On off day in the waning days of a disappointing season, an article popped up from June that was the 2024 rank of all thirty major league ballparks, from BallparkRankings.com.
The two worst are no surprise, as they are the two franchises that have been trying to get stadium deals in place for about a decade. Oakland and Tampa Bay. Oakland’s owner was basically jacking around with the city and its fan base. He never intended to stay in Oakland, he never intended to make a deal for a new ballpark there. He was just buying time until he could buy out the remaining years of his lease and move on.
Tampa Bay, on the other hand, has been trying for years to land a new stadium. It seems they finally got agreement.
Both Tampa Bay and Oakland are due to be in new stadiums in 2028. Tampa Bay in the Tampa Bay Area. Oakland in Las Vegas, with an open air stadium in a place hotter than DFW. Good luck. Maybe their stadiums will move up the list from number 30 (Oakland) and number 29 (Tampa Bay).
Here at home, Globe Life Field comes in at number 23. One of the worst in baseball. They even coined a term for its blandness. A mallpark. It’s not about showcasing baseball, it’s an events center.
Here’s are snippets of what Ballpark Rankings had to say about the Rangers new ballpark:
“The most disappointing new MLB ballpark since New Comiskey in 1991, combining many of the worst trends in stadium design.”
“An almost offensively generic stadium.”
“No design goal beyond generating revenue and fabricating experiential aesthetics, with little attention paid to timeless visual aesthetics.”
“The interior is totally nondescript, bereft of any signature elements, interesting views, or overarching aesthetic vision. Zero personality.”
“GLF isn’t even a fun mallpark for the average fan, because most of the amenities are concentrated toward premium” with “the most fan-unfriendly seating bowl design in baseball, where fans cannot access the entirety of the lower bowl and lower bowl concourse in between the foul poles without an appropriate premium ticket.”
Seems like a fair assessment of The Shed. Ugly, impersonal, built for the premium corporate customer, non-descript.”
But home of the 2023 World Champions Texas Rangers. And air conditioning.
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