26 minutes ago, BrittBurnsFan said:

I have been fortunate enough to visit more than a handful of MLB ballparks...I just can't come up with a single "unique" thing about the Rate. It might not be THE worst ballpark and yes the 100 level provides a great view of the game...but it is not unique! It is as standard as a ballpark can be...even the 100 level!

Unlike several other parks I've been to, the 100 level seats at Rate Field do NOT angle toward the infield as you get past 1B and 3B down toward the foul poles. In fact, they had to come back about 10 years later and slightly angle the seats toward the infield in an attempt to correct this design flaw, but it's still not as good as other parks where the actual sections start to angle toward the infield.

The outfield concourse is great, but TBH, I've been to other ballparks with a great outfield concourse that have a lot of area to stand and socialize too. This feature doesn't set Rate Field apart some other stadiums.

People like to say the 100 infield concourse is great because you can see the game. Honestly, I don't get it. The area right behind the seats in the concourse is so filled with kiosks and food stands that I find it hard to see any game action from the infield area concourse. I had a much better view of the field from the PNC Park lower concourse. Plus unlike other ballparks, there aren't big screen monitors showing the game while I'm trying to get food. The concessions stands have tiny monitors showing the game that look like they'd be too small even in someone's home office, but that's basically it.

I'd say one good thing about the 100 level at Rate Field is that the rows are only 8 seats wide. I don't know if any other park matches that. The Fan Deck and ivy on it are cool too.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by 77 Hitmen

9 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

😮

This is a weak attempt at a personal attack!

Them's fightin words

3 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

Unlike several other parks I've been to, the 100 level seats at Rate Field do NOT angle toward the infield as you get past 1B and 3B down toward the foul poles. In fact, they had to come back about 10 years later and slightly angle the seats toward the infield in an attempt to correct this design flaw, but it's still not as good as other parks where the actual sections start to angle toward the infield.

The outfield concourse is great, but TBH, I've been to other ballparks with great outfield concourse that have a lot of area to stand and socialize too. This feature doesn't set Rate Field apart some other stadiums.

People like to say the 100 infield concourse is great because you can see the game. Honestly, I don't get it. The area right behind the seats in the concourse is so filled with kiosks and food stands that I find it hard to see any game action from the infield area concourse. I had a much better view of the field from the PNC Park lower concourse. Plus unlike other ballparks, there aren't big screen monitors showing the game while I'm trying to get food. The concessions stands have tiny monitors showing the game that look like they'd be too small even in someone's home office, but that's basically it.

I'd say one good thing about the 100 level at Rate Field is that the rows are only 8 seats wide. I don't know if any other park matches that. The Fan Deck and ivy on it are cool too.

When I talk about sitelines, this is a big one. Are your seats facing the pitching mound/home plate?

3 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

Son, I have been to hundreds of baseball games in Chicago. I have literally sat everywhere in the new stadium from the 550s all of the way down to right behind homeplate, and every premium experience offered by the team. I am not going to be gaslit by your attempted fake "I AM A BIGGER FAN THAN YOU BECAUSE I GO TO GAMES!", when I have a great personal history, plus about 20 OTHER ballpark experiences around the country to compare it to. My favorite part is you missing the irony of "if you don't like it, just spend more money" while claiming to care about the common man is not lost on me.

Yeah, that makes no sense whatsoever. Not only is this totally inconsistent with the affordability issue, but there are likely only 20k to 25k seats in the 100 level. I don't know the exact number, but it's no more than that. Let's say it's 22k seats in the 100 level plus 3k in the Club Level. Is the argument then that the Sox attendance ceiling should be around 25k and any fans beyond that are not real fans, are total suckers for buying those tickets, and have absolutely no right to complain about their ballpark experience?

On games that should be drawing bigger crowds, our ballpark design should only give a s%*# about the first 25k and screw everyone else.? Wonderful! That'll help us grow our fan base!

I’ve been to all of the NL central and AL central parks minus KC, plus Seattle and Colorado. All visits to current ballparks. Loved them all. Yes even Wrigley. PNC far and away the best one out of them all however. Oh, I didn’t like progressive field. Hate that place. Cleveland sucks.

I stood outside Petco while visiting San Diego but it was the offseason and I didn’t experience a game there so I don’t count that one. And unfortunately the one time I was in KC and could have caught a game, the Royals weren’t playing at home.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by AntMan26

3 hours ago, Snopek said:

How was Tiger Stadium compared to Old Comiskey? They always seemed similar to me, but maybe that was just a lazy comparison.

