Ballpark Digest's Best of the Ballparks fan vote 2023

The Game Room
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For those who like ballparks, and who like to vote even (or especially) if they don’t know what they’re talking about, Ballpark Digest is now conducting the first round of its annual (I think) Best of the Ballparks competition.

The balloting can be found here: Voting now open in 2023 MLB Best of the Ballparks fan vote - Ballpark Digest. The first round will close in a couple of days.

I have been to almost half of the current ballparks (and about 9-10 extinct ones), so of course I consider myself an Expert. Here are the matchups and my choices:

Matchup 1: PNC Park (Pirates) vs. Bye. PNC Park was seeded first in the competition based on last year’s results. I have never been there (have tentative plans to remedy that this summer), but have never heard anything remotely bad about it and I do know someone who has been to all 30 current parks and says PNC is clearly the best. So, PNC Park it is.

Matchup 2: American Family Field (Brewers) vs. Globe Life Park (Rangers). Never been to either. The people I know who’ve been to Milwaukee have better things to say about what-used-to-be Miller Park than the folks I know who’ve been to Arlington, so I went with AFF.

Matchup 3: Fenway Park (Red Sox) vs. loanDepot Park (Marlins). I have been to the first, not the second. I’m not much of a Fenway fan–too closed off from the outside, too cramped, too much of a warehouse feel–but it has its moments, and I’ve never read anything especially positive about loanDepot, up to and including the name. I went with Fenway.

Matchup 4: Citi Field (Mets) vs. Comerica Park (Tigers). Again, been to the first, not the second. Citi Field is perfectly okay, but only okay, and I’ve heard very good things about Comerica from people who’ve been there, so went with Detroit.

Matchup 5: Oracle Park (Giants) vs. Tropicana Field (Rays). Never seen either. Oracle is the other one besides Pittsburgh that I’ve heard people rave about, whereas everything I’ve seen and read about the Trop is a disaster. Oracle for sure.

Matchup 6: Rogers Centre (Blue Jays) vs. Progressive Field (Guardians). I have been to both, twice each. Cleveland’s stadium is perfectly pleasant, a cut above Citi Field, say. Rogers Centre is okay, but not in the same, um, ballpark as Cleveland’s. (I will note I might have had a different opinion if the roof had been opened either time I was there. Though the weather was perfectly okay both times, the powers that be’d decided to keep it shut. It might make a difference…) Anyway, I voted Progressive.

Matchup 7: Petco Park (Padres) vs. Chase Field (Diamondbacks). Another easy one, like the Giants over the Rays. Petco, which I’ve been to, is beautiful and one of my favorites. The D’backs are trying to get a new ballpark built, IIRC. Petco all the way.

Matchup 8: Citizens Bank Park (Phillies) vs. Nationals Park (Nationals, of course). I’ve been to both. They’re both fine, again more like Progressive Field than like Citi Field, but I’m going with Philadelphia. The last time I was in Philadelphia was at a post-season game last fall with tens of thousands of fans into every pitch, while the one game I have attended in Washington was on a dismal gray and rainy day in late September with nothing on the line and a scattered couple of thousand people in the park. Maybe hardly fair, but you gotta choose somehow…Citizens Bank Park got my vote.

Matchup 9: Wrigley Field (Cubs) vs. Bye. I guess Wrigley finished second last year. I love Wrigley, for reasons that are not entirely rational–I grew up in Chicago and attended dozens of games there as a kid and as a teenager, and it’s still a wonderful place to see a game. Certainly Wrigley gets the nod over Bye, though more than 10% of voters actually opted for Bye both here and in the PNC matchup. People.

Matchup 10: Kauffman Stadium (Royals) vs. Coors Field (Rockies). I really, really enjoyed my trip to Coors, despite the temperature dipping into the thirties (we drank hot chocolate, for goodness sakes)–which does not imply that Kauffman is a dump, just that I’ve never gotten the sense that it’s near the same level. Coors.

Matchup 11: Target Field (Twins) vs. Guaranteed Rate Field (White Sox). Been to the latter, which I found generally unimpressive–not bad, unlike its predecessor, just not especially good. As for Target, I put it into the same category as the parks in Detroit and Milwaukee, which is to say highly-praised-by-those-who-have-been-there, so it’s an easy choice.

Matchup 12: T-Mobile Park (Mariners) vs. Busch Stadium (Cardinals). I have been to Busch, and it’s a very nice place to see a game. I understand the same is true of T-Mobile Park, but in this case I decided to go with the one I had experience with; it might be different if I had the sense that Seattle ranked up there with Coors or Oracle, but I don’t. So it’s close, but it’s Busch.

Matchup 13: Oriole Park (guess who) and Oakland Coliseum (also guess who). This is maybe the easiest of all. If anyone has EVER had a good thing to see about the place where the A’s are currently hanging their collective hats, I missed it. Whereas I think Oriole Park is spectacular. One of my very favorites; I’ve only been there twice and I’d go back in a heartbeat (unfortunately it takes many heartbeats to get there). It took me less than a heartbeat to opt for Oriole.

Matchup 14: Yankee Stadium (----) vs. Great American Ball Park (Reds). Been to the first, not the second. For me, this one is much like the St. Louis vs. Seattle matchup above–I like Yankee Stadium just fine and haven’t heard enough good things about GABP to make me want to vote for that one instead, though I’m sure it’s also fine. Yankee for me.

Matchup 15: Dodger Stadium (-----) vs. Angel Stadium (------). Both get brownie points for making it very clear who plays there. I have never seen either, but my impression is that Dodger Stadium is a lovely place to see a game and Angel Stadium isn’t (not at the level of Oakland or Tampa Bay, just…isn’t), so I picked Dodger.

Matchup 16: Truist Park (Braves) vs. Minute Maid Park (Astros). I saw Minute Maid from the outside, but it was March and no one was playing; I did see a game in Atlanta, but that was before Truist was built. I don’t have a really good sense of either of them, but finally went for Truist because I used the usually-closed roof (see Rogers Centre) in Minute Maid as a tiebreaker. Truist it is.

There! You can tell me where I’m right and (mostly, I’m sure) where I’m wrong, and maybe you’ll do some voting yourself (you can vote once a day). Curious to know what others think.

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I’ve never been to PNC Park, but from a scenery, visual angle perspective it was clearly the best designed, with the backdrop of Pittsburgh.

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Yes, the PNC Park pictures I’ve seen that show the skyline are very impressive. Really hoping to add that one to my Life List this summer.

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I’ll quibble here. Kauffman itself is a wonderful ballpark, especially since the renovations. The bones of it are slowly deteriorating, and so they’re looking to build anew, but it’s a great park. Awesome sight lines, tons of amenities, great concourses, the fountains, the museum. Coors in an adequate stadium, but it’s not anything but above-average. However, I give Coors HUGE bonus points for its location in downtown Denver. It’s in a great, walkable area of town with tons of bars, restaurants and hotels.

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Hey, nice to know you like Kauffman so much! For what it’s worth, the folks at Ballpark Digest seeded it ahead of Coors (though not by much–#15 to #18), so they agree with you.

On the other hand, Coors is currently ahead in the balloting by checks 60%-40%.

Obviously, I can’t compare the two directly, having never laid eyes on Kauffman (and never having even been to Kansas City). But my experience with Coors is that it’s not just above average, but well above average–top tier, in fact. So I’m comfortable sticking with my vote in this case. But as I say it’s good to know Kauffman might be in the same general range. Maybe someday…

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You chose…wisely.

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I haven’t been to as many stadiums as the OP, but of the ones I’ve visited, Oracle (Giants) is so far above all others, I can’t imagine anything better. It’s in downtown, beautiful views of the Bay from all sides, the fun of home runs landing in the Bay where kayakers race to grab them, good sightlines, good food and drink.

Seattle’s park is also very nice, again walkable from downtown and with good views of the Sound, but it isn’t quite like the SF experience.

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I certainly have heard great things about Oracle! The one person I know who has been to all 30 current parks says it’s #2, behind only Pittsburgh. So definitely worth a journey. Maybe someday I’ll get there.

