Something a Little Different

Today I’m going to do something a little bit different. Instead of doing a typical baseball card review today I have decided to do my very first top 9 list. Today’s top 9 list will focus on the worst MLB stadiums of all-time. These stadiums might have been at one point been advanced for their time, but now they are nothing but factories of sadness that make kids cry. So here we go the top 9 worst baseball stadiums of all-time.

9. The Astrodome.

Now before I get started let me say that I don’t inherently hate domed stadiums, or stadiums with retractable domes. However, the Astrodome makes the number 9-spot on the list for two reasons. First, it introduced the baseball world to artificial turf better known as AstroTurf. A plague that would see many stadiums rip up their once naturally beautiful grass and replace it with concrete covered by a thin layer of green carpet. And Secondly it was cookie cutter stadium and when you combine that with the fact that it was a dome and it had AstroTurf it is without a doubt one of the worst MLB stadiums of all-time.

8. Rogers Centre/ Skydome.

Now one might ask, how can you make the Astrodome any worse? Three ways, the first being that they built the stadium in Canada. Now having a MLB team in Canada isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but let’s be honest the only time Toronto fans fill more than half the seats in when the Blue Jays are winning. The second way they made it worse is that they made it retractable dome stadium for no reason. Aside from the fact that it takes 20-30 minutes to open and close the dome, your still playing on turf. What’s the point of having an open stadium if you have AstroTurf as your playing surface? I'll tell you why, because we all know you can’t vacuum a giant green rug unless you do it outside. And the third and final reason is that it wouldn’t be as bad if you could see the beautiful Toronto Skyline in the distance, but no all you can see is an in-stadium hotel. Oh, but that’s a unique feature you might say. Yeah it's so unique in-fact that on multiple occasions people have seen other people having sex in the hotel during the game. I don’t need to see a guy’s peanuts and hot dog while I myself am eating peanuts and a hot dog.

7. Old Busch Stadium

And how do you make a cookie cutter stadium even worse? You put it in St. Louis.

6. The Kingdome

Not even the great Ken Griffey Jr. could make this trash heap of a stadium bearable. Besides the fact that it was a domed stadium in Seattle where you get some great summer days, the roof would try and kill you. Yeah, this stadium was so poorly built that chunks of the concrete roof would just fall off. That's what happened in July 1994, when 26-lbs tiles fell 200 feet from the Kingdome ceiling before a Mariners game, costing the M’s a cool $70 Million. Thank goodness, the Mariners would ditch this monstrosity for Safeco Field in 1999. Where the retractable roof allows for fans to enjoy the nice summer days while being able to stay dry during those rainy Seattle nights.

5. O.Co Coliseum

The current home of the Oakland A’s wasn’t always a bad place to watch a baseball game. But like football does to many things it ruined the once great Coliseum by constructing a 10,000-seat tower known as “Mount. Davis” blocking the scenic Oakland Hills. The

goal was to sell more football tickets, what it actually did was make the Coliseum one of the worst looking MLB stadiums of all-time by forcing them to put up a big green tarp to cover up all those seats. That’s another thing you’ll notice on this list, multi-purpose stadiums have always and will always be a horrible idea. If not for the Raiders the A’s might not be stuck with the toxic waste dump that is the O.Co Coliseum.

4. Colt Stadium

Not many people remember that before the Astros took up residence in The Astrodome they played at Colt Stadium. Not only does it get really hot during the summer in Houston but it also gets really humid as well.

The main problem with Colt Stadium is that it offered no shade what so ever. Nicknamed “Mosquito Heaven”, it got so bad at Colt Stadium that it would have to get sprayed in-between innings to prevent the fans from getting eaten alive while they baked in the hot Houston sun. Overall Colt Stadium just wasn’t a very good idea, and that bad idea led them to move into Astrodome which as we all know sucked as well.

3. Arlington Stadium.

What is it with Texas people and them not understanding the concept of shade. Even more blistering than Nolan Ryan’s fastball were the metal bleachers at Arlington Stadium. Because you guessed it there was no shade in sight. Also, it’s worth noting that it looked weird because the original capacity was 22,000 before they slapped a big expansion right behind home plate. Both Arlington and Colt Stadium suffered a lot of the same problems, but at least the Astros moved out after 3 years. The rangers instead would stay in Arlington stadium for an insane 22 years before moving to Globe Life Park.

2. Metrodome

The dome will always hold a special place in Twins fans hearts, housing both their World Series teams. Everyone else however was happy to see it finally die. The giant hefty bag in right field was a major eyesore, really showing just how bad the stadium was at hosting baseball games. Even worse was the fact that the white dome made it nightmare for outfielders because the ball would blend into the roof. A prime example of this is when 275 lbs. Prince Fielder managed to get an inside the park home run because of the ball getting lost in the roof. The Twins now reside in beautiful Target Field and the Metrodome has been destroyed. To quote the late great Dan Quisenberry"I don't think there are any good uses for nuclear weapons, but then, this may be one."

1 Tropicana Field

Why in the hell would you put a team in sunny Tampa Bay and have them play in a dome. Not only that but paint the entire dome grey, to really make it look more depressing than the Rays season attendance numbers. How about this let’s make the dome white and put cat walks inside the stadium that make it a nightmare to field the ball. Even better let’s force them to sign a lease till 2027 forcing them to stay in this dump that makes everyone at the stadium wish they were outside. What were you thinking Tampa Bay, you turned this once temporary home into a place where no one including your own players and fans enjoy going and worst of all your stuck there for another 10 years. I truly believe that if the Rays had an outdoor stadium that not only would attendance go up but you would also see the Rays become a prime destination to play because it’s nice and sunny and players would get to enjoy it. You need a new stadium ASAP or you will never be able to erase all the bad memories of Tropicana Field. Without a doubt this stadium is not only the worst in baseball today but is the worst MLB stadium of all-time.

#Stadiums