Cavernous. Literally. Seats were under playing field in CF. Big stadium, good location, was super easy to park and walk compared to old comiskey. There was some famous pedestrian bridge that you walked over to get into it.

I haven't been to a ton of stadiums: Citi Field, NYS, YS, Camden, Rate, Old Comiskey, Rogers Centre, Twinkie Dome, Safeco/Tmobile, Comerica.

Twinkie Dome was a fucking joke compared to the Skydome / Rogers Centre. Twinkie Dome felt like they were playing in like an arcade video game, the baseball would bounce absurdly high on any sort of hit into the concrete.

Comerica looks good on TV with the backdrop but has awful sightlines. Both times I went there I had a stiff neck from trying to watching home plate, down both the LF and RF box seats, the Rate is better honestly.

T-Mobile is pretty generic too other than the roof and setting by Puget Sound and the piped in music never ends. You know what stadium I really liked? Citi Field. Walking in and you get the Jackie Robinson area and then in the upper deck you are pretty close to the action and it's mostly open concourse with great views of the NYC skyline. 100% better than NYS imo.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by chitownsportsfan

3 hours ago, Snopek said:

How was Tiger Stadium compared to Old Comiskey? They always seemed similar to me, but maybe that was just a lazy comparison.

3 hours ago, Snopek said:

How was Tiger Stadium compared to Old Comiskey? They always seemed similar to me, but maybe that was just a lazy comparison.

Tiger Stadium was a hitters park and Old Comiskey was a pitchers park. I was surprised when Comerica Park opened. It was built for pitchers unlike Tiger stadium. If Miguel Cabrera would have hit in Tiger Stadium his hitting records would have been even better. One White Sox historian (Richard Lindberg) has always claimed it was a mistake to build the upper decks in the outfield at Old Comiskey in 1927. Those upper decks made it even more of a pitchers park.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by WBWSF

Here's the next set of observations from ballparks I've been to. These are post-Camden, open-air ballparks just below my top tier (see first post of the thread).

Busch Stadium: The ballpark is really good - just a step below the top-tier ones. The iconic Gateway Arch (which is walking distance from Busch) is part of the backdrop. Public street-level view inside the ballpark in left field. It's a great way to enter the stadium. You're on the city street, you go through security and the scan your tickets and boom - you're right in the outfield concourse. The Ballpark Village is great. They pack a lot into a relatively small area. It's not just bars and restaurants, but a big public plaza/open space, and a Cardinals museum. One or two bars at the baseball village have rooftop seats from where fans can watch the game. They do a good job of recognizing Cardinals history outside the park. Lots of statutes and a Cardinals "walk of fame". I'd say the biggest downside of Busch is that the rest of downtown St. Louis is pretty dead outside of the ballpark and baseball village area. Hopefully they can breathe some life into it.

Citi Field: Again, another really good ballpark. The Jackie Robinson rotunda, which is an homage to Ebbets Field, is cool. They have a nice "bridge" in the outfield concourse. Concessions were very good. I was able to get there from my hotel in Manhattan via subway no problem with the train stop right at the stadium. The downside is that there's not much right around the stadium as far as I remember. I believe they're now planning to build a stadium district on the parking lots.

Nationals Park: Of this set of ballparks I've been to, this one is the most "meh". It's a nice enough stadium and I didn't dislike it. There are ones I'd rank lower, but it's not that memorable IMO and not as good as the other two I listed above. I liked the entrance from centerfield that lets you into a centerfield plaza. One thing I liked about the concessions is that they features an item that's a local specialty from the city of the visiting team. I was there more than 10 years ago, and they may have built up the area outside the ballpark since then. Transit access was good. My hotel was in Arlington, VA and I was able to take the Metro to about a block from Nats Park no problem.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by 77 Hitmen

43 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

T-Mobile is pretty generic too other than the roof and setting by Puget Sound and the piped in music never ends.

The views are amazing at T-Mobile but the gate we went into went through the gift shop and it was terrible. Super crowded and slow to move through and if the intent was to encourage shopping it encouraged the opposite. I just wanted to get the hell out of there.

22 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

Here's the next set of observations from ballparks I've been to. These are post-Camden, open-air ballparks just below my top tier (see first post of the thread).

