FORBES: Ranking All 30 Of MLB's Ballparks: First To Worst

[LeafsNation75]

After going to Tropicana Field last August when the Blue Jays were playing the Rays I can see why it was ranked last. The concourses reminded me like I was walking through a parking garage.

 

[Boris Le Tigre]

Big fan of Petco!

 

[adsfan]

Imagine building an expensive new park and being ranked in the 20’s. Reds and Nats must be ashamed.

Great American in Cincinnati, along the stately Ohio River and in downtown is better than this guy's ranking. He is the one that should be ashamed!

PNC deserves to be in the top 5. Citi Field seems over ranked at 13. Miller Park should be 3 or 4 spots higher than 17. Target Field is underwhelming at 16. I see it more like 20 to 25. I don't see why Rodgers Center is 22, but I haven't been there since 2002. Maybe it has gone downhill since I was there. I actually liked it when I visited. Fenway is charming and very old. The transportation is fair at best. I might go lower than 7, but only 1 or 2 lower. It is one of the better parks that I have visited.

Oakland is a dump. It should have been replaced years ago. Wrigley Field was a dump until 5 or 6 years ago when the renovations started. The bathrooms were awful and the parking, while less of a problem versus 1981, is still not good. It had pieces of concrete falling off, yet Maury Brown says it is #10.People have never liked the place that the White Sox play at. The upper deck was designed wrong and is too far back from the field. It should definitely be 20 or lower.

 

[rent free]

theres no way nats park is 24th. just no way. not saying its a top 5 but its behind a usually closed dome of toronto?

Toronto's dome is barely closed lol.

 

[darko]

Only been to Safeco and it's beautiful.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Only been to Safeco and it's beautiful.

Seattle in general is pretty awesome.

So is Portland.

 

[darko]

Seattle in general is pretty awesome.

So is Portland.

Haven't been to Portland but Seattle was amazing. Beautiful city and loved the weather too. Wanted to catch a Seahawks game but they were in Green Bay that week. Definitely want to head back there again and will make a 3 hour drive to Portland.

 

[PG Canuck]

Really happy with the rank of Safeco. I’m biased but it feels exactly like what you dream of when you go to a ball game.

The first time I went to a game, I was like holy shit, every single sense has exceeded expectations. Get a nice breeze through Safeco, the smell of the grass/garlic fries, I always sit in the outfield and the views are great.

I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in Seattle on a 25 degree day with no clouds.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in Seattle on a 25 degree day with no clouds.

I looked at this and thought you were an idiot then I remembered you crazy Canucks and your Celsius.

 

[darko]

I looked at this and thought you were an idiot then I remembered you crazy Canucks and your Celsius.

Hey now, nothing crazy about Celsius.

 

[Scott Stevens]

Really happy with the rank of Safeco. I’m biased but it feels exactly like what you dream of when you go to a ball game.

The first time I went to a game, I was like holy ****, every single sense has exceeded expectations. Get a nice breeze through Safeco, the smell of the grass/garlic fries, I always sit in the outfield and the views are great.

I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in Seattle on a 25 degree day with no clouds.

In 2009, my then girlfriend and I went on a mlb themed vacation in California, so I have watched games at dodger stadium and at&t park. Two of the places listed in this article’s top 5. I’m using that background to pump the tires of safeco field, in comparison. Safeco isn’t as good or better than those two Cali parks, but I feel like it is not too, too far away from being in their league. It’s a really great place to watch a game, and this is coming from someone who is miles and miles and miles away from being a fan of Seattle sports teams.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

theres no way nats park is 24th. just no way. not saying its a top 5 but its behind a usually closed dome of toronto?

I think Nats Park is a solid ballpark, but it doesn't seem to have any of the things that factor in those kinds of rankings, which are inherently subjective anyway,..it's not old or famous, it doesn't have a history of hosting championship teams, it doesn't have a large, passionate fanbase in it (sorry it's D.C. after all) and it doesn't have a picturesque view past the outfield.

 

[SSF]

I dont see how Busch is ranked so high, it is just a meh one for me.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Well #4 came in dead last in ranking last nights atmosphere. Ewwwwwwwww

 

[Del Preston]

Big fan of Petco!

