14. Safeco Field (Seattle Mariners)
The city of Seattle really got it right when they finally tore down the old Kingdome to replace it with this beautiful park. It opened in 1999, and I believe my first visit was the following summer with my sister Liz and her family (subsequent visits almost always involved one or more members of that clan as well). The goal was clearly to allow fans to enjoy being outdoors and to have both modern (the retractable roof, massive video screen in center, the array of local delicacies at the concessions, etc.) with the old-fashioned (an asymmetrical playing field, hand-operated scoreboard in left field). They've done a fine job of combining those different elements to make this a very comfortable place to enjoy a game (especially with the roof open). My only complaint is that the parking is difficult, especially if you're not willing to pay upwards of thirty bucks to get a spot near the stadium, but if you don't mind a little walk, there are alternatives. An especially nice touch is when you hear the trains rolling through on the tracks adjacent to the field-- it can almost make you think you're back in the 1930s. With any luck, I should get out to safeco again this upcoming season.15. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City Royals)
I always thought that Kauffman Stadium looked like a neat place when I saw games there on TV. It wasn't until about four summers ago that I had a chance to visit in person. I was driving back to Buffalo for my annual summer visit, and decided to swing south to Kansas City to see a game. It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was excited to see the Royals young pitching phenom Zach Greinke. I had a hard time finding the stadium, driving around in circles for awhile until I realized that it must be back behind some trees (and lo and behold, it was). After parking, I walked up to the ticket booth and was scanning the seating options on a chart there when a guy walked up and asked me if I needed a ticket. I figured he was a scalper and tried to brush him off, but he said he had an extra ticket and I could have it (a friend hadn't shown up). So I got a free ticket in a seat that was pretty close to the view in the above picture. The game was a real yawner (against Texas, with Kenny Rogers pitching) and Greinke looking way over his head (giving up seven runs by the fifth inning). Aside from that, it really was a nice place to watch a game, though when the sun swung over to my side of the field, the heat got a little tough to take, and I moved up under the shade of the second deck. I ended up leaving around the eighth inning to beat traffic out, which I almost never do but in this case given my confusion getting in, I wanted to make sure I could negotiate my way back to the interstate without undue hassle. It's a nice stadium (food was good too as I recall), but it's gotta be tough to watch a bad team year after year as the Royals fans have had to do pretty much since George Brett retired. Two more stadiums to go-- look for that post sometime before the end of this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment