Tropicana Field and the Oakland Coliseum are both in the contention for the worst ballparks in the MLB currently, but which ballpark takes the cake in terms of the worst?
I'll be comparing the stadiums location, fan activities, and the playing ground itself to determine which stadium is actually the worst.
Location
The Oakland Coliseum, located in Oakland California is located off a major freeway allowing transportation to games to be easy for fans. Activities that are located 5 miles from the stadium include the Oakland Zoo and the Oakland Museum of California.
Tropicana Field, located in St. Petersburg Florida is actually a 27 minute drive away from Tampa. The stadium has the Ted Williams Hall of Fame and many well rated restaurants in a 1 mile radius from the stadium.
The Coliseum may have better transportation, but the Florida weather along with many activities near the Trop gives Tropicana Field the advantage in this category.
Tropicana 1-0
Fan Activities
The Oakland Coliseum when it comes to concessions has many choices to choose from. Whether you're craving a hot dog or ice cream the Coliseum has it. The stadium also has a kids zone at the games also.
Tropicana Field has a huge selection of food items inside the stadium. Along with this the stadium has special outfield seating for eating at the bar & grill. The stadium also includes a ballpark and rec area for adults and children to play yard games during the game. The Trop also has a fish tank full of Rays that can be touched by the fans.
I'm giving Tropicana field the advantage on fan activities.
Tropicana 2-0
Playing Surface
The Oakland Coliseum is the last multi sport stadium currently being used today. With the stadium being built for football, this causes the foul grounds to be much wider than other stadiums. This allows balls that should be hit foul to stay in play and be caught be fielders. The field is also made up of Bermuda grass and the entire stadium is outdoors.
Tropicana Field is a fully indoor stadium that has a white dome cover the stadium. This dome prevents the Florida heat from effecting players. The white dome however, effects gameplay as the ball is the same color as the dome. This makes simple pop flies to the outfield challenging to field. Tropicana also has a turf playing surface with a full dirt infield.
Both stadiums playing surfaces include bullpens that are on the foul lines. They are the only stadiums in the game that still have on field b
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Take into consideration aesthetics & ambiance.
Here comes the downvotes!
From selling a 22oz Denogginizer IPA (10% ABV) for only like $12, to normalizing the every day drum corps in the right field bleachers, to not even charging more than $100 for the most expensive seats in the house, to the BART trains and even Capitol Corridor service right to the front door!
From fans heckling the Astros whenever they're in town with just the right combination of profanity and needling wit, to the stadium being situated somewhere with the best weather in the Bay year-round. It is so frustrating to hear people bad-mouth Concrete-and-Steel Brutalism when the Coliseum is actually a great space to navigate as a fan because of the minimalist, airy passageways. All of this, by definition, is a GREAT experience for fans who are actually there for the game.
But unfortunately people don't appreciate it like the die-hards do, and its reputation as a "bad" stadium causes people to overlook just how much fun you can have for cheap at an Oakland day game. Only a handful of sellouts in recent memory, sometimes not even on opening day! For a winning team that consistently makes the playoffs!
They'll say "tHe TeaM CaN'T SpEnD MoNeY oN tHe FiElD uNtIL thEy BuIlD a NeW StaDiUm" but the teams they field make the playoffs consistently, and a cursory look at the team's ownership shows just how much Fisher is withholding from investing in the team's success on top of that!
This kind of multi-use stadium gets trash-talked, even according to OLDER, LONGTIME RESIDENTS of Oakland and San Francisco, who undoubtedly have great memories not just at the Coliseum but also back at the 'Stick, which was similar in many ways. I don’t know if you can call this “baseball culture,” but if this is the baseball culture and standards we set, that shows how much worse we have gotten, and how dismissive said “culture” truly is. I know the bay can do much better.
Jerry and Bob get a couple songs apiece in this bite size setlist of Wang Dang Doodle, Friend of the Devil, Throwing Stones, and Ripple. Really enjoy this pro-shot video, from the homemade stealies draped on an amplifier to Neil Young’s brief harmonica sit-in, what’s not to like?
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4BTpcGHvOipbpyKU2_brw_d0VYcN_iFx
