The original home of the Toronto Blue Jays was part of the massive Exhibition Place grounds and was best used for football. While it provided wide-open views for baseball, the lowest rows of seating were still rather far from the playing field, as was the case with most fields that were initially built for football. An open-air stadium, along Lake Ontario, also made for some harsh cold-weather, windy days and nights early and late in the season. While not an easy place to watch baseball, Exhibition Stadium’s unintended quirkiness takes us back to a simpler time in baseball history where amenities weren’t that big of a deal.
Sometimes the shortcomings of a specific ballpark can be what we miss most. Though regular attendees to Candlestick probably do not miss the harsh winds and chilly temperatures that were staples in the heart of summer for Giants games. Located on Candlestick Point, on the western portion of San Francisco Bay, the park was picked initially because it offered the most open space to building something of that size. For years, catching pop fly balls were an adventure for fielders, and the actual fenced outfield wall was interesting. It wasn’t the most pleasant of places to watch baseball, especially at night, but making it through such contests was a victory in itself for dedicated fans.
Best known as the home of Washington’s professional football team, Robert F. Kennedy, located just east of the United States Capitol, was one of the first