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St. Louis Cardinals: 4 Ballparks That Changed for Better, Worse
On Wednesday, the local paper posted a bit of click bait regarding the beloved home of the St. Louis Cardinals:
Foul poles come down at Busch Stadium
Source: Foul poles come down at Busch Stadium : News
Whaaa? Like my wife, Busch Stadium is perfect. It should never change.
Thankfully, it won’t. The foul pole move is just temporary for the November 13 World Cup Qualifier between the
U.S. men’s national team and the squad from — get this — St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Should be a barn burner. After the match is over, the poles will be back up in their rightful place and none of this will be the wiser on Opening Day.
But what if the Cardinals were planning on doing something weird with the foul poles? Like put them in the outfield grass or put Christmas lights on them? Stranger things have happened at the expensive of good, sound ballpark design. Some have worked out. Others have made the baseball watching experience worse. We begin with one of the latter.
Next: Oakland's Mount Davis
Oakland’s Mount Davis
Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
You can’t see it in the photo above, but just to the left of the Oakland Raider watching helplessly as another opponent catches another touchdown pass is a vast wall of luxury boxes and seats installed in centerfield of old Oakland-Alameda Coliseum (now O.co Coliseum) in 1996. Oakland and the county made the addition to compel the late Raiders owner Al Davis to move the team back from Los Angeles. A’s fans derisively called it Mount Davis.
Mount Davis completely blocks a great view of the Santa Cruz Mountains and turns what was once a cozy little ballpark into a claustrophobic bowl. It looks like a football stadium temporarily changed to squeeze in a baseball field. Meanwhile, Oakland is probably regretting giving into Davis all those years ago. The Raiders have had only three winning seasons since and no Super Bowl wins. Lately, they’ve been the laughing stock of the NFL.
Anyone who thinks this is all moot because the A’s will be moving into a new stadium is deluded. And that includes Billy Beane, who suggested his moves to acquire a bunch of low-level prospects at the deadline this July was tied to his optimism for a new stadium being built right there on the O.co Coliseum site. With the San Francisco Giants throwing cold water on many A’s new stadium rumors, this thing will drag on forever.
Next: Tal's Hill
Tal’s Hill
Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
When Houston’s Enron Field opened back in 2000, one gimmicky design element served as a sign to all of us that the whole retro ballpark thing had reached its limit. In deep center field, 436 feet from home plate, the outfield grass rose at an angle to meet the wall. The Astros named it Tal’s Hill after a longtime executive. Cute, but an unnecesary risk to outfielders who forgot it was there. Oh, and just to add to that risk, they put a big ol’ flag pole on the hill. (Face palm.)
Amazingly, no one has gotten seriously hurt tracking down a fly ball out there. Instead, Tal’s Hill has generated plenty of highlight reel fodder:
That doesn’t excuse it, though. Thankfully, the Stros are digging out Tal’s Hill as we speak and moving in the centerfield wall to a more conventional 409 or 410 feet from home. Pitchers might miss it. Few others will.
Next: Citi Field Shrinks -- Again
Citi Field Shrinks — Again
Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Michael Conforto’s Game 4 homer to right center field (above) was a no doubter, but it would have been a tad iffier last season. That’s because the outfield wall out there was a little deeper. Last fall, the New York Mets looked at the data and found that the team would have had 17 extra homers had the wall been at its 2015 dimensions.
So, they right center by as much as 11 feet in some spots last November. It marked the second time the team had altered Citi Field’s dimensions since the ballpark opened in 2009. The Mets had already made alterations to right center and left center after the 2011 season. The changes appeared to have worked both times. The Mets’ home run total jumped from 108 in 2011 to 139 in 2012, and from 125 last year to 177 this past season.
I get why the Mets have done this. It makes the team more attractive to free agent hitters. Still, it feels a little icky. Kind of like the Wilpons.
Next: The Monster Gets Topped
The Monster Gets Topped
Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
The decision-making abilities of the Boston Red Sox braintrust really came into question this year with the signing of two duds, Hanley Ramirez and Pedro Sandoval. But in ??, it made one of the smartest moves ever by sticking seats on top of Fenway Park’s fabled Green Monster. It is one of the few alterations to a classic ballpark that actually came off without a hitch, unlike that giant scoreboard that now looms over Wrigley Field. The Monster seats are now among the most sought after in baseball, and with good reason. The view up there is just tremendous.
Meanwhile, the likelihood of catching a home run ball is pretty good. Could you imagine being up there for the Bucky Dent homer in 1978?
Next: 5 Pitchers the St. Louis Cardinals Can Reboot
That is one home run ball I’d never throw back. Even if I was a Red Sox fan. Which I’m not.