Washington Post ranks OPACY the no. 3 stadium in MLB

[Frobby]

Beat out by AT&T Park in San Francisco and PNC Park in Pittsburgh.   https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/sports/how-many-mlb-parks-have-you-visited/?utm_term=.04184b43f3a7

They ranked Washington's own Nationals Park 15th.   Tropicana Field brings up the rear, unsurprisingly, with Rogers Centre (27th) not far ahead of it.   

[bpilktree]

Tampa is not going to last much longer.  I am surprised that it has lasted this long.  They have the worst field by far no one wants to go because of the stadium and they don't go even with a decent team there.  I don't get the expansion talk just move Tampa somewhere else.

[ChuckS]

I've been to PNC once and I have to say that it compares to Camden Yards favorably.  Downtown Pittsburgh has Baltimore/Inner Harbor beat as far as a backdrop and the dining/drinking options are better and also closer around the stadium.  

Haven't been to AT&T.  I've been to a dozen or so current parks and PNC is the only one that I can say has a case over Camden Yards.  Wrigley is great because of its history and the park in San Diego was impressive as well, but I'd still put Camden over them. 

[Kevinod00]

Just saw a Pirates Giants game @ PNC on 7/2 and it's an awesome stadium. The background of the stadium (much like Camden yards) is what makes it special IMO. My only complaint would be the long walk up to concessions/bathrooms if you are sitting in the first couple of rows closest to the field. 

[Camden_yardbird]

Never been to ST.  Been to PNC a lot.  If you haven't been you should go.  Better view of the city (thanks to the hotel in Baltimore), better food, good surroundings and vibe.

I think these three will continue to circulate for a long time.  Three real gems.

[Camden_yardbird]

3 minutes ago, Kevinod00 said:

Just saw a Pirates Giants game @ PNC on 7/2 and it's an awesome stadium. The background of the stadium (much like Camden yards) is what makes it special IMO. My only complaint would be the long walk up to concessions/bathrooms if you are sitting in the first couple of rows closest to the field. 

Yea but you have to admit that being able to see the field while in the line for concessions is infinitely better than. The small monitors in Camden.

PNC also has an usher who will gladly tell you about watching Babe Ruth's last (next to last?) professional game.  (Played in Pitt)

[esmd]

I've been to both San Fran and Pittsburgh for games.  Both compare favorably with OPACY.  Pittsburgh has the bridges where you can park and walk across, plus you can actually drive up on your boat and tie off before heading in.  San Fran has the cove and a great downtown location, but other than that I wouldn't say if was noticeably better.  All three are awesome places to watch a game, although I will say the seats in San Fran are really tight.  I'm a bigger guy, but I've never had to shoehorn my big arse into a seat at OPACY, and for that matter, I didn't have to at PNC Park either.  But in San Fran, in good seats (upper deck right behind home plate), it was a very tight fit.

[spiritof66]

1 hour ago, bpilktree said:

Tampa is not going to last much longer.  I am surprised that it has lasted this long.  They have the worst field by far no one wants to go because of the stadium and they don't go even with a decent team there.  I don't get the expansion talk just move Tampa somewhere else.

The Rays' problem is that there's no good place to move that won't infringe another team's territorial rights. (Las Vegas has a bunch of problems as a baseball city, compounded by its recent NHL and imminent NFL franchises, and there are a lot of questions about Montreal.) Other teams face a similar problem in trying to hold up their home cities for public stadium support.  

I've been concerned about a Rays relocation for years. Any move is likely to strengthen the franchise and could make Baltimore the weakest market, by far, in the division.

[Moose Milligan]

I don't get the hate for Nats stadium, personally.  I really like it a lot.  Open concourse being able to see the field is fantastic.  

They messed up with having no view of the monuments or anything past CF....DC doesn't have much of a skyline but the view isn't that great.

 

Glad to see OPACY still in the top 5 and Rogers Center where it belongs.  Must have been awesome in '89, now it's a dinosaur. 

[bpilktree]

17 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

The Rays' problem is that there's no good place to move that won't infringe another team's territorial rights. (Las Vegas has a bunch of problems as a baseball city, compounded by its recent NHL and imminent NFL franchises, and there are a lot of questions about Montreal.) Other teams face a similar problem in trying to hold up their home cities for public stadium support.  

I've been concerned about a Rays relocation for years. Any move is likely to strengthen the franchise and could make Baltimore the weakest market, by far, in the division.

Charlotte is the easy pick to be the move doesn't really have a team in the area and has their minor league AAA team at Raleigh.

[VaBird1]

The Rays TV ratings are good.  Attendance would go up if they moved from St. Pete to Tampa.  Would it be enough?  Don't know.

It seems like the Marlins could use a move too.  I always thought Charlotte would make sense.

Then they could let Oakland move to San Jose, that would fix a lot of their issues as well.

That would give MLB three new stadiums and they could put off having the All-Star game in Baltimore longer.  (just kidding, kind of)

[Ohfan67]

I love the San Fran park. Beautiful location on the Bay. I highly recommend catching some games there. 

 

Speaking of the Rays and St. Pete, the city voted to allow them to buy out of their lease (which ends in 2027) and the buyout is relatively small. Looks like the owner is now basically free to negotiate with other localities within the Tampa area. I saw some drawings several years ago of a beautiful stadium on the Tampa waterfront, but I guess that was just pie-in-the-sky ideas. Link to story about lease buy out agreement: http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2016/01/15/10422/rays-get-their-st-pete-lease-buyout-now-just-have-to-figure-how-to-build-new-stadium-elsewhere/

[wildbillhiccup]

I can live with San Fran, but PNC is not better. It's a much more cramped version of OPACY. It's almost uncomfortably tight in the concourse area. 

[bpilktree]

Charlotte's biggest issue is the new stadium that the city just put in for AAA team downtown.  I don't know if they would want to push another new stadium with one only a few years old. 

[spiritof66]

2 hours ago, bpilktree said:

Charlotte is the easy pick to be the move doesn't really have a team in the area and has their minor league AAA team at Raleigh.

Sure, there are possibilities. Charlotte is probably the safest bet, with Portland, and for the adventurous there's Mexico City and Vancouver.

The Tampa/St. Pete market is much larger than the other U.S. options. There's no big city that's recently lost a franchise and wants to do better with a second chance (other than Montreal), and there's no place where changing demographics call out for a team (other than maybe the Bay Area, where the Giants hold the rights). 

There's also the possibility that MLB owners want to keep Charlotte (or any of the others) open for expansion, from which they each get a piece of the action, and would block a move on that basis. 

https://www.si.com/mlb/2016/04/22/mlb-expansion-montreal-mexico-city-charlotte-portland