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Fenway, pre-expansion (before all the skyboxes and Monster seats were added). It’d be fun to see it before the Green Monster was added and fans sat on the grass on the outfield slope, but I’d want to play off the wall.
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Polo Grounds, for the reasons listed above.
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Wrigley, pre-lights.
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Tiger Stadium. I still kick myself that I didn’t go before it was torn down, while I lived in Chicago.
I can’t think of a good 5th park – too many contenders. Probably Ebbets Field or old Yankee Stadium.
While I’d like to see a lot of the classic ballparks, the only one I’ve got a deep emotional attachment to can’t exactly be called a classic: Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. That’s where I really became a baseball fan, watching the O’s of the late Weaver years.
I’d like to play there specifically during the 1972-78 period, after they ceased being World Series regulars, and before they became a big deal with the 1979 Orioles Magic season. (A fun ride as a fan, excepting those last three games of course.)
I remember getting into really excellent conversations with people sitting near me at the games in those years - conversations with knowledgeable fans I’d never seen before, and usually never saw again. I’d like to play before fans like those. They may not have been as numerous as the fans elsewhere, but they weren’t sparse either, by the standards of the time, just kinda middlin’ crowds.
I’ve been to OP@CY, but every time I’ve been there, it’s been with people for whom the game was almost an afterthought. That left a bad taste in my mouth. Also, while it may have been the first ‘retro’ ballpark, retro became an overdone fad. I really would rather go back in time to Memorial Stadium, and since that’s impossible, give me Nats Park any day.
League Park, here in my old neighborhood. It is baseball’s oldest existing Major League ball grounds, and was recently restored.
Those are awesome photographs. I never knew they were that close. Boy, does that make me appreciate/understand the Yankees/Giants rivalry better than ever.
I disagree that Memorial Stadium isn’t a classic park. I loved that place. It had terrible parking, and if you got stuck in the lot across the street, where everyone was bumper to bumper, you weren’t leaving until the guy in front of you left. And no one seemed to mind! True baseball fans went to 33rd street. One of my best memories of my entire life was when I was taken to Memorial Stadium by my friends for my birthday. The entire crowd around us sang “Happy Birthday”, and it was awesome. About 3 sections of total strangers joined in. And I shared cake with everyone until it ran out. I never DID get a bite of that cake, but oh well.
I also got a chance to get a behind-the-scenes tour of Memorial Park. My friend won a radio contest, so we were shown all sorts of cool things. I liked it better than Camden Yards, but I understand why they moved it. They wanted to get closer to DC, and if you were coming into the ball park from the south, you had to navigate through the city.
I don’t know… Is it still there? It was there for the longest time after OP@CY opened, but I haven’t been there in years so I have no idea if they use it for something or they tore it down.
They tore it down. There are projects there now.
As a kid, the Polo Grounds and Ebbet’s Field always fascinated me (both well before my time). So I’d pick those. For weirdness factor, LA Coliseum and San Jose’s Sodality Park. (Oddly enough, I can’t find a single picture or diagram of Sodality Park. I remember hearing about it as a kid, and remember it being really odd, but I’d love to see even a mock-up of it now to see if it’s as weird as I remember.)
It’s a tie between Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati and Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
[D&R]
Clark Field, home of the University of Texas Longhorns, had a cliff in play!
Lake Front Park, original home of what would become the Cubs, had the shortest lines ever in a major league park. So short that any ball coming to rest beyond the fence was a ground rule double.
That’s really awesome how they restored the field with original dimensions and every HS team in Cleveland gets to play there once a year. I’d have preferred natural grass but if turf is the only way to make the money work for the project, that’s fine.
Wow, you ain’t kidding.
It’s definitely awesome. There are also vintage ball teams that play there, with turn of the century era uniforms and rules.
Good one, and not just because even though I’m a big baseball fan I’d never heard of it before.
Put me down for original Comiskey Park in Chicago. After the game we could’ve gone across the street to McCuddy’s Bar and have a beer with the ancient bartender who had served more than one to Babe Ruth.
You left out Shea!
If we’re going in that direction, either Olympic Stadium in Montreal or the Oakland Coliseum, preferably on a day when the attendance is in the low four digits.
Revived just for you.
Sodality Park(1931 aerial photo) inserted into Google Maps.
Oh, wow. Really cool. Thanks for the pics. Yeah, it’s an odd one.
When I was a student at Boston University, I played intramural softball at Nickerson Field, which used to be Braves Field. That was pretty cool.
I agree for the sake of nostalgia, but also because I could never come close to reaching the fences of even the smallest parks in major league history, but I can run very fast. I’d like a park with a huge outfield so that I would have a better chance of spraying a few singles and doubles. LOL
I was born after it was torn down, but I’m going with Municipal Stadium in Kansas City. It was home to a fascinating group of teams throughout its history. Not only was it the home of the 12-time champion KC Monarchs, the KC Athletics and the KC Royals, but it was home to the 1969 Super Bowl champion KC Chiefs. It wasn’t an impressive stadium by any stretch. If I got a second choice, I’d go with either Shibe or Ebbets - I’d love to see what it felt like to be so enclosed by a stadium like that.
I’m not old enough to have been to the original Yankee Stadium. My first in person game was the first season after of the mid-70s renovation. It would definitely be my choice.