I've only been to 24 of the current ballparks, but I have also been to five other parks no longer in service. Here's an attempt to rank them. The top 3 are the best, ranks 4-20 are relatively interchangeable. 21-24 are rather dreadful.
Current:
1 - PNC Park - If there's a perfect park, this is it
2 - Oriole Park at Camden Yards - CLASSIC. Seems like it has been there for 50 years, but still new
3 - AT&T Park - Incredible setting
4 - Fenway Park - the recent renovations are terrific
5 - Citi Field - Biased Mets fan, but I love the place. Best exterior in MLB, just need a better team.
6 - Dodger Stadium - I love the classics
7 - Wrigley Field - ditto Dodger
8 - Petco Park - Great city, nice design
9 - Citizens Bank Park - Well done ballpark. I'd go more if the Mets/Phils rivalry were more competitive
10 - Safeco Field - Great location in a really nice city
11 - Comerica Park - Underrated, love the statues.
12 - Yankee Stadium (new) - More functional than the old Stadium, but lacks the charm. Frieze great.
13 - Angel Stadium - Best of the 60's multipurpose parks. "V" shape and SOCal weather made it last.
14 - Miller Park - The dome takes away from it a bit. Is it necessary?
15 - Great American Ball Park - Cool view of river and Kentucky
16 - Progressive Field - 3 of 4 games I've been to have been in terrible seats, nice park though.
17 - Nationals Park - Concrete/metal look seems cold. Upper deck seems unusually high.
18 - US Cellular Field - Went there mid-renovation in 05. Seems like a nicer park now.
19 - Turner Field - Sort of bland. Not bad though.
20 - Chase Field - Only went on a tour, tough to judge
21 - Rogers Centre - If it had grass it would be a decent park
22 - Tropicana Field - Dank awful place for baseball. Tampa/St. Pete deserves better.
23 - Oakland Coliseum - At least it has grass
24 - Sun Life Stadium - just a football stadium
Out of service:
1 - Yankee Stadium - Classic park even in its post-1976 renovated form.
2 - Shea Stadium - I went to over 250 games there including my first in 1984
3 - RFK Stadium - Grass field, not much else to say...
4 - Veterans Stadium - Concrete monstrosity. Saw 1996 ASG there though.
5 - Olympic Stadium - By far, the worst park I've ever seen a game at. The football stadiums were better.
Getting to Minute Maid Park, and Rangers Ballpark in April. Possibly Target Field later in the year.
Comment
Interesting rankings. In my book Oriole Park Ranks #1 (because I have not been to PNC Park yet).
Here are mine (and I put in the defunct stadiums too in there)
1. Oriole Park-Classic (you're right)
2. Comerica Park-Underrated and a real gem.
3. Progressive Field-Very clean and a nice place to watch a game.
4. Great American Ballpark-Different from the normal new stadiums and it is fine. Has a "machiney" feel to honor the Big Red Machine.
5. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington-A true baseball palace.
6. Turner Field-Typical generic "modern stadium;" nothing great but nothing bad
7. Tiger Stadium-Built for baseball
8. Minute Maid Park-Subpar seats, subpar food, subpar stadium
9. Tropicana Field-Cramped but serviceable
10. Dolphin/SunLife Stadium-Take out the top deck as a whole and add some teal seats instead and you have a nice ballpark if it wasn't for the fans.
11. Shea Stadium-Underrated; only complaint I had was it was out of date.
12. RFK-Stadium-Saddle shaped cookie cutter.
13. Metrodome-Not a good place to watch a game
14. Yankee Stadium-Besides the historical feel to it, it was a glorified cookie cutter
15. Fulton County Stadium-Bad seats, bad food, bad park
Interesting views and a good take from a different perspective.
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