April’s Lost Weekend

I had to find way my way back to Florida.

My first trip to Florida was early in my summer’s thirty stadium journey. I’d been to Spring Training, Opening Day in D.C and the Jackie Robinson Celebration in Philadelphia. Two ballparks down, twenty-eight to go, and I felt the pressure to stay on schedule.

I worried that if I missed a stop, I wouldn’t be able to find a way to get back to that ballpark. Of course, if I didn’t go back, I’d fail in my attempt to visit all the ballparks in one season.

On Friday the 19th, just a couple of days after I returned from Philadelphia, I took an early morning flight to Miami. I was going to see the Marlins that night.

That night went as planned, although I felt a little tired and a little out of it. On the other hand, I started early that morning. I should feel tired.

When I woke on Saturday morning, things had changed. Tired and dizzy, I wondered if I could make the three-hour drive to St. Petersburg. I soldiered on and started to drive to St. Petersburg. However, an hour north of the city, I realized I couldn’t go on.

I slowly drove back to a hotel near the Miami Airport and, all the time, feeling defeated and doubtful. Would there be a way to get back to St. Petersburg? Would I be able to get to all the stadiums?

I slept the rest of the day until the next afternoon, and then the somewhat defeated Nomad flew home.

I knew that I had to find my way back to Florida.

Going Home

Over the summer, I revisited my past haunts. In August, I walked through the Bronx neighborhood where I was born, and my extended family lived. The following week, I went to Fenway. Mrs. Nomad and I have fond memories of our visits there when we lived in New England. Earlier in the summer, Nomad the Younger and I drove by the house where we lived in St. Louis. Then we drove by the office I worked in, near where she went to daycare. Finally, I went to Cleveland, where my father lived, and we saw so many games together before he died.

Now I was in St. Petersburg, where we lived when I was young.

We moved to St. Petersburg when I was five. At the time, we were a family of four. The year after we moved, a new baby brother arrived. Eighteen months later, another brother came.

I went to elementary and middle school in St. Petersburg. It’s where I played little league baseball and went to spring training games at Al Lang Field with my father. I remember sitting in Mr. Wilson’s Earth Science class in 1969 when they announced that the Mets were World Champions. The Mets were the closest thing I knew to a “home team” since they trained in St. Pete. Of course, I was from New York, so winning reaffirmed my home town pride for my birthplace and newly adopted home town.

I was yearning to visit where I spent some of my formative years. Where I experienced the sixties, the Civil Rights Movement, too many televised assassinations, men walking on the moon, and a war that I had yet to understand.

I was intrigued to go back.

Central Avenue to Al Lang Field

Since I arrived late on Friday night, September 6th, I only had the early part of Saturday to experience St. Petersburg. I couldn’t do more because I was going to the game on Saturday night and flying home on Sunday.

In the fifty or so years since we left St. Pete, the city has experienced a resurgence.

”Fueling the city’s vibrancy is a robust art community and a craft beer scene that continues to bubble and brew. ‘God’s waiting room’ as it was once known, is more like a heavenly rave these days, with downtown bursting on weekend nights with music and street life.”

Janet K. Keeler ¹

Central Avenue is one of these resurgent areas and just a few blocks north of Tropicana Field. It was a short walk for me since I was staying just a block south of the stadium.

I walked down Central, past eclectic restaurants, bars, and art galleries until I was surprised to see signs for Al Lang Stadium. I turned right on 1st Street and there it was, now refurbished as a soccer stadium. It didn’t look like I remembered it, some fifty-odd years ago, yet I fondly remembered going there with my father.

In those days, the powerful Cardinals trained in St. Petersburg, winning three pennants and two World Series. I was used to seeing great players like Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Curt Flood, and Roger Maris.

My little walk turned into a hot, sweaty, 5-mile hike. When I finally got back to my hotel, I showered, rested, and got ready for the night’s baseball.

How the Rays Came to St. Petersburg

The Stalking Horse

“St. Petersburg had become a stalking horse.”

Jonah Keri ²

In 1997, the Tampa Bay community formed the Pinellas Sports Authority to build a stadium and acquire a team. In the early eighties, before building the stadium, they made unsuccessful efforts to buy the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers. Finally, in 1986 the St. Petersburg City Council agreed to build Tropicana Field without any promise of securing a franchise. It was a risky gamble that paid off. In 1995, MLB awarded the city an expansion team.³ The “Devil Rays” started play at Tropicana Field in 1998. Twelve long years after the vote to fund the stadium.

Acquiring the expansion Devil Rays was anything but easy. Instead, it was a difficult and frustrating, almost two-decade slog. Many teams used the threat to move to St. Petersburg to obtain lucrative new stadium deals in their home cities. The Twins, Rangers, Mariners, White Sox, Giants, and A’s all negotiated with the Sports Authority. Only the A’s, failed in their attempt to get a new stadium in their home city. ⁴

The White Sox and the Giants came the closest to moving to St. Petersburg. Each ultimately failed.

The White Sox – Sorry, No Deal

In the early 1980s, new White Sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn wanted to replace aging Comiskey Field. However, the state would not finance the effort. So the team made plans to leave for Florida. ⁵ In 1988, they agreed to bring the White Sox to Florida.

However, Illinois Governor Jim Thompson wouldn’t let the White Sox leave. On June 30th, with a midnight deadline looming, he ceaselessly negotiated and lobbied with state legislators to keep the White Sox in Chicago. Approaching midnight and without enough votes to pass the necessary legislation, Thompson took the extraordinary step and had the statehouse clocks stopped. The bill passed after midnight. ⁶

Meanwhile, in Florida, where fans who were already buying Florida White Sox t-shirts, the frustration was palpable.

The White Sox now play in “a soulless, modern object stuck in the middle of parking lot.”⁷ called Guaranteed Rate Field. Interestingly, this is also an apt description for Tropicana Field.

The Giants – Sorry, No Deal – Again

After their White Sox heartbreak, St. Petersburg tried to win one of the expansion franchises awarded in 1991. Unfortunately, in a surprise last-minute decision, MLB selected Miami, instead of St. Petersburg as expected. It was another heartbreaking loss.

The next year, St. Petersburg turned its attention to San Francisco, who wanted to leave cold and windy Candlestick Park. Similar to the White Sox’s situation, the Giants could not get public support for a new ballpark. ⁸

In August, Giants’ owner Bob Lurie agreed to sell the team to future Rays’ owner Vincent Naimoli. Naimoli would, in turn, move the team to St. Petersburg.⁹

Neither Major League Baseball, Giants fans, or Mayor Willie Brown wanted the Giants to leave San Francisco. Everyone’s preference was to find a local owner who would keep the Giants in San Francisco. Finally, in November, Peter Magowan agreed to purchase the team and keep them in San Francisco. In turn, the owners voted against the Florida deal. With a final bit of frustration for St. Petersburg, Magowan’s offer was $11 million less than Naimoli’s. ¹⁰

Naimoli, as well as city and state government officials, understandably believed that the process was unfair. A series of lawsuits and a congressional investigation followed. These actions likely helped their cause. In 1995, MLB awarded St. Petersburg its franchise when they expanded again.⁴

The Giants moved into their beautiful ballpark overlooking San Francisco Bay in 2000.

