Rangers New Ballpark

[vicfurth]

Globe Life is a gorgeous park. Living in Fort Worth, I can say that playing games (or just watching) can take a lot out of you. In August, it can be over 100 degrees well into the 3-4th inning of a night game. I just hope they keep some old school brick style like they have now. 

[DaytonBlue]

At least Arlington is making them roll the last 3 years of The Ballpark's lease into the "RangerDome" lease (which will be 33 years).

 

Of course, in 2035 they'll probably be talking about getting back to the great outdoors or some crap. 

[Cosmic]

9 minutes ago, DaytonBlue said:

Of course, in 2035 they'll probably be talking about getting back to the great outdoors or some crap. 

In 2043, the retractable roof will break. The city and team will sue each other over who has to fix it. It remains closed for the remainder of the lease, thus generating the desire for outdoor baseball.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

All these teams with nearly brand new, still state of the art parks, wanting to replace them just for the sake of having something new. Then we have the A's playing in an ancient, sewage filled dump and the Rays playing in a concrete airplane hangar in the middle of nowhere. 

[Ark]

I wish teams would remake classic stadiums. Basically the same in design but with improvements such as better sightlines.

 

Or alternatively make a replica of an old ballpark as a baseball museum and play in it on throwback weekends or something. How much would it cost to rebuild Tiger Stadium or the Polo Grounds

[dfwabel]

22 minutes ago, Ark said:

I wish teams would remake classic stadiums. Basically the same in design but with improvements such as better sightlines.

 

Or alternatively make a replica of an old ballpark as a baseball museum and play in it on throwback weekends or something. How much would it cost to rebuild Tiger Stadium or the Polo Grounds

I assume you never went to Tiger Stadium.  Nearly 40% of the seats were obstructed views and any crown above 22K was a beating.  And you want to throwback weekend games?

[miketd1]

I understand stadiums need to be upgraded/rebuilt from time to time, but my goodness what a tremendous waste.

 

As a taxpayer, I would be livid if the home team pulled that up here.

[JayMac]

It's a shame that they will leave a place as nice as Globe Life (it's still The Ballpark to me) for a modern look probably akin to Marlins Park. I hate how newer ballparks look.

[pmoehrin]

21 hours ago, Ark said:

I wish teams would remake classic stadiums. Basically the same in design but with improvements such as better sightlines.

 

Or alternatively make a replica of an old ballpark as a baseball museum and play in it on throwback weekends or something. How much would it cost to rebuild Tiger Stadium or the Polo Grounds

 

There's nothing wrong with a new stadium replacing an old one, provided its a suitable upgrade.

 

I don't hear too many people wishing the Indians were still at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, or that the Brewers were still playing in County Stadium. How many ballparks have or had more history than those places did? And its because Progressive Field and Miller Park were suitable replacements that most everyone was satisfied with.

 

When it came to Comerica Park, if you want to go strictly on amenities, Comerica has Tiger Stadium six ways to Sunday. But as far as character goes, its almost equally as lopsided in favor of Tiger Stadium and every Tiger fan I've ever talked to have all said they preferred Tiger Stadium over Comerica.

 

Yes you have some fancy new concession stands, there's no longer a troth in the bathroom and there's no longer any beams in the way. All of which are good, but what made Tiger Stadium so great was how intimate it was. People were willing to look past all of those issues mainly because of that. The designers of Comerica Park either didn't know how much that characteristic really meant, or they didn't care because Comerica is about as unintimate of a park as you can get. You can't sit in the upper deck in Comerica Park and still feel like your right on top of the action, but you could in Tiger Stadium.

 

That's really what I think most people miss and I hear similar complaints from Yankee and White Sox fans old enough to remember the Old Comiskey. A lot of fans wouldn't give up that closeness to the action in the stands for anything and when the new digs went up, that's exactly what you made them do.

[Sport]

Build an air-conditioned box, put a sliding roof on it, play with the roof open maybe ten times a year like the Dbacks and Astros. Sigh. Their current stadium is so pretty too. It's one of my favorites to watch on TV. This is as bad, if not worse, than the Braves' superfluous new stadium.

 

I have a suggestion for the architects if they're going with a retractable roof box as seen in Phoenix, Houston, Milwaukee etc: giant windowed sliding panels in the outfield bleacher areas with large, exposed areas not covered by seating so that even when the roof is closed natural light is able to enter and it doesn't feel like you're inside of a warehouse or a Costco. Minute Maid Park has them, but only on one side and they've recently covered the windows with ads. Miller Park kind of does this, but I'm talking even bigger than that. 

 

Chase Field would really benefit if they lost those large squares over the windows with the massive advertisements. 

 

I saw a day game there with the roof close with about 25 thousand people and the atmosphere was dead inside. Felt like we were in an airplane hanger because there is very little light that comes through. 

 

 

 

If heat's the issue I also have an alternative solution: Nobody should live in Texas. At least not in the summer. 

 

 

[BBTV]

If it's "too hot", or "too rainy", or "too... [anything]", then maybe these aren't places that professional baseball should be played.  If it takes a minimum of $1B to build something that works around the natural deficiencies of an area in order to play (or even just watch) a game, then maybe that game wasn't meant to be played there - at least if this is the case during the core months of the season.  Spring training?  Fine.  Full time?  Perhaps not.

