SI's Ballpark Rankings

[Aviator_Frank]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/specials/fansurvey/2008/index.html?eref=T1

[StanTheMan]

Busch Stadium....

Pricey, but best fan IQ in all of baseball, great atmosphere, great tradition, great midwestern hospitality. Sounds about right to me.

[Chevy114]

Tropicana fiield was dead on, the only thing that sucks is that they said traffic was only 11th. Come on an opening day or weekend yanks or sox game and see how great traffic is. Overall its true, its cheap, the food is decent, the neighborhood is boring, and the fans aren't baseball savey. Sometimes I wish I lived in a st. louis where the fans knew what they were talking about.

[TnNYYfan]

Any poll that puts Kauffman and U.S. Cellular ahead of Wrigley, Fenway, YS, Camden and AT&T is flawed IMO.

How could the Rays have more tradition than the Marlins?

[Chevy114]

Any poll that puts Kauffman and U.S. Cellular ahead of Wrigley, Fenway, YS, Camden and AT&T is flawed IMO.

How could the Rays have more tradition than the Marlins?

3 Uniforms technically, a man who hit his 3,000 hit with the team, and that great pick up a few years ago, greg vaughn!

[Lafferty Daniel]

Any poll that puts Kauffman and U.S. Cellular ahead of Wrigley, Fenway, YS, Camden and AT&T is flawed IMO.

How could the Rays have more tradition than the Marlins?

The beautiful Kauffman Stadium belongs in the upper-tier of American ballparks.

[stlfan]

Cubs are ranked better than Cardinals in Tradition? That's odd. That Cardinals have a much better winning tradition. 10 WS Wins. Unless they are ranking it on the ballpark, in which of course Wrigley has been around MUCH longer.

[TnNYYfan]

3 Uniforms technically, a man who hit his 3,000 hit with the team, and that great pick up a few years ago, greg vaughn!

I can't remember his name off the top of my head, but don't forget about the guy who threw a bat at an umpire.

[Chevy114]

I can't remember his name off the top of my head, but don't forget about the guy who threw a bat at an umpire.

Yeah because wade boggs and delmon young should be said in the same sentence lol.

[donut726]

how does the Red Sox have more tradition than the Yankees....26 world championships and legends like Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle...me thinks the Yankees deserve #1 in terms of tradition

[Yoda]

Cubs are ranked better than Cardinals in Tradition? That's odd. That Cardinals have a much better winning tradition. 10 WS Wins. Unless they are ranking it on the ballpark, in which of course Wrigley has been around MUCH longer.

They said tradition.


Losing tradition is still tradition...:highfive:

[stlfan]

They said tradition.


Losing tradition is still tradition...:highfive:

But I still think that the Cards have more of a winning tradition than the Cubs do a losing tradition.

I also agree, the Yankees should be number 1 in tradition over the Red Sox. And I hate the Yankees more than the Red Sox.

[OldeEnglishFan]

the yanks are #1....everybodys heard of them over here in the uk...they are the man utd of baseball..red sox are flavour of the month :)

[whoisonit]

Great to see Detroit ranked so high. That is just a beautiful ballpark. It's a great franchise loaded with tradition and a beautiful baseball palace to play in.

[btown12]

Gotta love the Phils coming in at 30th in Hospitality, haha. I will admit that there are some rowdies at the games but it's mostly boneheads who don't realize it's not an Eagles game. I'm happy with the 7th ranking though in IQ and atmosphere. Anyone who has been to CBP in the last 2 years knows that the games have become much more of an "event" than in years past, and while we may still boo, the fans do know their stuff.

However, the only things you could justifiably rank in a survey like this is cost and team performance since those have numbers backing them up. Everything else is subjective in my book. I mean, did the Dodgers just miss getting the 17 spot in the Fan IQ because an average of 39 less fans per game applaud a sacrifice bunt than in San Francisco? Ahhhh, the beauty of fan surveys! :)

[TnNYYfan]

Gotta love the Phils coming in at 30th in Hospitality, haha. I will admit that there are some rowdies at the games but it's mostly boneheads who don't realize it's not an Eagles game. I'm happy with the 7th ranking though in IQ and atmosphere. Anyone who has been to CBP in the last 2 years knows that the games have become much more of an "event" than in years past, and while we may still boo, the fans do know their stuff.

However, the only things you could justifiably rank in a survey like this is cost and team performance since those have numbers backing them up. Everything else is subjective in my book. I mean, did the Dodgers just miss getting the 17 spot in the Fan IQ because an average of 39 less fans per game applaud a sacrifice bunt than in San Francisco? Ahhhh, the beauty of fan surveys! :)


I lived in Medford Lakes, N.J. in the early '90s and remember watching the Cubs and Phillies at The Vet. Even then as an 8 year old I remember thinking what a terrible place it was to watch a game. I would love to watch a game at CBP though!

[btown12]

I lived in Medford Lakes, N.J. in the early '90s and remember watching the Cubs and Phillies at The Vet. Even then as an 8 year old I remember thinking what a terrible place it was to watch a game. I would love to watch a game at CBP though!

Nice, another fellow (although former) member of Burlington County!!! I'm still in the area and have Sunday tickets, all told I probably get to about 25-30 games a year and it is much more of a party atmosphere than in years prior. Of course being 24, the tailgating/drinking aspect of going to the game appeals to me more than some.

