Ballpark Rankings Update

Happy Opening Day!!!  I never thought I would be saying that in this dumpster fire of a year, but here we are, about 3 hours away from first pitch on the season.  Seeing as there is nearly a zero chance I make it to any games this year, I thought today was as good a time as any to present my updated ballpark rankings.  My ballpark count now stands at 146 total, which includes 39 new ballparks attended since my last update in 2012.  For purposes of these rankings, I am only including ballparks I have been to, and I have not factored in any renovations that I have not yet seen in person (for instance I have not been to Wrigley Field since all of the renovations have been completed).  And hopefully this is the first and last time you will ever see me post stadium rankings with less than 30 MLB stadiums - damn Coronavirus!  I hate to plug a website whose editor is a huge asshole, but if you are interested in seeing a more comprehensive list, you can visit Ballpark Digest as their annual rankings are currently ongoing.

MLB - subjective rankings [previous ranking]
1.  PNC Park, Pittsburgh [1]
2.  Target Field, Minneapolis [2]
3.  T-Mobile Park, Seattle [3]
4.  Fenway Park, Boston [4]
5.  Camden Yards, Baltimore [5]
6.  Truist Park, Atlanta [NR]
7.  Comerica Park, Detroit [6]
8.  Citi Field, New York [7]
9.  Oracle Park, San Francisco [8]
10.  Coors Field, Denver [9]
11.  Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City [13]
12.  Progressive Field, Cleveland [11]
13.  Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati [10]
14.  Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia [12]
15.  Miller Park, Milwaukee [14]
16.  PETCO Park, San Diego [15]
17.  Nationals Park, Washington [16]
18.  Rogers Centre, Toronto [17]
19.  Minute Maid Park, Houston [18]
20.  Marlins Park, Miami [20]
21.  Yankee Stadium II, New York [21]
22.  Wrigley Field, Chicago [25]
23.  Chase Field, Phoenix [23]
24.  Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago [24]
25.  Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles [26]
26.  Busch Stadium III, St. Louis [27]
27.  Angel Stadium, Anaheim [28]
28.  Tropicana Field, Tampa [29]
29.  RingCentral Coliseum, Oakland [30]

MLB - objective rankings (based on 1-10 system in 14 categories)
1.  PNC Park (8.00) [7.93]
2.  Progressive Field (7.71) [7.64]
3.  Camden Yards (7.43)
4.  Target Field (7.36) [7.36]
5.  Truist Park (7.14)
6.  Coors Field (7.14)
7.  Miller Park (7.07) [7.00]
8.  Comerica Park (6.86)
9.  Oracle Park (6.86)
10.  Minute Maid Park (6.79)
11.  T-Mobile Park (6.71)
12.  Fenway Park (6.71)
13.  Citizens Bank Park (6.71)
14.  PETCO Park (6.57)
15.  Nationals Park (6.36)
16.  Busch Stadium III (6.36)
17.  Wrigley Field (6.21) [6.64]
18.  Kauffman Stadium (6.14) [5.29]
19.  Great American Ballpark (6.14) [5.29]
20.  Angel Stadium (6.07)
21.  Rogers Centre (6.00)
22.  Citi Field (5.86)
23.  Chase Field (5.86)
24.  Guaranteed Rate Field (5.64) [5.64]
25.  Yankee Stadium II (5.57)
26.  Tropicana Field (5.21)
27.  Marlins Park (4.71)
28.  Dodger Stadium (4.57) [4.57]
29.  RingCentral Coliseum (3.79)

Spring Training / GCL / AZL / AFL Top 5 (league)
1.  Camelback Ranch (Cactus) [1]
2.  Salt River Fields at Talking Stick (Cactus) [2]
3.  Hohokam Stadium (Cactus) [NR]
4.  Tempe Diablo Stadium (Cactus) [3]
5.  Goodyear Ballpark (Cactus) [4]

MiLB Top 10 (class)
1.  Parkview Field, Fort Wayne (A) [1]
2.  Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville (AAA) [2]
3.  Richmond County Bank Ballpark, New York (SS-A) [3]
4.  AutoZone Park, Memphis (AAA) [4]
5.  Modern Woodmen Park, Davenport (A) [5]
6.  Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham (AAA) [NR]
7.  Isotopes Park, Albuquerque (AAA) [6]
8.  Four Winds Field, South Bend (A) [NR]
9.  Truist Field, Charlotte (AAA) [NR]
10.  McCormick Field, Asheville (A) [NR]

MiLB by League Top 5 (minimum 5 visited in league)
New York-Penn League (SS-A)
1.  Richmond County Bank Ballpark
2.  Keyspan Park, New York
3.  Ripken Stadium, Aberdeen
4.  Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, Troy
5.  Dutchess County Stadium, Fishkill NY