The Trop’s Esthetics

“……Unfortunately, the Rays have the worst home park in MLB to which to draw those folks. It’s an absolute dump. It’s horribly located, poorly lit, utterly lacking in both charm and intelligent design.”

Matt Trueblood ¹¹

Tropicana Field was almost ten years old when the Devil Rays started to play in 1998. During those years, it remained empty, with occasional sporting events – tennis, arena football, and hockey – and concerts.¹² In the meantime, ballpark design changed drastically. New ballparks followed the retro style trend began when the Orioles opened Camden Yards in 1992 to rave reviews.

Even if done well, The Trop’s utilitarian design would dissatisfy baseball fans who enjoyed the charm of these new ballparks. Frankly, it’s the kind of stadium that I loathe. It’s an all-purpose, domed stadium that has few outstanding features other than they play baseball inside.

My first-row seat in the “lower box,” on the aisle just above the field level seats was disappointing. The seat was almost as uncomfortably cramped as my small seat at 107-year-old Fenway Park. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much legroom either. To make matters worse, my view was blocked by the raised railing in front of the aisle.

Considering that my ticket cost $70, I can understand why fans have second thoughts about going to the Trop. It can be an expensive and uncomfortable experience.

The Rays Attendance Problem

The Rays have an extreme attendance problem.

Tampa Bay ranked last or next to last in American League attendance in seventeen of their twenty-two seasons. However, their continued weak attendance isn’t a function of the team’s poor play. In five of the last twelve years, they finished first or second and appeared in the playoffs. In 2009, the year the Rays played in the World Series, Sadly, their attendance ranked eleventh out of fourteen teams. ¹³

Baseball attendance for both teams in Florida is so bad that many wonder if professional baseball can exist there. For example, in the last two seasons, their attendance ranked 29th and 30th in the major leagues.

What’s Wrong With Florida Baseball?

The poor state of Florida baseball surprises people since it is one of the two states that host spring training. However, many of the fans who attend the “Grapefruit League” are on vacation and not Florida residents. They are not there during the season. ¹⁴

Other issues affecting attendance are:

• Florida fans are transient, many move there from other parts of the country. Baseball fans bring their original allegiances with them. So while there may be baseball fans in Florida, only a small proportion are Marlins or Rays fans. ¹⁵
• To a certain extent, the teams have not been competitive. The Marlins’ last playoff appearance was in 2003. Although the Rays made the playoffs in five of the previous twelve years, their first ten years were awful.
• Bad ownership is another problem. Vince Naimoli, the Rays’ first owner, created “a perception he was more interested in making money than winning.”¹⁶ In so doing, the Rays had a poor chance of gaining a popular following. ¹⁷ Moreover, South Florida fans considered long time Marlins’ owner Jeffery Loria, only somewhat more favorably than Fidel Castro. ¹⁸

It’s Hard to Get to The Trop

“It all boils down to the worst-kept secret in Tampa Bay sports, Tropicana Field was built on the wrong side of the bay.”

Noah Pransky ¹⁹

Tropicana Field is roughly a twenty-mile drive across the bay from the Tampa International Airport. However, what should be a 20-minute drive over the Howard Frankland Bridge on interstate 275 can take much longer, due to congestion on these roads.

Moreover, the Airport is on Tampa’s west side, far from the populated areas north and east of the city. ²⁰ Traveling from those areas can take much longer.

“Fan out to population centers east of Tampa—Hillsborough County’s fast-growing Brandon, for example—and you could be looking at two-plus hours, coming and going, to see a Rays game on a weeknight. Northern bedroom communities face similar hair-pulling commutes. Greater Orlando’s two million-plus residents are theoretically within range, with a ninety-minute jaunt from its southwestern suburbs to the ballpark on paper—but that trip is an exercise in vehicular masochism for those who dare chance it during rush hour.”

Jonah Keri ²¹

Locating a new ballpark in Tampa makes a lot of sense. However, it’s hard to see how St. Petersburg would agree to the move, and they hold the Rays’ lease at the Trop through 2027.

The Neighborhood Around Tropicana Field Has Few Residents

If the Rays can’t draw enough people from Tampa and its outlying areas, they need to attract fans from the surrounding communities. However, that is also problematic, since few live near the stadium.

”Only 19% of Tampa Bay residents live within a thirty-minute drive of the Trop—by far the smallest percentage of any MLB market. Seattle, with roughly the same population base, counts two and a half times as many residents in a half-hour driving radius. Every market smaller than Tampa Bay counts at least half its residents within thirty minutes of the ballpark.”

Jonah Keri ²²

The Trop sits in the on 66 acres of land ²³ surrounded by nine vast parking lots and bordered by two highways. As such, it is the antithesis of a neighborhood ballpark where fans patronize businesses that closely surround the park. Instead, fans park their cars, walk into the stadium and after the game, get back in their cars and drive home.

The barriers created by the parking lots and highways inhibits the Trop from helping the local economy. One study suggested that that the stadium generates no more than $10 million of economic impact in the community that surrounds it.²⁴

The Rays Success

“The Rays have no fan base to speak of, play in a dump and are stuck in a division with the two biggest spenders around. Yet somehow, they put up 90 wins in 2018, equal to or more than 20 other teams.”

Paul Ladewski ²⁵

I, for one, am fascinated by how the Rays stay competitive.

In 2004, Stuart Sternberg purchased a 48% share of the currently named “Devil Rays.” The following year, he became the managing partner and started to make long, overdue organizational changes. Over the next few years, the team would change their name – the “Devil Rays” became the “Rays,” their uniforms, and, most importantly, their philosophy.

The new philosophy came with members of the Front Office staff that Sternberg brought into the organization. Sternberg and Team President, Matthew Silverman met at Goldman Sachs when they worked as investment bankers. Twenty-eight-year old Andrew Friedman, the Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations, was an analyst at Bears Sterns and MidMark Capital. ²⁶

Although all three are baseball fans, their skills in evaluating investment opportunities dominated their baseball strategy.

“Though their backgrounds were somewhat different, all three men shared an ability to recognize value in a company and to pull off successful deals.”

Jonah Keri⁴

Positive Arbitrage

“To Friedman, every trade, signing, and draft pick was part of a greater process. The Rays searched for ways to create situations of, as Friedman called it, “positive arbitrage.” In financial markets, arbitrage refers to the concept of simultaneously buying one asset and selling another, where the asset you’re buying is cheaper than the one you’re selling;”

Jonah Keri ⁴

Even though Friedman is now the Dodgers’ President of Baseball Operations, the Rays seem to have continued the philosophy that he, Sternberg, and Silverman introduced. ²⁷

The Rays use analytics and data to find the players that other teams don’t want. At the same time, they trade players whose value is peaking, but they cannot afford. In so doing, they get maximum return.

