#23: Nationals Park

Nationals Park

1500 South Capitol Street SE

Washington, DC 20003

Capacity:  41,418

Indoors/outdoors:  Outdoors

Selected Game Attended:  Orioles at Nationals; July 7, 2014

A confession.  I kinda liked going to games at RFK Stadium.  Don’t misunderstand me.  I love modern ballparks and their amenities and I love the historic parks that are over 100 years old and are nestled in the middle of an urban neighborhood.  RFK Stadium, the former home of the Washington Nationals (and Senators and Senators) was neither and, in another era, I probably would have avoided it at all costs.  Still, in an age when the “Cookie Cutters” are no longer existent, RFK was a nice reminder of what those sort of places were like.  I’m a sucker for history (even “black eye” history) and RFK was the sole remaining relic from that era of Major League Baseball parks (the stadium still hosts DC United).  Alas, the Nats have moved on and, in conjunction with their agreement to move to Washington from Montreal (and break the heart of one notable baseball writer) a brand spanking, completely mediocre stadium was erected in South East DC.  It’s stadium #23 on the list, Nationals Park.

As a resident of the greater Washington/Baltimore area for 28 or so years, let me offer a piece of advice.  If the game you’re planning to attend at Nats Park starts between the hours of 8 am and 11 pm you’re going to sit in traffic.  No matter what route you take or what time you leave, if you’re of the mind to take your car, be prepared to hit some sort of traffic jam – this is the life that us beltway dwellers experience every day.  To that end, I recommend taking the Metro.  If you’re in or around the DC area this is a no-brainer but if you do have to drive a car, the Branch Avenue station offers parking and is a short train ride to the stadium.  Because the Nats are good, the stadium itself tends to be pretty packed most nights and waiting for a train after the game can be a claustrophobics nightmare (although the new station is an upgrade from RFK).  Fortunately, Branch Avenue generally goes against the flow of most of the traffic (especially everyone that is heading to the Red Line) so that would be my recommendation.  Also, despite the scenic views the park COULD offer being blocked out by parking garages (seriously, blech) parking down there is expensive, hard to find or both.  Leave your car at home or in a Metro lot – trust me.  And if you didn't catch what I was throwing out here, transportation to this place is a headache.  C'est la vie.

Aside from the temper-inducing traffic offered by the Beltway, there are two more notable bad issues with Nationals Park.  The first being the aforementioned view.  You may not know this, but there are some pretty cool sights to see in Washington and, because of a law that prohibits any building from being taller than the Washington Monument, these sights are pretty easy to see from various places in the city.  You would think, sitting high above home plate (my favorite place to perch in any ballpark) you’d be able to catch a glimpse of the Capitol Building.  And while that portion of the park DOES face towards The Hill, it is very hard to see due to various parking garages and office buildings built in the area.  This is what we call the “cost of doing business” as these buildings are all serving to rebuild what was once a pretty bad area in the District.  The other issue I have, which sort of goes along with the whole “rebuilding” thing is the lack of atmosphere around the park.  While there are various projects in place to spruce the area up there still isn’t a TON to do in terms of pre-gaming.  There is a Gordon Biersch (sp?) brewery nearby that is positively packed on game days and, if the weather cooperates, a few outdoorsy areas to grab a brew. 

There are some positives about the home of the former Montreal Expos.  The stadium itself, inside, is pretty nice.  The press box sits above even the upper deck, which is a pretty unique feature compared to most other parks (although the Nats are not alone in this type of set up).  This allows for a  much more intimate feel, as if you’re attending a minor league game.  I also particularly enjoy the gray brick that surrounds the backstop and baseline walls.  Aside from that, Nats park is packed with all the amenities and features you’d expect from a park built within the last 10 years.  Spacious bathrooms with short lines, plenty of concessions (Ben’s Chili Bowl, I believe, is somewhat overrated but if you’re going for just one time, you should try it) and an open air concourse that allows patrons to see the game even when they are not in the seating bowl.  Combine that with a pretty cool “Red Porch” bar in Centerfield (a solid place to hang out before the game, although you need a ticket to get in) and the actual game experience itself is pretty fun.  

Finally, the zombie statues.  I don’t know whose idea these things were but they are healthy mix of terrifying, hilarious and repulsive.  I think the idea was to honor past Washington baseball legends by showing them in “live action” but instead, oh God, Walter Johnson is undead!  These things are hideous but do yourself a favor and get a picture with one of them before they eat your brain.

So there’s Nationals Park.  If you’re in town on a summer weekend and you’ve had enough of dealing with tourists along the Mall and you aren’t interested in hanging out with spoiled brats in Georgetown, head down to South East and catch a game. 

