Special bonus rounds:
--Round 26: Draft someone who played for the Twins
--Round 27: Draft a skipper
--Round 28: Draft a stadium
--Mags drafts all 28 rounds at once
Order:
rowsdower
hungryjoe
cheaptoy
TheDreadPirate
Beau
CarterHayes
brianS
Nibbish
bhiggum
sean
Freealonzo
SoCalTwinsFan
Mike
Algonad
Philosofer
Not, real sure where to go with this round. Myself I've only been to a handful of MLB stadiums, and the stadium that I have far and away been to most often is the Metrodome. While it does hold a lot of great memories for me, it really was a crappy baseball stadium. So I'm going to go with where it all started as far I'm concerned.
I'll leave Target Field for someone else, a citizen who has been able to enjoy its charms more than I.
You all know why.
When I first moved here, I said we were only missing 3 things: ocean, mountains, and outdoor baseball. At least we added one of them.
Clouds are the mountains of the prairie. - Keillor
There are many days when I'm driving out here and the clouds really do seem like mountains - it only really works with the cumulus and cumulonimbus - but it is a pretty awesome sight. And ever since I heard that Keillor line, it's made me appreciate them even more, and I feel even less like we're missing out on mountains.
I love visiting mountains, not sure if I need to live in them or next to them. My first time driving through western Colorado, though, I think my jaw didn't come up for like an hour. Way more awe-inspiring to me than canyons.
The singular peaks like Hood, Rainier, St. Helens, etc have their own sort of awe, too
Probably mentioned that after moving back to Minneapolis after school in Japan, the skyline was a large disappointment. Moving to Winona helped a bit though.
Yup. Going from Athens/Rome to St. Joe was a bit of a shock.
What does Winona's skyline look like?
Here's by the lake.
and here's Sugar Loaf
We live in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, and I absolutely love it. The main roads near our house end about 2 miles north of us, when the mountains start getting too steep. I often sort of take our views for granted, until we spend time elsewhere. After a week or two in the midwest, coming back here makes the mountains outside our door seem even so much more impressive.
Hopefully you're not on the smog line
The Athletic readers ranked the 29 parks (skipped the Home Depot in Arlington) and Marc Carig added his ranking of every park he's been to. Target Field finished third in the fans' survey, ahead of PNC because of how bad the Pirates are. Carig placed Target Field sixth out of 38. He nominated it as "the best of the newest wave of ballparks". It's satisfying to know that not only did it rank well in 2010, but it's stayed there or even improved in the decade since. They must never, ever move again.
He definitely has a soft spot for the old parks. Depending where you are, Wrigley and Fenway can be terrible.
Perhaps, but I deeply enjoyed my visits to both of them.
Me too. I love both of them. I'd also take the worst seat in Target Field before I'd take the worst seat in either of them.
That is a very good way of putting it.
The restrooms definitely come to mind.
Those troughs aren't for sitting, just in case...
SRO.
I have very limited experience with ballparks, and no way am I taking Miller Park. So I'll just go with one I think looks damn good.
I didn't assemble a team of speedsters, and I seem to be a little right-handed heavy (both hitting and pitching). Thus, the Los Angeles Coliseum is just begging to be taken, but it's just such a stupid baseball field that I'll have to pass on that home field advantage. Stars Park in St. Louis similarly doesn't quite pass my smell test because it lacked longevity. Instead, I'll go for one with more of a historical imprint on baseball:
Shoot. I was really hoping I'd be able to have my outfield roaming the deepest park ever. I felt like it would have been an absolute asset for me, on both sides of the ball.
Yep, that was going to be my pick as well.
That was a crazy ballpark. Centerfield was almost double the distance (depending on who you asked) as it was down the lines.
You can play in it with some of the baseball video games out there. It's weird.
Well, I got a bunch of home run hitters on my team, so definitely want a place that's going to enhance those numbers.
If that's not allowed, then I'll take this place that has a short right field porch for all my lefty sluggers.
I mean, if we're talking video games, then Mags is going to get quite the steal in Paste.
If we're doing video games, I'm going Backyard Baseball the whole way
THAT'S the one I was trying to think of.
CH up
I figured my choice would come down to two ballparks — one I'm never likely to get to, the other squarely near the top of my list of favorites. In the end, I surprised myself by not picking the ballpark I thought I would.
A couple words about the park I didn't pick: I'm fascinated with it. Babe Ruth played there, yet it is still active and was recently renovated. The short distances to the straightaway dimensions mask some fairly deep power alleys. The distance to the left-center and right-center power alleys is the same as the distance to straight-away center! I'm not a fan of symmetrical outfields or uniform-height walls, but this one doesn't bother me. I think it's unusual infield has something to do with that. I love the lack of any overhang over much of the seating down the lines and in the outfield, though I wonder if I'd enjoy sitting out there on a hot summer day. The beer vendors pour drafts from chilled kegs on their backs, so that' s nice. The view from the top of the left field stands is pretty nice, with mountains running across the top of the bowl and into the roof over the grandstand. The experience is said to be second to none, even in a league known for strong fan engagement. The park is on the short list of greatest ballparks ever, yet it won't resonate with many fans. Unbelievably, the home team is displaced from the ballpark for a nationwide high school tournament each summer.
