It's the middle of winter and the Superbowl is coming Sunday and basketball and hockey are in full swing, so naturally I want to talk about baseball, specifically the stadiums in which they play.
I am one of those guys who wants to see a baseball game in every baseball park during one season. I have been in several and plan on going to a few more this summer. So, when I look at the list of stadium names I come across names of stadiums I'm not familiar with. This is due to the decade long trend of naming ballparks after corporate sponsors. I'm going to rant about the names of all the ballparks and how it much it reflects the team, the owners and the look of the ballpark.
I first noticed corporate naming of parks was when I saw a "Game of The Week" with San Francisco Giants playing in a place called 3com park. Now, these were the days many teams were getting new ballparks but I had not heard of the Giants getting a ballpark at that time. I noticed that it was Candlestick Park but with a name change a corporate name change. Now, ballparks had name changes in the past but usually it was in tribute to a late owner like Kaufmann Field in Kansas City or a beloved sportswriter like Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. This was different, the name change was purchased in a naming rights scheme that had limited use beforehand in new venues but was now coming to established structures whose previous name was ingrained in the minds of fans for decades. The new trend was disturbing by how awful the names were. 3com? Qualcomm? Network Associates Stadium? Ugh!
Here are the names of all the baseball parks in various categories to get an idea of where the name comes from.
THE WHO PLAYS HERE BALLPARKS
Dodger Stadium, Yankee Stadium, and Angels Stadium.
Do you need to figure out how what team plays here? I always figured if I was a rebellious sportscaster I would refer to every park's name that's named for a corporation that doesn't own the team by its team name. We're here at Mariners Field in Seattle. The roof is closed on blistering hot day at Diamondbacks Stadium etc, etc.
Angels Stadium doesn't really count, it's been around since 1966 and has been called Angels Stadium for only a few years. Before that they were called Edison Field ( A Public Utility company ) when it was owned by Disney curiously enough. Before that it was called Anaheim Stadium and when they played in Dodger Stadium, they referred to THAT as Chavez Ravine. Of course the team can't figure out what city they want to belong to, they've been the Los Angeles Angels, the California Angels, the Anaheim Angels and The Los Angeles Angels OF Anaheim. Hoo boy.
THE WHO ELSE PLAYS THERE.
Dolphin Stadium-Florida Marlins
Only one team fits this category. The Florida Marlins play in Dolphin Stadium named for the football team who's played there since the late 80's when it was known as Joe Robbie Stadium named for the owner of the Dolphins. It was named Pro Player when that company bought the naming rights, at least the name is sports related.
CORPORATE NAMES THAT MAKE SENSE
Wrigley Field-Chicago Cubs, Busch Stadium-St. Louis Cardinals, Coors Field-Colorado Rockies, Miller Park- Milwaukee Brewers.
I guess because all these parks are named after companies named after real people, I kinda like these names. Also, I find that since beer is a big part of sports, naming it after a beer company that's big in the region is fine. Besides the Wrigley and Busch families owned their teams and I think an owner can name his stadium whatever he wants. I just hope their are different beers available at these places. I wonder how much gum is sold at Wrigley?
GOOD NAMES/BAD BALLPARKS
Shea Stadium-New York Mets, RFK Stadium- Washington Nationals Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome-Minnesota Twins
I like ballparks that are named after people, especially ones that you have to research to figure out who it's named after. But there are parks that taint the name of the person. Both Shea and RFK were state of the art when they were built in the 60's. But each have fallen on bad times and are due to be replaced. Shea Stadium was named in honor of a lawyer named William Shea who was responsible for bringing back National League baseball to New York. RFK Stadium was renamed from D.C. Stadium after Robert F. Kennedy's assassination. Minnesota had an odd way of paying tribute to its favorite son Senator Hubert Humphrey by naming its awful dome with the hefty bag outfield fence after him.
GOOD NAMES/GREAT BALLPARKS
Camden Yards-Baltimore Orioles, Jacobs Field- Cleveland Indians, Kauffman Stadium-Kansas City Royals.
