With the Marlins new stadium coming online in 2012, the National League will have completed the process of replacing all ballparks except for Chicago's historic Wrigley Field and Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium, an historic site in its own right. 

 

If you could return through time to the early 1970s, you would discover that the majority of National League teams played in huge concrete donuts that were home to both a baseball and football team. Shea Stadium (Mets/Jets), Veterans Stadium (Phillies/Eagles), Three Rivers Stadium (Pirates/Steelers), Riverfront Stadium (Reds/Bengals), Busch Stadium II (Cardinals/Cardinals), Candlestick Park (Giants/49ers), Jack Murphy Stadium (Padres/Chargers), the Astrodome(Astros/Oilers), and Atlanta Stadium (Braves/Falcons) were multipurpose plants that looked frighteningly similar. Wrigley Field, Jarry Park in Montreal, and Dodger Stadium were the lone baseball only facilities in the NL at the time. Plus, at one point, more than half of these stadiums had Astroturf installed. The plastic grass and the behemoth style stadiums gave the baseball landscape a sterile backdrop. Add to that the silly softball style uniforms and it's not hard to pick the 1970s as the ugliest period in baseball history esthetically wise.

 

By contrast the American League still played their games in much older ballparks compared to the National League. Yankee Stadium had yet to be renovated. Baltimore was still in Memorial Stadium and the Indians played in the "mistake by the lake" as it was known, Municipal Stadium. Tiger Stadium, the old Comisky Park, County Stadium in Milwaukee, Metroplitan Stadium in Minneapolis and Arlington Stadium in Dallas-Fort Worth rounded out the old ballparks in the American League. Kansas City's Royals Stadium was the state of the art facility in the junior circuit, unusual in that it was a brand new park opened in 1969 as a baseball only facility. The bad news was that for some reason, Kansas City management felt it was a good idea to install Astroturf. For a period of time, Kaufman Stadium was the only American League ballpark with artificial turf. Anaheim Stadium, as it was known then, was a baseball only facility too when it first opened in 1966 then years later was expanded when the football Rams played there. Ironically when the Rams left for St. Louis, Anaheim Stadium was converted back to a baseball only facility and modernized.

 

Since the early 70's, 21 of 30 major league stadiums have been replaced or added through expansion. These do not include Dodger Stadium, Angel Stadium, Kaufman (Royals) Stadium, and Tropicana Field that have all gone through major renovations. Nor does it include the new Marlins retractable roof ballpark mentioned above or Target Field, the Twins new open air ballpark that opens its doors next season. Even Wrigley Field and Fenway Park have gone through extensive renovation over the last few seasons.

 

Today, with all of this ballpark construction, the really good news is that the National League plays completely on natural turf again. Next year, the American League will be reduced to just two fields that will still have an artificial surface (Field Turf, a more grass like substance than Astroturf). Those parks are Roger's Center in Toronto and Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay. At least the Rays had the good sense to cut out the entire infield base paths unlike Roger's Center and the soon to be ex home of the Twins that still employ the sacrilegious sliding boxes.

 

The Rays would love to move out of Tropicana Field, a fixed dome stadium made into a cozier style ballpark when Tampa Bay came into the American League. They have a design but are in the very early stages of negotiations.

 

That leaves one team that truly is desperate for a new home and they are the Oakland Athletics who play in Oakland Alameda County Coliseum (at least give the A's credit for restoring the original name, dropping the corporate sponsor). The A's had plans to build a new open air, natural grass ballpark in nearby Fremont, California but those plans have fallen through. It is unclear what plans if any the A's have now of building a new facility.

  

Oakland Coliseum and Rogers Centre will be the only multipurpose stadiums left after this season. The Minnesota Vikings will continue to play in the Metrodome after the Twins move out next year.

 

Next season, the Twins move into Taget Field, an outdoor ballpark several blocks from the Metrodome. The stadium was designed by Populous (formally HOK) who designed Oriole Park, Citi Field, and the new Yankee Stadium among many others. It will be interesting to see how Minnesotans take to the cold weather in April, May, and late September.

 

Of course, the major weather problem in south Florida is rain. The new Marlins ballpark will feature a retractable roof, the sixth in the major leagues. Plus the Miami ballpark will not be retro like so many others built in the last twenty years. Because Miami is a modern city, the ballpark will reflect that with much steel and glass. Also the Marlins new home will be the smallest capacity in the majors at just 37,000, less than Fenway Park. When the Marlins move into their new stadium, they will change their name to the Miami Marlins as part of the deal struck with Dade County.

 

With the Dodgers, Cubs and Red Sox likely staying in their historic ballparks for the next 50 or so years, only the Rays and A’s will have to figure out where they are going. Once, that is done, Major League baseball facilities will be set for the 21st Century.

After the Mets blew their home opener a week ago then the Yankees followed suit in their historic debacle, I got to thinking. How many teams opening a brand new stadium have won that first game?

To make the research reasonable, I started with Oriole Park at Camden Yards. After all, the Baltimore park seems to be the mile stone that kicked off the retro trend that has continued to this day with the opening of Citi Field and Yankee Stadium.