They’re in the second round now. Of the parks that have been mentioned by others, Dodger Stadium did beat Angel Stadium–rather handily–and PNC (Pittsburgh) and Oracle made short work of their opponents (understanding that PNC had a first round bye). However, Kauffman (Royals) lost out to Coors (Rockies), and Seattle’s stadium also lost in the first round.

Second round matchups and my picks:

1: PNC (Pirates) vs. American Family Field (Brewers)–never been to either, heard better things about PNC so that got my vote.

  1. Fenway (Red Sox) vs. Comerica (Tigers)–been to Fenway, which I found unimpressive, so I voted for Comerica even though it doesn’t seem to be a top-rank 21st century stadium.

  2. Oracle (Giants) vs. Progressive (Guardians)–Progressive is fine, just fine, and I’ve never been to Oracle, but so many people speak so highly of it…I chose Oracle.

  3. Petco (Padres) vs. Citizens Bank (Phillies)–been to both, I like Citizens Bank Park, but Petco was definitely in a higher tier. Petco.

  4. Wrigley (Cubs) vs. Coors (Rockies)–This one was tough as I really, really like Coors, but I like Wrigley better. Been to both. I voted for Wrigley…though kind of reluctantly.

  5. Target (Twins) vs. Busch (Cardinals)–only been to Busch, which is very nice. I hear good things about Target too, but I’ll take the one I know. Busch. At the moment this is the closest of the eight races, with Target holding a small lead.

  6. Oriole (Orioles) vs. Great American (Reds). I’ve been to Baltimore, love their park. Haven’t been to Great American; I have a hard time believing it’s nearly as nice. Oriole Park (and at the moment at least this is the biggest rout, with 81% of the votes going to Oriole Park).

  7. Dodger (Dodgers) vs. Truist (Braves). This is the other matchup between stadiums I’ve never been to. I chose Dodger Stadium based on…not very much!

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Down to the Final Four:

Petco (Padres) vs. PNC (Pirates)
Target (Twins) vs. Oriole (Orioles)

I voted for the two I’d been to, San Diego and Baltimore, both of which are wonderful places to see a game. I expect the other two are as well…

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This is a reasonable Final Four, though I’m surprised San Francisco didn’t make it; I would absolutely rank it over Camden Yards and probably over Target Field, too.

SkyDome (screw Rogers) would have done better had this vote been held a year from now when they finish rebuilding it. It already looks a lot better, but a lot more is to be done next offseason. I wouldn’t put it with the very best but it’s a lot better.

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It was up against Petco. That’s a rough draw. I really like Oracle, but I think I’d rather see a game at Petco than any other MLB stadium. Added plus that I can walk to the field from about 4 of my favorite hotels in the Gaslamp.

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I was at Target Field for opening day this year and while the park looked great from the seats something felt off while walking the concourse. When originally opened the concourse felt very airy and bright since there was this great unobstructed view of the field while you walked along it. The light from the glow of the field illuminated the concourse and it was just an enjoyable place to meander.
It looks like over the years however they have crammed more and more stuff between the concourse and that last row of seats. More food vendors, broadcast booth, carts of whatever, etc. It blocks the view and the light and the concourse feels dark and dingy from what I remembered.

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Yeah, I’ve never seen Oracle but I have visited Petco, which is indeed a terrific place to see a game. I voted for Petco myself: the place I knew was wonderful from direct experience over the one I’ve only been told is wonderful.

@Hampshire, sorry you don’t like Target Field as much as you used to. Dark and dingy is not good. It’s another one I’ve never visited, but the pics always make it look very inviting. Certainly a millionfold improvement over the Metrodome, where I did attend a couple of games. (Dark and dingy was the Metrodome’s stock in trade.)

@RickJay, Ballpark Digest does this survey every year, or at least has for some time now, so it will be interesting to see if SkyDome moves up in people’s estimations when 2024 rolls around. I’ve said it before, but I do think they need to be more open to opening the roof on days when the weather isn’t perfect…having the roof closed the times I’ve been there really brought it down in my estimation.

Looks like PNC is going to beat Petco and Camden Yards will defeat Target Field, which will set up a Pirates vs. Orioles final. I’ll vote for Baltimore–as with SF vs. SD, the one I KNOW is great vs. the one I’ve only been TOLD is great.