All Purpose Stadium Thread

[poser]

Baseball at LA Coliseum

Red Sox - Dodgers a few years ago

[poser]

The Cow Palace, the first home of the San Jose Sharks and current home of the ECHL San Francisco Bulls had a pretty big gap between the boards and seating

They had seating but it was all flat so you couldnt see much so they started to turn those sections into something..

[wonderbread]

Baseball at LA Coliseum

Red Sox - Dodgers a few years ago

why did the dodgers and red sox play there, instead of dodgers stadium?

[poser]

Baseball at LA Coliseum

Red Sox - Dodgers a few years ago

why did the dodgers and red sox play there, instead of dodgers stadium?

It was a "spring training" game

[The-Hawk7]

I love all these posts. Unfortunately I'm too stupid to figure out how to post pictures so I'll just type it out.


I've been to the past 2 AHL Outdoor Classics to watch the Hershey Bears play. 2012 was at Citizens Bank Park using the same setup for the winter classic. I can tell you that a baseball stadium setup could only work if one end of the ice was as close to home plate as possible. Sightlines are terrible in ballparks for a hockey game. I sat in the 113 section of CBP and my entire evening was spent with me looking up at the jumbo-tron to watch the game.

Forward to 2013 and they finally have an outdoor game in the sweetest place on earth. The Hersheypark Stadium is generally used for our state soccer, and football championships as well as concerts in the summer months. It's a rather small venue but provided the best lines for an outdoor hockey game. I got to mill around and sit in different spots as the evening went on and there honestly wasn't a bad seat in the entire stadium unless you sat on either of the ends of the stadium.

Here's a fun unknown fact about Hersheypark Stadium. From the 1920's to the 1950's Hersheypark Stadium was home to auto-racing. They hosted the PA State Midget Car Championships, AAA sanctioned races, ARDC and if I was told correctly, USAC sanctioned races as well. If I figure out how to post pictures i'll get them up

[Frylock]

Baseball at LA Coliseum

Red Sox - Dodgers a few years ago

why did the dodgers and red sox play there, instead of dodgers stadium?

It was a "spring training" game

Well, there's more to it than that. It was a game played to mark the Dodgers' 50th anniversary in Los Angeles. I'm in phone, so I hope this link works... http://espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=3128938&src=desktop

[cmm]

Spring training game at the Alamodome

[Silent Wind of Doom]

With regards to the soccer pictures: were the dimensions (width, chiefly) of the playing surface reduced at all to better fit better at any venue? An eyeball test is tough due to lack of markings but some get pretty close to the retaining walls and I'm sure shaving off a few feet on the sides would be negligible.

The more recent PETCO Park soccer game was played on a ridiculously narrow and short field as I recall. Not sure of the exact dimensions but they were at or below the FIFA mandated minimums for field size. The older layout was regulation as were both Oakland Coliseum layouts I posted earlier.

Louisville Cardinal football and the AAA Louisville Redbirds(Bats) used to share Cardinal Stadium at the Kentucky Expo Center. The fairboard has just let it rot the last 15 years.

Made some good memories in that old place, especially during the year the Redbirds set the all-time MiLB attendance record in 1982 and again in 1983. If Charlie Finley had gotten his way in 1964, the A's would have played in this stadium instead of moving to Oakland. The other owners vetoed the move. It's interesting to speculate how Louisville's future might have turned out had the A's existed in the city the past 50 years.

The stadium was condemned earlier this year and people are not even allowed inside or beneath it. It will be torn down and I assume that will happen sooner than later.

Glad the A's avoided that fate. The Coliseum is by no means good, but compared to that it looks like a veritable palace.

They probably would have upgraded the park similar to the upgrade of Metropolitan Stadium for the Twins. Without any other teams, they would have gotten a concrete modern stadium in the 70's or 80's. If they didn't have the support to do so, they would have hung in their older park until the 90's when they either would have gotten a retro-classic park like everybody else, or kept an old ballpark that would now be considered a kitschy classic and beloved by generations of fans. I think that given Louisville's history with baseball, though, the team would have been appreciated and given a new retro park.

[RyanMcD29]

Ah, the Carrier Dome

This is pretty much evident in November when football and basketball are both going on and in February when lacrosse is practicing on the field the same time basketball's practicing on the court on gameday.