They also offer recommendations as to ways the players should change their game to be more successful.

“While 29 other teams thought Charlie Morton was too old (he’s 35) or too fragile (he never had exceeded 172 innings) or too risky (give me age, give me brittleness, don’t give me both), the Rays were smitten. He set career highs in starts (33), innings (194⅔) and strikeouts (240). He should finish third in AL Cy Young voting. His five innings in the wild-card game allowed home runs from Diaz, Tommy Pham and Garcia — two others cast out by their teams — to stand up.”

Jeff Passon ²⁸

“The Envy of Baseball”

“The ability of the Rays to consistently find ways to field competitive teams in the face of long odds has made their front office the envy of baseball. It has also caused the franchise to lose many of its top executives.”

John Perrotto ²⁹

A short list of the executives that started with the Rays and have moved on to other teams includes:

Friedman became the President of Baseball Operations with the Dodgers in 2014

• Chaim Bloom, the Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations, became the Boston Red Sox Head of Baseball Operations in October 2019.
• James Click, the Vice President of Baseball Operations, succeeded Bloom but then became the Houston Astros General Manager in February.
• Rocco Baldelli won the Manager of the Year award with the Minnesota Twins last year. Previously, he was a Rays player and held a series of coaching and front office positions with the organization.
• Charlie Montoya managed the Rays Triple Rays affiliate for years. He then became their major league third base and then bench coach. In 2018 he was hired to manage the Toronto Blue Jays

”We have great organizational leadership, strong faith in our ability to regenerate, and we have supreme confidence in the men and women who will be stepping up into their newfound opportunities and responsibilities. That is the Rays way. It is who we are, it is what we do.”

Stuart Sternberg ⁴

Saturday Night at The Trop

“More Cowbell?”

I dealt with my cramped seats but found the cowbells annoying as hell. The cowbells were inspired by the famous Saturday Night Live Sketch, with Will Farrell and Christopher Walken. It’s the sketch that reimagines the Blue Oyster Cult “Don’t Fear the Reaper” recording session. As the band plays, Farrell bangs his cowbell wildly, Walken, frequently interrupts, and demands “more cowbell!”

Sternberg thought it would be a good idea to distribute cowbells to the fans, have them make as much noise as possible, and gain a home field advantage. It became a “thing” and they still do it. ³⁰ I hated it.

Pure Rays Fashion – The Curious Case of Travis d”Arnaud

Other than said cowbells, I enjoyed the game.

Anthony Kay made his first major league start with the Blue Jays after a mid-season trade with the Mets. In exchange, the Mets received talented, veteran pitcher, Marcus Stroman. Kay had an excellent debut, striking out eight in five and two-thirds innings. When he left the game, he was ahead and left the game with a one-run lead.

However, the Rays came back, in pure Rays fashion thanks to another ex-Met, Travis d’Arnaud.

In December, the Mets tendered d’Arnaud a $3.5 million contract even though he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. However, they released him in May when d’Arnaud had trouble with his timing at the plate.

Travis left with his $3.5 million and promptly signed with the Dodgers. However, the Dodgers promptly traded d’Arnaud to the Rays for cash considerations. That’s when he started to play well. Statistically, d’Arnaud’s performance was similar to Mets catcher Wilson Ramos.³¹ The Rays and possibly Dodgers saw something in d’Arnaud that the Mets did not.

In tonight’s game, d’Arnaud singled and scored the tying run in the seventh inning. Later, he hit a sacrifice fly that scored what would be the winning run.

In true Rays fashion, they picked up d’Arnaud, a guy that the Mets didn’t want, and paid him $428.6 thousand. Conversely, The Mets paid Wilson Ramos, d’Arnaud’s replacement, $7.5 million. The Ray’s won 96 games and went to the playoffs, the Mets won 86 games and went home. In the offseason, d’Arnaud signed a two-year $16 million deal with the Braves.³²

Also, in true Rays fashion, there weren’t enough fans to start a wave in the eighth inning.

Home

I flew home on Sunday and got ready for my last big trip of the season. It would be two weeks through Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, Denver, Phoenix, and Detroit. The end was near, but I had a long way to go.

Meanwhile, I was happy that I got back to Florida, and saw the quirky Rays play in their odd ballpark. I still can’t handle the cowbells, though.

After our three day Wrigley Field sojourn, Mrs. Nomad and I visited Milwaukee’s Miller Park and Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field. If you go, to either expect the standard visuals presented in various forms and quality. There are statues, retired numbers, some brick, good food, and baseball.

Milwaukee’s Miller Park

I enjoyed Miller Park – and rank it relatively high on my list of favorite ballparks. It’s the kind of ballpark I would be happy to live near so that I could go often. It’s easy to get to, comfortable to sit in, the food and beer are plentiful, all in all, a lot of fun. Then, of course, there is the tailgating.

Tailgating

Only 17 of 30 ballparks allow some sort of tailgating. However, of those, four don’t allow alcohol, and I’m not sure it’s really tailgating without beer. Others have restrictions as to where one can tailgate and if open flame/ charcoal is allowed. However, at least four ballparks not only encourage your tailgating event, but they will also cater it.

Then there are places like Wrigley that allow tailgating, but why would you miss the fun in the surrounding neighborhoods. Others like Coors and Camden Yards don’t allow tailgating, but the great activities around the stadium offset the loss.

With that said, Milwaukee is known as the best:

Finally, an MLB organization and ballpark that not only permits tailgating before games but openly encourages it! It’s been stated that Miller Park is one of the, if not the best, greatest places to tailgate in all of baseball. The tailgating rules are pretty simple: parking lots open 3 hours before game time, tailgating ends 30 minutes after the game starts, it’s permitted in all lots (except for Logan and Front Office), no open flames are allowed but you’re able to use gas/propane or self-contained charcoal grills, and of course all tailgating activities must coincide with the law.

Baseball Tailgating – A Quick Guide for Pregaming This Summer ³³

History – Statues

Statues of the Brewers’ most celebrated players, broadcasters and executives surround Miller Park. Hank Aaron, albeit a nominal Brewer, but Milwaukee legend is there. Nearby, stand Hall of Fame members shortstop Robin Yount, and former owner and MLB commissioner Bud Selig. I appreciate statues at ballparks. It’s nice to see the players that I respected so much when I was growing up honored and remembered this way.

Selig has a mixed reputation. Some fans appreciate his work to reinvigorate the game after the 1994’s player strike. In those years, he played an instrumental role in returning baseball to financial stability and profitability. However, others criticize him for failing to stop the widespread use of steroids that ultimately marred the game.