The park I chose is not a classic — yet. Its setting is nearly perfect, and the park's architecture & layout will age well, thanks to the architect's restraint and the client's incorporation of few modern gimmicks. There are great seats all over the park, including inside the light towers. The food & beer offerings are excellent. The park plays closer to neutral than it did when it opened. This park deserves a better team than the one that calls it home — and a better name. I want to give it both.
The one time I got to see a game there was this game. It was a Sunday day game, and it was cool to see how they honored the military. I think they did that every Sunday (or still do perhaps).
I was hoping your pick would fall to me. Oh, well.
That’s a really nice place to see a game. I think I’ve been there three times now, which makes it third in the list of most times seeing a game in a stadium (after Metrodome and Angel’s Stadium, neither of which are high up on the list for good fan experiences).
There was also one game I could have gone to there, but didn’t. My wife was in San Diego for a conference, and the kids and I went down there with her. I was looking for something to do with the kids during the day, and almost pulled the trigger on getting tickets. They were even pretty cheap, since it was a mid-week day game against the Marlins. We ended up doing something else instead, and that game ended up being when Ichiro passed Pete Rose for all-time most professional hits.
I think this is my pick for favorite ballpark. It's about as close to perfect as they come.
Well, I was worried that CH would Bogart my pick. He came very close.
My pick was in America's best climate and one of America's best cities. I saw Padres and Chargers games there in grad school. It may not have the charms or history of classic stadiums or the appeal of the new generation. But there were few better places to take in a ballgame, some fish tacos, and some sun.
I even saw the Twins there!
So did I! The game I went to, they were giving away the brown-and-yellow Padres hats to fans. That immediately became my "I don't care how dirty this hat gets" hat that I wore for softball and mowing the lawn.
I saw them in mid 80s - exhibition game before opening the season at the Big A
Looks like the Twins played in San Diego in 2003, so I think it must have been either this game or this one. I'm going to guess the second one, just based on the difficulty in getting down there on a Friday from where I lived in Irvine at that time.
Ah, what can I say. I love the classics.
It's a coin flip between this one and Fenway for me. This one manages to have unique character and charm all while having dimensions which are still MLB legal.
I WILL be renovating the bathrooms, though.
Wait, let me get one more in...
...hurk 🤮....
I'm going at this from another direction-
Because then
Oh, for the love of... fine, it's a link instead of an embedded gif
I'll play all away games, it'll be worth it.
...yes???
The existing one, though I wish I could do the previous version.
Why not? I count three demolished parks from earlier picks.
Hmm- that's a good point. Just like with the players, where we get them in their prime.
I've only been to a few MLB parks. Two of them are still available but I'm going for one where I don't have to worry about baking in 100 degree heat.
yeah, but you're going to have to deal with all the yearly upgrades!
BRB, crowd funding to get Postgres Park.
Dang!
Since Sean took my first choice just one slot before me, I decided to go old school plus it was the first non-Minnesota ballpark I went to. Didn't get a lot of love at the end of it's days (and its replacement was the last one built before Camden showed everyone how to build a ballpark, not a stadium). I bet a well thought out renovation would have done wonders for this place. A great place to see a game back in its heyday. Plus who doesn't love an exploding scoreboard or the infamy of disco demolition day.
be sure to scrub and disinfect good before you move in!
There's a reason why you can't find disinfectant wipes, I've been hoarding them for this moment.
*scrounges in pockets for WGOM bucks*
Does it come with Ligues already installed?
I hate Illinois Nazis
SoCal said I could make his pick for him.
Still deeper down the RF line than Yankee Stadium
If I had a lower pick this round, that would have been on my mind.
I had this in my mind as a possibility, but then I realized there was an almost 100% chance you would take it right before my turn.
Someone needs to take Palace of the Fans
I strongly considered an old-timer here, but I feel much more of a connection to the parks where I've seen a game in person. I think there are 4 major league ballparks left that I've been to, and I'd categorize three of them as either mediocre (Angel Stadium) or awful (Miller Park, Oakland Coliseum) so those are clearly out. That leaves....
in large part because of views like this
Please locate it somewhere that dumps into at least two highways
I was waiting for the inevitable Rhu Ru drag on Dodger Stadium traffic access quip. May be why I didn't go with Dodger Stadium.
It really was the biggest letdown to an otherwise cool ballpark experience. And this is LA, where traffic jams are the norm
I don't remember traffic being that bad the one time I went there. Though, it was a day game on Easter Sunday, so it ended up being a pretty empty ballpark.
It came down to two parks in cities where my best player started out. In the end, I went with the classic.
So there are two ballparks I thought would be picked, that so far haven't. I wonder if Philo will take one of them.
Was going to go with number 2 there, figuring there was no way #1 would be around. Great choices, both.
Those were my next two.
How in the world did this fall to me? Steal of the draft.
Somebody send our rosters to JoePos and get his review of the teams!
I would if I could figure out how!
His DM's are closed on Twitter but looks like you can message him via Facebook.
Tagging him could work but I assume his mentions are very noisy.
I saw him review briefly somebody else's project of a similar sort. He panned it immediately for having no Negro Leaguers.
so, we got that going for us.
with Magoo starting on his Expansion Draft, it seems like we need some sort of retrospective on the "real" draft.
Wow, got it done before the start of the season!
Looks like Craig Calcaterra just put his all-time team on his daughter's dry erase board. Maybe the official WGOM Twitterer should hit him up for his review.
Comparisons are in order
anybody got a link or screenshot?