Are you down with OPB? (other people's ballparks)

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Jocephus
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Re: Are you down with OPB? (other people's ballparks)

Post by Jocephus »

Molly wrote:
lukethedrifter wrote:
Molly wrote:
lukethedrifter wrote:Looks like this year's father daughter road trip will include a Cubs-O's game at Camden Yards on Friday night.
Hubby and I just went to Camden Yards to see the Cards-O's. Great ballpark! How old is your daughter?
Upcoming senior in HS.
Disregard. Was going to tell you about a bar with over 100 beers on tap.
kid can chill in the hotel one night. its still visiting baltimore. can watch baltimore tv and see what its like to be a true baltimorite

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lukethedrifter
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Re: Are you down with OPB? (other people's ballparks)

Post by lukethedrifter »

Looks like it's supposed to storm in B'more tomorrow night.

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Re: Are you down with OPB? (other people's ballparks)

Post by CardsofSTL »

lukethedrifter wrote:Looks like it's supposed to storm in B'more tomorrow night.
If the storm that's hitting us in Ohio right now is heading your way I hope you packed your row boat.

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Re: Are you down with OPB? (other people's ballparks)

Post by lukethedrifter »

Perfect night for a baseball after a timely rain delay that allowed us to get here on time.

#boocubs

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JL21
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Re: Are you down with OPB? (other people's ballparks)

Post by JL21 »

JL21 wrote:Anyone here ever been to Citizen's Bank in Philly? If so, how likely am I to get [expletive] thrown on me if I'm wearing my Cardinals hat?
I realized I never followed up on this, from almost a year ago.

Philly fans were shockingly cool to us. Most of the ones around us were even deferential- "We wish we had what you guys have, where you compete ever year." Overall, I liked the Bank quite a bit. It's not a top shelf ballpark but it's solidly in the second tier.

That said, I've heard some real horror stories about Philly, and I suspect they wouldn't have been so cool if their own team was actually good at the time.

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Re: Are you down with OPB? (other people's ballparks)

Post by JL21 »

What the hell... here's my update and big ol' ranked list of ballparks where I've gone. The more I think about this, you can find something to enjoy at every ballpark out there- no such thing as a bad ballpark to attend.

(except [expletive] Great American Ballpark)

1. (tie) Camden/Wrigley
I've kissed Camden's ass so much in this thread and I stand by all of it. It has a weird, wacky unique culture all its own- from the crab all over the place, John Denver in the 7th inning stretch, the very good MD beer selection (and before that, Natty Boh), the gaggle of songs about "magic" that they play, the beautiful view of the warehouse, even the post-games at Oliver Brewing, yelling out "O" during the national anthem and the weird way they pronounce the letter o... Also, the fans are cool and knowledgeable, even if they don't always pack the stadium. And hell, if you'd put up with as much [expletive] baseball as O's fans have for the last 20ish years, you'd probably stay home more often, too.

Wrigley is all about the neighborhood and the history. I haven't seen the renovation but I can only imagine it made it better. If you love the history of the game, Wrigley at #1 pretty much speaks for itself.

3. PNC
Kind of Baltimore Lite. Again, fans who are way into the game and cool as hell, not always a packed house (easily explained by a lot of [expletive] baseball over the last 20 years), and a beautiful ballpark with beautiful views of the skyline and bridges. The Clemente Bridge and statue, and Stargell statue, in particular are serious feathers in their caps. I also love the organ music. If the fans were more knowledgeable and if they had better food, I'd have a hard time deciding between this one and Camden.

4. Busch III
The amenities are juuuust enough to keep it this high. I find the more I'm away from STL, the more I miss what makes Busch (II and III) special. Obviously, the fans are part of that- I really do think Cards fans are some of the very best I've been around, even if that observation grates on a lot of non-Cards fans. But you also get some fun little charm- fans clapping at the right times, fans waaaay into the game (more than most ballparks), people who aren't there for the dumb gimmicks, the organ (first Ernie Hayes and now... whoever does it now), the sea of red who bring college football-style devotion to MLB, etc... There's nothing special about it, really, not in terms of stuff to do after the game or the concessions and beer. It's 100% the more subtle stuff that makes B-III and B-II so special.

