. Nice. Jim and I played a game too. We called it "Name that Twin". As the throngs of people were herded into the game, we tried to guess whose jersey each Twin fan was wearing, as we had no idea which Twin wears what number. Hours of fun there. Mostly Mauer and Morneau, but many obscure ones too. Hrbek was a popular throwback. Good seats. Third row just past third base. Note here. These rows and aisles were very long. To go get a beer, Jim had to keep climbing 50 rows or so. And there were people about 25 seats to our right that would have to go out past us, if they wanted to get up during the game.

Funniest moment of the game. The guy behind us caught a foul ball. It hit his shoulder and fell into his hands. Me? I lost it in the ceiling, then found it and smashed my knee on the seat in front of me, as I jumped to catch it. Jim? Curled up in the fetal position to protect his beer after he lost it in the ceiling.

Nice, but very unspectacular stadium. Ratings probably skewed a little as I had a really good time, and good seats, thereby slanting my opinion of it. I can see how someone could hate it. Final thought is that baseball should be played outdoors

All ten times were actually good experiences, but I was altogether disappointed. It is an extravagant monstrosity that is certainly not indicative of the city that houses it. Three of the four times, the roof was closed due to rain or cold, or both. I think those three games had one of the teams score 1 run or less. To help pay for the ballpark, ticket prices went way up. Gretchen and I paid $40 each (for a $50 dollar seat I believe) to sit in the first row behind the dugout. The bleacher seats that used to be so cheap were now like $12-16 and are far from the action. My next time there, I hope to sit in TGIFridays, where $50 gets you a window view of the action, and you can eat and/or drink $35 worth. If I am going to be sitting indoors anyways…. This would be #12 with the roof open, but I am guessing it is open only about 10-15 games a year.

Not a bad stadium per se, and food and stuff was relatively inexpensive for southern cal. Liked that my hotel was across teh street and we could walk there. But several things really aggravated me. The fans could care less about the game. Unless the loudspeakers told them too. Plus they have their beach balls. And they go ridiculously crazy for their "rally monkey". And thundersticks. Biggest pet peeve was the seats. Good seats, like 20 feet away from Vlad Guerrero. Except they faced right field. I had to turn like 45 degrees in my seat to face home plate. Why would somebody do something like that?

Very overrated I think. Neither much to like or much to dislike about it (other than more beach balls). Ditto about the "dodger-dog".

I didn’t go a lot, but it seemed like every time I went, something memorable happened. A Willie Wilson inside the park homer in ’79. Jack McDowell’s MLB debut in ’87. In ’84 I saw the last 9 innings of the 26 inning game vs. the Brewers, and the full regular game, with Seaver getting the win in both games. There was the shower in the outfield, the exploding scoreboard (which I just saw at the downtown Sportmart!!), and baseball’s first huge scoreboard, which a friends dad’s company helped build. The seats weren’t as nice, the concourse certainly wasn’t as nice, but the place certainly had charisma, as was a nice, traditional place to see a game.

Before going there, I would have thought this would have been the nicer of the stadiums on the trip. I knew that they had sold out a lot of their games after they first opened it (455 consecutive), and it seemed to be a well-respected park. Well, we got to tour it, seeing the batting cages, visitors dugout, visitors bullpen, press box, and some of the luxury suites ($6800 gets you and 47 of your closest friends a really nice suite!!). And I got a picture of the kids sitting in the visitors dugout, which I will treasure forever. But after that I was a bit lukewarm on the stadium as a whole.

If you look at all the stadiums built since 1990, this one has to be the least popular, and least charismatic. But I am actually starting to like it better every year. Probably the widest variety of cuisine of any park that I have been to, and the Polish Sausage is very good. What I like is the food, the availability of tickets, and the number of parking spaces available. What I don’t like is the cost of the food, parking and tickets, the way the empty stadium looks like a big blue UFO, and the lack of ambiance that the whole place emits. It easily costs $100-150 for me and the boys to go, and that is unreasonable.

Editor's Note: This has moved up over the years, with improvements to the stadium. Still one of best varieties of food around. Not a blue UFO anymore

I had great expectations going there, and was somewhat disappointed. Disappointed because I thought it would be higher on the list. The parking situation was a little screwed up, as you get to park pretty close, but then have to walk in a roundabout way to get to the stadium. Most of the park's architecture is built on a baseball theme, with "bat" looking structures everywhere, and that was cool. They also have 2 huge "smokestacks" in cf, which is supposed to make you look out towards the river, and think you are on a big riverboat. The smokestacks blow off huge amounts of smoke for a Reds homer, which we did not get to see that day. But all of the stadium seats are red, and you pretty much need sunglasses for that, as it appears to be overkill. The food was pretty good. Not too pricey, and a good variety (and flavor). But the worst part for me, was that I had good seats down by the left field foul pole, and I was blocked by the upper deck for seeing the huge scoreboard. When I finally did get to see it, I realized that it was probably the biggest in the majors, yet they put it where 5,000 fans could not see it at all, which i thought was stupid. Also, the music was way too loud where i was sitting, which got annoying even before the game started. Plus the scoreboard on the opposite side of the field was barely working, so we didn't even know the balls and strikes, much less the score, and out of town scores. All of which became very frustrating. If you look at this picture (not of me), check out the lower deck left field bleachers, and you will know what I mean. click here for picture A pretty nice place, but i would not sit there again. Tip for out of town visitors. Stay in Kentucky. It is right across the river, and the hotels are much cheaper than the Cincy area.

I really liked this place, but that shows you how good the stadiums are getting these days, that this one is ranked #10. Plenty of cheap parking near the stadium. All around the stadium are statues of legendary Cardinals, and brick pavers with unusual or famous Cardinal games. As we walked around the park, most seats seemed to have very good sightlines, and they were well spaced and somewhat comfortable. Food and drink seemed appropriately priced to the city. Saw nothing except Anheuser-Busch products which is a negative. Home fans were leaving in 8th inning of a close game-another negative. Otherwise it was a very nice stadium, and we had a good time.

This place really surprised me. I remember reading that Keith didn't really like it (I was wrong, it was the old stadium there that he didn't like). And I knew that they didn't sell out their playoff games last year, which ticked off a lot of people. What else can you know about a park, until you actually go? While purchasing tickets online, I was also able to purchase a $10 parking pass. Well, this put me in the closest parking lot, which is where the old stadium was. They actually have the old baselines, and outfield wall marks painted on the ground, which I thought was kind of clever. We parked in short centerfield. They also have a plaque out there, shortly over the "left field wall" commemorating #715 for Aaron. Outside the park, are statues of some famous braves, and Cobb, the Georgia Peach. Once you walk in the park, one of the first things Pete said was, "It looks like a mall!" That one part of the stadium certainly does. It has food, games and shopping, and it is all kind of inside, protected from the weather. But the rest of the park breathes baseball. There are like 20 different kinds of hot dogs you can get, in variuos parts of the park. Our tickets were in "Row 23" in the RF corner. Well that turned out to be like the 9th row from the fence, and we were almost directly behind the foul pole, but yet not obstructed. It was a great view, and it is a beautiful stadium. It appears like there are no bad views throughout the stadium, and most seats seem close to the action. It reminds me of the pictures I have seen of the old time stadiums, that are like 3 decks all the way around, but still like on top of the players. And the fans were really into the game, and their team. In the bottom of the 6th, trailing by 3, the preening and tomahawk chopping began. And it worked, as the Bravos scored 4 to take the lead! Then in the 9th, the stadium went crazy to an AC/DC song, as John Smoltz came in. They really love that guy, and he performs for them. It was an awesome spectacle. The only reason this wasn't higher was that it was pretty pricey, and getting out of the stadium was a huge mess. But I am quite happy with the experience, and can't wait to go again.

8. County Stadium (1973(?)- 2000—about 50 times(?)) (plus 2 Packers games)

Probably my two all time favorite games were there, and both vs. the Red Sox. In Sept. of ’87, Roger Clemens threw a 1-hitter, and while he only struck out 6, it was a tremendous performance due to the juiced balls of that season. The other time was in Sept. of ’95 (ish). While waiting for the grill to heat up, we had a virtually empty parking lot to run around throwing the tennis ball back and forth with, which was awesome. Then we saw a game that featured like 8-10 home runs. Between the home runs, and the outfielders throwing the balls to us, I touched, or almost touched like 6 or 7, but caught zero. Then we left the park, and I think it was Keith who dumped the still hot charcoal into a trash can, and started a fire, that is still probably burning today. When we were little, our dad used to take us to Sunday afternoon doubleheaders (what more is there to life?). I saw bleacher tickets rise in the 27 years from $2 all the way up to $6. Bernie Brewer in a big beer mug? Racing sausages? Lite beer and bratwurst with stadium sauce? Tailgating in the parking lot? Those things say it all.

Pretty cool place. Laid back so-cal style. In the "gaslamp district", which is somewhat similar to Wrigleyville, in that the ballpark is surrounded by bars, restaurants, and people basically partying in the street (except not really "surrounded", as it is all north of the stadium). Ballpark has a lot of character, with the warehouses, hotels, berm area beyond the outfield. Good food, and good variety of food (and drink!). Top moment for me was in the bar before the game. Red Sox were in town, I think for first time ever. Sawx fans bought us shots before the game. But in the bar, they played "Sweet Caroline", and as we were walking out, the fans did the "Bah bah bah" part of the song. It was loud, it was awesome.

Wow!! I was surprised myself. After seeing the nightmare that was Tiger Stadium so many years before, I wasn’t really expecting much. My first surprise came weeks before we got there. Our $8 bleacher tickets got us tickets for a free slice of pizza, and a small coke, which was probably worth like $6 right there. Like Comiskey Park, there is a lot of available tickets. The game we saw was 85 and sunny when the game started at 7:05 PM, and there was only like 11,000 fans there. We paid a lot to park, but we literally were 50 feet from the park. They have the biggest scoreboard (Jacobs Field did until this place opened), and the seats are comfortable, green and seem to spread backwards more than upwards, if that makes sense. The concourse featured displays of each decade of Tiger teams, and there were some statues in the outfield. There is also a whole area for kids, including a carousel, but I am finding that a lot of parks have that stuff nowadays. I just found it to be a great place to see a ball game, and is only like 5 hours from Chicago, which is reasonable.

Most people that are reading this, and have been there are going to have one question in mind. Why so low? If you have not been there, you will say that being 4th is not low. Every other review I have read rates it in the top 3, and that is of all 30 current parks. But those reviews mostly give an edge to the newer parks, as they are giving points based on how convenient the bathrooms are, what they look like, variety of foods, etc. That is fine, but I am sure that whomever built Wrigley and Fenway did not have a vision of the fan's' needs 100 years later, so I don't think a point value rating system is quite fair. Like in 1918, how many parking spaces were needed compared to now? Give me a break. But that is just my opinion.

Everything about this park is impressive. You can park downtown relatively cheaply. Then you get to walk across the Roberto Clemente bridge, which is really cool. Walking around the stadium, they have statues of famous Pirates from history, and they really have a lot of history, with like 125 years of baseball! Inside is very fan friendly with many varieties of food and wide concourses. As we went to our seats (first row thanks to Dave Basler!), a septagenarian gentleman accompanied us, and wiped them down for us, not that they even needed it. But it was a nice touch, and the stadium employees seemed to genuinely care whether you were having a good time or not. Even when they had to kick out a fan was in a seat that was not his own, they quickly turned their back as the fan chose another empty seat (which is the way it should be). The food was good and gave generous portions, although I missed the two signature items that they have. Best out of town scoreboard in all of baseball. For the current games, they show you what team is batting, how many outs and whether there are runners on, or not, all in addition to the score and inning. Very impressive!

Overall it was great. It felt like baseball. Knowledgable fans, who got excited along with the team playing well, which is rare. I think if that place would get sold out frequently, with a good team on the field, it would remind me a lot of a newer Wrigley, which is a very good thing.

Let me preface this review with a question. Or a statement. While sitting in the park, I was wondering a few things. First off, how can I get a clear picture of the park from just one visit? Maybe it is an awesome park from the third base box seats, but only a mediocre park from the left field bleachers. Plus, if I have a great time, and catch two home run balls, will that alone distort my views, and reviews? I have to say that while I try to step outside myself when I make these reviews, I cannot be totally certain that I do, so please read these with a grain of salt. The best way to make an informed decision about a particular park is for you to go there yourself. Hopefully with this, I am just leading you in the right direction.

