View Full Version : Ballparks That Look Bad on TV
Greg B.
09-01-2008, 05:41 PM
Having had MLB's Extra Innings package the last 2 seasons I've gotten to see all the ballparks in the majors on TV more than a few times. Some of them just don't look good when you're watching a game being televised from them. This may be totally at odds with what it's like to watch a game in person in these parks, but since I haven't been to them in person I can only judge them on the basis of how they come across on TV. Here's my list of the worst on television:
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg - odd lighting, always looks dark inside, field surface looks odd
Minute Maid Park, Houston - not as dark as some other roofed stadiums but too gimmicky with the train and Tal's hill.
Chase Field, Arizona - dark and gloomy looking
Miller Park, Milwaukee - even with the roof open it looks like a domed stadium on TV
Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati - the only non-roofed park on the list. It just looks strange with the split deck and the riverboat smokestacks in the outfield. Not as bad as the others, but suffering from a bad case of HOK retro disease.
Lafferty Daniel
09-01-2008, 05:59 PM
Having had MLB's Extra Innings package the last 2 seasons I've gotten to see all the ballparks in the majors on TV more than a few times. Some of them just don't look good when you're watching a game being televised from them. This may be totally at odds with what it's like to watch a game in person in these parks, but since I haven't been to them in person I can only judge them on the basis of how they come across on TV. Here's my list of the worst on television:
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg - odd lighting, always looks dark inside, field surface looks odd
Minute Maid Park, Houston - not as dark as some other roofed stadiums but too gimmicky with the train and Tal's hill.
Chase Field, Arizona - dark and gloomy looking
Miller Park, Milwaukee - even with the roof open it looks like a domed stadium on TV
Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati - the only non-roofed park on the list. It just looks strange with the split deck and the riverboat smokestacks in the outfield. Not as bad as the others, but suffering from a bad case of HOK retro disease.
Agreed. The retractable roof ballparks do look dark and dismal on TV.
In person, Miller Park was pretty nice, yet truly felt like a giant gymnasium with grass.
zengator
09-01-2008, 07:00 PM
Truly, the turf at the Trop looks terrible on the tube.
TinoM24
09-01-2008, 07:05 PM
the turf at Tropicana looks like green suede carpet on tv. I dont know if thats how it looks in person, but it always looked like that to me.
Aviator_Frank
09-01-2008, 07:23 PM
Interesting thread, because sometimes I'll choose to watch a game on MLB EI based not on the teams but at what stadium they're playing at.
Yes The Trop's grass looks very strange, like it's damp or something. Plus, when a ball drops into it something splashes back up. But I do like the full-dirt infield of the place, the only one of its kind.
Bad on TV - Chase (yes it's as gloomy in person w/the roof closed as on TV), Dolphin, Wrigley night games (shadowy lighting), Turner at night (also lousy lighting), RFK (it's just as bad in person), the Metrodome, and Kauffman, but I think it's just that RSTN's images are very soft and never look good anyway.
Good TV parks - Dodger, AT&T, Yankee (clean blue walls, bright and lively), Camden Yards, Fenway day games,
Parks that look better on TV than in person - Shea and Yankee (you don't see the rust, grime, the stadiums' many splitting seams and general decay - plus ushers don't stand in front of the TV cameras or chain off the front half of my family room so I can't get closer to the TV set)
Park that no HDTV in the world will ever do justice - Dodger Stadium. That place is magnificent. But you don't get Vin Scully at the ballpark like you do at home.
Philtration
09-01-2008, 07:34 PM
Interesting thread, because sometimes I'll choose to watch a game on MLB EI based not on the teams but at what stadium they're playing at.
Yes The Trop's grass looks very strange, like it's damp or something. Plus, when a ball drops into it something splashes back up. But I do like the full-dirt infield of the place, the only one of its kind.
Bad on TV - Chase (yes it's as gloomy in person w/the roof closed as on TV), Dolphin, Wrigley night games (shadowy lighting), Turner at night (also lousy lighting), RFK (it's just as bad in person), the Metrodome, and Kauffman, but I think it's just that RSTN's images are very soft and never look good anyway.
