23. Angel Stadium — Los Angeles Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are the Clippers of baseball in Southern California.
It doesn’t matter how successful they are, they’ll never match the popularity of their crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. In a lot of ways, their home ballpark, Angel Stadium, reflects this reality. It may not look it, but Angel Stadium is one of the oldest ballparks in the MLB, so kudos to the stadium staff for keeping this park in remarkable shape over the years.
Having said that, there isn’t a lot of redeeming qualities about Angel Stadium. The outfield seats (both in left and right fields) strip away the intimacy of fans watching their beloved Angels play, and the waterfall rocks in the center field only add to the intimacy problems (though it is one of the few stand-out quirks to the stadium).
Angel Stadium is functional (for now), but it doesn’t have nearly the same charm and scenery of Dodgers Stadium. While the latter is built within a ravine overlooking the L.A. skyline, the former is surrounded by parking lots and a freeway, hardly what you would refer to as “scenic.” Add in the fact that this stadium is hard to reach with a car, and you now see why Angel Stadium is ranked this low.
The Angels plan to stay in the stadium for the foreseeable future, but it’s creeping up on them that it may be time for Anaheim — and Orange County as a whole — to start discussions with the team on building a new ballpark, one with more scenery and better access without a car.