You have to wonder if the people who designed the White Sox stadium ever watched a game in person before they put pen to paper. Built in 1991, it was built before the new wave of great new ballparks that started with Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Oriole Park was built in 1992 and started the trend of great new ballparks. The White Sox missed the wave. The stairs are so steep at this park, the one time I visited in the late 90's, I almost got vertigo walking to my seat. It is a big pile of concrete with no character or charm. Not only that, but you get the impression that the people running the show really don't get it. The music between innings is so loud you have to yell at each other to converse. By the fifth inning I had a head ache. Contrast this with the melodious organ at Fenway which is not only entertaining but relaxing. So when visiting Chicago and you want take in a game, unless you want vertigo and a headache, check out Wrigley. It has maintained its charm since it was built over a hundred years ago. It doesn't change its name every few years either. I generally just call the White Sox stadium, White Sox stadium because I lose track of their field naming rights.
The tale of two stadiums I am writing about is not the Chicago parks, but the two parks we visited on our drive home from Chicago, Progressive Field in Cleveland (to see the Red Sox) and PNC Park in Pittsburgh (to see the Cubs).
Cleveland: As a Red Sox fan since the mid-70's I remember watching games at Cleveland (via television) which must have had only a few hundred fans there.They were a perennial last place team and kinda of a joke. They have had really turned things around since then. Jacob's Field being built in 1993 has a lot to do with this. Going to a game is enjoyable so people are more likely go ... imagine that! More people going means more money to the team, therefore they can get better players and build a stronger farm system etc. It was commonly referred to as The Jake and still is even though Progressive Insurance bought the naming rights in 2008 and renamed it Progressive Field. I find the name ironic.
If this is your team logo, you have no business using the word "progressive" in any capacity.
I could point out here that the team decided not to use Chief Wahoo anymore but many of the fans still do so. They wear shirts with this symbol and some of them have slogans like "Save Chief Wahoo." You can name your team after groups of people. For example, the Minnesota football team is called the Vikings and the Boston basketball team is called the Celtics ... this is because there are a lot of Norwegians in Minnesota and a lot of Irish in Boston. To my knowledge, not a lot of Native Americans in Cleveland. Also, neither Norwegians nor Irish were hunted to near extinction by the US population and our government. Norwegians did not have their land invaded and stolen, weren't round up at gun point and marched into concentration camps called "reservations." The experience of the Irish immigrant is not great in this country but the government never handed out rewards for the scalps of the Irish. So it is really dickish for a team, in 2019, to be named the Indians, and guess what, by extension, you are a dick if you wear this logo. Many people already call them The Tribe. Why not rename them? Oh that's right, you are not renaming the team... because you are a dick.This makes total sense.
With this in mind, you can guess, I didn't go into Regressive Field to see my Red Sox with a very positive attitude. The park is quite beautiful. We went to two games. The first game we went to we had good seats between home plate and the Red Sox dugout. These were very expensive. The ticket prices are jacked when the Red Sox are in town. The second game we bought the day of the game so we bought tickets in the nose bleeds and they were quite nice. The picture below is was taken from those seats. We were in the second to the last row.
Most of the things I didn't like about the experience had nothing to do with the building. The capacity is almost 43,000 and it was only about half full. At the time, they were in a pennant race, tied for first place and another contending team was visiting. You think there would be more fans there. Like the White Sox stadium, it is incredibly loud. Not only the music between innings, but the words "make some noise" were constantly being flashed on the jumbotron. It was loud visually, not just auditory. I've never been to a park where the fans had to be prompted to be loud. Normally, they are loud because they are at the game. Do you see the pinkish/purplish lights in my photo? Those lights were constantly flashing throughout the game.
These fans were not Yankee-fan-rude, but they were pretty rude. Chris Sale started the first game for the Red Sox and he pitched very well. When he left the game, they booed him. This is another thing I've never seen. This is baseball, a civilized game, a game for gentlemen. A great pitcher like Sale leaves the game, you cheer for him. We do it at Fenway, I expect fans on the road to do as well. I've seen Red Sox fans stand and clap for Yankees if they performed well. Even Yankee fans would cheer for Sale if he pitched a gem like he did. But again, since the fans at Cleveland are dicks, I guess my expectations were too high. No wonder they haven't won a World Series since since 1948. What players would stay here with such poor sportsmanship in the stands.
The team is complicit in this as well. When the Red Sox made a great play, it wasn't shown on the jumbotron. Only good plays by Cleveland are shown on the jumbotron. Again, I've never seen this before. Kinda petty! If I'm ever in Cleveland again, I will not be returning to Regressive Field. On my way out of town, someone tried to steal my bike off of my bike rack on my car. This has never happened before either. Eh! Return to Cleveland! But why?
Pittsburgh: The difference between these two cities couldn't be wider. While Cleveland is flat and beside a Great Lake, Pittsburgh is hilly at the convergence of three major rivers. They are only a few hours apart. Pittsburgh's hills gives it some character and makes it picturesque. PNC Park opened in 2001 and of the new parks, it is the nicest I've visited. As you can see by my picture, it is in downtown like the old parks. It is also on the Alleghany River so it has a river walk that is open to the fans before the rest of the park.
It seems like the people who run this park, just get it. They understand the fan experience unlike Regressive Field or White Sox stadium. They understand what an enjoyable experience is like at the park. The music isn't too loud and occasionally had some traditionally organ music. The fans are friendly and the place was packed. This is a last place team. The jumbotron has some fun things on it, but it wasn't overwhelming. They portrayed the Pirates players in comic book art form on the second time through the order. On the third time through the batting order, they were portrayed as Legos. Unlike Cleveland, it is very jovial environment at PNC park. We were rooting for the visiting Cubs, but the fans were still quite friendly. The great tickets we had, behind home plate were relatively cheap. We may stop into Pittsburgh again and again. We go to Chicago enough and it is a nice stop (a small detour) along the way.
At both games we went to they played this take on the Pirate of the Caribbean in the bottom of the ninth:
I still have a lot of parks to get all 30 in. By the time I get them all in, I am sure there will be newer ones to get to. Perhaps there will be a new park in Vegas or Portland Oregon on the horizon if expansion comes as it is expected. Here is my list of the Major League parks I have visited in order of favorite to least favorite:
Fenway in Boston
Wrigley in Chicago
PNC in Pittsburgh
Comerica in Detroit
Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati
Oriole Park in Camden Yards, Baltimore
Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia
old Yankee Stadium in NYC
Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City
Rogers Centre (was named SkyDome when I visited) in Toronto
Petco Park in San Diego
Shea Stadium in NYC
new Yankee Stadium in NYC
Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia
Guaranteed Rate Field (called Comiskey Park when I visited) in Chicago
Kingdome in Seattle
Olympic Stadium in Montreal
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