These ballparks are shining examples of how good a ballpark for baseball should be, Kauffman Stadium was built only for baseball in the 70's in the era of multi-purpose stadiums. It has a beautiful fountain in the bleacher area of the outfield and great sightlines. It was known as Royals Stadium until their owner Earl Kauffman died, then they renamed it in his honor while removing the only blight on the ballpark, the astroturf.
Jacobs Field and Camden Yards are the jewels that started the trend of retro look ballparks that continue to this day. Jacobs Field was named for a former owner of the Cleveland Indians, Richard Jacobs. It's a huge honor considering how beautiful Jacobs Field is compared to Cleveland Stadium a.k.a. The Mistake By The Lake. It also brought a winning tradition to the lowly Indians.
Camden Yards is actually called Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It was a compromise name between the governor of Maryland and the owner of the Orioles. Camden Yards name stuck though. It sounds cool.
I OWN THE TEAM DAMMIT!
Turner Field-Atlanta Braves, Rogers Centre-Toronto(Canada) Blue Jays
There are only two ballparks named after current team owners and both would qualify as corporate naming. Turner Field was named for Ted Turner, owner of the Atlanta Braves. It was built for the 1996 Olympics and converted to a baseball stadium after the Olympics ended. Rogers Centre in Canada was renamed from Skydome when Rogers Communications CEO, Ted Rogers bought the Blue Jays of Canada. Skydome was the last of the forward looking stadiums built for baseball use, every park built for baseball since then was built retro style.
USED TO HAVE A MEMORABLE NAME
Ameriquest Field-Texas Rangers , U.S. Cellular-Chicago White Sox.
These two parks were built in the early 90's to replace two inadequate ballparks. One was too small and the other too old. Ameriquest Field was named the Ballpark at Arlington when it was built in 1994, a dull name to be sure. It was one of the new ballparks that basically used a land grab, a tax hike and lawsuits to get the stadium built, of course what do you expect with a team owned by George W. Bush? The naming rights went to Ameriquest, a mortgage company. Yawn.
Greetings from Rangers Park!
U.S. Cellular is a curious renaming of New Comiskey Park. Comiskey Park was an aging park that needed to be replaced in 1990. Instead of renaming it after someone or something that wasn't a scumbag, they kept the name of cheapskate Comiskey on the new venue, which may be appropriate because with the cost-cutting involved in the building of New Comiskey it looked cheap compared to any ballpark built since then. U.S. Cellular company bought the naming rights in 2003 at around the time major renovations were being done to the park.
CORPORATE NAMES FROM DAY ONE OR BAD NAMES/GREAT PARKS
PNC Park- Pittsburgh Pirates, Safeco Field-Seattle Mariners, Citizen Bank Park-Philadelphia Phillies, Petco Park-San Diego Padres, Comerica Park- Detroit Tigers
All these parks are beautiful ballparks that have been built in the last 15 years. All get their names from corporate sponsorships. All have names that really don't reflect the personality of the team. My problem with many of the corporate names is that they are sponsored by dull financial institutions that obtain their wealth through the exploitation of their customers. How good does it feel to have your insurance company spend millions on a ballpark while cutting your benefits and raising your rates?
PNC and Comerica are financial services companies, Safeco is an insurance company, and Citizen Bank is a, well, bank company. Petco Park is a minor improvement name wise from the Padres previous home, Qualcomm Park. Still, it is a name that inspires chuckles, makes the team seem silly, however the cross promotion involving bringing dogs to the park is appealing.
PNC can stand for Pirates New C.........I dunno. Safeco is nicknamed the Safe as in safe at home, Citizen Bank features a liberty bell as its logo that rings when the Phillies hit a home run. Comerica has tigers but the name....sounds like America if the commies were in control.