Busch Stadium: The ballpark is really good - just a step below the top-tier ones. The iconic Gateway Arch (which is walking distance from Busch) is part of the backdrop. Public street-level view inside the ballpark in left field. It's a great way to enter the stadium. You're on the city street, you go through security and the scan your tickets and boom - you're right in the outfield concourse. The Ballpark Village is great. They pack a lot into a relatively small area. It's not just bars and restaurants, but a big public plaza/open space, and a Cardinals museum. One or two bars at the baseball village have rooftop seats from where fans can watch the game. They do a good job of recognizing Cardinals history outside the park. Lots of statutes and a Cardinals "walk of fame". I'd say the biggest downside of Busch is that the rest of downtown St. Louis is pretty dead outside of the ballpark and baseball village area. Hopefully they can breathe some life into it.

Citi Field: Again, another really good ballpark. The Jackie Robinson rotunda, which is an homage to Ebbets Field, is cool. They have a nice "bridge" in the outfield concourse. Concessions were very good. I was able to get there from my hotel in Manhattan via subway no problem with the train stop right at the stadium. The downside is that there's not much right around the stadium as far as I remember. I believe they're now planning to build a stadium district on the parking lots.

Nationals Park: Of this set of ballparks I've been to, this one is the most "meh". It's a nice enough stadium and I didn't dislike it. There are ones I'd rank lower, but it's not that memorable IMO and not as good as the other two I listed above. I liked the entrance from centerfield that lets you into a centerfield plaza. One thing I liked about the concessions is that they features an item that's a local specialty from the city of the visiting team. I was there more than 10 years ago, and they may have built up the area outside the ballpark since then. Transit access was good. My hotel was in Arlington, VA and I was able to take the Metro to about a block from Nats Park no problem.

I did Nationals Park during a convention and we got a box to entertain clients, so I hardly remember it. I remember who pitched (Harvey vs Strausberg), but nothing else stands out about the park. That probably means something.

I love the area around the STL ballpark too. The park itself was decent, not great. My favorite spot to stay there is the Hyatt right next to the arch with the one side of the building having a clear view of the Mississippi River, the park, and the arch.

42 minutes ago, WBWSF said:

Tiger Stadium was a hitters park and Old Comiskey was a pitchers park. I was surprised when Comerica Park opened. It was built for pitchers unlike Tiger stadium. If Miguel Cabrera would have hit in Tiger Stadium his hitting records would have been even better. One White Sox historian (Richard Lindberg) has always claimed it was a mistake to build the upper decks in the outfield at Old Comiskey in 1927. Those upper decks made it even more of a pitchers park.

I was speaking more to the seating and views. Big old posts everywhere, not really great site lines, overhanging upper deck, plenty of oddities about the park due to things like the block it was built into etc.

12 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I was speaking more to the seating and views. Big old posts everywhere, not really great site lines, overhanging upper deck, plenty of oddities about the park due to things like the block it was built into etc.

The upper deck between first and third base at Tiger Stadium was the closest to the field of any stadium ever built. You could hear the players breathing from the upper deck.

39 minutes ago, almagest said:

The views are amazing at T-Mobile but the gate we went into went through the gift shop and it was terrible. Super crowded and slow to move through and if the intent was to encourage shopping it encouraged the opposite. I just wanted to get the hell out of there.

They prioritize the T-Mobile gate (requires T-Mobile service) and all the other gates are a complete s%*# show. I was there for Ichiro bobblehead in the T-Mobile line last year and it took roughly an hour to enter. The non T-Mobile gate looked about two hours, the line was wrapped around 3-4 city blocks at that point.

Part of this is just PNW culture. It's slow. People do not respect others' time like say in Chicago or LA or NYC. In many ways Seattle is still a sleepy logging town compared to a lot of other metros.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by chitownsportsfan

25 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I did Nationals Park during a convention and we got a box to entertain clients, so I hardly remember it. I remember who pitched (Harvey vs Strausberg), but nothing else stands out about the park. That probably means something.

I love the area around the STL ballpark too. The park itself was decent, not great. My favorite spot to stay there is the Hyatt right next to the arch with the one side of the building having a clear view of the Mississippi River, the park, and the arch.

Was that the old Adams Mark?

40 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I did Nationals Park during a convention and we got a box to entertain clients, so I hardly remember it. I remember who pitched (Harvey vs Strausberg), but nothing else stands out about the park. That probably means something.

I love the area around the STL ballpark too. The park itself was decent, not great. My favorite spot to stay there is the Hyatt right next to the arch with the one side of the building having a clear view of the Mississippi River, the park, and the arch.