Good TV parks - Dodger, AT&T, Yankee (clean blue walls, bright and lively), Camden Yards, Fenway day games,
Parks that look better on TV than in person - Shea and Yankee (you don't see the rust, grime, the stadiums' many splitting seams and general decay - plus ushers don't stand in front of the TV cameras or chain off the front half of my family room so I can't get closer to the TV set)
Park that no HDTV in the world will ever do justice - Dodger Stadium. That place is magnificent. But you don't get Vin Scully at the ballpark like you do at home.
It is not just TV. Wrigley is too dark during night games. They need to take a cue from Fenway and their lighting.
runningshoes
09-01-2008, 08:12 PM
Rogers Centre.
It's even worse being there.
marlins739
09-01-2008, 08:29 PM
Dolphin Stadium is also dark during night games, because the football lights leave the corners (where the plate is) darkest. I was surprised at how blindingly bright PNC Park was at night in person. On TV it looks normal
JohnCropp
09-01-2008, 08:37 PM
The Trop looks terrible on tv but is actually very easy on the eyes in person.
The sightlines are good, there aren't any field level distractions (aside from that stupid St. Pete Times add in left), and the muted light provided by the translucent doom keeps the place naturally lit but not overly bright.
I'd imagine that the things that make it nice in person make it dark and weird on tv.
It may not be the greatest park in the majors, but I can't think of another that provides a better view of the actual game from anywhere in the stadium.
zengator
09-01-2008, 08:40 PM
the turf at Tropicana looks like green suede carpet on tv. I dont know if thats how it looks in person, but it always looked like that to me.
On TV or in person, it looks a lot like shag carpet that needs a vacumming to get all the fibers going in the same direction. The "dirt" that jumps up is actually little chunks of rubbery stuff to make it play more naturally.
fwiw, I've heard many people say that the Trop looks dark on TV. It kinda does, I guess, but it's not dark or gloomy at all when you're in there. That's especially true during the day, since the roof is translucent.
And, yes, the sightlines are great from just about everywhere.
tugger
09-02-2008, 12:43 AM
It is not just TV. Wrigley is too dark during night games. They need to take a cue from Fenway and their lighting.
No outfield lighting at Wrigley. Who let them get away with that?
tugger
09-02-2008, 12:45 AM
It may not be the greatest park in the majors, but I can't think of another that provides a better view of the actual game from anywhere in the stadium.
PNC, perhaps?
JohnCropp
09-02-2008, 07:45 AM
PNC, perhaps?
Mmmm... at the Trop you don't have the Pirates on the field to distract you from all the baseball happening around them.
Ba-bum!
(Can you believe, a Rays joke at someone else's expense?!)
I haven't been to PNC yet so I can't say, but it will be tough for it to top the Trop... even though it looks alot better aestically.
efin98
09-02-2008, 08:59 AM
Mmmm... at the Trop you don't have the Pirates on the field to distract you from all the baseball happening around them.
Ba-bum!
(Can you believe, a Rays joke at someone else's expense?!)
I haven't been to PNC yet so I can't say, but it will be tough for it to top the Trop... even though it looks alot better aestically.
Amazing what a winning season, comfortable division lead, and better attendance can do for you :eek:
No outfield lighting at Wrigley. Who let them get away with that?
Outfield standards would have ruined the vista.
She looks really dark on TV, but in person seems brighter than Turner Field, the other "dark" night park. In any case I've never heard any significant criticism of the lighting at either park by players.
locke40
09-02-2008, 12:21 PM
I think Progressive Field looks the worst on TV; but only from the centerfield camera, behind the pitcher. I like to look at the fans behind homeplate and their reactions/faces/general mannerisms during the game, not a disgusting backstop.
