Nationals Park Gets No Love

by brooksbollinger9 on Jul 9, 2009 11:16 AM EDT Comment 15 comments

Nationals Park gets no respect from the so called "ballpark experts." Sporting News recently came out with their new ballpark rankings. Nationals Park is ranked 23rd. 23rd!. Personally after attending many games at the park, I think it is a great one.

Everybody loves Camden Yards, as they should its a terrific ballpark, that being said I still believe that Nationals park is comparable. Which is why I think it is insane that Camden yards is top 5 and Nationals park is bottom 8. I understand that I am partially bias, but I would have taken even in the top half of the league. But 23rd, I just don't understand that. Great food, good location, great sightlines. The lack of a good team should not take away from the beautiful ballpark.

Poll

Where does Nationals Park deserve to be placed in the ballpark rankings?

1-7

24 votes

8-13

27 votes

14-22

17 votes

23-30

15 votes

83 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 15 comments

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Comments

Fenway No. 1?

So, TSN ranks Fenway as the best ballpark in America? Please. I live in Boston and like the Sox, and I get to a few games a year at Fenway. Yeah, it’s better than it was a few years ago, and the bars that surround it have some great atmosphere on game day. But the park itself, for all its charm and what not, is a dump—cramped, dirty, uncomfortable, hard to get around, overcrowded. Many of the seats face the wrong direction, and most of them are too small for the average 21st-century American (and, no, I’m not obese).

Forget all of this tradition and history stuff. Give me a park with big seats, drink holders, short food lines, great sight lines, clean restrooms and stuff for the non-baseball-fan members of the family to do. I haven’t been to that many parks (maybe five or six), but Nationals Park is my favorite of those I’ve visited thus far. It’s definitely much nicer than Minute Maid, whatever the Ballpark in Arlington is called now and the former Jake in Cleveland.

by lap on Jul 10, 2009 12:44 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think Fenway and Wrigley are pits!

I hated the old Yankee Stadium and Shea stadium as well. They were always dirty and gross! Not to mention rude fans. Oakland is good and bad.

I moved to Memphis right before the Nationals park opened, so I can’t comment on the Nationals Park. But Camden, PNC, SBC, Arlington, are all beautiful parks.

"What you know is often the enemy of what you can learn" Bill James

by PhDBrian on Jul 10, 2009 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think Nationals Park will move up in the rankings when the stuff on Half Street is finished. Right now it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere, and though it’s clear that there will be stuff nearby, it’ not there yet. I’m really excited to see what it’s like when all those buildings are in.

by John Quinn on Jul 10, 2009 9:37 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think they are really factoring in atmosphere here.

I’ve been to Camden, Fenway, Wrigley, Jacobs, PNC, RFK, Old Yankee, Rogers Centre, Turner, Cincy, and Nats Park. Camden is still my favorite even though I can’t stand the O’s. Its just an awesome park.

Nationals Park is a nice park, but its just like so many other parks, nothing stands out. Camden you have the warehouse, PNC the bridges, Petco has the buildings in left.

These rankings are crap though, Cincy is a lot like Cleveland, so what makes Cleveland so much better? Angels Stadium is dumb, Turner is crap. Basically you can just clump Nationals Park in the same group as Citi, Busch, Citizens Bank.

by pas493 on Jul 10, 2009 10:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree..that’s the reason I put Nats Park in the second category. It seems so generic once you’re in it. Plus, the fact somebody mentioned that there is next to nothing to do before or after the games in the area.

The Orioles’ yard just has a better feel. The workers care. The neighborhood is fun. There’s plenty to do. It’s easy to get in and out of.

