Take me out to the ball game

Now that we dispensed with the no-go and so-so parks, its time to talk about the 11 parks that you should take the time to visit and catch a game. Parks 6-11 are as follows:

• Jacobs Field, Cleveland - A good looking downtown park in a city that has adopted its rock and roll heritage. The food was so-so, but being downtown gives it a fun atmosphere.
• Camden Yards, Baltimore - The original new stadium built to be old. Newer stadiums have improved on the design, but they should get credit for being first. Boog's BBQ and the warehouse make it worthwhile.
• Safeco, Seattle - The best of the retractable roof stadiums. Being next to the football stadium, they have created a little Yawkey Way in front of the stadium. Trains run nearby and blow their whistle during the game adding to the experience.
• Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia - Another new park that got it right. Big concourses to walk and still watch the game. They have wide concourses on all of the levels. There were so many places to walk and gain different views of the game, you could walk all game. They do have cheese steaks at the park.
• Busch Stadium, St. Louis - The new Busch is like many of the other new parks; clean, wide concourses, red brick, iron structure, but the structure is nothing special. But take in a game and you will notice what makes the difference, the fans. They draw from a wide swath of the Midwest and at game time its like a swarm of red bees headed toward the hive. When a fly ball is hit to center field for an out the scoreboard reads just 8. Everyone seems to nod and agree and writes the result in their score book. These are fans.
• Comerica Park, Detroit - I really like this park. Its different. They have embraced the Tigers with Tiger statues, Tiger claw marks in the stadium walls, Tiger history throughout the stadium. This makes the stadium standout from many of the new stadiums. The food is outstanding, they have a great scoreboard, what else could you want? Some fun outside the stadium for one. The area is run down and falling apart. Put this park in any other city and its definitely in my top 5.
  

Next post, My Top 5