If Selig is controversial, Hall of Fame announcer Bob Uecker is not. Everyone loves Bob Uecker, and he has two statues, one inside the stadium and one outside. The one inside memorializes his Miller Lite commercial, where he assumed his seat “must be in the front row.” Uecker’s humor, genius, and respect for the game is evident in his Hall of Fame induction speech.

An exceptional addition to Miller Park is a space that commemorates the workers who built the ballpark. I don’t remember another ballpark that so significantly gives credit to the people whose work the fans enjoy each game. It’s made more poignant by the statue named “Teamwork” that memorializes the three workers who died in an accident during construction.

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Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field

Readers of my blog know the value I place on the whole baseball experience. It’s not just about the team, but about the style and personality of the park. I’m interested in the fan experience, the setting, the food, and beer.

In this context, it’s unfortunate that Guaranteed Rate Field is a sterile suburban ballpark stuck in the middle of urban South Chicago. Not surprisingly, it has none of the neighborhood appeal that its crosstown rival – Wrigley Field – does. Of course, Wrigley is hard to compete with, but the “retro” ballparks built after Guaranteed Rate Field also have much more charm.

It’s not that the White Sox don’t try. Guaranteed Rate Field is just not special even if they offer the requisite statues, a plethora of food and drink choices and other amenities that fans expect.

Guaranteed Rate Field is a disliked, suburban ballpark wedged into an urban area. It’s also the last ballpark built before the Orioles revolutionized baseball when they opened Orioles Park at Camden Yards. As such, it is the last of the pre-retro “dinosaurs.” Unfortunately, the White Sox ignored a revolutionary and better design for “New Comiskey.” If built, it might have usurped Baltimore’s retro ballpark revolution.

Promises, Promises

So we had two more good days at two more ballparks. For me, it was the end of a long stretch of baseball infused travel. In ten days, I went to three cities, four ballparks, and eight games. I started in Minnesota, flew to Chicago, made the short drive to Milwaukee and returned to Chicago the next day.

What intrigued me on the last leg of the long trip was the story of these stadiums’ origins. As I’ve written in other posts the history of ballparks reveals many of the issues facing the game. In this case, the stories include public funding controversies, damaging naming rights, disloyal franchises, and non-competitive behavior (aka “tanking“). The basic question is – what is a franchise’s responsibility to its fans?

Miller Park’s Promises

Milwaukee County Stadium

Interestingly, Milwaukee’s County Stadium was the first stadium financed entirely with public funds. ³⁴ Milwaukee built it in 1950 to attract a major league team back to Milwaukee. I say “back to Milwaukee” since the Brewers were a charter member of the American League in 1901. However, after only one year, they moved to St. Louis and became the Browns due to a lack of support. The Brewers remained in Milwaukee as a minor league team, through 1952. The next year, they moved to Toledo ³⁵ when the Braves relocated from Boston and started to play at County Stadium. ³⁶

When County Stadium opened, it started a trend where public funding was responsible for about 75% of all new stadium costs. This trend was in part due to “widespread urban renewal policies” that made funds available. It’s success also established the practice of using tax dollars to build stadiums to fund private, professional teams. However, public financing correlated with the plethora of multi-purpose and ultimately boring stadiums.⁵ Municipalities wanted to get the most for their money and thus funded stadiums appropriate for many purposes.

County Stadium was revolutionary in more ways than just its funding. More importantly, it was the first stop in baseball’s westward expansion. When the Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953, they drew record crowds and demonstrated the profitability of moving west. ³⁶ The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants soon followed their example and headed for California.

Enter the Brewers

Unfortunately, although very popular and successful, the Braves stayed in Milwaukee for only thirteen years. They moved to Atlanta before the 1966 season because they wanted the benefits of a broader TV market. However, Milwaukee was not without a home team for long. In 1970, future baseball commissioner Bud Selig brought a franchise to Milwaukee when he purchased the bankrupt Seattle Pilots. When they moved, the Pilots revived Milwaukee’s traditional name, the Brewers.

For the next 31 years, the Brewers played relatively mediocre baseball at County Stadium. They finished second or higher only four times with only one World Series, losing to the Cardinals in 1982.³⁷ That loss was a sad event for Mrs. Nomad, who spent some of her formative years in Wisconsin.

After they lost the Series, the Brewers returned to mediocrity, finishing out of the running more years than not. Significantly, they endured eight consecutive losing seasons before they moved into Miller Park. ⁴

From a business point of view, the team’s attendance was also mediocre. During this period, the Brewers finished eighth or lower in attendance 23 out of the 31 years at County Stadium. Average attendance was an unimpressive 1.4 million per year. ⁴ As a result, the team lost money throughout the 1990s and accumulated most of what would become a $110 million debt.³⁸

Miller Park’s Controversial Funding

Thus, by the mid-1990s, the Brewers were not competitive, financially unstable, and played in an outdated stadium. Moreover, County Stadium lacked many profitable amenities, especially luxury boxes.³⁴ As such, Selig sought public funding to replace the aging County Stadium.

Selig argued that the new stadium would generate the revenue needed to increase payroll and field a competitive team.³⁹ The new stadium funding plan was extremely controversial. Future governor, then County Executive Scott Walker declared it was “the most polarized issue he ever dealt with as a state legislator, even more so than abortion or gun control.” ³⁸

The most controversial part of the financing bill was a one-tenth-of-a-cent sales tax imposed in Milwaukee County and its four surrounding counties. George Petak, the Republican legislator who cast the deciding vote, was recalled the following year.⁴ Further funding came from the nearby Miller Brewing Company that purchased naming rights over twenty years for $40 million.⁴⁰

The stadium tax will finally end in 2020 after raising $600 million over twenty-four years to offset the initial $160 million debt. ⁴¹

Broken Promises

Imagine the fans’ dismay when the Brewers moved into their beautiful new ballpark but reneged on their promise to field a competitive team. In the first 18 years at Miller Park, the Brewers finished above third place in their division only three times. They made the playoffs just twice. ³⁷

What happened? Due to their massive debt, poor drafts and acquisitions, the Brewers were a troubled franchise when Miller Park opened.³⁸ Likely, more so than anyone predicted. To improve, they started a drastic rebuild, which resulted in years of losses. In their first six years at Miller, The Brewers finished in the bottom half of their division five times. In that period, their best finish was third.

Additionally, as befits a rebuild, they dramatically reduced salaries. Over that period, the Brewers’ salaries were between 25 and 60% below MLB’s per team average.

The fans’ disappointment was palpable:

‘They have a massive credibility problem that will be difficult if they don’t come clean with the people who helped build the stadium,’ said Assembly Speaker John Gard. ‘That credibility problem is with the people they’re trying to convince to take money out of their pockets to go to Miller Park.

