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"There's much to love about a ballpark -- even the homeliest, most desolate one," wrote Page 2's Eric Neel as he wrapped up Page 2's tour around all 30 major-league ballparks.
| |  | | Pittsburgh's gem was our surprise winner as the best park in baseball. |
Of course, most of the ballparks in the majors are anything but homely and desolate. The new wave of parks are brick-and-metal monuments to the modern dance between sport and business: they make the games more enjoyable but cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars to build.
But when we're at the game? We don't mind. As Eric writes, "Outside, we're the disconnected masses. ... Inside, we're a crowd, we're the red-shirted sea of Edison Field. We have shared roots and a common vision inside. We raise our voices to the heavens and crash our thunder stix as one."
Page 2 wanted to visit all the major-league ballparks this summer -- and so we did. We decided upon our own arbitrary scorecard to grade the ballparks and compiled the scores in 20 different categories ranging from the exterior architecture of the stadium to the quality of hot dogs and concessions to the ease of moving from the cheap seats to the prime seats.
The final grades our ours, but yours to discuss. Disagree? That's fine with us. Here's the master scorecard:
| Stadium Ratings |
| Rk | VENUE |
SEATC |
HOTDO |
CONCE |
SIGNA |
BEERR |
BATHR |
SCORE |
SOUND |
FUNST |
SOUVE |
TOTAL |
| 1 | |
4.5 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
95.0 |
| 2 | |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
93.0 |
| 3 | |
5.0 |
3.5 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
92.0 |
| 4 | |
3.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
3.5 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
85.0 |
| 5 | |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
85.0 |
| 6 | |
5.0 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
3.5 |
2.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
3.5 |
84.0 |
| 7 | |
5.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
4.5 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
84.0 |
| 8 | |
3.5 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
1.0 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
5.0 |
84.0 |
| 9 | |
4.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
2.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
83.5 |
| 10 | |
4.5 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
2.0 |
4.5 |
82.5 |
| 11 | |
5.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
1.0 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
3.5 |
82.0 |
| 12 | |
0.0 |
5.0 |
1.0 |
5.0 |
2.5 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
3.5 |
81.5 |
| 13 | |
4.5 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.0 |
81.5 |
| 14 | |
3.5 |
3.5 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
81.0 |
| 15 | |
2.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
81.0 |
| 16 | |
4.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
80.0 |
| 17 | |
5.0 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
80.0 |
| 18 | |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
4.5 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
79.0 |
| 19 | |
3.5 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
4.0 |
4.5 |
2.5 |
3.5 |
78.5 |
| 20 | |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
78.5 |
| 21 | |
5.0 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
0.0 |
78.0 |
| 22 | |
4.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
74.0 |
| 23 | |
3.5 |
2.0 |
2.5 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
73.5 |
| 24 | |
3.0 |
5.0 |
2.5 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
2.5 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
72.0 |
| 25 | |
2.5 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
1.5 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
2.5 |
3.5 |
67.0 |
| 26 | |
2.0 |
3.0 |
3.75 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
1.5 |
3.0 |
66.3 |
| 27 | |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
1.5 |
3.0 |
62.5 |
| 28 | |
2.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
1.0 |
5.0 |
2.0 |
3.0 |
59.0 |
| 29 | |
2.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
2.0 |
56.0 |
| 30 | |
3.5 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
3.0 |
49.0 |
| Stadium Ratings |
| Rk | VENUE |
TICKE |
EXTER |
INTER |
ACCES |
USHER |
TRADI |
FANKN |
SEVEN |
LOCAL |
WILDC |
TOTAL |
| 1 | |
2.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
5.0 |
10.0 |
95.0 |
| 2 | |
3.5 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
5.0 |
8.0 |
93.0 |
| 3 | |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
2.0 |
5.0 |
7.0 |
92.0 |
| 4 | |
3.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
2.5 |
3.0 |
6.0 |
85.0 |
| 5 | |
3.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
2.5 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
5.0 |
6.0 |
85.0 |
| 6 | |
4.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
2.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
2.5 |
9.0 |
84.0 |
| 7 | |
5.0 |
3.5 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
1.0 |
10.0 |
84.0 |
| 8 | |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
10.0 |
84.0 |
| 9 | |
3.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
1.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
7.0 |
83.5 |
| 10 | |
4.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
9.0 |
82.5 |
| 11 | |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
1.5 |
3.5 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
3.0 |
10.0 |
82.0 |
| 12 | |
3.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
2.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
10.0 |
81.5 |
| 13 | |
3.5 |
2.0 |
3.5 |
4.5 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
2.5 |
3.0 |
3.5 |
6.0 |
81.5 |
| 14 | |
3.5 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
1.5 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
4.5 |
6.5 |
81.0 |
| 15 | |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
1.0 |
10.0 |
81.0 |
| 16 | |
3.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
7.0 |
80.0 |
| 17 | |
3.0 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
3.5 |
8.0 |
80.0 |
| 18 | |
4.5 |
2.5 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
3.5 |
3.0 |
6.0 |
79.0 |
| 19 | |
3.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
5.0 |
78.5 |
| 20 | |
3.5 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
3.5 |
4.0 |
4.5 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
5.0 |
78.5 |
| 21 | |
5.0 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
5.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
1.0 |
4.0 |
78.0 |
| 22 | |
1.5 |
2.5 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
2.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
1.0 |
8.0 |
74.0 |
| 23 | |
3.0 |
4.5 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
0.0 |
2.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
8.0 |
73.5 |
| 24 | |
4.0 |
1.0 |
2.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
72.0 |
| 25 | |
3.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
3.5 |
2.5 |
3.5 |
3.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
67.0 |
| 26 | |
4.5 |
2.5 |
2.5 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
8.0 |
66.3 |
| 27 | |
1.0 |
3.5 |
1.5 |
3.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
1.0 |
3.0 |
62.5 |
| 28 | |
2.5 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
5.0 |
2.5 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
5.0 |
59.0 |
| 29 | |
4.0 |
1.0 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
1.0 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
56.0 |
| 30 | |
4.0 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
1.5 |
1.0 |
2.0 |
49.0 |
Glossary
SEATC: Seat Comfort, HOTDO: Hot Dogs, CONCE: Concessions, SIGNA: Signature Food, BEERR: Beer, BATHR: Bathrooms, SCORE: Scoreboard, SOUND: P.A. System, FUNST: Fun Stuff, SOUVE: Souvenirs, TICKE: Tickets, EXTER: Exterior, INTER: Interior, ACCES: Access, USHER: Ushers, TRADE: Trading Up, FANKN: Fan Knowledge, SEVEN: 7th Inning Stretch, LOCAL: Local Scene, WILDC: Wild Card, TOTAL: Total |
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