A great baseball park is many things, but the most important quality is that it embodies both the spirit and character of its team and location. The relatively recent development of a new ballpark for virtually every team means new opportunities to capture each team's aura. A great ballpark needs to perfectly balance the history of the team combined with local flavor.

Wrigley Field and Fenway Park are baseball's two cathedrals, harkening back to an earlier era. Wrigley's majestic columns and Fenway's manual scoreboard are baseball artifacts that can only be seen otherwise in movies like "Eight Men Out." Most of the generic 70's-era baseball/football combination stadiums are either gone or on their way out (good-bye Shea! good riddance RFK!), replaced by a wave of "retro" ballparks that mostly get it right.

For example, San Francisco's AT&T Park is gorgeous. Overlooking the bay, replete with references to the Giants' history, and loaded with local products like garlic fries, that park is a winner. Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia has a design similar to Baltimore's Camden Yards (they had the same architect), and also does a bang-up job. With a view of the city's skyline and ample opportunities to eat a cheesesteak (or two or three), you certainly know you're in Philadelphia. The best part might be the metal tables behind the last row of seats, which allow fans to stand and eat while watching the game so they don't have as far to go before getting another cheesesteak. And, of course, the aforementioned Camden Yards is the gold standard, a relatively new ballpark that's designed to look like an old one, but for modern-size rear ends. And with Boog's Barbecue greeting you as you enter, there's no confusion about which ballpark you are in.

The ballparks in Detroit and St. Louis, among others, also celebrate their rich heritages. The Cardinals' ballpark has a collection of life-sized statues of great former Cardinals greeting fans at the front entrance, while Detroit has them scattered around the outfield concourse and also has museum-like exhibits throughout the ballpark documenting the Tigers' history.

In Cincinnati, the park itself just okay without any real distinguishable characteristics, but they do have plenty of Skyline chili. That's a local specialty that is good old-fashioned chili with an added touch of cinnamon and chocolate. Its name, though, the Great American Ballpark, is absolutely ingenious. A complete misfire is the cement bunker that serves as the Oakland A's home. A football stadium for the Raiders where the A's just happen to play, it clearly was not meant for baseball. There is cement everywhere, and even worse is that while you are sitting there, you just know it's the Raiders' stadium. It's like the feeling you get when producers try to tape Wheel of Fortune in Radio City Music Hall, or make Weekend at Bernie's II. It just doesn't seem right. There is, mercifully, periodic talk about their moving to a new ballpark, a move that can only help them.

New ballparks are on the way for the Nationals and both New York teams, and it remains to be seen if they can capture the aura and local flavor of those teams. The Yankees and Mets could celebrate New York and their respective histories, and the Nationals couldwell, I'm glad I don't make those decisions.

Learn more about this author, Eric Kabakoff.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about What makes a great baseball park?
We want to hear your view. Write now!