That being said, Oriole park at Camden Yards is a great place to see a ballgame. I paid $10 to park less than half a mile from the stadium, and even though it was 95 and humid outside, the walk was thoroughly enjoyable. That is because most of the way was lined with vendors, and they were actually selling stuff at a discounted rate! We got 3 hats (1 fitted), and a visor, all for different teams, for under $25. And then, to beat the heat, we were able to get 3 big, cold bottles of Gatorade for $2. Great bargains is something I am always looking for, and here i was not disappointed.

Then came Mardi Gras. Well, that is how I refer to the atmosphere on Eutaw Street. That is the street located between the right field bleachers and the B & O Warehouse (the longest structure on the East coast). It is just like one big party with food and drink stands up and down the street (closed to traffic), and it was packed with people wall-to-wall. Here is where you find Boog's Barbecue, which is personally manned by Mr. Powell himself, and he meets and greets you, and gives autographs if you so desire. Unfortunately, I thought this was the one part of the park that did not live up to expectations, as it was overpriced, and not great.

But once you are inside the park, it is all baseball. It is a beautiful stadium. You are close to the action. They have a huge informative scoreboard. Everything about that place breathes baseball. Very knowledgable fans that were surprisingly into the game, in spite of their team being a mere 20 games out of first. The game was sold out as it was a Friday night, and the dreaded Yankees were in town, and they seem to have brought many of their own fans. But every time the Yankee fans got loud, the hometown Oriole fans got even louder, and that made for a very cool time. And I gave the park extra bonus points, as I heard about 5 different Rush songs while there!

After the game there was a spectacular fireworks show, which, in spite of the lost game, about 25,000 fans stayed to see, which to me shows support for the community, as well as for the team. And that made me think that Camden Yards was THE place to be on a Friday night in Baltimore, which as a baseball enthusiast, I thought was very cool.

Lots to love. City, atmosphere, surroundings, park, food (garlic fries all they are hyped up to be), beer, and the company, made this an unbelievable experience.

It was mid-September when I was there. The Yankees were in town. The Sox had beaten them the night before, on a Clemens gem. It was a hot Saturday afternoon, and this was the NBC game of the week. We paid $40 for $6 bleacher tickets, and sat in like the 25^th row behind the bullpen in right field. But I didn’t care. The sounds of the balls banging off the Green Monster during batting practice, made the whole thing worthwhile. The Sox had just brought up highly touted rookie Mo Vaughn, and not so highly touted Phil Plantier, for their stretch run. Plantier hit two homers that day, and Mo struck out 4 times. Sox won, and cut the Blue Jays lead to like 2 or 3 games, with 15 or so to go. They would lose like all of those remaining games, but I was there with pennant fever. The notoriously intelligent fans even quietly clapped on a great Yankee double play, which I respected. Parking may be an issue there, I assume, but I think most fans take the train which is called the "Q" or the "T" or something. And the ballpark is so unassuming from the outside, you could almost walk right past it, without noticing it, which I find to be really cool, if not surreal. As much as I hate the Yankees, I can’t wait to someday see Yankee stadium to compare it with the other older ones. Nostalgia, I believe, adds a lot to a stadium, for the true baseball fan.

I realize this is a surprise to nobody, but I just love this place. There are things I don’t like about it. Parking can be difficult. Getting tickets can be tough. Getting there can be time consuming. And it has ticket prices going up every year (bleachers used to be under $10, now they are like over $20). But explain this to me: The fifth place Cubs on a 30 degree wind chill Saturday in April drew like 32,000, while at Comiskey, the first place Sox, playing at the same time drew 12,000. It is a mixture of loyal fans, and a great place to see a game. The memories are too many to list, but were increased by one last year, as I caught my first MLB game ball, a foul pop off the façade, by the recently departed Robert Machado. But it is a neighborhood park, has the ivy, has rapid fans, and just smells like baseball. Going there is one of my favorite things to do in life.

Comments? Complaints? Want to send your opinions? E-mail me Chris