Other stadiums that look terrible from the centerfield camera:
- Metrodome: again, can't see any fans from centerfield camera
- Camden Yards: everything looks good until you see that the bricks are fake on an awkward access door on the backstop (kind of have to see it to understand)
- Comerica Park: just saw this yesterday during Yankees game; really terrible looking tunnel directly behind the plate, where fans could be sitting.
As much as I hate the Red Sux, Fenway looks awesome from the centerfield camera. The fans are so close, and there are no awkward tunnels or anything distracting the view. I am really hoping NYS looks as good as Fenway from the centerfield camera.
Aviator_Frank
09-02-2008, 12:34 PM
What's maddening about Comerica is that it's a south-facing park, so during day games especially in late June early July the grass is lit up from behind by the sun and it glows a light green as seen from cameras behind the backstop.
Plus the backstop itself is awash in sunlight.
I was watching Yesterday's Met game at Miller Park and those shadows are obnoxious as well. Late in the game you couldn't follow the baseball from the pitcher to home plate because the sun was coming in from behind the first base line through the glass windows.
Onemoredayatshea27
09-02-2008, 12:51 PM
I was also watching the Mets game yesterday, and I don't like how Miller Park looks on the TV. To the poster above me, yes those shadows were obnoxious, and it took away from the viewing experience.
Also, I once went to a Wrigley night game and it was darker than a night game at Shea. It wasn't really a problem for me, but I can see how it may annoy others.
BradC34
09-02-2008, 02:08 PM
Not a ballpark but Texas A&M's Kyle Field is notorious for its bad lighting. It looks pretty dark in person... I can't imagine what its like on TV. On the other hand Olsen Field, the baseball stadium, actually has really good lighting.
tugger
09-02-2008, 03:13 PM
Outfield standards would have ruined the vista.
She looks really dark on TV, but in person seems brighter than Turner Field, the other "dark" night park. In any case I've never heard any significant criticism of the lighting at either park by players.
Every other lighted MLB park in history had lighting in the outfield. Is Wrigley's "vista" really that fragile?
Every other lighted MLB park in history had lighting in the outfield. Is Wrigley's "vista" really that fragile?
http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Wrigley-Field-Photograph-C13028326.jpeg
tugger
09-02-2008, 04:20 PM
http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Wrigley-Field-Photograph-C13028326.jpeg
So you're saying the vista is that fragile and could not deal with lighting the park to MLB standards.
I think that's the whole point. Much was made of it in the years immediately before and after 8/8/88, 'cause they wanted it to look good on TV and in person. There's nothing in baseball quite like a blast out of Wrigley and into the Chicago night.
It's at MLB standards, BTW.
tugger
09-02-2008, 04:51 PM
Well, I choose to give Wrigley more credit than that.
By MLB standards, what I meant was standards we've come to expect from an MLB park. I was unclear with that.
tugger
09-02-2008, 05:43 PM
I think Progressive Field looks the worst on TV; but only from the centerfield camera, behind the pitcher. I like to look at the fans behind homeplate and their reactions/faces/general mannerisms during the game, not a disgusting backstop.
As I type there's a guy in the dugout suites behind home plate at The Prog with a cellphone at his ear and waving to the camera. for the last five minutes.
Ban cellphones from MLB parks.
Philtration
09-27-2008, 08:52 PM
Outfield standards would have ruined the vista.
She looks really dark on TV, but in person seems brighter than Turner Field, the other "dark" night park. In any case I've never heard any significant criticism of the lighting at either park by players.
The lights that so many people were afraid of at Wrigley look like they have been there forever. They looked like they belonged right from the fist night game. The design just fits and for a new generation it is all they know.
Certainly the team can come up with a design for a couple of outfield light towers that fit into the design of the ballpark without anyone crying over it. If the Cubs can paint advertising on the outfield doors, put in those scrolling billboards behind home plate and expand the bleachers and sell naming rights to them then this can be done too.
Great One
09-29-2008, 12:56 PM
I have a hard time watching any game from Nationals Park. Nice place to see a game live, but not on tv thanks to the tv booth being so high.
