Taking Stock Halfway Through the Tour

This weekend's game marked the sixteenth top on my tour. Amusingly, with The Montreal Expos moving two seasons after I still have fifteen ballparks yet to see.

With half the league gone, I thought I'd take a moment and rank how they've shaped up for me. (I'm sorta surprised there's no widget for this somewhere on the site). I'm taking into account aesthetic, accessibility, view of the field/view from the concourse, food, crowd, neighbourhood, and the somewhat intangible "Do I feel like I've sat in this ballpark already?" quotient.

Two are gone, and one comes with a caveat, but here you have it. From lowest to highest - Feel free to leave thoughts/rankings of your own.

Edit: updated to include two more parks visited this summer

19. Olympic Stadium (R.I.P.)
18. Shea Stadium (R.I.P.)
17. Nationals Park
16. US Cellular Field
15. Yankee Stadium (R.I.P.)
14. Progressive Field
13. Great American Ballpark
12*. Rogers Centre - roof closed
11. Miller Park
10. Busch Stadium
9. Wrigley Field
8. Fenway Park
7*. Rogers Centre - roof open
6. Safeco Field
5. Oriole Park at Camden Yards
4. Kauffman Stadium
3. Target Field
2. PNC Park
1. Comerica Park

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Comment by Todd England on August 13, 2013 at 1:17pm: I am also just past the halfway mark. Took in both Chicagos and Milwaukee in the last two weeks. My visited parks are many of the same and I also put US Cellular toward the bottom. We had a great experience at Wrigley and I slide it into my 3rd favorite behind PNC and Camden Yards. I tried to like the Rogers Centre..even with the roof open on a sunny day..but it is towards the bottom of my list. Top 4: PNC, Camden, Wrigley, Miller Park. Bottom 4: Tropicana (good juice, not a good stadium), Rogers Centre, US Cellular, (old) Yankee Stadium.

Comment by Todd England on August 13, 2013 at 1:12pm

Comment by Ryan McNeil on August 7, 2013 at 9:17am: In many ways I'd agree with you, on history, character and atmosphere alone they are two places that are amongst the very best places to see a game. except there's a few little x-factors holding back Wrigley and Fenway.

For starters, they are two of the only parks left that leave the grandstand inaccessible from the outfield bleachers. Being able to move about the stadium even to get different food/beer seems like a given nowadays, so being cordoned off like that puts a check mark in the "minuses" column.

The other thing is sightlines. With both Wrigley and Fenway employing columns to support their upper decks, there are large swaths of seats that become obstrcuted view. Found that one out the hard way last summer in Chicago. While we're talking seats, both parks' seats felt a bit on the cramped side.

Most of those details aren't a problem at Rogers Centre simply because it's a different generation of ball park.

Take those two things out of the equation, and they are pretty much perfect. Alternately, if I was comparing a front row seat in every park, they'd each rank higher. But with both details in the mix for the average "Joe Fan", they lose a few points.

Thanks for reading Eric!

Comment by Eric Kabakoff (35) on August 7, 2013 at 8:55am: I personally would not place Rogers Centre above Fenway and Wrigley but your experience there was probably better than mine. I also wasn't as high on Safeco as you (I'm in the minority there, I think), though do agree with Comerica, Oriole Park and PNC being in the upper tier.

I love that you have that intangible! With that in play, Progressive, Great American and US Cellular definitely belong in the bottom tier. Went to Olympic Statdium once but not for a game and can absolutely concur with its ranking here.