for the love of the [ballpark]

i think i enjoy baseball ballparks more than i actually enjoy baseball.

i'm not a [sports] guy. some people are, i am not.  i watch most of the important games and can usually hold my own talking about the ncaa basketball tournament every spring, but other than that i'm lost.

and i'm ok with that.

there is however one little, very specific area of sports i believe a can hold my own on, and that is knowledge of the actual ballparks.  i love remembering when they were built and by who.  i love knowing the top five oldest ballparks.  i love knowing which ballparks were responsible for ushering in different stadium styles and the various features each stadium holds.

i blame this obsession on two items from my childhood.  first, when i was very young i received a book called "take me out to the ballpark" a history of every major ballparks at that time.  i loved reading the stories each stadium held and the large illustration of each ballpark.  secondly when i was in high school, i took tour of the newly opened coors field in denver.  i still remember little architectural facts from that tour like how the trees planted outside the ballpark naturally turn purple in october, which would mean the landscaping would be in rockies colors during the world series.  i also remember the tour guide mentioning the stadium was designed by a firm in kansas city.  later on i would become very familiar with this firm and appreciate their other work.

recently i went to watch the mets play, which really means i went to go visit citi field, a ballpark designed by the same firm which had done coors field.  i enjoyed the game but to be honest i spent the majority of the game wondering where i could to see different views of the ballpark.  it didn't take the number 1 spot of my favorite baseball stadium but i think it snuck into the top 5.

besides enjoying the stadium it was a great night out with friends and like always, i picked up a hat.

take me out to the ball[park]

i am not a huge sports "guy,"

i'm an architect.

if anyone starts talking about anything relating to any type of sport, i quickly find myself lost and without a clue to what is being said.  except when it comes to baseball stadiums.  i'm infatuated by them and love knowing all i can about them.

like a humble servant seeing the coliseum in ancient rome for the first time, i'm always in awe entering a baseball stadium. it has so much for an architect to appreciate. they're large scale projects which become icons for the city.  not only are they great examples of architecture themselves, but i love how the outfields frame the city or landscape they're in. stadiums also perfectly represent their time.  fenway and wrigley with their industrial feel; angels stadium, dodger stadium and kauffman stadium with their mid-century vibe; the throw back retro-ness of stadiums built in the 90's like camden yards and coors field, to more contemporary parks like petco park in san diego.

interesting and sad fact, there are no major league stadiums representing styles from the 20's, 30's, 40's or 50's as they've all been replaced and kauffman stadium, which opened in 1973, is the sixth oldest stadium!

as large of projects as they are, it's interesting to think they still follow some of the most simple rules of architecture design; site location and orientation, the approach a visitor takes to and into it, compression and expansion, scaling and massing.  although they have similar traits, i also enjoy the fact each park has its own little drama or flair, some feature unique to it.  fenways green monster, the old brick building in the middle of the left field stands at petco park, kauffman's fountains, and many more.  there are a thousand of things i pay attention to at a a ballgame, the least of which is the actual game.

i'm not sure i'll ever get to design a baseball stadium and i'm not sure i'd want to, but i still love knowing about them.  the other week i had a chance to geek out by seeing fenway for the first time, the oldest ballpark still in use. i was ecstatic the entire game looking at all the details and reading plaques! don't worry, i did pay attention enough to watch ortiz bat and i was rooting for them to beat the blue jays.  even though they lost that day the architect in me came away with a win knowing i had finally seen fenway.