Thems fightin' words

I was having a conversation with someone the other day about the Sox/Yanks, and of course they were telling me how great the Sox were and how the Yanks were going down and that Fenway is the Holy Grail of ballparks. This got me to thinking. I've been to 16 current and former league parks. How would I rank them and where would Fenway be? Initially I thought it would make the top ten, but as it turned out it didn't. This list, of course, is completely subjective, just ask Linda. So here it is:

1. Yankee Stadium (not the new one, haven't been there yet)
2. Wrigley Field (from the old days when stadiums weren't named after companies, LOL) (Cubs)
3. The Jake (now Progressive Field) (Indians)
4. Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field, but the BOB was a much cooler name) (Diamondbacks)
5. Comiskey (now US Cellular Field) (White Sox)
6. Busch Field (not the new one, haven't been there) (Cardinals)
7. Comerica Park (Tigers)
8. Ballpark in Arlington (Rangers)
9. Kaufman Stadium (pre-renovations) (Royals)
10. Minute Maid Park (Astros)
11. Fenway (Red Sox)
12. Turner Field (although these were standing room only which affects the ranking) (Braves)
13. Angels Stadium in Anaheim (Angels)
14. Miller Park (Brewers)
15. Metrodome (Twins)
16. Olympic Stadium (Expos)
17. RFK Stadium (Nationals)

* Honorable Mention
a) Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa (not quite heaven but not quite Iowa either)
b) Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY (saw the Braves play the Twins there)

The first few and the last few were easy. If I weren't a Yankee fan Yankee stadium would probably not be number one, but it would definitely be in the top three. It was a great stadium (the first to ever be called a stadium) and as a person interested in the history of the game this is where so much of it took place, and to look out and know all the great players who roamed those hallowed grounds was special.

But if you are looking for the quintessential baseball experience, go sit in the bleachers during a day game at Wrigley field. It really doesn't get much better than that.

Red Sox ownership has done a tremendous job on the renovations of Fenway which has improved it, but it still doesn't move it up much (sometime I'll write about the economics of baseball and why these renovations were not undertaken primarily for the fan.). Once they have replaced all the seats it will get better, but I have seen things take place at Fenway in person and on TV that would never happen in other stadiums. Beer and fanaticism are not good mates.

So let the debates begin, and before you attack me saying Fenway is the best, you need to have been to at least five other major league stadiums.