On Retractable Roofs

[KevinWI]

Why are retractable roofs so unpopular here on the forum? Admittedly, some here in Milwaukee were concerned about the added cost, but I think it's paid for itself. I'm such a passionate baseball fan that any day where baseball isn't played is dreadful.

One thing, I think has to do with it is the unpopularity of domes. I think most baseball fans think that retractable roofs are closer to domes while I think fans with retractable roofs think of their stadiums as being closer to open air stadia (at least I do, the Rogers Centre is pretty dome-esque).

Come on, guys. Give retractable roofs a chance. Miller Park, Minute Maid Park and SAFECO are great looking parks and hey - it lets us play ball.

[Commodore Crablegs]

Random thoughts...

- Ballparks that look like airplane hangers on google maps are hilarious. I laugh at them often. Not gut busting laughter mind you...more like a Beavis laugh that finishes with an evil grin of satisfaction.

- Torrential downpours would make parks have roofs. Meaty roofs would need support columns. Columns are genuine retro-ness. Everyone loves retro when its not synonymous with "precast red-brick facade". The logic is undeniable.

- It kills the ambiance to have the retracted roof elements hulk over the OF scenery and/or cast mega shadows on the field. Unless those shadows look like a bunny or a bird flapping its wings.

- And finally.....baseball was always made to be played on the frozen tundra of Wisconsin.

[Rennie Stennett]

September in Seattle is the best time of year. The weather is good and not too hot. The sunsets are marvelous. On the flip side, April and May can be down right freeze a**. Attendance in April and May is low even with a retractable roof. The Safe is an open air stadium, which lets the prevailing wind (out of the SW in Spring) blow right in off of the Sound.

If they could only play in the Kingdome in April and May and then play in Safeco the rest of the year.

[YankeeFanBx]

If a baseball can be played during a rain storm, why not?
If a baseball game can be played comfortably when it's 31 degrees outside, why not?
If a baseball game can be played with the thermometer at 104 degrees, why not?
In some parts of this great nation a retractable roof is what's needed on a ballpark to make it worth it's while, and so fans can sit in the stands and be comfortable.

[Greg B.]

Come on, guys. Give retractable roofs a chance. Miller Park, Minute Maid Park and SAFECO are great looking parks and hey - it lets us play ball.

I respectfully disagree with you on two of your three choices. I find Miller Park in particular an abomination -- hulkingly oversized from outside, with awkward, ugly looking structural elements exposed to the observer. Minute Maid is not far behind, though it looks more like a warehouse from outside than an airplane hangar like Miller. Any park that is surrounded by tall vertical windows/walls in areas not enclosed by the stands looks like an indoor stadium regardless of whether the roof is open.

The design of Safeco is the only one that works for me. Somehow they managed to keep the ambiance of an outdoor stadium when the roof is open. I am of the belief that baseball is meant to be played outdoors, not in climate-controlled indoor diamonds. Rain is the enemy of baseball, not cold or heat or wind, all of which add interest to the game.

[Wall-E]

If a baseball can be played during a rain storm, why not?
If a baseball game can be played comfortably when it's 31 degrees outside, why not?
If a baseball game can be played with the thermometer at 104 degrees, why not?
In some parts of this great nation a retractable roof is what's needed on a ballpark to make it worth it's while, and so fans can sit in the stands and be comfortable.

They ban non-baseball stadium thread, but they didn't ban rhetorical questions!!!

[Chevy114]

I would love a retractable roof in tampa. We get a lot of rain and humidity in the summer and if we do a butterfly roof like the brewers, it wouldn't look horrible. Espically if the owners put some effort into making the outside of the stadium look good not just plain and boring like some retractable stadiums.

[Dodgeboy]

The biggest problem with even retractable roofs is MLB's stupid policy of letting the starting pitcher decide if the roof will be open or closed! So, it's 81º outside, sunny with a slight breeze, low humidity and a few puffy clouds, and Mr Starter wants the roof CLOSED because it helps his averages. :banghead:
Complete BS. The roof should only be closed if it's raining or it's 100º+

I'm just glad the Twins skipped the roof after all. Even though it would have been open-air like Safeco's, and stored behind the 3rd base line st you couldn't see it, the shadow on the field would have been huge.
51714

And, compare the left field seating with a roof and without:
WITH
51713

WITHOUT a roof and it's supports
51712
pics from twinsballpark2010.com

[jimmyjimjimz]

Look at that turtle dome Giuliani wanted to build in The Bronx. That's your answer to why I don't like domes. Plus, they take like 15 years to build, cause they gotta put the stupid roof together piece by piece. And, think about it:

Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizutto, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Gil Hodges, etc, etc. never played in a dome. Baseball should not be played in a stadium with a roof, unless it's in a place like Arizona, where it's constantly 100000000000000000000000 and a half degrees out.

[Wall-E]

Look at that turtle dome Giuliani wanted to build in The Bronx. That's your answer to why I don't like domes. Plus, they take like 15 years to build, cause they gotta put the stupid roof together piece by piece. And, think about it:

Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizutto, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Gil Hodges, etc, etc. never played in a dome. Baseball should not be played in a stadium with a roof, unless it's in a place like Arizona, where it's constantly 100000000000000000000000 and a half degrees out.

That's a really stupid argument against domes. Technology couldn't let them build dome stadiums back then; if they could I'm sure the owners of back then would.

That's like saying "George Washington never drove a car. We shouldn't either!"

[Chevy114]

That's a really stupid argument against domes. Technology couldn't let them build dome stadiums back then; if they could I'm sure the owners of back then would.

That's like saying "George Washington never drove a car. We shouldn't either!"

Agreed if owners never had to worry about a rain out some of those cheap owners of the past would do it in the heartbeat!

[YankeeFanBx]

They ban non-baseball stadium thread, but they didn't ban rhetorical questions!!!
No, they didn't.:applaud:

[mrakbaseball]

:baseball:

[pudgie_child]

The ultimate goal of a great ballpark is to serve as a amphitheater which connects with it neighborhood and its city, each experiencing the shared environment. When it rains in the city, it rains at the ballpark. Likewise, when it's 102 degrees in the city, it's 102 degrees at the ballpark.

By definition, a retractable roof obliterates that connection by separating the "theater" of the ballpark from the community and the city. While it is possible to build a retractable roof that mitigates the drawbacks of that separation (this was attempted at Safeco Field, and the idea was further improved upon in the proposed St. Pete ballpark), a climate-controlled ballpark, like Miller Park, too severely isolates the amphitheater from the community rather than allow for that important symbiosis between a ballpark and its surroundings.

[Chevy114]

I wouldn't mind them if the pitchers didn't get to choose whether it was open or not for the game. I would prefer the weather decide if it should be open for the game.

[Astros]

I wouldn't mind them if the pitchers didn't get to choose whether it was open or not for the game. I would prefer the weather decide if it should be open for the game.

In Houston, it is team management that decides. The players may have a preference but they do not make the decision.

[Aviator_Frank]

IN AZ back when Schilling was there he would lobby to have to roof closed. Games in April were played enclosed because His Majesty wanted no wind or shadows.

[Goober]

I don't care who makes the decision, it's assinine when you see that it's 57 degrees and sunny, and the roof at Miller Park is closed (as has happened several times).

I don't know if you can have a standard (i.e. only closed when it's below 50), but that's not cold, and Milwaukeeans just come across as wimps when a beautiful fall day has folks clammoring for the roof to be closed...

Moose

[Chevy114]

IN AZ back when Schilling was there he would lobby to have to roof closed. Games in April were played enclosed because His Majesty wanted no wind or shadows.

He claimed it was his wife who had skin cancer wouldn't go to games unless it was closed.