Midwest League (A)
1.  Parkview Field
2.  Modern Woodmen Park
3.  Four Winds Field
4.  Northwestern Medicine Field, Geneva IL

5.  Day Air Ballpark, Dayton

International League (AAA)
1.  Louisville Slugger Field
2.  Durham Bulls Athletic Park
3.  Truist Field
4.  Victory Field, Indianapolis
5.  Frontier Field, Rochester NY

Pacific Coast League (AAA)
1.  AutoZone Park
2.  Isotopes Park
3.  First Horizon Park, Nashville
4.  Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City
5.  Principal Park, Des Moines

Independent / Amateur Top 5 (league)
1.  CHS Field, St. Paul (American) [NR]
2.  Haymarket Park, Lincoln (American) [1]
3.  Bosse Field, Evansville (Frontier) [2]
4.  GCS Ballpark, Sauget IL (Frontier) [NR]
5.  DuPage Medical Group Field, Joliet (Frontier) [3]

Independent by League Top 5 (minimum 5 visited in league)
American Association
1.  CHS Field
2.  Haymarket Park
3.  Impact Field, Rosemont IL
4.  Franklin Field, Franklin WI
5.  U.S. Steel Yard, Gary

Frontier League
1.  Bosse Field
2.  GCS Ballpark
3.  DuPage Medical Group Field
4.  Ozinga Field, Crestwood IL
5.  UC Health Stadium, Florence KY

NCAA / Summer Collegiate Top 5 (league/school)
1.  Warner Park, Madison (Northwoods) [1]
2.  Athletic Park, Wausau (Northwoods) [NR]
3.  TD Ameritrade Park, Omaha (College WS/Creighton) [NR]
4.  Carson Park, Eau Claire (Northwoods) [NR]
5.  Historic Grayson Stadium, Savannah (Coastal Plain) [formerly MiLB]

Summer Collegiate by League Top 5 (minimum 5 visited in league)
Northwoods League
1.  Warner Park
2.  Athletic Park
3.  Carson Park
4.  Kokomo Municipal Stadium, Kokomo IN
5.  Witter Field, Wisconsin Rapids

Ballpark Cities Top 20
1.  Portland, OR [ranked #1 after Tour 2007, but had no baseball team during 2012 update]
2.  Seattle, WA [1]
3.  Memphis, TN [2]
4.  Toronto, ON [3]
5.  Boston, MA [4]
6.  Montreal, QC [NR]
7.  Savannah, GA [5]
8.  Nashville, TN [NR]
9.  San Diego, CA [6]
10.  Milwaukee, WI [9]
11.  Cincinnati, OH [10]
12.  Minneapolis, MN [NR]
13.  Washington, DC [NR]
14.  Duluth, MN [7]
15.  Vancouver, BC [8]
16.  San Francisco, CA [NR]
17.  Asheville, NC [NR]
18.  New Orleans, LA [NR]
19.  Pittsburgh, PA [NR]
20.  Madison, WI [NR]

MLB Releases 2020 and 2021 Schedules in Same Week

While I and the entire baseball loving world have spent the last couple of weeks basking in the ray of hope that there will be a 2020 season, Major League Baseball and the major sports networks faced a extremely difficult task: put together an entirely new season schedule as quickly as possible.  Something that usually takes 6-12 months of planning now had to be turned around in matter of days, albeit about one-third of the size.  The updated 2020 schedule was released this week and as I mentioned in my last post, it features a 60-game schedule with teams playing entirely within their geographic divisions.  Opening Night on ESPN will feature the defending champion Nationals hosting the perennial favorite Yankees on July 23rd.  The Brewers will be opening their 2020 slate at Wrigley Field on Friday, July 24th with their home opener against St. Louis the following Friday.  I highly doubt that fans will at any point be allowed into games this season, and I doubt even more that I would feel comfortable enough to attend a game this year, but I now live a mile from the ballpark so you damn well better believe I will be there tailgating on Opening Day like I always am.

If you were caught up in the excitement of reviewing the 2020 schedule and were completely blindsided by the 2021 release, you were not alone.  MLB one-upped themselves by releasing next season's schedule at the earliest calendar date in history (historically it has been August or September).  It was certainly calculated to release the 2021 schedule this early in an effort to ride the high of excitement from fans now before they start losing them again during next year's CBA negotiations.  It did make me wonder how our shitshow government was able to release multiple coronavirus stimulus packages and MLB was able to release two schedules, both in a week span, but it took 4 months for the players union and owners to essentially agree to nothing.  It certainly does not bode well for the next couple of years.  But on the bright side, the Brewers open up the season next year against the Twins and that will be amazing!

Also on the bright side is that Erik and I are already able to start dreaming up our 2021 trip.  We are currently eyeing the 2nd weekend in April for a Tour 2020 Redux to see the Rangers and Astros, and we are both praying to the baseball gods that there is an available vaccine and the minor leagues still exist by then.