Well, gang, we’ve almost made it. The Major League Baseball season officially kicks off Tuesday in our wee hours with the Dodgers and Cubs squaring off in Japan, but the official Opening Day is Thursday, March 27. That means come next Monday, we’ll be back to the Official Power Rankings of 30 teams from me that you’ve grown to know and love, greatly, over the course of the past 13 seasons.
We started the spring with a full Power Ranking before tiding ourselves over during spring training with lists of top lineups, top rotations, top bullpens, top offensive duos and now our final installment: top ballparks.
I’ve done ballpark rankings before and have generally always taken a lot of things into account, such as the parking/transportation situation, the exterior, the area surrounding the ballpark, etc.
This time around, it’s going to be just how the ballpark looks from the inside or on TV. Specifically, picture yourself walking into the ballpark from behind the backstop and viewing everything from home plate to out over the outfield wall.
What are the best ballpark views in baseball? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, obviously, which means mileage may vary. For me, I grew up seeing plenty of the cookie-cutter, two-sport venues and those were a relative eye sore. Gimme some personality and quirkiness and/or a gorgeous view.
Is this bias? Of course there is. There is for everyone. If you grew up going to a ballpark and the team playing there is still your favorite team, there’s no doubt there’s an inherent bias. I embrace mine and regular readers can already guess what sits at No. 1. Make your own rankings if you have an issue. I’m not acting like the ultimate authority here.
Some parks that ranked highly in the past missed the cut here, such as Comerica Park (Tigers) and I love Yankee Stadium because it’s Yankee Stadium, but walking in, it isn’t overly breathtaking compared to the rest. Make sure to latch onto that last part. Every MLB ballpark should be beautiful, so it’s all relative. I’m going to pick a top 10 here, but I generally like them all.
Honorable mention: Petco Park (Padres), T-Mobile Park (Mariners), Target Field (Twins), Great American Ball Park (Reds)
10. Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros)
There will be a few people who lament the removal of Tal’s Hill and the in-play flagpole in center field, but I still really enjoy the look over left field with the Crawford Boxes and the train over the top of the station facade. That brick out there in left-center field in play is pretty nice-looking as well. I like the quirks. The replacement for Tal’s Hill is a batter’s eye that contains an Astros logo in it and I quite enjoy that as well. I’m a fan of this polarizing yard.
9. Angel Stadium
Once the Rams departed and this ballpark got a nice facelift to return to a one-sport venue — as God intended — the team did such a great job with it. The tall right-field wall, the shrubbery and grass in center and the waterfall rock pile (