In fact, when the Cubbies were here a few weeks ago, we met/tailgated with some guys from Chicago who were very impressed with the atmosphere and said it reminded them of the "party" feel around Wrigley. They also said the Phils fans were very gracious hosts and no one gave them a hard time even while decked out in Cubs gear..........Mets fans would have been a different story!!! :dance

And as far as the difference between the Vet and CBP........not even close.

[TnNYYfan]

Nice, another fellow (although former) member of Burlington County!!! I'm still in the area and have Sunday tickets, all told I probably get to about 25-30 games a year and it is much more of a party atmosphere than in years prior. Of course being 24, the tailgating/drinking aspect of going to the game appeals to me more than some.

In fact, when the Cubbies were here a few weeks ago, we met/tailgated with some guys from Chicago who were very impressed with the atmosphere and said it reminded them of the "party" feel around Wrigley. They also said the Phils fans were very gracious hosts and no one gave them a hard time even while decked out in Cubs gear..........Mets fans would have been a different story!!! :dance

And as far as the difference between the Vet and CBP........not even close.

I'm 25 so that's kinda funny. My brother went to Shawnee High School and I would have done the same had we stayed.

[StanTheMan]

They said tradition.


Losing tradition is still tradition...:highfive:

You mean the tradition of winning once after every THREE passes from Haley's Comet? (It's been more than two since their last one)

One win every 40+ Olympic Games?

[YankeeFanBx]

It's really a shame , Yankee Stadium being 29th in affordability and food.
Here's hoping the NYS at least has better food, we know the affordability won't get any better.:eek:

[BlueCrew08]

How was Chase 22nd in affordability when they have the lowest average ticket prices. I'm sure the price of food and parking aren't as high as other parks. I also think that for a downtown ballpark it is very easy to get to and from the ballpark and to find parking in some garages for about 8 dollars. It could be that I live here and been to many games maybe I'm wrong.

[alpineinc]

Shea seems about right. Bad traffic, bad food, expensive, crappy neighborhood, lousy promotions - can't wait for the next homestand! See you there!!
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj90/alpineinc/baseball_cool_mets_beer.gif

[RuthMayBond]

Tigers first in team quality? Was this survey taken as the 06 AL playoffs were ending? Or was it taken as the 07 NL playoffs were ending? (Rockies 6th?)
Cubbies less affordable than the Cards? Obviously before the Cards new house.
Oakland has a worse tradition than Padres & Astros?
Seattle 14 slots above Dodgers in atmosphere?
Dodgers neighborhood 10 slots below the Yanks?
Cards 21st in team quality, 9 slots below Cubs & only TWO above Reds?

[soxnut67]

Any poll that puts Kauffman and U.S. Cellular ahead of Wrigley, Fenway, YS, Camden and AT&T is flawed IMO.



No, it's just about time people with brains actually voted. It's about as unflawed as it can get for once.

[keystone]

Wow, no kidding, soxnut67. I can't believe the Pirates got ranked so high in team quality! Are they talking 1979? :confused:

[Great One]

Camden Yards 14th???
Wrigley Field 15th???
Fenway Park 21st???

These rankings are a joke and a complete waste of my time.

Some of these categories just does not belong on this list.

[LetsGoMets687]

Camden Yards 14th???
Wrigley Field 15th???
Fenway Park 21st???

These rankings are a joke and a complete waste of my time.

Some of these categories just does not belong on this list.

I think the overall rankings are not a good indicator, however, I do think the individual category rankings are, if that makes any sense.

[Great One]

I think the overall rankings are not a good indicator, however, I do think the individual category rankings are, if that makes any sense.

Affordability, Food, Atmosphere, Neighborhood, and possibly Promotions are probably the only ones that do belong when breaking it down.

I think ESPN's list the last time they did this is more accurate than anyone that I have read.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stadiums

[Kentucky Bomber]

In 1961 Roger Maris captivated the nation as he broke the most hallowed record in the history of American sport.

The 1961 SI Sportsman of the Year was Jerry Lucas of Ohio State.

I have paid little attention to anything that has appeared in that toffee nosed rag since.

[RuthMayBond]

Wow, no kidding, soxnut67. I can't believe the Pirates got ranked so high in team quality! Are they talking 1979? :confused:Dead last is "so high"? :confused:

[Chevy114]

I just realized how stupid this thing is. If most of these people haven't been to every ballpark how can they say the food and atmosphere at their park is average or not?

[Gary Dunaier]

I just realized how stupid this thing is. If most of these people haven't been to every ballpark how can they say the food and atmosphere at their park is average or not?

And even those who have... what's to stop them from giving extra points to their favorite team, warranted or not? (Example: Even I have to agree that Shea/Citi is in a motley area, but as a Mets fan I'm more likely to go easy on them for that than someone who doesn't worship at the altar of the Amazin's.)

[locke40]

the yanks are #1....everybodys heard of them over here in the uk...they are the man utd of baseball..red sox are flavour of the month :)

:rofl: I love it!

[STLCards2]

I am assuming that the survey didn't try to gauge how much tradition each franchise had, however, how much tradition was captured/expressed by the ballpark-via flags, statues, historical markers, etc. This is maybe how the Yanks finished behind the Sox and cubs behind the Cards.

[Astros4Life]

Camden Yards 14th???
Wrigley Field 15th???
Fenway Park 21st???

These rankings are a joke and a complete waste of my time.

Some of these categories just does not belong on this list.

keep in mind this poll was using a fan survey to rank the stadiums