Munsey on Ballparks

by Paul Munsey

May 21, 2005

More on Florida - Last week I had the opportunity to attend a Marlins game in Miami. It had been a long time since I was in Dolphins Stadium. In fact, it was two name-changes ago, for a football game. The stadium is surrounded by a huge parking lot and it is one of the few venues where I have seen tailgaters for a baseball game.

May 7, 2005

In Florida - I'm in Florida this week. While driving here, I decided to take a detour and check out some Grapefruit League ballparks. A few months ago I did something similar in Arizona. While the Spring Training ballparks in Florida are more numerous and spread out than their counterparts in Arizona, it didn't take as long as I thought, even though I visited twelve of them. On my way back next week, I'll probably visit the other five.

April 30, 2005

New ballparks are getting old - Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the ballpark that started the stadium revolution, is thirteen years old. In Minneapolis, that means it's just about obsolete.

April 23, 2005

Some of my favorites - We humans have a natural tendency to rank things. Give us some choices and we'll automatically put them in order from biggest to smallest, tallest to shortest, best to worst. Today I'm going to write my opinions about some of the ballparks I've been to. I'll be using words like "best" and "favorite" to describe these places, but my main intent is to share some interesting aspects of places I enjoy.

April 16, 2005

Atlanta and Montgomery - This is a tale of two southern cities and their ballparks. One ballpark is in a big city and hosts a Major League Baseball team. The other is in a small city and hosts a Southern League (AA) team. Sometimes, big things come in small packages.

April 9, 2005

Tiger Stadium - Tiger Stadium was in the news again recently. How many of you are surprised to know that it still exists? It is still there, a giant white monolith, practically all by itself, viewable just off of I-75 as you drive toward downtown Detroit.

April 2, 2005

Opening Day - Can you believe that Opening Day is tomorrow? I don't know about you, but winter sure went by fast for me. Not that I'm complaining. I welcome the arrival of spring and the renewal it brings.

March 26, 2005

Baseball tradition - The Cubs finally reached an agreement with the city and announced that they are updating Wrigley Field. So, the old ballpark should be around for many years to come. This week, the Red Sox announced their intentions to stay at Fenway Park with "no strings attached." They will also be making some major renovations to their old ballpark. Meanwhile, it appears that baseball will finally have to address the steroids situation. It has been a good month for baseball tradition.

March 19, 2005

New York's stadium issue - There has been a lot in the news lately about efforts to build stadiums for the New York Jets and Giants football teams. What does this have to do with baseball? Although we're not hearing much about it, the Yankees and Mets have a great deal of interest in how the football stadium issue is resolved.

March 12, 2005

Relaxing at a ballgame - Spring Training is attracting record crowds. Baseball is becoming more popular across the board, both in the majors and minors. This year, shiny new ballparks all over the country will be bursting at the seams with fans. Baseball has never been so prosperous. I guess we're supposed to be happy about that, but I'm not.

March 5, 2005

A journey to Yawkey Way - I stood a dozen rows up, on the first base side, smiling beneath the American flag and the Fenway Park sign. Despite the outcome, I was proud to have supported our Red Sox-in person-in one of the most lopsided games in postseason history....

February 26, 2005

Greetings from Boston - You might think that it would be difficult to get in a baseball mood here, as the temperature hasn't been above freezing, and it has snowed twice since I arrived last week. However, the folks in Boston won't let you forget about their Red Sox.

February 19, 2005

Off-season ballpark visits - I have been doing a lot of driving lately. This week was spent driving from Houston to Boston. I visited several ballparks and the Baseball Hall of Fame along the way.

February 12, 2005

Houston's ballparks - I am in Houston this week. So, it seems appropriate to discuss this city's ballparks. When Fenway Park and Wrigley Field were built, Houston was still a small city vying with Galveston for which would be the premiere city in the region. A major league franchise was still a half-century in the future. However, while its ballparks aren't as old, there is still an interesting story to tell.

February 5, 2005

Cactus League ballparks - This week, I drove from California to Texas. To help break up the monotony of driving, I spent six hours on Wednesday visiting all nine Cactus League ballparks and taking photos. Allow me to share this brief experience with you.

January 29, 2005

Old time ballparks - When ever I go to a city with a long baseball history, I like to visit the sites of old time ballparks. As you can imagine, some are more rewarding than others. I'd like to share some thoughts and experiences on this subject.

January 22, 2005

Private investors? - When I read that the city of Washington was going to seek private funding plans for the proposed ballpark near the Anacostia River, I thought "who are they kidding?" Well, apparently, eight investors. That's how many plans were submitted by the January 18th deadline.

January 15, 2005

The Coliseum will be missed - I lived in San Francisco during the 1980s and 1990s, and still visit occasionally. I watched the agonizingly slow construction of Pacific Bell Park, now known as SBC Park, only to move away the year it was completed. When I go back, I can't help but remark on how a place which seemed doomed to a fate of permanent wasteland has been transformed so dramatically.

January 8, 2005

No more Anaheim in the Angels - The other day, I received an e-mail from a friend informing me that Citizens Bank changed its corporate logo. As a result, they are revising all references to the bank in the Phillies' 9-month-old ballpark. I replied to his e-mail with disgust. It wasn't that big of a deal, but I was already agitated about another ballpark-related story out of Anaheim.

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