5. Busch II
See above. This one's lower because Busch III has an Arch view and the stadium is more open, so it's a little bit less like a [expletive] hot-ass bowl of soup 3.5 months out of the year.

6. Yankee Stadium
If you could combine a [expletive], type-A east coast edge with everything I wrote about Busch III, you have Yankee Stadium. The history part- even at the new Yankee Stadium- is incredible, the subway experience to and from the stadium is really fun, and the fans are there to watch baseball above all else. More so than any other ballpark I've attended, Yankee fans [expletive] want to watch baseball. They even make fun of stuff like the hat dance, which is the easiest, most non-intrusive thing a scoreboard can have throughout a game. God save you with Yankee fans if they catch you trying to do the wave. It's seriously Cardinals fandom without the Midwestern politeness. That's mostly a good thing.

7. Citizens Bank
Good amenities, the fans weren't jerks (amazingly), and there are plenty of little nods to the team's history. They also clearly have a culture all their own, which is apparent even when the team is miserable. They have some fun little idiosyncrasies, too, like the giant liberty bell that chimes for HRs and the like. It loses points for being waaaaay the [expletive] out in the middle of nowhere. If it was incorporated into the city somehow, I think it'd have a shot at carrying the PNC and Camden charm.

8. Royals Stadium
I haven't been here since 1991. I only placed it here as a divider between ballparks that I enjoy and ballparks where I start to have big reservations.

9. (tie) County Stadium (Milwaukee)/Miller Park
They have the culture part down pat, with Bernie Brewer, the giant keg, Bob Uecker, the hours and hours of tailgating, Beer Barrel Polka... That's all great stuff. And my lord... the food and beer are amazing. And they can get properly loud at the right times. Buuuut... they also clearly are not baseball fans. This is their hobby until football starts. And if you're a Cardinals fan, you'll run into some jerks. Probably not true if you're a fan of many other teams, but definitely true for us. RE: County vs. Miller, County had a lot more charm. Miller has many more amenities. I think it kinds of nets out, where the exterior is wildly different but the total experience is still very much the same.

11. Turner Field
It's pretty hard to judge this one because I saw it at the end of 2015- literally the last game(s) of the season as part of a doubleheader on a rainy, cool October day, in a year when the Braves were one of the very worst teams in baseball, playing a Cardinals team that was the very best regular season team in baseball. But it seemed to have a lot of weird fabricated culture to it. The fans were nice enough (all 2,000 of them), and the BBQ at the ballpark was delicious. They took a fairly mediocre park and tried to give it a little shine with some light nods to history, plus Waffle House and Chick-Fil-A and the like. It's gone now, so it's irrelevant, but I would have liked to see it when the Braves were relevant.

12. Rogers Centre
This place should be renamed A Baseball Stadium™. It's like being a baseball fan living in RBI Baseball circa 1987. The fans were fine. The concessions and beer were fine. The fan experience and culture were fine. It has a nice location and the CN Tower view is neat. The field itself probably looked a lot less dated in 1995. It's not terrible but also not really unique (other than the hotel in the ballpark thing, which doesn't add anything to the actual game experience).

13. Nats Park
The ballpark does a great job of catering to just about anything you could want- specifically beer and food varieties and an awful lot of very friendly employees. The team does a great job with their promotions, promoting their star players, and the President's Race is fun. The problem here is that the fans are [expletive] terrible- they seriously boo when managers, pitching coaches, and catchers do conferences on the mound (this is when I'll yell out "BOOOO STOP TRYING TO WIN!" and they'll shoot me dirty looks). They clap at weird times, they show up in the 3rd, leave in the 7th, and rarely do they actually give two [expletive] about the game itself. Half the time, they're outnumbered by the other team's fans. And getting to the ballpark sucks ass in every way. It's all Metro, which means you'll be exposed to a lot of rude mother [expletive] DC residents crammed into a death tube, and then you arrive and there's a huge bottleneck at the gate. Basically, this park would rank WAY higher if it weren't for Nats fans/DC residents. Oh... and for [expletive]'s sake, Nats, acknowledge that you were the Expos. Seriously. More Expos stuff in the ballpark would be very helpful.