#24: Turner Field

Turner Field

755 Hank Aaron Drive

Atlanta, Georgia 30315

Capacity:  49, 586

Indoors/outdoors:  Outdoors

Game Attended:  Phillies at Braves; April 1, 2002

First off, dear reader, I suppose an apology is in order.  When I started this rankings list, my goal was to produce a new post once every week or so.  After getting off to a rousing start, March derailed me (for various reasons).  In any event, we will attempt to get back on track in the next few weeks as we steamroll towards the middle of the pack in MLB park rankings.  I should note, however, that because there were several posts made at the start of this campaign, I am still only SLIGHTLY off my mark of averaging one post per week – so there’s that.  Without further adieu, let us welcome park number 24 to the mix, Turner Field in Atlanta.

Before I start this ranking, a bit of caution.  Of all the current active parks in Major League Baseball, Turner Field is the one I visited longest ago (2002).  I was only there for one game and, considering the purpose of my trip to Atlanta was for much more important reasons, the pluses and negatives that surround this park are a tad hazy.  Fear not, however, because the Braves have decided that 18 years is just way too old for a baseball park and have broken ground on a new home stadium in the richer, swankier Atlanta suburbs.  So, with all of that in mind, let’s go over what I do remember about Turner Field.

For starters, I was completely taken aback at just how unnecessarily big this place was.  I understand that it was originally built with the 1996 Olympics in mind and that a larger arena was needed to accommodate the world’s stage, but for baseball it just looked bloated.  I have often remarked in this blog about how big stadiums with little amounts of people looks really bad (Toronto’s upper deck, for example) and Turner Field is no exception to this rule.  I am actually surprised that the capacity is under 50,000 (just barely) because, when looking at it, you would guess that well above 50k could fit in here.  While I was there on opening day and it was a capacity crowd, Turner Field, like most parks, probably looks laughably huge and barren on a random Wednesday night against the Rockies.

The second incredibly noteworthy thing about going to Turner Field was how much the southern “pace” of life pervades your experience in the park.  Growing up in the Northeast and living pretty much my entire life here, you get used to a certain lifestyle.  Practically everyone here is an asshole and things get done by the minute, not the hour.  Am I suggesting that this is the appropriate way to live life?  Of course not.  But it was definitely a culture shock experiencing a grossly different way of living in the South.  For example, I vividly remember waiting close to two innings for a beer in the concession line.  Now, it was crowded that day, but the line I was in was not overly long.  While I waited, and waited, and waited, I tried to do what most people do, look around in the line for other people who are similarly pissed off to vent your frustrations.  Nope, not a soul seemed to care about how long this was taking.  It was just a bunch of folks in line, happy to be alive.  If this sort of thing happened in New York or Philly, there may have been a riot.  All over Atlanta (and really any time I’ve been to the South) people are just friendlier, more laid back.  I suppose this is both a good thing and a bad thing, considering my previous anecdote.  Now, this may have changed, and maybe I just had poor luck.  It’s quite possible that the line I was in was being run by a bunch of dunces but I have never experienced something like this in all my years of attending professional sporting events (lines at Ravens’ games have twice as many people in them and it doesn’t take nearly as long as it did for me that day).

So, the positives?  Well the stadium is unremarkable, so, structurally and aesthetically there is nothing to really complain about.  It IS big, but that’s really the only problem I had with it.  There are various things to see celebrating the accomplishments of former Brave Hank Aaron (unless you live under a rock, you know that he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record in Atanta as a member of the Braves) and I do remember Atlanta having some fun things to do (I did not, unfortunately visit the Coca-Cola museum – next time).  Overall, you have what I would describe as the least offensive park in baseball but also the most unremarkable one.  A ho-hum place that has a lot of division champion pennants.

Finally, a brief note on the area (and the Braves’ corresponding upcoming move to the ‘Burbs).  Again, this is a tad hazy but I do recall parking in a random lot in a not-so-nice area.  I have no idea if the entire area surrounding Turner Field is “bad” or “dangerous” (as I stated above we didn’t really walk around the neighborhood) but I do recall that the parking situation and walk to the park was less than thrilling.  In any event, this won’t be an issue as of 2017 because, as mentioned earlier, the Braves are packing up and moving their championship pennants and lethargic concessionaires to the northern suburbs closer to the Braves’ “geographic fan base center”.  I really try not to be cynical but to me this reads “we want to the stadium to be closer to the richer people who will spend money.”  And hey, baseball is a business, and the Braves are more than welcome to do whatever they want to increase the bottom line.  I just hope that this doesn’t begin an era of ushering in new parks when the current ones are still usable.  Do the Braves need a new park?  Probably not.  Will the new park be better than Turner Field?  Find out in 2017!