Modern Ballparks
"Ballparks with no idiosyncrasies are poor ballparks. When every fence is 10 feet tall, every foul line is 330 feet, every power alley distance is 375 feet, and every centerfield distance is 400 feet, baseball's subtleties are minimized…anything that adds character to a ballpark makes a ballpark better."
- Philip Lowry(1)
Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, a typical 1960s multi-use stadium
Between 1962 and 1977, fourteen new stadiums, including Shea Stadium, were built in the United States. Twelve of the fourteen are used for sports other than baseball. All of these fields are symmetrical and have almost identical playing fields. Most use artificial turf and several are domed. Because of the avoidance of the use of structural columns, fans are often very far from the field.(2) By contrast, no two of the fourteen stadiums built between 1909 and 1923 were alike. Only three of these older stadiums are in use today: Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium. The reason for the proliferation of the characterless stadiums of the 1960s and 1970s was economic. The stadiums were publicly funded and are designed to maximize revenues. Priorities were ample parking and use by more than one type of sport. Fans tend to hate these stadiums as they detract from the outdoor natural experience that baseball originally was intended to be. The 1990s saw a movement back to imitate the old, urban style ballparks. Stadiums such as Camden Yards in Baltimore and Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco are both examples of this "retro" movement. Most of these stadiums have irregularities on their fields (for example, Minute Maid Park in Houston has a hill in center field), and non-symmetrical shapes. Many also incorporate previously existing features into the ballparks. Camden Yards is bordered by a long warehouse which existed long before the park, and has become the recognizable feature of the park. San Diego's PETCO Park, scheduled to open next season, will incorporate the Western Metal Supply Building as part of the left field wall and foul pole, and will have seating on balconies of the building. As always, politics and economics play a significant role in the type of stadium that gets built. Of the two remaining baseball stadiums in New York City, Yankee Stadium is of the older urban style (although the 1970s renovation brought some of the era's innovations to the ball park), while Shea is an example of a1960's style multi-use park.
Baltimore's Camden Yards
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1 Bess, p. 4.
2 Ibid, p. 8.