New York Baseball and New Stadium Rankings

Way back in May, I went to a Dodgers-Mets game that I never blogged about.  It was the last of a three-game series.  The Dodgers had won the first two and were going for the sweep.  Clayton Kershaw was not pitching in the series, so I purposely picked the game I went to so that I could see Zack Greinke.  I had never seen him in person and he was clearly the second best pitcher on the Dodgers.  Bad decision.  The Mets had a 3-1 lead after five.  Justin Turner hit a home run to tie it in the seventh, but the Mets scored two more to win 5-3.  Going into that game, Turner was hitting .218.  He's hit just a little bit better since then.  He would lead the NL in batting average if he had enough at bats to qualify.  I love that guy.  He's been huge for the Dodgers as a pinch hitter and as a starter with the injuries to Juan Uribe.

Our view at Citi Field

The only other notable thing about that game for the Dodgers was what was going on in the field.  It was Matt Kemp's last start in center field and there was a reason it was his last start in center field.  He made an error and if I remember correctly, there were a few balls he didn't get to.  Future center fielder Yasiel Puig made this catch.  The Dodgers had been horrendous in the field up to that point.  They've been solid since then.  Definitely not great, but solid.

I came away from that game disappointed with Citi Field.  My dad and I sat up high between home plate and the first base dugout.  Our view was fine.  We were in the wheelchair row of the 400 level, which is a great seat for a lot of reasons.  It's not too expensive, you can get in and out very easily, and it's elevated from the row below it so you never have people in front of you blocking your view when they get up.  But I was really disappointed with the Citi Field food selection, especially on the upper level.  I got a Sam Adams Summer Ale so the beer selection was fine, but the food selection, not so much.  I got a Pat LaFrieda hamburger.  I don't remember seeing Pat LaFrieda at Citi Field before this year, but that was all over Citi Field this year.  It was a totally bland hamburger.  Nothing special about it.  And the concession stand where I got it used to be the Keith Hernandez hamburger stand.  Keith's burgers were better and they were served with a Tootsie Pop (just like the real Keith Hernandez likes, this seemed like something out of a Seinfeld episode).  Pat LaFrieda's hamburger was like a McDonald's quarter pounder with cheese.  Lame.

Last week, I made it to Yankee Stadium with my friend Adam.  I definitely wanted to get there to say goodbye to Derek Jeter.  The Yankees were taking on the Astros.  Michael Pineda pitched well for six innings and didn't get caught with any pine tar, but the Yankees bullpen couldn't hold a 2-1 lead.  The Astros scored four in the seventh and won 5-2.  But Jeter was good.  He DHed and went 2-4 with a walk.  It was nice to see him play well one last time.  I have Mariano Rivera ranked as the greatest player I've ever seen.  Ken Griffey, Jr. would be next on my list, but I don't know if I ever saw him in person.  Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, and Pedro Martinez would all be high on the list, but I don't think I ever saw any of them in person.  Derek Jeter might be the second greatest player I ever saw in person.  I'll miss him.

Our view at Yankee Stadium

Derek Jeter gets a single.

Yankee Stadium had a better food selection than Citi Field, but the beer selection was seriously lacking.  Apparently they have no craft beer except for Yuengling.  They have no beer brewed in New York.  The Bronx has a brewery.  It's three miles away from Yankee Stadium.  I think I've only had it once at Madison Square Garden, so I can't really say how good it is, but it has to be better than a lot of the bad beer they have at Yankee Stadium.  Brooklyn has a brewery that makes some good beers.  Come on Yankees, that's weak.  I decided not to pay a ridiculous amount for a beer that probably wasn't going to be too good.  I had a Summer Ale on tap at Penn Station on the way home (probably my last one on tap for the year), so it worked out fine for me.

So both stadiums are falling in my rankings.  The fact that it's Yankee Stadium and the fact that Yankee Stadium gets better crowds than Citi Field (42,102 at Yankee Stadium and 23,416 at Citi Field for these two games) will keep Yankee Stadium ahead of Citi Field.  But Yankee Stadium really needs better beer.  I can't stress that enough.

Anyway, here are my updated stadium rankings.  I've visited some stadiums for the first time this year and some that I had been to already have moved up or down.  If I've been to a game at these stadiums since the start of the 2012 season, I've blogged about it, so I've included links.  Let's go in reverse order:

26.  SkyDome.  Toronto was fun.  Its baseball stadium needs work.
25.  US Cellular Field.  I was there in 2006.  I'm in no rush to get back.
24.  Marlins Park.  It's much better than playing in a football stadium, but I'm not much of a fan.
23.  Minute Maid Park.  There's nothing special about it.
22.  Turner Field.  It's crazy that the Braves are getting a new stadium so soon, but hopefully it will be better than Turner Field.  By the way, click on that link if you want to see how I had the stadiums ranked before this year.
21.  Progressive Field.  It's like Oriole Park, only not as good.
20.  Chase Field.  I don't like indoor baseball, but you need it in the desert.
19.  Miller Park.  Again, the roof.  But it helps when you go to a game in Milwaukee in early April.
18.  Coors Field.  It's a nice stadium, but baseball shouldn't be played at that altitude.
17.  Shea Stadium.  Totally overrated, I know, but I probably saw 50 games there.
16.  Comerica Park.  I mean considering it's in Detroit, this is a pretty good ranking.
15.  Oriole Park at Camden Yards.  It's nice, but I think it's overrated by most people.
14.  Citi Field.  You just read about Citi Field.
13.  New Yankee Stadium.  You just read about that too, but I included a link because it's a great story.
12.  Safeco Field.  They only use the roof as an umbrella.  I like that.
11.  Citizens Bank Park.  It's good.  Really close between this one and number 10.
10.  Nationals Park.  I had this one underrated before.
9.  Busch Stadium.  St. Louis is a great baseball town.  It's a good stadium, but it left me wanting more.
8.  AT&T Park.  San Francisco is full of hippies and I hate the Giants, but it is a very good baseball stadium.
7.  Kauffman Stadium.  I had high hopes for this one and I was really impressed.  It's a beautiful stadium.
6.  Wrigley Field.  I've moved it down from where I had it before because the Cubs have been so bad that it hurts the atmosphere.  The only time I was there was five years ago.  It was early in the season and the ivy hadn't grown in yet.  I would love to get back there later in the season and blog about it.
5.  Petco Park.  I really liked Petco Park, but I had to move it down a spot because of the Bud Selig Hall of Fame Plaza.  It makes no sense.  If it was in Milwaukee, fine, but Selig has no connection to San Diego.
4.  PNC Park.  Pittsburgh is an underrated city, but people do seem to realize how good their baseball stadium is.  The team has been better the last couple of years which makes the atmosphere better than a place like Wrigley Field or Petco Park.
3.  Old Yankee Stadium.  If you wanted a stadium with a great atmosphere and history, it was the old Yankee Stadium.
2.  Dodger Stadium.  I'm biased, but I love Dodger Stadium.
1.  Fenway Park.  Fenway Park is the gold standard.  I would love to get back to Fenway to see a game played when the weather is warmer than 25 degrees.  I haven't been to Fenway for a baseball game since 2010.  It would be great to get back for a baseball game and blog about it.  Maybe in 2015 (and if not for baseball in 2015, hopefully the Notre Dame-Boston College football game).

Of the stadiums I've been to, I consider the top eight on my list as the elite category.  Since I don't care about getting to Oakland or Tampa, I have four stadiums to go.  All the ones I still have to get to have some appeal to me.  My friend Wilhelm lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, so hopefully I'd see him when I make the trip to Texas to see the Rangers (who I think are the only team that I haven't seen play in person in the last ten years or so).  I was supposed to get to Cincinnati this year, but that didn't happen.  Apparently Great American Park has the best beer selection in baseball.  A trip to Minnesota to see the Twins would mean crossing at least one more state off my list (I'd try to get to a few more than just Minnesota, the Field of Dreams in Iowa would be within driving distance).  And a trip to Anaheim would mean more time in southern California, which is always a good thing.  Hopefully I'd be able to catch a Dodger game also and maybe go to Disneyland or something.

Notre Dame football starts tomorrow.  College football means that my baseball travels are done for 2014, but I have plenty of baseball left to watch on TV.  Hopefully that will include the Dodgers winning the World Series.  Go Irish!  Go Dodgers!