The other park I’ve been to that I’d throw into the top few is where the Giants play. It may be AT&T Park now.

by ROSCOEtheNATSfan on Jul 10, 2009 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yea i’ve never been to SF but it looks awesome. I have to go to Baltimore for business every now and then, and usually hit the Nats series and just nothing beats hanging out at pickles and then just heading across the street for the game.

by pas493 on Jul 10, 2009 10:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The one dollar Natty Bo beer and the grilled sausages at Pickles...perfect pregame mood-setter.

by ROSCOEtheNATSfan on Jul 10, 2009 11:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, I guess I kind of separate the inside-the-park experience from the neighborhood experience. I haven’t been to Baltimore (at all, not even to the city), but the atmosphere around Fenway is obviously much better than the atmosphere outside Nationals Park because there’s nothing in the neighborhood that surrounds NP. Still, I’ll take the inside-the-park experience at NP over any other park I’ve seen. I’ll definitely take it over Fenway, which has an enthusiastic, knowledgeable crowd and a lot of history…and not much else. The physical structure itself is just way outdated.

I guess I’m less hung up on skyline views and the like and more into creature comforts. (I’m not what you’d call a baseball traditionalist.) That’s what impressed me so much about NP—it’s comfortable and easy to get around, and there are tons of food stand and restrooms. That and the staff—the staff at NP was probably the friendliest I’ve ever encountered at a sporting event. (Then again, I live in Boston, so…) Maybe they were just on their best behavior because 30,000 Sox fans were in town, but the people who worked at NP the night I was there were exceptionally friendly.

by lap on Jul 10, 2009 12:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

regarding the restrooms… has anybody been to the bathroom in left field, it is the most rediculous design in the history of stadiums, no one can move in it

by pas493 on Jul 10, 2009 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The one on the main concourse with all the weird corners?

Yeah, that one is RIDONKULUS.

"It's not a secret, you don't need to be an expert on math to know that walks plus errors equals runs...." --Mannyger Acta

by Doghouse on Jul 10, 2009 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yea it is crazy, i’m glad to know i’m not the only one that has experienced it

by pas493 on Jul 10, 2009 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd still take Baltimore honestly.

The warehouse is home to the Orioles offices and the fancy club you get to go to if you are in a suite. Without that warehouse, it wouldn’t be nearly as great.

In my opinion, stadiums that have a focal point in the outfield are more pleasing on the eyes. A nice skyline. Big buildings close in. A giant baseball glove. A mountain range. At Nats Park, it’s just boring old sky. Just my opinion. New doesn’t mean best.

Also, sometimes we choose to get tickets on the club level in Baltimore and it is a great setup. We bought tickets for the club level at Nats Park once (and only once) and it was a horrific setup. Basically two long 10 foot wide hallways with a couple restrooms and doors to the suites and club seats. Then one big room with a horribly designed and horribly staffed collection of food service outlets. In B-More, the whole club level is a uniform width with evenly spaced food outlets and bars and couches with flatscreen tvs. Rant complete.

by ROSCOEtheNATSfan on Jul 10, 2009 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Being a die hard Nats fan, I like the park but it doesnt have the feel of a place like Boston, Philly, or even Baltimore. The team sucks (which doesnt help), there is nothing to do around the park, and the people that work the concessions are extremely ignorant and you can tell that they do not care about service. Ill wait til half street is done to come to an ultimate conclusion but I have to say nats park is in the lower half right now. The best park is either the Giants ball park or Citizens Bank Park in Philly both have great atmospheres and are really really cool stadiums.

by johnnycfor3 on Jul 10, 2009 3:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Average is not Good enough!

Been to 13 ballparks in the last 3 years, both old and new. Nationals Park certainly rates in the bottom half for a lot of reasons. Inside is just blah…those block walls remind me of an old hospital…no color, no warmth. Want to see it done right, look at new Busch tonight. The view or lack of it…how can we have a stadium in downtown DC with views of parking garages. If you want to see view done right go to Pittsburgh. There are just so many things that are just average about NP, that’s all there is to it.

by EENat on Jul 14, 2009 6:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I disagree

I love Nationals Park. Of course I’ve only been to the Midwest parks and Turner Field, but Nationals Park is my favorite. Also Wrigley should be 30th. It smells like piss. I hate that stadium.

"I saw a commercial on late night TV, it said,'Forget everything you know about slipcovers.' So I did. And it was a load off my mind. Then the commercial tried to sell me slipcovers, and I didn't know what the hell they were."
-Mitch Hedberg

by Colts Homer on Jul 27, 2009 11:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs