Off the Baggie
Posted by E-6 on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
And into the trash heap. The Dome ranked 26th of 30 venues for baseball. That seems high to me...
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did you read any of the comments? Under promotions:
I dont remember DQ Spatula Night. They should have it again! I need a new one.
off the top of my head, I can think of The Trop in Tampa/St. Pete and Dolphins Stadium in Miami being worse. But looking at the list, Texas, the Mets, Florida, and the Nats (looks liek the survey is counting RFK as thier stadium, not thier new one) are worse
Pro Player Stadium and RFK seem like reasonable bets for being worse than the Dome. I don't know so much about Shea and Arlington, but I suppose there can be some rather warm days in Texas where it's not so nice to be outside.
but I suppose there can be some rather warm days in Texas where it's not so nice to be outside
New Busch, unlike old Busch, has a dearth of overhangs to provide shade or shelter from rain.
btw, worst promotion: Nick Punto Rectal Thermometer Night
Ballpark Atmosphere:
27. RFK
28. Tropicana
29. HHH
30. Pro Player
What really seemed to sink the Dome was this: When asked "How would you rate the level of personal comfort when you are sitting in your seat?" 65.1% responded with poor or below average; far and away the worst percentage in the poll.
I think the Dome on the whole is quite comfortable; unfortunately, so many of the stupid seats are facing the wrong direction for baseball. I think the Dome would get a lot more love (well, "love" might be too strong a word) if it were geared more for baseball than football.
I gather that you're not 6'2" or taller, then, Rhu_Ru?
well, "love" might be too strong a word
Far too strong.
I gather that you're not 6'2" or taller, then, Rhu_Ru?
Things were pretty cramped at the Convention. I (6'2") was sitting next to SBG (6'4"ish?). We didn't plan that one very well.
The thing is, if you are sitting in the lower deck, the pitch is much more gradual, meaning that the seat in front of you is engaging your knees and not just your feet. That's very uncomfortable. If I'm in the upper deck, I just hang my feet over the seat in front of me, if I'm lucky enough to have a vacant seat there.
If you're 6'2" or taller, I'd guess that the Metrodome isn't the only place where you feel like the world is built a bit small for your comfort.
I think the Metrodome would be a decent place to watch a ballgame if they just could remove the roof, plant some grass, take out those fold-up seats behind the OF wall, and make the Baggy a permanent fixture like the Green Monster. Some of the seats still would be situated at odd angles, and you'd still have the lousy sound system, but there wouldn't be much else to complain about. The upper deck isn't too high, so most seats have a close view of the field. Everyone can see the scoreboards. You can get good food if you know where to look. Concourses are wide enough. The place is clean and well-maintained. The Twins usually attract a good sort of crowd: people who pay attention to the game, lots of young women, not many abusive jerks.
It's just that, as it is, you're inside, and the setup feels plastic and temporary.
If you're 6'2" or taller, I'd guess that the Metrodome isn't the only place where you feel like the world is built a bit small for your comfort.
Good point. I'm a shade under 6'2", but I'm rarely too comfortable at most concert or sporting venues. Still, I'd rate the Dome as the worst in town for lack of leg-room. The old Guthrie theater was a close second.
It's just that, as it is, you're inside, and the setup feels plastic and temporary.
Bingo!
One of my beefs with the Dome is that there isn't very much seating from first to third. I once saw it claimed that the Dome has the least first to third seating of any stadium in baseball, but I haven't been able to find any reference for that since then. And I personally hate, hate, hate having so many seats at bad angles. No one would design a movie theater with seats facing the aisles, and if given a choice, no one would design a baseball park with football sightlines. I can put up with hard plastic seats, but turning my neck like that for extended periods of time is barely tolerable.
Concourses are wide enough.
I've found that to be true up to about 30-35K, but when the Dome gets filled to capacity, the concessions lines nearly fill the width of the concourse, and foot traffic slows incredibly.
It's just that, as it is, you're inside, and the setup feels plastic and temporary.
Having been indoors and outdoors, I think the inside factor is the main thing. Safeco Field with the roof closed is an entirely different beast than Safeco Field with the roof open, for instance.
This is true. I'm very tall from the waist up (I always say that I'd be 6'8 if weren't for my short legs). Sitting in cars is not easy. I have to lean the seat back or my head is on the ceiling. In fact, I had a car with a sunroof once that when I put the seat all the way up I could drive the car by looking out the top of the car!