Pat Borzi – BASEBALL; In Milwaukee, a Bookkeeping Brouhaha ⁴

Resurgence, “Tanking,” and Resurgence

After the rebuild, the salaries stabilized at just below the per-team average, and the team’s performance improved. Though 2012, the Brewers tended to finish in the top half of their division and made the playoffs twice. However, in 2013, they finished fourth and stagnated through the 2015 season. That year they hired Houston’s Assistant General Manager, David Stearns, to become their new GM.⁴² Houston was famous for its “tanking” methodology. Sterns started another rebuild. In the years between 2015 through 2017, their salary levels plummeted to roughly 50 to 60% below the MLB average. Meanwhile, they lost games at a rapid pace while they rebuilt their farm system.³⁷

In 2017, they emerged from their rebuild extremely competitive, making the playoffs twice. In 2018, they were only one victory away from the World Series.⁴ The team acquired future MVP, Christian Yellich via a trade with Miami in 2018 and he promptly won the MVP award. At this time, they expect success with controllable salaries to continue. ⁴³

Interestingly, the fans seem to have grown accustomed to the Brewers’ up and down performance. Attendance has exceeded 2.5 million fans in twelve out of the last thirteen years.

Maybe, Selig’s initial promise is finally coming true.

Of course, business is business, and “Miller Field” will take a name in line with their new sponsor, American Family Insurance, in 2021.⁴⁴

Chicago’s Comiskey Field – err Guaranteed Rate Field

Aging Comiskey

In contrast to Milwaukee’s experience with the Braves, the White Sox have always been loyal to Chicago. They were charter members of the American League ⁴⁵, using the name that originated with the crosstown Cubs – “White Stockings.” During most of that time, Comiskey Park on Chicago’s South Side was their home. ⁴⁶

In the mid-1980s, new owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn started discussing replacing their aging stadium. They planned to build a publicly financed stadium in suburban Addison about 25 miles away from Comiskey. Addison was their choice because marketing studies indicated that they should cultivate their high-income fan base in the western suburbs.⁵

The plan called for a suburban stadium because Reinsdorf was “enamored with Royals Stadium in Kansas City.” The initial design for Chicago was similar to Kansas City:

There’s a modern “intergalactic” feel to both designs. You see the vertical circulation ramps positioned in close to the same spots, the long-span upper decks. The outfield light banks look surprisingly alike. You see the symmetrical dimension, the rounded edges, and the slivers of green beyond the outfield fencing.

Dayn Perry – The White Sox ballpark in Chicago that never was and could have changed history ⁴

However, when Addison’s voters denied the funding proposal, other cities expressed interest in hosting the White Sox. Naturally, Reinsdorf and Einhorn were happy to listen to the offers. ⁴

The 11th Hour Deal

Denver, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and especially Tampa expressed interest in the team. Tampa was already building a new stadium (now Tropicana Field – where the Rays play) to attract a franchise. The White Sox were so close to agreeing to move that they sold “Florida White Sox” t-shirts and hats in Tampa. ⁴

In an “11th hour deal,” the Illinois State Legislature agreed to fund the new ballpark. As part of the deal, the White Sox agreed to build the new park next to the original Comiskey Park. ⁴⁶ However, Reinsdorf and Einhorn used the threat to the move to Tampa to extract amicable terms.

By the time it was all done, the White Sox had secured a clause that allowed them to pay no rent at all if they failed to sell a certain number of tickets. According to a 2011 Crain’s Chicago Business story, the team didn’t pay any rent at all for the first 18 years. Only when they renegotiated the lease in 2008 did the White Sox begin paying the IFSA (Illinois Sports Facilities Authority), and even then, their rent was one of the lowest in baseball.

Dayn Perry – The White Sox ballpark in Chicago that never was and could have changed history ⁵

Design Issues

Ultimately, they built a suburban park in an urban setting. ⁴ “A soulless, modern object stuck in the middle of parking lot.” ⁷

Charm, intimacy, and the idea of weaving the stadium into the fabric of its surroundings — all the things the retro parks have come to represent — were not high on the agenda of the White Sox or the agency that built Comiskey, the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.

Blair Kamin – 10 years later, Comiskey still has a bad reputation” ⁴

The ballpark opened with these issues:

• Field-level seats were too far from the playing field. In 2001 the club added additional seats “along the foul lines and beyond the dugouts.”⁴
• Similarly, bullpens created a “moat” between the outfield walls and the seats behind them. The team added more seats there in 2001 and thus created a “much needed” sense of theater.⁴
• The outfield walls were too deep. In one of their many remodels, the Sox moved them closer to home plate. ⁴
• Worst of all, the too steep, upper deck was too high and too far from the field. Its odd design was an attempt to avoid the overhang from the upper deck blocking the view from below. In later years, the team removed about 8,000 seats, and the original roof was replaced to make the upper deck a bit more comfortable. ⁷

“Site Driven” vs. “Program Driven” Stadiums

Interestingly, there was an initial revolutionary plan for the new stadium that might have changed the game as Camden Yards did a year later. Unfortunately, that stadium was never built.

A young architect named Phillip Bess became enamored with the stadiums built between 1900 and 1923, “from Shibe to Yankees.” ⁴⁷ What interested him most was that the surrounding neighborhoods constrained their size. Additionally, they were an integral part of the neighborhood and adopted the neighborhood’s charm. For example, consider how the available area influences Fenway Park’s shape. The short left field and the Green Monster are a result of the neighborhood’s constraints.

Bess felt that the suburban, multi-purpose stadiums were boring because they were “program-driven.” Since space was virtually unlimited, designers could easily include all of the owners’ requirements. In contrast, the older stadiums were “site-driven.” They could add only as many of the owner’s needs as the site’s size would allow. The resulting ballparks had unique dimensions, shapes, and character. Interestingly, in many of the retro stadiums, the available area is not a constraint, and thus their charm is “more affectation than necessity.”

Additionally, the retro parks tend to have large footprints and anchor downtown entertainment districts. As such, vast parking lots create a barrier between the nearby neighborhoods that surround the ballpark. In so doing, the parking lots diminish the economic advantages that the ballpark could bring to the surrounding area.

Armour Park – The Neighborhood Ballpark

In contrast to the future retro stadiums, Bess created and presented a plan for “Armour Park” that fit into the area used by Comiskey Park. It was a real neighborhood park integral to the surrounding area.⁴⁷

Armour Field would express, in arresting physicality, Bess’ hopeful thesis: ‘I realized that baseball fans were a kind of community,’ he said. ‘And the thought occurred to me that you can make this argument about buildings as a form of community and make that point by using baseball parks and advance the larger idea.’

