Fansided

Ranking the 10 best ballparks in Major League Baseball

By Will Osgood

May 23, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; General view from the press box as the Pittsburgh Pirates take batting practice before hosting the New York Mets at PNC Park. The Pirates won 8-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
May 23, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; General view from the press box as the Pittsburgh Pirates take batting practice before hosting the New York Mets at PNC Park. The Pirates won 8-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
9 of 11
Next
May 14, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; A general view of a tarp that covers the field due to the threat of rain prior to the game between Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
May 14, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; A general view of a tarp that covers the field due to the threat of rain prior to the game between Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Dodger Stadium

In some senses Dodger Stadium at Chavez Ravine is the most cookie-cutter, generic ballpark on the list. It was designed more symmetrically—as was common at the time it was built in 1958—than most parks today. But none of that should be taken as a diss towards Dodger Stadium.

Instead, it should say that, like PNC Park before it, Dodger Stadium is a place for baseball. The beauty of the stadium is its fresh cut grass, the occasional organ playing, and the fact it reminds us of baseball in the 1950s and 60s.

And that’s actually perfect, since like that era, baseball today is a pitcher-friendly game where low scoring is the norm. Dodger Stadium is one of the more difficult parks to hit a home run in, not so much because of the dimensions, but because of the marine layer air at night. The ball simply doesn’t travel.

And as much as chicks dig the long ball, and the home run chase of 1998 was necessary for baseball to regain its spot in the hearts of America, the sport was never meant to be played by Thor-like specimens. It was meant to be played with skills like running the bases, bunting, fielding, throwing, pitching and timely hitting.

Dodger Stadium requires all of those things. It’s good old-fashioned baseball. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Next: Fenway or Wrigley?

Home/Baltimore Orioles