As we conclude this MLB season with the World Series, my friend Paul Swaney over at Stadium Journey has posted his end-of-season rankings of all the 30 MLB stadiums.
Paul puts together what he calls the "FANFARE" scale, and it is based on the following criteria:
Overall experience
Food and beverage
The fans
Neighborhood the park is located in
Access to the ballpark (which includes parking traffic, restrooms, handicapped access, etc.)
Overall return on investment
Readers also have their say and leave their ratings on how good MLB ballyards are.
This year's winner is no big surprise: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, getting a perfect 5.0 rating.
Fenway Park finished fourth overall, and PNC Park in Pittsburgh was the highest ranked National League venue.
The AL Champion Kansas City Royals' Kauffman Stadium finished in the middle of the pack at 16th, while Citi Field, home of the NL Champion Mets, was ranked near the bottom, at 27th.
Here is the complete rankings of all 30 ballparks.
My thanks to Paul for an interesting article. Check out his site for all kinds of articles about experiences at all kinds of pro and college sports teams.
1 comment:
These lists ae always interesting and usually come down to the criteria. Though I think the criteria on his list is sound and in line with how I generally assess ballpark experience, I do differ significantly on a bunch of the ratings. I say this with the stated disclaimer that I have yet to visit the Safeco or the new park in Miami.
My top 5 are as follows:
#1 AT&T- (his #9)
#2 Camden Yards (his #1)
#3 PNC (his #2)
#4 Dodger Stadium (his #12)
#5 Comerica (his #11)
My Bottom 5
#30 O. Co. (his #300 The pits
#29 The Trop (his #26)
#28 Chase (his #6) stale, boring, empty
#27 US Cellular (his #18) the worst of the new generation ballparks
#26 Rigers Center (his #21)
I always enjoy the ballpark ranking debate and the assessment that others have. Thanks for sharing.
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