Dayn Perry – The White Sox ballpark in Chicago that never was and could have changed history

Additionally, it had unique dimensions required to fit into the existing space:

That would be perhaps the most compelling set of outfield distances and angles in all of MLB today (400 feet to center, 421 to the alleys, 388 to the first turn in the outfield, and 283 down the lines). Indeed, the “shotgun house” layout bears a great of similarity to the dear, departed, singular Polo Grounds. That deep outfield and those short foul lines are distinctive in a genuine way, as they’re necessary in order to fit the park within those neighborhood constraints.

Dayn Perry – The White Sox ballpark in Chicago that never was and could have changed history

Unfortunately, decision-makers did not seriously consider Armour Park’s plan.

Had they adopted the plan, the resulting ballpark that opened the year before Orioles Park may have revolutionized the sport in a different way. Future ballparks could have been both neighborhood oriented and “retro” in appearance.

White Sox Performance In The New Park

So what did the taxpayers get from their investment? Fans want their teams to play exciting, meaningful games. They want their team to win. It follows that if they invest their tax dollars to support the team, they expect to see results on the field.

In contrast to the Brewers’ early experience at Miller Park, the White Sox were on an upswing during their first years at New Comiskey. They finished second in the Central Division in their last year at Old Comiskey. Over the next 15 years, they never finished lower than third and finished first or second twelve times. Moreover, they won their first world championship in 88 years in 2004. ³⁷

Throughout these successful years, their fans were likely happy since their salaries were competitive and consistent with MLB averages. Interestingly, the White Sox payroll grew in the years after their championship as they tried to keep their key players. Unfortunately, as their salaries grew, they started to finish lower in the standings. Beginning in 2013, the team reduced payroll dramatically as they began another drastic rebuild – they began to “tank.” ⁴⁸

As of this writing, the White Sox now potent farm system is producing excellent young payers. They are augmenting these players with free agent acquisitions, and the future looks bright.

What About The Fans?

When I started my journey, I assumed I could produce a blog post for each ballpark as I visited them. I’d let my readers experience my adventure as it happened. Needless to say, that didn’t happen, the season is long over and I’m still writing.

I only focus on my delays as a way to explain why I can include mid-January events in this piece. As I finish this piece about threats, tanking and broken promises, baseball focuses on the events in Houston and Boston.

As you know, the Astros and Red Sox cheated in their championship seasons of 2017 and 2018. They used video equipment to steal the opposing team’s signs and then relayed them to their hitters. Houston fired its suspended general manager and manager – Jeff Luhnow and AJ Hinch. Boston fired manager Alex Cora but we still don’t know the length of his suspension. The Mets fired their new manager but former Astro, Carlos Beltran even though he escaped the commissioner’s punishment.

In the future, I’ll write pieces about some of the subjects brought to light by this scan-dal. What is the appropriate use of technology in baseball – and in life? Why is there so much moral ambiguity in social media? After all, how can they suspend AJ Hinch for only a year if they suspended Pete Rose for a lifetime? After all, doesn’t every-one cheat? Hasn’t sign stealing been around forever? What about foreign substances? And don’t get me started on PEDs.

Tainted Championships and Disappointments

Today, I just want to focus on the fans. The fans in Houston who waited so long for a championship and now have a tainted one. In Boston, they waited 86 years for their championship. Then they won four – however, the last one is also tainted by cheating. In New York and Los Angeles, the fans think the championship trophies should be theirs. I disagree but understand their disappointment.

Fans live and die by their teams. In Milwaukee, they paid dearly to watch their team lose and owners make a lot of money. They already lost one team and didn’t want to lose another. In Chicago, the fans dealt stoically with one losing season after another. Only to have new owners threaten to move their team to Tampa.

The fans deserve better.

A week after I returned from Chicago, I spent a weekend in New York watching the Yankees play the Red Sox. I wrote about the travesty of New Yankee Stadium after I returned. The baseball world lost something special when the Yankees demolished the original stadium. Some fans were disappointed.
After that, I was off to Boston’s Fenway Park. The fans are proud that the place still stands even if it is a bit uncomfortable. The team found other ways to disappoint.

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Historic Camden Yards

There is a statue of young George Herman Ruth, Jr., at the intersection of Eutaw and West Camden Streets. He is looking toward the sky and dreaming of greatness. Behind the statue called “Babe’s Dream” is Baltimore’s revolutionary Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The ballpark abuts “Pigtown,” the historic neighborhood where “The Babe” was born. Ruth’s father ran a saloon located near what is now Oriole Park’s centerfield. When the stadium was under construction, the team asked archeologists to survey the area to see if there were any artifacts. They found a few bottles and dishes, but nothing noteworthy.⁴⁹

Ruth’s birthplace – now a museum – is just a few blocks from the ballpark. The house is small, clean, and orderly. If one did not know better, they would assume that it was a happy home. It wasn’t happy, and neither is the current day Oriole Park.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a revolutionary ballpark distinguished by many unique elements. However, its beauty unsuccessfully camouflages many of the Orioles and baseball’s problems.

The Babe

The romanticized version of Ruth’s life is like the story of his statue in front of Oriole Park suggests. It’s the story of the always hopeful boy who perseveres through life’s challenging obstacles to realize his dreams of baseball greatness. At St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, young George meets Brother Mathias, who teaches him baseball. From there, he on his way to fame and fortune.

Ruth’s childhood was far more traumatic than the romantic legend suggests. His parent’s troubled marriage ended in divorce with allegations of his mother’s infidelity. His father was an alcoholic. George Jr., the eldest of seven children, felt that his parents blamed him for the loss of the five siblings that died in infancy. The family was poor and relocated often.

George Jr.’s relegation to St. Mary’s was akin to parental abandonment. He rarely saw his parents after he moved there. Life at the school was harsh. Food was rationed, all activities were controlled, he slept in a large dorm with little privacy. These experiences colored the rest of the young George’s life.⁵⁰

Ruth was America’s first and possibly greatest sports celebrity. The poor kid from Baltimore set extraordinary baseball records and commanded record salaries. However, a realistic view is that his outward gregarious behavior hid a sad and somewhat lost existence. Ruth was a womanizer, likely alcoholic, and died an old man at the young age of 53. Moreover, despite his legendary career, he never garnered the respect needed to realize his dream of managing a major league team.

Eutaw Street and Statues

Just past the “Babe’s Dream” statue is a gate that leads to Eutaw Street. This section of the busy street became a pedestrian thoroughfare that runs between the 120-year-old Baltimore & Ohio Warehouse and the outfield when the ballpark opened. On game days, the Orioles restrict Eutaw to ticketed fans who frequent the many eateries, including former Orioles great Blog Powell’s “Boog’s BBQ” and the souvenir stands. When the Orioles are not in town, the street is open to all pedestrians.

I visited Oriole Park at the end of May with an old friend, Joel, and his wife, Jennifer. I had been to the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum a few weeks earlier, during my Jackie Robinson Day trip to Philadelphia. Jennifer, Joel, and I enjoyed Boog’s Barbecue, explored the area, and had a great time.