 

 

[Gothamite]

Those windows don't make Miller Park feel any less like a warehouse.  

 

I for one would welcome a return to County Stadium were it possible.  But I know most fans don't really care. 

[Proc]

On 5/20/2016 at 11:31 AM, Gothamite said:

On the other hand. I hate Miller Park.  So replacing that one early is okay by me. 

I agree.  I saw a few games there and thought it was just like Ford Field in Detroit...but for baseball.

[OnWis97]

1 hour ago, Gothamite said:

Those windows don't make Miller Park feel any less like a warehouse.  

 

I for one would welcome a return to County Stadium were it possible.  But I know most fans don't really care. 

As would I.  

 

Admittedly, there's a lot of nostalgia in that desire.  But while Miller Park has better sightlines and amenities, the ambiance is a huge downgrade.  

[Sport]

I haven't been to Miller Park, but it always looks full and like a fun time. What would you say is the reason you don't like it? Too sterile, too "on the side of a highway"?

[OnWis97]

I don't like the "freeway offramp" part of it, but that was the case for County Stadium as well. And I don't see Milwaukee ever going for a downtown park as the tailgating is too big a part of it for their fanbase.  

 

Sterile is close to what I think.  But almost tacky.  It's been compared on this board to an airplane hanger.  

 

The only other retractable-roof ballpark I've been to is Safeco.  The roof was open that day and it was far less obvious that it was a dome than Miller Park is when it's open.  The two sides of the structure loom large every second of the game.

 

Of course, the amenities (open concourses, wider concourses, better/more bathrooms) are nice.  And the sightlines are as good as any MLB park I've been to (23, counting defunct).  And I spent my childhood taking an annual trip to watch the Twins play at County Stadium so I definitely have some nostaligic bias.  But I still think the "airplane hanger" effect is too present.

[TBGKon]

I am hoping that the next phase of retractable roofs can include the roof technology of the Vikings US Bank Stadium.  Despite being a fixed roof, US Bank Stadium will have a translucent portion (about 60%) that will allow stadium users to view the sun and sky throughout the year while staying in a climate-controlled environment.

 

The clear portions is made of ETFE.  ETFE is a co-polymer resin that is extruded into a thin film. The plastic-like material is transparent but can be treated to be translucent, is extremely light-weight, very durable and resistant to corrosion.

 

[pmoehrin]

1 hour ago, McCarthy said:

I haven't been to Miller Park, but it always looks full and like a fun time. What would you say is the reason you don't like it? Too sterile, too "on the side of a highway"?

 

Hindsight being 20/20 they would have been better off taking the money they spent on the roof and using it to upgrade other areas of the ballpark. Had they done that I think it would have put the park over the top instead of a middle of the road facility. Still overall there's far more to like about the park than dislike. If "airplane hanger" feel is the worst thing you can say about a ballpark, its a solid ballpark.

 

Biggest issue I saw with County Stadium was that Brewers never put any effort into upgrading or maintaining the place. It was still using a black and white video board the day it closed. How cheap can you get? Had that not been the case, we might be talking about County Stadium as one of the truly classic ballparks in baseball history, or it could have done little more than add on a few years before its inventible demise. We'll never know.

[BBTV]

38 minutes ago, pmoehrin said:

 

If "airplane hanger" feel is the worst thing you can say about a ballpark, its a solid ballpark.

 

 

Totally disagree with this, since from a fan's perspective the entire point of going to a ballpark is to watch a team and enjoy a great atmosphere.  That's kind of like saying "if the worst thing about your life is that you're dead, then you have a decent life."

 

I've never been to Miller Park, but in general unless the team is great and I'm getting swept up in the whole thing, I don't think I'd ever go out of my way to go to a place that feels like a "hanger", especially on a beautiful weekend afternoon or Friday night.

 

The Phillies blow, but going to games is still a good time in a great baseball environment because of the park.  They sell tickets based on the park atmosphere alone.  Not nearly as many tickets as they sold when they didn't suck, but way more than they'd sell if they played in a "hanger".

[JayMac]

3 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said:

 

Totally disagree with this, since from a fan's perspective the entire point of going to a ballpark is to watch a team and enjoy a great atmosphere.  That's kind of like saying "if the worst thing about your life is that you're dead, then you have a decent life."

 

I've never been to Miller Park, but in general unless the team is great and I'm getting swept up in the whole thing, I don't think I'd ever go out of my way to go to a place that feels like a "hanger", especially on a beautiful weekend afternoon or Friday night.

 

The Phillies blow, but going to games is still a good time in a great baseball environment because of the park.  They sell tickets based on the park atmosphere alone.  Not nearly as many tickets as they sold when they didn't suck, but way more than they'd sell if they played in a "hanger".

I completely agree. I go to both Phillies and Orioles games even when they suck because the atmosphere and ambiance is great in both parks. If I lived in Milwaukee or Miami, I wouldn't care to go to a game because the atmosphere and ambiance look terrible IMO.