I went to a game there in 2013. Beautiful stadium.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

My brother is going to be at Petco tomorrow for opening day. Have to admit it looks pretty generic on TV. I'll ask him what he thinks about it.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

So the wife and I were in Los Angeles this past week and went to the Dodgers-Giants game on Sunday. We opted to park our rental car at Union Station and take the Dodgers Express in to the Stadium. Overall thoughts on that experience and the stadium:

• Dodgers Express drivers either need to be sure to make it clear or there needs to be signage in the bus making it clear that there's two stops. We got off at the first stop (behind centerfield) and had to hoof it the rest of the way around and up to our seats (Dodger has entrances at different levels and you're supposed to go in the entrance for your level. We were in the Reserve Seats behind home plate.) Both my wife and I are in decent shape, she's runs half marathons regularly - but it was a hike. Had we known there was another stop behind home plate....
• Architecturally you can definitely tell Dodger's a product of the late '50s/early '60s with the Googie architectural aesthetic (the awning over the outfield bleachers, the hexagonal signage, etc). While some might argue that this causes the stadium to not have aged well, I'd argue that in a League where the average stadium was built in 1990 that it's a nice reminder of when Dodger was built. Despite being the 3rd oldest park in the League, you can tell the money the team's put into the park is definitely helping keep the park on the forefront. The resolution on the video boards were crisp, the sound system was great, the concourses were wide, the bathrooms weren't cramped, and the seats relatively comfortable.
  
• Food options on our level were decent - nothing to write home about, though. Lots of Dodger Dog stands, a couple Dodger Dog Express stands, a pizza stand, a taqueria stand, and another stand that offered Fried Dodger Dogs. I hope that some of the concepts elsewhere in the park (Tommy Lasorda's Trattoria and the Think Blue BBQ stand, which are currently located only in the outfield bleachers) eventually find their ways into other parts of the park.
  
• I was impressed with how into the game most of the crowd was. There was a smattering of Giants fans and they weren't harassed/hassled but it really seemed like the crowd was into the game more than in other MLB parks I've been in. Whether that's a product of the Dodgers winning the pennant last season, I'm not sure, but there really did seem to be more people actively engaged in the game than I'm used to.
  
• Lastly - the views of the San Gabriel Mountains were absolutely gorgeous.

Is Dodger a Top 5 stadium? I'm leaning yes at this point.

 

[justafan22]

Things that save Rogers Centre from being near the very bottom are:

location is awesome, probably top 3 in the league
when the dome is open it feels like a ballpark
decent food selection

everything else is terrible but yeah

 

[BKIslandersFan]

In the author's defense, most ballparks are nice and mostly modern, someone has to be 24th.

 

[PG Canuck]

In 2009, my then girlfriend and I went on a mlb themed vacation in California, so I have watched games at dodger stadium and at&t park. Two of the places listed in this article’s top 5. I’m using that background to pump the tires of safeco field, in comparison. Safeco isn’t as good or better than those two Cali parks, but I feel like it is not too, too far away from being in their league. It’s a really great place to watch a game, and this is coming from someone who is miles and miles and miles away from being a fan of Seattle sports teams.

Even when they close the roof, the side is still exposed so you are still getting that fresh air and breeze. I always thought that was a pretty cool addition..or maybe they just didn’t want to fund for a complete roof

 

[Scott Stevens]

Even when they close the roof, the side is still exposed so you are still getting that fresh air and breeze. I always thought that was a pretty cool addition..or maybe they just didn’t want to fund for a complete roof

I do enjoy that aspect of safeco. I’ve been there a few times during games where part way in they had to put the big lid on. Kind of neat to see in action.

 

[FourRings]

Loved AT&T Park when I got to see a game there. I'm biased, but Citi Field is entirely too low in my opinion. There's so much to do there if you're not into the game and most of the sightlines are great! Maybe he doesn't like the planes from LGA....

 

[Dont Toews Me Bro]

Wrigley Field is way too low. Beautiful and charming ballpark, though getting there is a pain if you don't live near the El

 

[weinsink]

I honestly cannot stand Rogers Centre especially after visiting some other parks. I think it should be in the 25-30 range. It might not be a totally fair assessment as we obviously need the dome in Toronto for weather reasons, but I just think the design could have some character or uniqueness to make it stand out more.

It's a dump!

 

[MurrayBannerman]

Personal Ranks:

Wrigley/Fenway
PETCO
Safeco
Coors
Miller Park
Guaranteed Rate
Kauffman Stadium
Globe Life Park
Minute Maid
Busch Stadium
Target Field
New Yankee Stadium
O.co

Will most likely add Nationals Park, maybe Camden, and one of AT&T or Dodger Stadium to this. Also, maybe one of the midwestern parks and Citi Field. Depends on how trips shake out.