Later we walked behind center field to Legends Park, a courtyard and picnic area that was added on the park’s twentieth anniversary to honor six Orioles greats who helped the team dominate baseball for almost two decades. In it, there are statues of manager, Earl Weaver and players Jim Palmer, Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Eddie Murray, and Cal Ripken, Jr.

Unfortunately, those glory days were a long time ago. But for a brief period, the baseball in Baltimore was better than almost anywhere else.

The Orioles

Origins

There have been teams named the Orioles in Baltimore since 1894. From 1894 to 1953 they were mainly a minor league club that played in the International League. However, for a short period, from 1914 to 1916 the Orioles joined the upstart Federal League as it tried to become a third major league. ⁵¹

Famously, the local 19-year old kid named George Herman Ruth, Jr. joined the team in 1914. Since Ruth was so young, Jack Dunn, the team’s owner, had to become his legal guardian to complete the contract. Due to Ruth’s youth, lack of experience, and round face, his Orioles teammates referred to him as “Jack’s newest babe. Ruth was from then on known as “Babe Ruth,” and the rest is history. ⁵² Ruth was sold to the Boston Red Sox later that year.

When the Federal League folded in 1916, the Orioles rejoined the International League where they played until 1953. In 1954, the historically bad but major league moved to Baltimore and became took the team’s name. The minor league Orioles moved to Richmond and became the Richmond Virginians. ⁵³

The St. Louis Browns

The Browns were a losing franchise best known for surprising behavior, especially when Bill Veeck owned the team. In the early 1950s, Veeck used a series of promotional stunts to draw fans to the ballpark. Most memorable was in 1951 when he hired the very small Eddie Gaedel to appear as a pinch hitter. To further the comedy, Gaedel, who was only 3 feet 7 inches tall, wore uniform number “1/8.” As expected, Gaedel walked on four pitches, all high.

Another time, Veeck held “Grandstand Managers Day,” where fans held placards to vote on the manager’s decision.

During World War II – before Veeck bought the team – there was such a shortage of players that the Browns needed to employ a one-armed outfielder named Pete Gray. The previous year the Browns won their only pennant, an example of the weak competition caused by the war.

Although the Browns played in St. Louis for half a century starting in 1902, by the 1950s, they faced the same issues that the Boston Braves, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants did. None could compete with the more popular teams that they shared their cities with and needed new homes. Specifically, the Browns could not profitably exist in St. Louis with the more popular Cardinals. Veeck’s first choice was to relocate to Milwaukee, but American League owners denied the proposal. The baseball establishment didn’t like Veeck and thought that denying his move would force him out of baseball. The team’s move to Baltimore was contingent on the disliked Veeck’s agreement to sell his controlling interest in the organization. ⁵⁴

The Oriole Way

”The winning tradition, by the reckoning of baseball executives who were running the team in the glory days, that came to be known as The Oriole Way – a code phrase for a coherent philosophy of evaluating and training the players, an insistence upon the highest standards of professionalism and the shrewd scouting and consistent development of a seemingly inexhaustible supply of blossoming stars in the organization’s farm system”

Bruce Buursma – “Whatever Happened to ‘the Oriole Way’?” ⁵⁵

Under new ownership and management, the lowly & sometimes whimsical Browns transitioned into a powerhouse in Baltimore. The resurgence started with their philosophy referred to as the “Oriole Way” that entailed superior scouting and player development. Adhering to this philosophy, the Orioles stocked their farm system with the young talent that drove their future success. Then in 1965, they traded one of these players, their former Rookie of the Year, Milt Pappas to Cincinnati for established slugger Frank Robinson. Although the trade wasn’t quite as bad as people remember, many still refer to it as one of the worst in history.⁵⁴

In his first year with the Orioles, Robinson won the Triple Crown, became the first man to win the MVP in each league, and led the team to their first World Championship.⁵⁴ More wins would follow. Between 1966 and 1983, the Orioles won seven division titles, six pennants, and three world championships. Moreover, they won at least 90 games 16 times, had only one losing season, and held the best record in the majors. ⁵⁶

Fall From Grace

Although the Orioles of the 1960s and 70s were successful on the field, they were only a breakeven investment for their owner, Jeff C. Hoffeberger. The Orioles simply couldn’t compete for the city’s affections with the more popular football team, the Baltimore Colts. However, since Hoffeberger was the head of the National Brewing Company, there were other financial rewards. While the team did not generate a great return, they were “an excellent promotional vehicle to sell beer.” ⁵⁷ However, when Carling Brewery bought the company in 1976, the Orioles promotional capabilities were no longer needed.

Carling sold the team to Edward Bennett Williams in 1979 for $12 million. When Williams died in 1988, his family sold the team to junk bonds dealer, Eli Jacobs for $70 million. However, Jacobs encountered financial issues in 1991 and in 1993, declared bankruptcy. As a result, he sold the team to Peter Angelos, the team’s current owner, for $173 million.

Through the ownership changes, the Orioles lost their direction. Although they made the playoffs in 1997, 2012, 2104 & 2016, they’ve not won a championship since 1983. Over the years, they’ve lost their focus on the fundamentals they taught when they developed young players. The farm system is now one of the worst in baseball. Moreover, they’ve made bad trades and poor free agent acquisitions. Finally, they can’t compete financially with their more powerful division rivals, the Yankees and Red Sox. It’s difficult for them to attract and keep good talent.

Non-competitive Behavior – “Tanking”

In 2019, the Orioles had a division worst 54 wins, 108 loss record. They finished 49 games behind the division-winning Yankees. In 2018, they were even worse, finishing with a record 47 and 115. They are firmly in the middle of a total rebuild, which some refer to as “tanking.”

“Tanking” is the now popular strategy where teams trade all their good players, don’t invest in new ones, and do everything they can to lose. Losing earns better draft choices. The goal is to amass a large group of good prospects who will help reset the team’s fortunes. Meanwhile, the owners save money from reduced payroll costs.

The model for successful tanking is the Houston Astros, who lost 300 games between 2011 and 2013. Their drafts started to pay off in 2015, and they won the World Series in 2017. ⁵⁸

However, this non-competitive behavior is not good for the game. Baseball attendance has declined each year for the past five years, as many teams have adopted the Astros’ strategy. ⁵⁹

Noncompetitive Behavior Doesn’t Work

Moreover, there is mounting evidence that the strategy does not work:

“The idea of trying to lose 100 to 115 games, while claiming it’s a long-term plan for glory, always has been a long-shot notion, seldom born out in actual baseball experience. Of the current 30 clubs, 20 in the past 50 years have not lost more than 200 games over consecutive seasons, at least not after you exclude their early expansion-team days. Yet those 20 teams have won 33 of the past 50 World Series, exactly the ratio you’d expect if there was no difference between having a Horror Era and never being truly awful at all.”