YEP, IT'S CORPORATE
Great American Park-Cincinnati Reds, Tropicana Field-Tampa Bay Devil Rays
These two ballparks are as different from each other as night and day. One is brand new and beautiful the other is dull, gray and a relic of the 80's. Tropicana Field is not a field, it's a domed stadium built for a non existent team in the late 80's. Tampa Bay tried to woo the White Sox, the Giants, and the Mariners to the area with a new stadium that was superior to the ones the teams had back then. However in the years since, they settled for an expansion team in 1998. The stadium was already a eyesore compared to all the parks that had been built in that time period. It got it's name from Tropicana Orange Juice and it's a good fit in that the stadium looks like and orange squeezer. The sponsor's orange lighting on the roof of the dome looks almost attractive.
The Great American Ballpark is a good name because most people would not associate it with the insurance division of the American Financial Group, Inc. They would think patriotic thoughts about the oldest team in professional baseball. It's much better than Cinergy Field which was the renamed Riverfront Stadium, one of the cookie cutters from the 70's.
WHAT THE HELL IS THE NAME OF THIS PARK ANYWAY?
Chase Field-Arizona Diamondbacks, McAfee Associates Coliseum-Oakland A's , Minute Maid Field-Houston Astros, Angels Stadium-Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim, AT&T Park-San Francisco Giants.
These are ballparks that have changed their name several times in recent years. All are corporate named and none have names that inspire awe. Chase Field was once known as Bank One Ballpark, nicknamed the BOB. Not only the name changed but the type of venue changed from ballpark to field. The name changed due to a merger of Bank One with Chase, which is why I hate corporate names. Minute Maid Field was originally called Enron Field. Due to the scandal involving Enron the name was short-lived. It was called Astros Field until Minute Maid took over the naming rights. I'm sorry but Minute Maid Field is the wimpiest name for any sports venue not involving tennis. Enron was bad enough even before the scandal, what the hell is an Enron? But Minute Maid? I'm sorry, but that's the name for a All-American Girls Professional Baseball League ballpark.
And what's the deal with the bay area teams? Both the Giants and the A's have changed their venue names at least twice in the last 10 years. The Giants played at Candlestick Park until it got re-named to the loathsome 3com. When they built their new beautiful new ballpark, the fact that it would have a corporate name was forgivable, especially since no taxpayer's money was being used to build it. It was named for a local phone company Pacific Bell Park or PacBell, which is less obnoxious than 3com. The name only lasted for four seasons when SBC communications PacBell's parent company wanted to take over the name of the park. That only lasted for two years when SBC merged with AT&T much like Exxon merging with Mobil. AT&T renamed the venue AT&T Park. this is like when you keep the same bank account, when your banks keep changing names. How obnoxious! The unfortunate thing is that without a non corporate name in its past what would you call the place that would be immune to the name changes.
The A's on the other hand don't get any respect. They have been as good of any team in the majors since they moved to Oakland in 1968. Only the Yankees have won more championships since then. They have played in McCafee Coliseum since it was known as Oakland-Alamdea County Coliseum (yikes!) . They have had to share the stadium with the Oakland Raiders every year the Raiders were in Oakland. It was fine for baseball the first era with the Raiders with large foul areas for the pitchers to take advantage of, after the Raiders moved to Los Angeles, the A's had themselves a decent ballpark to themselves with teams that reached the World Series three times in the late 80's. The Raiders moved back to Oakland and ruined the look of the field by blocking the view of the surrounding hills that made for pleasant baseball viewing. This made attendances to A's games so spartan that the A's cover up half the seats with a tarp. Soon after the Raiders moved back, the name changed to Network Associates Coliseum after the computer security company bought out the naming rights and when Network Associates changed their own name to McAffe the neme of the stadium changed with it.
Okay, I believe that takes care of all the ballpark names in major league baseball. Like I said, I love it when they name it after people like Jack Murphy or William Shea. Corporate names are fine if it will last a long time, like Busch Stadium through three different venues no less. I think that the broadcasters from visiting teams should refer the ballpark to the teams name so there's less confusion. sorry to waste your time but I wanted to write about this.
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