RFK was most definitely NOT worse than the Dome. I expected it to be just as horrible and was pleasantly surprised. It had no amenities and no atmosphere, but also NO roof which made it much better IMHO.
Did you ever get to the Vet in Philly? I hated it there. RFK on TV looks a lot like the Vet to me.
That was an ugly, dirty joint.
The list is invalidated by placing Miller Park at #2... with Wrigley in the middle and Fenway in the bottom third.
Maybe they were drunk...
Fans were asked to rate their hometown ballparks in 10 categories with each category given equal weight. SI/CNN acknowledged that skewed some of the numbers.
Maybe it goes to show that Cheeseheads would love a dung hill as long as they could call it their own.
Really, some of the ratings for Miller Park are just absurd.
Quality of Team: 8th. Last year the Brewers finished 2nd in the Central with 83 wins, the first time they finished above .500 in 15 years. They haven't actually won a division title since 1982.
Tradition: 17th. I guess no other club ever got more mileage out of one team that LOST the World Series.
Atmosphere: 5th. I could accept this for County Stadium, but Miller Park has the worst atmosphere I've ever experienced at a ballpark.
Neighborhood: 18th. It's in the middle of a parking lot, off the freeway.
Traffic: 3rd. Because what people really like after a game is to wait in line to get out of the parking lot and onto that freeway.
The color of the sky in Milwaukee is apparently pink (although you'd never know it because they always close the roof).
That's another reason I'm ok with no retractable roof on the new ballpark. They are way too excited to close that roof if it is an option.
Found under the page for Tropicana Field:
Worst promotion in Tampa Bay history. Ouch.
I thought this was pretty funny from Baseball Prospectus in 2002:
Optioned OF-L Jason Tyner and C-R Toby Hall to Durham; designated SS-B Wilmy Caceres for assignment; recalled 1B-L Aubrey Huff and purchased the contract of C/UT-R Paul Hoover from Durham. [5/28]
Apparently, the Devil Rays' bobblehead giveaways scheduled for this year were for two of these very gentlemen, Jason Tyner and Toby Hall. Think about that. As dumb as baseball's dumbest organization is, they did have the smarts to finally cut bait on Tyner, baseball's worst regular. That's a cause for hope, right? I suppose that depends; only the Devil Rays would consider making Jason Tyner a regular in an outfield corner. There is an astounding lack of self-awareness, not only on the organizational management level, but in the team's marketing division. A bobblehead doll for Jason Tyner?
BP staffers like to joke about accumulating Lame Shares, but I think the Devil Rays are the first team to take that concept to heart and use it as a way to outdo themselves in finding new and interesting ways to run fans off. There is something ageless about a Jason Tyner bobblehead doll, of course, in that rather than try to give fans something that symbolizes hope or optimism or a commitment to improvement, or even something like a Randy Winn bobblehead doll that wouldn't say much of anything at all, the Devil Fishies want to give their fans something that represents how totally hopeless this franchise is, just like Jason Tyner. It's sort of like a Jose Tartabull doll for the Kansas City A's to tell fans to abandon hope, or one for Jim Gantner with the Brewers to remind fans that the hometown nine is well-intentioned and mostly harmless. A Jason Tyner bobblehead doll might be the game's most compelling anti-marketing tool this side of Bud Selig.
And then.... and then, he comes to Minnesota and Twins fans love him! Dick Bremer gushes about him! People hate to see him leave! And somewhere, Ol' Harmon is wondering what happened to his club.
only the Devil Rays would consider making Jason Tyner a regular in an outfield corner.
2007 with the Twins
LF 47
CF 17
RF 18
DH 26
Optioned OF-L Jason Tyner and C-R Toby Hall to Durham
That's mainly what made the Tyner bobblehead infamous, wasn't it? That he was still in Durham when his bobblehead day came up?
I wish the Twins had made a Three-Headed Jasons bobblehead when they had the chance.
A Jason Tyner bobblehead doll might be the game's most compelling anti-marketing tool this side of Bud Selig.
LOL!
He looks like Sam Cassell doing that "I've got big uns" dance he does.
Heh. Either that or he's trying to "reorganize" after his teammates gave him a wedgie.