Thomas Boswell – “Tanking by MLB teams isn’t a strategy. It’s fan abuse” ⁵⁸

So far, the strategy is certainly not working for the Orioles:

“Rebuilds take time, but the Orioles have finished last in the A.L. East for three consecutive seasons and appear destined for a similar fate in 2020. There is some impact talent coming, but not a lot of it. The major-league roster has been almost entirely stripped of assets, and the remaining pieces are almost surely not going to net any impact talent in return.”

Jeff Wiser – “From the Outfield Grass: Orioles’ Tank Still Running On Fumes” ⁶⁰

I’m sure Orioles fans long for the glory days when they watched so many winning teams. They remember fondly the 25 years between Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken, Jr’s rookie years when so many great players came through the team’s farm system.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

“Those who know the story best like to refer to the ballpark’s origin as the perfect convergence of people, circumstance and time. There was Lucchino, the team president, who wanted an old-style baseball park with modern amenities. There was Maryland governor and former Baltimore mayor William Donald Schaefer, who wanted to attract visitors and development to the city’s blighted inner harbor. There was a city and a fan base that had lost its NFL team, and thus was more willing than most to break the mold and fund a stadium that would host only one tenant.

Bill King – “Janet Marie Smith’s passion, personality and artistic eye helped redefine sports architecture” ⁶¹

While the Orioles’ dominance on the field was waning, they were revolutionizing baseball off of it.

By the early 1980s, it was clear that the Orioles needed a new stadium to ensure consistent attendance. The Orioles’ success in Baltimore was especially crucial to the city since its other professional teams had recently abandoned it. Their NBA franchise, The Baltimore Bullets, moved to Washington DC in 1974.⁶² Even more traumatic, the NFL Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984. Under the circumstances, “the loss of the Orioles would be a crushing blow to the pride of Baltimore, which would no longer be viewed as a ‘big league’ city and likely suffer economically.” ⁶³

Throughout the decade, then-current owner Edward Bennet Williams negotiated with the city to garner support for the new stadium. Approvals and financing were in place when Williams died in 1988.

Larry Lucchino’s Vision

At the time, sports facilities were the multi-purpose variety. These stadiums could accommodate baseball, football, and other sporting and entertainment events. For example, the Toronto Blue Jays were about to open SkyDome, “a futuristic stadium with a retractable roof and a hotel overlooking the field” ⁶⁴ when planning for Oriole Park began. Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg opened the year after SkyDome with somewhat similar features. While these facilities were efficient investments, they were boring and had little appeal.

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New Comiskey Park was the next stadium planned to open after Tropicana Field and just a year before Oriole Park. Orioles president Larry Lucchino hated its design when HOK Sport, the architects for both the Chicago and Baltimore projects, showed him a model. Lucchino “tore the model apart,” since he considered it “antiseptic” and “undistinctive.”⁶⁵

”We just ripped one piece out of it after another,” he said. “I said, ‘We don’t want this, we don’t want that.’ One of the architects said, ‘Larry, do you have any idea how much these models cost?’ I said, ‘No, but we’re trying to make a point.’”

Thom Loverro – “MLB’s unsung hero made ballparks fun again”⁶⁵

Lucchino wanted something different. He wanted “an asymmetrical, old-style ballpark that took cues from its surroundings.” ⁶¹ In short, he wanted to recreate the old-time downtown ballparks, but with modern amenities.

Revolutionary Design

“Oriole Park is state-of-the-art, yet unique, traditional and intimate in design. It blends with the urban context of downtown Baltimore while taking its image from baseball parks built in the early 20th century. Steel, rather than concrete trusses, an arched brick facade, a sun roof over the gentle slope of the upper deck, an asymmetrical playing field, and natural grass turf are just some of the features that tie it to those magnificent big league ballparks built in the early 1900s. Ebbets Field (Brooklyn), Shibe Park (Philadelphia), Fenway Park (Boston), Crosley Field (Cincinnati), Forbes Field (Pittsburgh), Wrigley Field (Chicago), and The Polo Grounds (New York) were among the ballparks that served as powerful influences in the design of Oriole Park.

Orioles.com “Oriole Park/History”

The result was a design that changed baseball history.

From the time that Oriole Park opened in 1992, 21 additional new parks opened. Most of these incorporate design elements that were popularized by Oriole Park. ⁶⁴ Moreover, Lucchino and lead architect Janet Marie Smith supervised some of these other revolutionary projects. When Lucchino became president of the San Diego Padres, he hired Smith to work on the new Petco Park.

He then moved to the Boston Red Sox and was instrumental in the decision to remodel Fenway Park instead of replacing it. “Over the course of a decade they spent $285 million resurrecting a baseball landmark that had been given up for dead.” ⁶¹

It’s too bad, the Yankees didn’t follow their lead and remodel Yankee Stadium rather than replace it.

Repeatable Design Elements

Elements of Oriole Park’s design flow from ballpark to ballpark.

For example, Fenway Park’s concession area that connects to the enclosed Jersey Street is very similar to Eutaw Street. Similarly, these same features are found at St. Louis’s Ballpark Village and Atlanta’s Battery.

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Most of the new ballparks are either brick or stone, similar to Oriole Park. The bronze statue called “The Player” in front of Coors Field’s brick facade is very similar to Oriole Park’s “Babe’s Dream.”

Finally, Smith used the now iconic, 120-year-old Baltimore & Ohio Warehouse as the centerpiece of the park’s design.

“The thing about the warehouse: It’s real,” Smith said, extending both hands to make the point. “That’s one thing I love about having it here. It gave us a reference point that dictated virtually everything else — from the field dimension to the vertical scale of the building to the brick and the steel palate and the seat colors. … The warehouse, more than anything, was like our clue of what to do.

Bill King – “Janet Marie Smith’s passion, personality and artistic eye helped redefine sports architecture” ⁶¹

Similarly, when Lucchino moved on to the Padres, he pushed for the new downtown ballpark. He decided that instead of demolishing the Western Metal Supply Co. Warehouse, it would be the cornerstone of the stadium. “This is what is going to make this ballpark special, this will make it unique. I don’t think this can be duplicated.” ⁶⁶

“Someday the Orioles Will Deserve Camden Yards”

Camden Yards is historically located & exquisite. Most significantly, it’s a revolutionary structure. In so many ways, it is the model of all the ballparks built after it. It is one of the most beautiful ballparks in the country and one that all fans should visit at least once.

However, the Orioles are now a struggling team as a result of years of bad management and ownership. Moreover, their attempt at “tanking” is a baseball wide epidemic that is causing attendance to diminish. The glory of the park masks the problems with the team that calls it home.

On my way out of the park, I gave a silent nod to the statue of young Babe Ruth. Hope springs eternal, old baseball fans can dream little boys’ dreams, and as my friend, Joel says: “someday the Orioles will deserve Camden Yards.”

I couldn’t agree more.