14. Metrodome
It was like watching a baseball game inside of a space ship. It was [expletive] weird. Nothing else about it (the other fans, the Twins fan culture, beer or concessions) was offensive at all. But the experience of watching in an early 80s-built dome, on astroturf (in 2000), was bad enough to put it all the way down here at second from the bottom. I bet if I went to Target, it would rank high. Minnesotans are neat folks.

15. Great American Ballpark
[expletive] this place. Skyline chili is good, but even then... your results may vary. I love Skyine, but I can see why some people may not like it. As for the rest, I've never been around [expletive], angrier, douchier fans. I did like the little nods to the team's history in the ballpark, but it's shrouded with tons of fabricated culture- really stupid [expletive] like the riverboat. It's one of the worst ballpark experiences I've ever had. At least in Milwaukee, the people who talk [expletive] to you are drunk and having a good time. Reds fans just seem angry that they're forced to live their lives in Cincinnati watching terrible baseball and sports and the like.
Last edited by JL21 on July 15 17, 6:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Are you down with OPB? (other people's ballparks)

Post by Socnorb11 »

Excellent read, JL!

Curious.......... what's the downside of Yankee Stadium that prevents it from being #1?

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Re: Are you down with OPB? (other people's ballparks)

Post by JL21 »

It's the little stuff. I've had more Yankee fans talk [expletive] to me as Cardinals fan than Cubs fans have at Wrigley. Which... think about that. That's pretty wild. It wasn't pervasive like Cincinnati, but still... it's not like we're rivals and it was a mostly meaningless April game. It was a weird time to get a lot of flack from another team's fanbase. And it was the east coast edge, which is very much an acquired taste. If you're from there, you probably don't mind it. I am very much a midwesterner so it rubbed me the wrong way a little bit (with the caveat that I still found most of their fans to be cool).

And then the amenities stuff is pretty mediocre, which keeps it out of the top tier with Camden, Wrigley, PNC, and the Busches. I missed almost 3 whole innings just standing in line for a beer, and it's not because I chose a line that took longer than others. And the food/beer quality doesn't stand out. It's not a huge deal by any stretch, but it does keep it below those others I mentioned.

I still highly recommend that ballpark for so many reasons. If you really love baseball, it's miles above so many others I listed. I really wish I'd gotten to the previous Yankee Stadium.

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Re: Are you down with OPB? (other people's ballparks)

Post by CardsofSTL »

Enjoyed your rankings JL...for what it's worth; I have been to Citizens' Bank park twice; all decked out in my Cardinal gear; and had no issues whatsoever. A little good natured razzing but that is expected. I got a lot more crap when I sat in the bleachers at Wrigley but I didn't have to fight anyone; so success all around.

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Re: Are you down with OPB? (other people's ballparks)

Post by lukethedrifter »

Ballparks I’ve visited: update

Busch (duh)
Wrigley
Whatevs it is they call Pac Bell
Nats park
Camden Yards
Petco


Enjoyed them all (exc Pac Bell bc we were on someone else’s sked so arrived late, left early.

Nats game got postponed midway thru due to rain and i spent most of the time standing and jabbering w guys i was at seminar with.
Camden Yards was fun w daughter. Great CF seats but a stinky sewage smell.
Petco sure seemed to have a lot of bro-ey (the female kind too) douchebags but did not ruin my experience. Good food and beer.

Looks like all the possible stadiums i can visit on my way home from upstate NY will be empty as i pass thru. Pitt, Cle, Cincy all on road trips.

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