All I know is that I wish we had one tampa, it would be fun to have one to deal with the rain but open for the summer heat.

[Astros]

I don't care who makes the decision, it's assinine when you see that it's 57 degrees and sunny, and the roof at Miller Park is closed (as has happened several times).

I don't know if you can have a standard (i.e. only closed when it's below 50), but that's not cold, and Milwaukeeans just come across as wimps when a beautiful fall day has folks clammoring for the roof to be closed...

Moose

I've heard stadium personnel from Milwaukee and Houston and they have the opposite issues regarding fans and the roof. In Milwaukee, fans complain to have the roof closed and turn on the heating system if it is even a little cool outside and in Houston fans complain if the roof is open and they are sitting in the heat. Of course it is not everyone who complains but if enough people do, you know what they say about the squeaky wheel. It is amazing because people sit in rain and snow for football games and still stand and cheer like crazy without complaints. But, baseball can be a different crowd.

[pudgie_child]

He claimed it was his wife who had skin cancer wouldn't go to games unless it was closed.

Why couldn't she sit in the shade?

[Seattle1]

Why couldn't she sit in the shade?

Maybe she could sit in the luxury box out of the direct sunlight.

:twocents:

[Aviator_Frank]

He was/is a prima donna.

[DGDGBD]

Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizutto, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Gil Hodges, etc, etc. never played in a dome. Not to be a dick, but Mantle and Mays did - Astrodome.

[dknights411]

I've heard stadium personnel from Milwaukee and Houston and they have the opposite issues regarding fans and the roof. In Milwaukee, fans complain to have the roof closed and turn on the heating system if it is even a little cool outside and in Houston fans complain if the roof is open and they are sitting in the heat. Of course it is not everyone who complains but if enough people do, you know what they say about the squeaky wheel. It is amazing because people sit in rain and snow for football games and still stand and cheer like crazy without complaints. But, baseball can be a different crowd.

I'm not surprised. There is a big difference between watching a game when it's in the 50s outside and watching a game in 95 degree heat and 85% humidity. The former is at least tolerable, but the latter is just downright oppressive physically and mentally, especially when you throw in all those lovely summertime insects into the mix. Trust me, summers in Texas must ALWAYS be spent indoors.

[Yankees12]

I'm not surprised. There is a big difference between watching a game when it's in the 50s outside and watching a game in 95 degree heat and 85% humidity. The former is at least tolerable, but the latter is just downright oppressive physically and mentally, especially when you throw in all those lovely summertime insects into the mix. Trust me, summers in Texas must ALWAYS be spent indoors.

I've watched games in 95 degree weather with that type of humidity at Yankee Stadium before. Hell, one game I went to this summer, it reached 100, and there had to be at least 75% humidity, and I was sitting right up in the upper deck. It's tough, sure, but the ballpark doesn't need to be closed off because of it. I still had a great time, even if I was soaked in my own sweat at the end of the day.

I wouldn't give up that outdoors feel just to be in a nice air conditioned environment. For an extremely cold or rainy climate, there's a difference, considering baseball can't be played in the snow or rain. But it sure as hell can be played in the heat.

[dknights411]

I've watched games in 95 degree weather with that type of humidity at Yankee Stadium before. Hell, one game I went to this summer, it reached 100, and there had to be at least 75% humidity, and I was sitting right up in the upper deck. It's tough, sure, but the ballpark doesn't need to be closed off because of it. I still had a great time, even if I was soaked in my own sweat at the end of the day.

I wouldn't give up that outdoors feel just to be in a nice air conditioned environment. For an extremely cold or rainy climate, there's a difference, considering baseball can't be played in the snow or rain. But it sure as hell can be played in the heat.

I'm pretty sure NYC doesn't have the insects that we have here in Texas, but I see your point. But considering that 85% of the season is played in the warmest months of the year, your fall nor'easters aren't really on the radar when it comes to building ballparks. I don't mind roofs in places like Texas and Phoenix at least, but that's just me.