I stayed at the Drury Plaza Hotel, which is right across park space from the Hyatt. It was a great hotel, but I'll have to check out the Hyatt next time.

For anyone visiting St. Louis, I recommend visiting the Gateway Arch at least once. Even if you don't pay to go up to the top (especially if you're claustrophobic), there's a pretty good and free history museum at the base of the arch plus it's worth walking the grounds of the arch and it's really something to stand at one of its bases and look up.

1 hour ago, 77 Hitmen said:

I stayed at the Drury Plaza Hotel, which is right across park space from the Hyatt. It was a great hotel, but I'll have to check out the Hyatt next time.

For anyone visiting St. Louis, I recommend visiting the Gateway Arch at least once. Even if you don't pay to go up to the top (especially if you're claustrophobic), there's a pretty good and free history museum at the base of the arch plus it's worth walking the grounds of the arch and it's really something to stand at one of its bases and look up.

The museum is excellent. The arch itself is literally one of the two worst historic site experiences I have ever had. It's tiny, cramped, not made for actually viewing anything, and getting up there is absolutely an awful experience.

1 hour ago, chitownsportsfan said:

They prioritize the T-Mobile gate (requires T-Mobile service) and all the other gates are a complete s%*# show. I was there for Ichiro bobblehead in the T-Mobile line last year and it took roughly an hour to enter. The non T-Mobile gate looked about two hours, the line was wrapped around 3-4 city blocks at that point.

Part of this is just PNW culture. It's slow. People do not respect others' time like say in Chicago or LA or NYC. In many ways Seattle is still a sleepy logging town compared to a lot of other metros.

Can confirm this about t-mobile. My wife and I went this year and saw the Sox play there. It was a Monday night and also happened to be Josh Naylor bobblehead night. We arrived at the park in the morning for a ballpark tour which ended like 3 or 4 hours before gates opened. We went and did some exploring around the city and decided to come back about a half hour or so before gates were scheduled to open. I thought to myself “Monday night, and who the f*** cares about Josh Naylor. We’ll get in no problem.” Holy s%*# was I wrong. Lines were insane. They actually moved fairly decently but I couldn’t believe how long lines were on a Monday night just for a Josh Naylor bobble head.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by AntMan26

1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

The museum is excellent. The arch itself is literally one of the two worst historic site experiences I have ever had. It's tiny, cramped, not made for actually viewing anything, and getting up there is absolutely an awful experience.

I lucked out with going to the top of the arch. Since I was there by myself, they actually gave me my own elevator both going up and going down! I'm sure I would have hated it if I was crammed in a small pod with up to 4 strangers.

At the top, it is a birds eye view, but there really isn't much to see other than Busch stadium. Certainly nothing like the Sears or Hancock observation decks The rest of the city is unremarkable and on the other side, the Mississippi looks rather industrial and unattractive there. Other than thinking "gee wiz, that's the mighty Mississippi down there!", it really isn't very scenic. The observation area was small, but since it was well ventilated, that didn't bother me

41 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

I lucked out with going to the top of the arch. Since I was there by myself, they actually gave me my own elevator both going up and going down! I'm sure I would have hated it if I was crammed in a small pod with up to 4 strangers.

At the top, it is a birds eye view, but there really isn't much to see other than Busch stadium. Certainly nothing like the Sears or Hancock observation decks The rest of the city is unremarkable and on the other side, the Mississippi looks rather industrial and unattractive there. Other than thinking "gee wiz, that's the mighty Mississippi down there!", it really isn't very scenic. The observation area was small, but since it was well ventilated, that didn't bother me

Dred Scott Courthouse

Children's Museum if you have a family

Ted Drews Frozen Custards

Imo's ravioli and garlic cheese toast

Anheuser Busch brewery tour

Grant's Farm

59 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

I lucked out with going to the top of the arch. Since I was there by myself, they actually gave me my own elevator both going up and going down! I'm sure I would have hated it if I was crammed in a small pod with up to 4 strangers.

At the top, it is a birds eye view, but there really isn't much to see other than Busch stadium. Certainly nothing like the Sears or Hancock observation decks The rest of the city is unremarkable and on the other side, the Mississippi looks rather industrial and unattractive there. Other than thinking "gee wiz, that's the mighty Mississippi down there!", it really isn't very scenic. The observation area was small, but since it was well ventilated, that didn't bother me

We went in July and it had to be 120 degrees plus in the trams. It was soooooo miserable. Then to get to the top and need the Catholic school kneelers to get a view of nothing was the topper.