SI: Ranking MLB Stadiums

by stltrav09 on Apr 30, 2008 5:07 PM EDT Comment 27 comments

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/specials/fansurvey/2008/index.html

Cards score pretty good in all categories except ticket prices and team quality. #5 overall. #1 in Fan IQ and Hospitality.

I've visited 7 MLB stadiums and the rankings of each seem pretty spot on. Cub fans will probably disagree.

#1 is Cleveland and last is Florida.

Need 59 more words.. man how bout them Cardinals. Vote Skip Schumaker for the All-Star Game! Go Brewers.. uhhh I have to leave for work in 10 minutes.. uhhh MLB The Show is a great baseball game.... I am watching Around the Horn Jay Mariotti is a moron

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skeptical

Boston #2 for fan IQ? highly doubtful.

Missouri hospitality FTW. Cards #1, Royals #2.

by hit and run on Apr 30, 2008 5:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That I can believe

what I have issues with is the Indians ranking ahead of the Pirates, Reds and in terms of tradition. But it’s just a fan survey, after all.

"You say the world has lost it's love. I say embrace what it's made of" - Dar Williams

by Valatan on Apr 30, 2008 6:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I can see the Indians over the Pirates

They have a very strong team history, just not a lot of championships to show for it. Bob Feller, Lou Boudreau, Satchel Paige, Larry Doby (first AL African American), great town with a solid, albeit tortured, sports tradition.

"Is this Heaven?"
"No, it;s Iowa."
"I could've sworn it was Heaven."

by MilCardFan on Apr 30, 2008 11:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Boston

For someone who has been there, I was very impressed with the Fenway faithful. I got chatted up by roughly 15 people over the course of the game about my Redbirds, and the fans there actually know when big parts of the games are, unlike St. Louis fans who over the past few years pretty much sit on their hands until someone hits a home run.

"Your Holiness, I'm Joseph Medwick. I, too, used to be a Cardinal."-Joe Medwick, to Pope Pius XII.

by redbirdnation8206 on Apr 30, 2008 8:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Priced out

A lot of folks flat can’t afford to go to many games in person at Busch III. I know it’s difficult for me. As an exercise, compare our prices to other teams around the Majors. It’s kind of shocking how much more expensive on average Busch III tickets are.

by bgh on May 1, 2008 8:42 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

really?

come out east, you’ll think differently. perhaps compared to the cincinnatis and kansas citys of the world we’re pricey, but ‘round here (dc/philly/balto/ny/boston) it also costs an arm and a leg to see a ball game, with the lone exception of a trip to baltimore for a non-”premium” game.

go cards, o's, and phillies.

...boiler up.

by moboiler on May 1, 2008 9:31 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Toronto

isn’t too bad though, while currency exchange does suck at these times a lil.

Just thought I’d add them in the convo since Philly was in. Not on the coast, not too far out.

One wouldn’t think the Pirates would be overly expensive considering the attendance levels, but that may be a little too inward.

I use statistics much as a drunken man uses lamp-posts – as support rather than illumination. - Andrew Lang

by AdjustedExpectations on May 1, 2008 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

toronto might as well be pittsburgh

it’s waaaaay inland. at least 6 hours’ drive from any of the other MLB cities in the east.

go cards, o's, and phillies.

...boiler up.

by moboiler on May 1, 2008 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

similar experience

i found the sox fans at fenway to be of a completely different breed than those on the road. they knew their stuff and were friendly and very into the game… which is something i cannot say about those who make the trip down to baltimore to see the sox play the o’s.

go cards, o's, and phillies.

...boiler up.

by moboiler on May 1, 2008 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

Went to a couple of games last year even with a Cards hat on. I didn’t get too much of a hard time at all for it.

It was pretty impressive when I’m around a bunch of heavyweights all Sox’ die hards and we talk about 2004 and come to the same conclusions. We were the better team, but they had the momentum sweep.

Got a few free beers out of that convo, and they kept congrating us on 2006. I walked away from the experience quite happy.

Now wrigley..

I use statistics much as a drunken man uses lamp-posts – as support rather than illumination. - Andrew Lang

by AdjustedExpectations on May 1, 2008 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and we all agreed

Drew wasn’t worth the money :)

I use statistics much as a drunken man uses lamp-posts – as support rather than illumination. - Andrew Lang

by AdjustedExpectations on May 1, 2008 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I also found Sox Fans to be really curteous and knowledgable

I don’t know why that surprised me, but it sure did (and continues to). Yankees fans, on the other hand, were a bunch of drunk, ignorant assholes—at least the ones I sat next to.

by Ray Lankford on May 1, 2008 5:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cubs #3 for tradition?

