This is a
six part series that will focus on the six remaining ball parks that were in
use in the mid-1980s. We will focus on one park per post and count down in
reverse order.
I have always been fascinated
with baseball parks and stadiums. No other sport can rival baseball in terms of
the charm and tradition that baseball has with its playing facilities. Sure you
can argue about the “frozen tundra” of Lambeau Field in Green Bay and the
“Black Hole” in Oakland for football, but that’s only two. And hockey has the
Montreal Forum and the Chicago Stadium, but those don’t exist anymore and their
replacements don’t have the same feel.
Baseball, on the other hand,
whether it’s parks that no longer exist, or the new parks themselves, have a
special place in the heart of baseball fans, almost as much as the teams.
I’ve been watching and following
baseball since the mid-1980s. At that time, there were 26 teams. Of the ball
parks that were being played in at that time, only six of them are still in
use.
I have ranked them in order I
think they belong (please feel free to disagree with me) and this series will
focus on each ballpark, give a little bit of history on it, discuss what makes
it special (or not), and list the top three moments of each park (since the
mid-1980s).
As always, these are my opinions
and I would love to hear from you regarding yours.
#6. O.co
Coliseum, Oakland, California
Home of:
Oakland Athletics since 1968
Built in:
1966
Baseball
Capacity: 35,067 (expandable to 55,945 when Upper Deck is opened)
Previous
Names: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Network Associates Coliseum
McAfee Coliseum
Overstock.com Coliseum
History: The
Athletics started playing in the Coliseum in 1968 when they moved from Kansas
City. They have won four World Series Championships while playing here: 1972,
1973, 1974 and 1989. Some of the all-star players have included Catfish Hunter,
Vida Blue, Reggie Jackson, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Rickey Henderson, Miquel
Tejada and Coco Crisp.
Charm: Personally, I really don’t like it when
stadium names are changed whenever some company comes along and gives a team
money for stadium naming rights, but unfortunately, that’s the age professional
sports is in, and like it or not, we’re stuck with it. To me this ballpark will
always be the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
And it use to be not bad of a
park. Granted, it never had much charm, and Oakland isn’t exactly near the top
of the list in vacation destinations, but it was a park with a natural grass
playing surface and it had an open grandstand configuration in the outfield up
until the mid-nineties.
But then, the NFL Raiders moved back to Oakland from Los Angeles and the
renovations took place. The outfield was enclosed with more seats to
accommodate larger crowds for the football games, and the luxury boxes were
added for the VIPs.
It’s pretty much a dump now, the
ballpark and the city and it’s not even on my bucket list.
Below: The first picture is one of the park before football came back to Oakland. The second contains the hideous-looking renovations.
Great
Moments:
3. October 11,
1992: The only thing keeping this moment from being number one is that it
happened against the A’s. But who can ever forget Toronto Blue Jays’ second
baseman Roberto Alomar launching a two-run homer in the ninth inning against
A’s closer Dennis Eckersley, tying the game at 6. The Jays would later win it
in the eleventh.
2. October 6,
2006: After losing the ALDS four years in a row, the Athletics finally make it
to the ALCS for the first time in
fourteen years by defeating the Minnesota Twins 8-2 to sweep the best-of-five
series. Marco Scutaro is the hero with a bases loaded double in the seventh
inning.
1. May 1, 1991:
Rickey Henderson becomes baseball’s all-time Stolen Base king when he swipes
bag number 939, passing the mark set my Lou Brock. Henderson would retire with
1406 stolen bases.
No comments:
Post a Comment