Official ballpark rankings as they appear in the book

Ballpark Rankings:

For the purpose of this book, I comprised a ranking of all 30 current Major League ballparks based on a number of columns, from Stadium Experience, to food, to tickets, to parking and accessibility, staffing, affordability and value. I came up with these ideas by polling 10 Ballpark Chasers that had been to all 30 current ballparks-and the polling came back with this ranking scheme. It was not my initial intention to post these in the book- but felt the merit of the book would have suffered if I did not share these results. Ballparkchasers.com has nothing to do with these rankings as they provide the write-ups and guides on how to experience each ballpark with no bias whatsoever given to any given any specific ballpark. It is ballparkchasers.com opinion that everyone should experience each park for themselves and make their own decisions of rankings later. Check out this blog for other Ballpark Chasers opinions on the best ballparks in baseball.

The ballparks are put in the chaser section based on the rankings I have come up with-along with counting all the votes from other Ballpark Chasers. Here are the top 30 ballparks: they will appear in order as they stand here in the section that you are reading below. These are not my rankings solely-my rankins are already up in a blog Craig reposted a month ago here. Really these rankings reflect a good job as they came up similar to a park rankings scheme that FORBES came up with.

My book (co-written by Ken Lee and Craig) will have Chaser Guides -similar to the ones in this website but with 3 new columns. A heavy look at transportation with each cities Airport and car rental prices, Park Intangibles-which cover traditions that are something each park has something unique to separate from the next.

The book covers my streak attempts of 2008 in which I visited 41 parks in 41 days-and 2009 in which I saw all 30 ballparks in just 24 calendar days. The book describes the physical appearance of each 30 ballparks as I had seen them then-plus what I did with traveling to each park.

Finally there is a big section that has fellow ballpark chasers-Roger Ratzenberger-30 ballparks and a baby-Dutch Van Duzee-Meg-Minard-Bob Devries-Josh Robbins-Craig-Ken Lee and myself as featured chaser profiles on their specific baseball journeys.

The book has links for all hotels/car rentals/airlines/tickets/MLB teams and a great number of tips to visit each stadium.

There is even a rundown on the money I spent on each journey with a budget breakdown-yikes!! Although the average $ spent for a road game should equal $250-$300 per game-which includes everything.

The book should be ready for mid-April to May-and will be available in paperback (www.authorhouse.com) or-via E-book. E-book is going to be a nice option because the links will be readily available for instant viewing online. Thanks to Ken Lee and Craig for helping me get it done this winter. The book is called, 'The Fastest 30 Ballgames-A Ballpark Chasers World Record Story'.

Good Chasing to you guys and hit me at booth7629@gmail.com for any questions/comments.

BALLPARK RANKINGS 1-30

1. AT&T PARK-SAN FRANCISCO, CA

2. FENWAY PARK-BOSTON, MA

3. WRIGLEY FIELD-CHICAGO, IL

4. PNC PARK-PITTSBURGH, PA

5. COMERICA PARK-DETROIT, MI

6. SAFECO FIELD-SEATTLE, WA

7. BUSCH STADIUM-ST. LOUIS, MO

8. CITI FIELD-FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY

9. COORS FIELD-DENVER, CO

10. NEW YANKEE STADIUM-THE BRONX, NY

11. MILLER PARK-MILWAUKEE, WI

12. ORIOLE PARK AT CAMDEN YARDS-BALTIMORE, MD

13. CITIZENS BANK BALLPARK-PHILADELPHIA, PA

14. TARGET FIELD-MINNEAPOLIS, MN

15. THE BALLPARK IN ARLINGTON-ARLINGTON, TX

16. DODGER STADIUM-LOS ANGELES, CA

17. MINUTE MAID PARK-HOUSTON, TX

18. GREAT AMERICAN BALLPARK-CINCINNATI, OH

19. US CELLULAR FIELD-CHICAGO, IL

20. PETCO PARK-SAN DIEGO, CA

21. NATIONALS PARK-WASHINGTON, D.C

22. TURNER FIELD-ATLANTA, GA

23. CHASE FIELD-PHOENIX, AZ

24. PROGRESSIVE FIELD-CLEVELAND, OH

25. ANGELS STADIUM-LOS ANGELES, CA

26. ROGERS CENTER-TORONTO, ONT, CA

27. KAUFFMAN STADIUM-KANSAS CITY, MO

28. TROPICANA FIELD-TAMPA BAY, FLA

29. SUN LIFE STADIUM-MIAMI, FLA

30. MCAFEE COLISEUM-OAKLAND. CA

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Comment by Ed Ferbel on March 5, 2011 at 3:27am: if i coninued to finish top 10 Comerica would be there

Comment by Chuck Booth (35) ALL 30/23 DAYS! on March 5, 2011 at 3:19am: Dear Ed,

I had the Dodgers way higher myself. I personally think it is a top 10 stadium. I guess a lot of ballpark goers don't like it because of accessibility by transport, and other then the dodger dog, the food isn't that great, or neighboring food establishments. (Forbes actually listed Dodger Stadium tied for 25th in their similar poll). Your right they should have their own category with Fenway and Wrigley. There is also no crowd that is louder as when Dodger Stadium rocks on a high level. They cheer at a higher decimal level when the place is packed Very good top 5 Ed. Coors Field and Comerica surprised me the most for how nice the ballparks where.

Comment by Ed Ferbel on March 5, 2011 at 2:19am: First off IMO any list of the 30, should have Fenway, Wrigley and Dodoger at the top and basically in their own section.They institutions that will never be replicated. That said even using your list, no way Dodger is 16.My top 5, PNC,AT&T,Target, Citi,Coors

$/15 I will add Nationals, leaving Rogers Centre as number 30 to see, until Miami opens in '12

Great work looking forward to the book

Comment by Chuck Booth (35) ALL 30/23 DAYS! on February 18, 2011 at 7:37pm: Yeah Kauffman is in tough because of the category it is in. There was not much difference in Kauffman, Angels Stadium and Rogers Cenetr when the tallies were added up. The only reason why Fenway ranked higher then Wrigley is because of their ballpark food. When it comes to watching a game I prefer Wrigley over Fenway any day. PNC Park is an incredible park I agree with you, again positions 1-4 came in very close. There was a bit of gap between 4-5.

Comment by Thirty26(42) on February 18, 2011 at 10:09am: I can't wait to read the book. I agree with the bottom three stadiums but Kauffman Stadium should be a little higher in my opinion. PNC is the most amazing park in the country despite the ball club on the field. AT&T is my 2nd. Wrigley is slightly better than Fenway because the seats are so small and uncomfortable behind home plate. Altogether, this is a very similar list. Well done.