What tradition might that be?

by LukeMP1186 on Apr 30, 2008 8:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Cubs Tradition?

What about Bartman and Bessie the cow (that started the great Chicago fire)? They have a fine tradition of losing that is unparalleled. I applaud the small bears for their consistency.

by jjray on Apr 30, 2008 10:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cubs tradition=oxymoron?

Just a thought…

"Is this Heaven?"
"No, it;s Iowa."
"I could've sworn it was Heaven."

by MilCardFan on Apr 30, 2008 11:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

100 years of losing tradition

Although, they’ve had some good players come through Des Moines over the last couple of years. That, coupled with $400M in free agent signings give them some short term viability.

by bgh on May 1, 2008 8:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i think the oldness of wrigley

is what did it. in their case, quantity of tradition overcomes quality.

go cards, o's, and phillies.

...boiler up.

by moboiler on May 1, 2008 9:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They were dead on

with Florida. I live in Miami, and going to game here is THE WORST!!

by mikeonthecards on Apr 30, 2008 9:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I am shocked

that Atlanta didn’t rate dead last as far as neighborhoods go. The hood is right across the street!

Cardinal fan in the heart of Braves country
Track 'em Tigers - An SB Nation Blog for Auburn Tigers fans

by Mr Redbird on Apr 30, 2008 9:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

?

Okay, sorry but this list is horrible. I’m pretty sure it’s because it’s based on fan survey, but a lot of this doesn’t make sense. First of all, the brand new Nats stadium falls in at 29? Really? Worse than Tropicana and the Metrodome? Also, Yankee stadium at 20? I know that price and food etc. weigh it down, but that’s an amazing stadium to go to.

Also, I feel like the team quality all depends on the expectations the fans have.

I dunno, I could keep going, but I feel like this is a pretty poorly put together list and do not really even care anymore.

On with the (good) youth movement!

by aet15 on Apr 30, 2008 11:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

in reagards to Nats Staduim

They’re rating RFK. It says so up top. And that’s a pretty acurate rating for that stadium.

Formerly Big Red (victim of the SBNation upgrade)

by Tackle Box on May 1, 2008 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

I live in DC and go to about 10 Nats games a year…I loved RFK, but half of the reason that I loved it was because it was kind of shitty…

Life's a river, kid, you gotta go where it takes you.

by KerouacCardinal on May 1, 2008 4:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

they don’t make ‘em like RFK anymore… the 3 seasons the nats played there were sort of like a trip back to the era of ‘80s baseball with its huge dimensions, few luxury boxes, non-”retro” architecture, tiny scoreboard, and few advertisements. going there made you realize that other ballparks of that era that were still around recently like shea, the big A, or busch 2 were significantly renovated at some point – and rfk really wasn’t.

one of the coolest games i’ve ever seen was a sold-out yankees-nats game there in ‘06, when ryan zimmerman hit a walkoff home run (go figure, right?).

go cards, o's, and phillies.

...boiler up.

by moboiler on May 1, 2008 9:42 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

outside of the history

yankee stadium is kind of a dump. getting there is a pain via subway/whatever, the concourses are tiny, aside from the monuments and stuff out in CF the stadium itself is kind of ugly, the scoreboards suck, etc. etc. to me it doesn’t have the quaintness or charm like fenway or wrigley, but the yankee “mystique” is what gives it its power. unfortunately that’s all it’s got.

go cards, o's, and phillies.

...boiler up.

by moboiler on May 1, 2008 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It has that announcer guy too

and that they play New York, New York when they win, which is a respectable tradition. Also, I think Yankee stadium innovated the dance performance to YMCA by the ground crew. That’s the first place I saw it, anyway.

Also, the fans are great too, in an annoying Yankee sort of way. The most entitled fans in baseball, no doubt. But that said, they always think the Yankees will pull it out. No other fans that I’ve experienced can match the “Let’s Go Yankees” cheer in terms of unison delivery, volume, fervor, and persistance.

So says, Titus Pullo (formerly The Dude)

by Titus Pullo on May 1, 2008 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

21 in Team Quality???

Why on earth did they ask about the “current” quality of the team? I mean, yeah, the Cards weren’t very good last August. But what does that have to do with evaluating a stadium?

They should have asked about how consistent the quality of the team is—year in, year out. That would be a meaningful statistic. I mean, it must affect one’s willingness to go to PNC Park if you know you have a 60% chance of seeing your team lose on almost any year you go. Ditto that for Tampa Bay, who are still the “Devil” Rays in my book.

Or maybe they should have left the win-loss record out of the evaluation completely. I just don’t see the relevance.

So says, Titus Pullo (formerly The Dude)

by Titus Pullo on May 1, 2008 12:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs