Made my way up to Seattle yesterday, and took in a Mariners game at T-Mobile Park. This was my first visit to T-Mobile Park and I came away pleasantly surprised. My research prior to the game, turned up a lot of conflicting opinions on the stadium. Some loved it, some hated it, not a lot of opinions in the middle. Dissecting the reviews, a lot of negative opinions seemed to be primarily motivated by the stadium’s aesthetics. I’ll concede that walking around the perimeter of the stadium, it’s nothing special, but certainly not an eye sore. Similar criticisms are made of the stadium’s orientation, not maximizing views of the surrounding scenery. Depending on where you are sitting, there are fine views of the Seattle skyline, but it’s not a focal point of the stadium’s design. The stadium also fails to incorporate views of the waterfront or the surrounding mountains. I can understand the desire to have all those elements incorporated, but if I hadn’t read it first, I wouldn’t have had those same criticisms.
While there are disagreements on the aesthetic appeal of the stadium, almost everyone agrees the actual gameday experience is fantastic. After navigating the concourse and first spotting the field, I have to admit I cracked a smile. This is where baseball is supposed to be played. It can sometimes be hard to describe what makes a ballpark great, but you know it when you see it. Maybe the smile test is as good as any for determining great ballparks (Ballpark Smile Ratings – Trademark Pending). If I were to have one criticism, it’s that the ballpark feels a little big relative to the crowds Seattle can expect to draw. Originally opening as Safeco Field in 1999, with the Mariners featuring stars such as Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez, a seating capacity of nearly 48,000 didn’t seem unreasonable. But 23 years later, mired in the the longest playoff drought in baseball, the park feels a bit too spacious.
This may be a unique view, but I think my favorite aspect of the ballpark is its blue collar feel. The views of giant container ships unloading across the street at the Port of Seattle. The sound of Warren Buffet’s BNSF railroad empire operating just beyond the center field fence. The concourses with exposed steel, not ashamed to show its bones. Blue collar is a good feel for a ballpark, as you could say baseball is a blue collar game. Casual fans are familiar with the game’s superstars, names like Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, and Bryce Harper. But the core of MLB rosters often contain a healthy contingent of blue collar guys. Not the biggest, not the fastest, doubted their entire lives. Players who you walk by in the grocery store, having no idea they played in high school much less professionally. As a Red Sox fan, names such as Dustin Pedroia and Trot Nixon come to mind. If you’re a true baseball fan, knowledgeable about the game’s subtleties, more interested in watching the game than just hanging out at the ballpark, you will enjoy T-Mobile Park.
Now comes the hard part of updating the rankings. While awesome, T-Mobile isn’t on the same level as Dodger Stadium. So the relevant comparison will be T-Mobile versus Petco Park. I thought about this for quite a while. Weighing all the factors the stadiums are neck and neck, but ultimately I liked T-Mobile slightly better. This is probably a somewhat controversial view. Petco seems to be a media darling, typically near the top of cookie cutter rankings done by conventional media sources. But I’m doing these rankings from the perspective of a baseball fan. I’m not heavily weighting ancillary factors, which may appeal to casual fans, but add little to the actual experience of watching the game. Some may disagree with this approach, but My Game My Rules.
- Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles, CA
- T-Mobile Park – Seattle, WA
- Petco Park – San Diego, CA
- Angel Stadium – Anaheim, CA
29. Oakland Coliseum – Oakland, CA
30. Tropicana Field – St. Petersburg, FL
I predict that AT&T Park will be at the top of the list after you’ve visited all West Coast ballparks. Go Giants!
Haven’t been inside this park (when I drove by it was Safeco Field) but have driven around it and the football stadium next door. Not impressive on the outside but that was an interesting read about the inside – especially from a baseball fan’s perspective. I’m not a fan of indoor stadiums so I think it probably helped that you were there on a nice day with the roof open. From your picture it looks like there was a pretty good crowd. I’m not sure what they could have done about taking in the surrounding beauty of Seattle since everything is pretty flat around there – no easy view of Mt. Rainier or the city skyline from the expensive seats down by the field. I liked your assessment of the blue collar feel with the port and railroad. Good review, Zach.
Disappointed in the ranking but I get it.