[bosrs1]

Spring training game at the Alamodome

That game was a blessing in disguise for A's fans wearing of another city poaching the oh so location challenged Athletics. It showed that the Alamodome isn't even suitable as a short term temporary venue.

Here's a fairly rare occurance since the demise of the old NASL. Soccer at Qualcomm Stadium. Only happens about once a year now when the San Diego Clasico is in town (usually featuring the Club Tijuana Xolos) or El Tri friendlies.

[nas1787]

I really like the idea of using stadiums/arenas for multiple sports when it is done correctly. BC Place is a good example. The stadium was recently renovated primarily to house Canadian football and soccer. When football is being played, it looks like this:

But when the shorter soccer pitch is used, it looks like this:

Seats are added on all sides to make for a better atmosphere, and the top tier of seats are hidden by large tarps. Interestingly, when Canada's womens national team played Mexico there not too long ago, they didnt add the extra seats of the soccer setup.

[TruColor]

Baseball at LA Coliseum

Red Sox - Dodgers a few years ago

why did the dodgers and red sox play there, instead of dodgers stadium?

It was a "spring training" game

Well, there's more to it than that. It was a game played to mark the Dodgers' 50th anniversary in Los Angeles. I'm in phone, so I hope this link works... http://espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=3128938&src=desktop

There was a logo created for that game as well - from 2008:

[FiddySicks]

Here's Raley Field in Sacramento home of the A's AAA team the RiverCats hosting the defunct Sacramento Mountain Lions of the UFL

Here's the same ballpark hosting an MLS soccer exhibition featuring the San Jose Earthquakes. Sac has a new soccer team starting play in 2014 in the MLS feeder USL. Luckily the Sac Republic have chosen to build their own Soccer Specific Stadium saving both teams from this...

Woah I didn't realize the Mountain Lions played games at Raley Field. Didn't they play at Sacramento State for a bit?

[slapshot]

I still don't understand why both benches have to be on the same sideline at AT&T. It seems like there's plenty of room on the sideline closest to third base for a team area.

I've officiated football at Gill Stadium in Manchester, NH. Originally built strictly for baseball, it was made multipurpose when they added turf within the last 20 years.

Here's a picture of a soccer game, and you can clearly see all the markings for football and baseball...

And here's an overhead shot from behind the outfield walls, where you can really see how far the sidelines are from the grandstand.

[Shumway]

Hockey at Ford Field (2010 Frozen Four)

[queso fundido]

Bowman Gray Stadium, Winston Salem

College Football

NASCAR

NASCAR at Soldier Field

[lancealot]

here is a few from down here

a league all stars vs manchester united at ANZ stadium (used for AFL)

melbourne victory vs. liverpool at MCG (used for AFL and cricket)

the set up that is going to be used for the dodgers vs diamondbacks opening series at the SCG (cricket and AFL)

[The_Admiral]

IIRC, this is the Packers-Jets game from 1973, the first time the Packers ever hosted a Monday Night home game; and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was on the Packers sideline. Lambeau Field wouldn't get MNF until 1979.

What a memorable way to celebrate Green Bay's first day of electricity.

[jgladding]

Here's Raley Field in Sacramento home of the A's AAA team the RiverCats hosting the defunct Sacramento Mountain Lions of the UFL

Here's the same ballpark hosting an MLS soccer exhibition featuring the San Jose Earthquakes. Sac has a new soccer team starting play in 2014 in the MLS feeder USL. Luckily the Sac Republic have chosen to build their own Soccer Specific Stadium saving both teams from this...

Woah I didn't realize the Mountain Lions played games at Raley Field. Didn't they play at Sacramento State for a bit?

Yes for 2 seasons. Sac State got a much improved field out of the deal. I don't think the UFL had its act together for the third season so Sac State couldn't deal with the UFL's indecisiveness. As you can likely see in the first pic, the turnout was embarrassing. The UFL folded like 2 weeks later. What a joke that league was.

[Digby]

Soccer/football at baseball stadiums seems passable when an endzone/goal line is set up between home plate and 1st/3rd base, but stretching the field out across the outfield looks disastrous.