PeteU
09-29-2008, 01:21 PM
I have a hard time watching any game from Nationals Park. Nice place to see a game live, but not on tv thanks to the tv booth being so high.
I second on that. Several times when watching a game from Nationals Park I saw the camera man pan out towards the outfield bleachers on a pop-up that barely got passed the infield.
I know the press boxes are at the top row of the ballpark, but isn't there a way to put the cameras at the traditional mezannine level so not to distort the fly balls?
Yankees12
09-29-2008, 02:34 PM
I don't like the centerfield camera at PNC Park - it's too close to the ground, IMO. Other than that, PNC looks fantastic on TV, just like it does in person.
I also don't like the background at Dodger Stadium - I prefer having a solid background as opposed to a see-through fence behind the plate.
Night games at Wrigley are terrible to watch on TV. I think the Cubs should look into temporary lighting fixtures that can be placed on the sidewalk next to the park that are only there during night games, and then rolled away during all other times.
NYFan1stYankFan2nd
09-29-2008, 03:39 PM
Actually, all baseball fields and football arenas look rather "there" on my set - I calibrated the user setttings to duplicate broadcast references.
Bobby_Ayala
09-29-2008, 07:00 PM
Any ballpark where the game is played in cold weather. Hate it.:thumbsdown: All the beautiful females cheering the hometown 9 are bundled up.:banghead:
The Kid
09-29-2008, 07:05 PM
The Trop: The lighting is dim, and the turf looks like a dirty old carpet.
I'm going to defend the Metrodome because I think that wall of seats in RF is pretty cool. It seems monolithic. I also like the drape in the CF UD that has all the player pics on it.
BAD on TV: BallPark at arlington at night. Too dark.
Also, McAffe during the day. It always seems so freaking bright!
Chevy114
10-01-2008, 06:08 AM
I don't like watching enclosed stadiums on tv like dolphins stadium. I feel like you get lost in the view of seats I guess its just too big of a capcity for me to like it.
The trop is fine in person. You can definately tell a lighting different between day and night games in person though. It looks 10% darker at night which is to be expected with a teflon roof.
Gary Dunaier
10-01-2008, 10:09 AM
I only saw highlights on the news but the "Cell" in Chicago looked pretty dark, particularly the seats behind the plate and the area in the outfield.
mets16
10-01-2008, 10:32 AM
I only saw highlights on the news but the "Cell" in Chicago looked pretty dark, particularly the seats behind the plate and the area in the outfield.
On top of that it was a "black out" game where fans dressed in black and black rally towels were distributed. Not very intimidating when you can't see them.
tugger
10-01-2008, 10:34 AM
On top of that it was a "black out" game where fans dressed in black and black rally towels were distributed. Not very intimidating when you can't see them.
Well, the Twins did not look very comfortable at the plate.
Aviator_Frank
10-01-2008, 06:13 PM
Regarding Wrigley's horrible lighting due to a lack of outfield lights or wrap-around grandstand lights: TBS just showed a replay of Loney's grand slam from a camera mounted high up in centerfield, and the ball looked almost black as it was in shadow.
Look at the back of the pitcher as he faces home; totally dark.
They've got 2 banks of lights on 2 diverging grandstands; not a good recipe for backlighting.
EdTarbusz
10-02-2008, 12:15 AM
As I type there's a guy in the dugout suites behind home plate at The Prog with a cellphone at his ear and waving to the camera. for the last five minutes.
Ban cellphones from MLB parks.
You would have loved it when Jacobs Field first opened. Before that small rotatib ad was added, you would get a full view of the dugout level seats. There would generally be about thirty people in there, and two or three would be watching the game.
Aviator_Frank
10-02-2008, 07:21 AM
There would generally be about thirty people in there, and two or three would be watching the game.
Just like the Miller Beer delivery man would say, as he walks into a suite at the ballpark: "Can anyone here tell me what inning we're in? . . . . (Blank expressions) . . . Uh-huh. You just lost your right to enjoy the High Life."
"Eleven dollars for a can of toonah?"
I love those ads.