Surprisingly, more teams have lost the opener than won them. Since 1992, 21 new ballparks have opened up in the Major Leagues. The Orioles won their opener with a 2-0 shutout over Cleveland.

Two years later, the Indians opened Jacobs Field, (now called Progressive Field) with a 4-3 win over Seattle in 11 innings.

Texas also opened The Ballpark in Arlington in 1994 and lost to Milwaukee (then in the American League) by a score of 4-3. The Rangers park was changed to Ameriquest Field in Arlington and is now known as Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

The Mets helped the Colorado Rockies open Coors Field in 1995. In 14 innings, the Rockies defeated New York by a score of 11-9.

The next ballpark to open was Atlanta’s Turner Field. The Braves won the first ever home opener at Turner Field by a score of 5-4.

In 1998, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now Rays) opened up Tropicana Field. The dingy domed stadium (originally called the Sun Coast Dome) was not new. It had been built over a decade earlier in hopes of landing a major league team. The White Sox were close to moving before their deal was approved to replace Comisky Park. The Giants were also wooed by Tampa but nothing ever came of it. Finally in ’98, the Devil Rays opened the dome, which had been renovated in an attempt to make the place cozy. The Devil Rays lost to Detroit by a score of 11-6.

Also in ’98, Bank One Ballpark opened in Phoenix. The first retractable roof stadium that looks like an airplane hanger saw the Diamondbacks lose to Colorado by a score of 9-2. The name was changed to Chase field in 2006.

In 1999, Safeco Field opened in Seattle. Safeco was the second retractable roof park to open. The Mariners opened the park with a loss to the White Sox by the score of 11-6.

Three brand new ballparks opened in 2000. Detroit opened enormous Comerica Park with a 5-2 win versus Seattle.  The San Francisco Giants opened Pacific Bell Park by losing to Los Angeles by a score of 6-5. Since then, the Giants ballpark has been renamed to SBC Park and is currently known as AT&T Park. Houston’s retractable roof park, Enron Field, opened with loss (4-1) to the Phillies. For obvious reasons, the Astros changed the name of the field to Astros Field until they signed a new naming rights deal with Minute Maid.

Two more ballparks opened in 2001. The retractable roof field, Miller Park opened in Milwaukee. The Brewers, now in the National League, defeated Cincinnati 5-4 in their home opener.  The small and beautiful PNC Park in Pittsburgh opened up the same year. The Pirates lost to the Reds 8-2. In one season, the Reds helped to open two new stadiums.

In 2003, the Pirates paid back the Reds by defeating them 10-1 in Cincinnati’s home opener at Great American Ballpark.

The Phillies opened Citizen’s Bank Park in 2004. They lost to Cincinnati by the score of 4-1.  The Cardinals opened up Busch Stadium III with a 6-4 win in 2006. The next parks to open were Citi Field and Yankee Stadium where both home clubs lost their openers.

So teams that have opened the last 21 ballparks, only 8 have won the home opener. Perhaps the pressure of wanting to win the historic event so badly has played into the loss.  We will have to wait until 2010 when the Twins open Target Field and then in 2012 when the Marlins open up their new retractable roof park to see if a couple more wins can be had.

There is an excellent article in today's Daily News discussing the fact that after three years of construction of the new Yankee Stadium, parks and ball fields that were promised to the community are still non existent.

The piece written by Juan Gonzales asks why did the Mets immediately begin to tear down Shea Stadium after last season and the old Yankee Stadium has only now just begun the demolition process.

I have read a few articles over the past three years describing how the Mets deal was so much cleaner than the Yankees. It really doesn't matter to me because my tax money had nothing to do with the construction of either ballpark. But as a fan of the Mets, it always irks me when I see their ownership derided in the press for this and that when in fact, they appeared to have played by the rules established at the outset of both projects. On the other hand, the Yankees steamrolled their community with promises of replacing park land taken from Macombs Dam Park where the new stadium stands and elsewhere but yet nothing has happened.

The Yankees also went way over budget with their new stadium and had to get the city to kick in hundreds of millions more in tax exempt bonds to finish it. Meanwhile, the Mets needed just 83 million more but that was from a budget of bonds that were originally approved. The Mets were sure they could get the job done for under what they requested and only asked for the balance when they knew they couldn't.

I have not been to the new Yankee Stadium so I cannot offer my opinion to it's beauty and amenities. However, I have been to Citi Field and for half of what it cost to build Yankee Stadium, the Mets did an outstanding job. Citi Field takes a back seat to no current major league ballpark. With all that was built into the new Yankee Stadium, I'm not shocked it cost more than Citi Field but why was it twice the price? That seems extraordinary.

I would hope there are city officials who can pressure the Yankees and other to get these parks and fields built for the kids of the Bronx. You know, those kids who will never be able to afford to go to Yankee Stadium.

Each day that passes City Field is looking more and more like a finished product. The new Yankee Stadium is making great progress as well.   more »