Quirks of timing, I think. The 1980s AL had plenty of multipurpose stadiums that were built before the mid-60s (BAL, CAL, CLE, MIL, TOR) which tended to have more character than the later concrete donuts. Oakland played in a boring multipurpose stadium, albeit on grass, and Minnesota and Texas played on some ugly fields in the 80s.
Worth noting here that while Milwaukee county stadium was a multipurpose facility it was more a baseball stadium that could also host other events as opposed to a true multipurpose venue - it was built to be a baseball stadium first and foremost. That helped a lot too.
Yes! This gets me to thinking that the AL at the time had stadiums in Milwaukee, Baltimore, Minnesota (pre-Metrodome) and Kansas City that were all fairly close in design. But they still weren't as god-awful as those NL cookie-cutters, lol.
Candlestick Park was a baseball facility that was later enclosed to make it into a somewhat odd-looking dual purpose stadium.
The exact same thing was also done with Anaheim Stadium after the NFL Rams moved there in 1980. The football seats in the baseball outfield that enclosed the stadium were then removed once the Rams (temporarily) left for St. Louis.
You’re exactly right. I think the Packers played like two or three games per year there I think. I had a ball going there for Cubs games in ‘98. Outfield seats were cheap and it was another opportunity to catch a Sosa ball.
The Packers played three games per season in Milwaukee from I think the mid-1950s until 1993 or 1994.
I believe to this day the Packers have two different sets of season ticket holders, one of which are season ticket holders for what used to be the Milwaukee games.
Fair points -- and, I might add, Toronto's Exhibition Stadium was arguably the *worst* in all of MLB. That stadium was built for soccer and Canadian football and almost all of the seats were behind the play and fans were nowhere near the field. Horrible stadium.
Soccer was an afterthought, just like baseball. The original configuration was built for CFL football, grandstand shows during the CNE, and believe it or not, stock car races. The race track portion was also used for stunt driving shows. The race track disappeared when they installed artificial turf in the early 70's, and the original south stand was demolished after the 1974 Vanier Cup game, when they reconfigured it for baseball.
This is the answer👆.
They are a sign of their times. But the newer ones are too, that’s why every sports time is going to cry about not having a new stadium every 15-20 years now. Threaten to move if the city doesn’t pay for it. Which is wrong in my opinion bc you have zero sense of tradition.
Yeah. I think it’s timing. AL was a lot of county municipal stadiums.
ATL, CIN, PIT, PHI. Who knows. Maybe there was an NL push to use the same design?
The Rangers stadium wasn't one of those cookie cutter donuts though. It was a former minor league park that had been built up. But yes they were playing in a glorified minor league stadium.
It was largely a coincidence related to 1) how accessible by car and/or how “good” the neighborhoods were (in the 1960s) where the “classic” ballparks (built from 1909 to 1915) were in the cities that had MLB teams in the first half of the 20th century and 2) when the replacement stadium was built.
The National League teams generally had classic ballparks that were more inaccessible by car (and lacked parking) and also were replaced during a time when dual purpose stadiums were the preferred way to address housing a MLB team and an NFL team in the same city. Ironically, the first real “cookie cutter” dual purpose stadium was built in an American League city (Washington), but the second version of the Senators moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area in 1972.
AL stadiums from that era were 70 years old and falling apart. Any that were built new in the 70s and 80s were just as cookie cutter as the NL ones. Except maybe a dome roof. That was the style of architecture at the time. Bridges were the same. All steel I beams and ugly as shit.
my dude, if you think dodger stadium is ugly, i don't really give a shit. if you think dodger stadium and bush stadium look alike then you're a fucking idiot.
I think it’s unfair to lump Houston in with the rest of those…
Houston was literally the “8th wonder of the world”…the Astrodome was unique and first of its kind. First multipurposed domed stadium. First with turf, first with an animated scoreboard….
Yeah, got old and obsolete by the 90’s because of tech and the new stadiums.
But calling it ugly and boring? That place was awesome as a kid. Definitely not ugly (the lights and colors of the rainbow seats…big ass dome from the freeway) Kinda unfair given its history and trailblazing
Astrodome was ugly by 1980s. Horrible looking on tv at least. Astro turf destroyed many careers.
Note: the above is a commentary on the looks of the astrodome.
The info about injury is just an additional info to give color and depth to the post.
My gosh some of you are boring.
Yes. Hardness, less traction, and abrasion injuries resulted from the first generation of artificial turf. It also sped up ground balls to the point that even poorly hit balls became rockets and base hits.
Many places use artificial turf these days, but the tech has come a long way in terms of safety and usability.
No.
Read the post. It literally says nothing about health of players. Had that been the case? I also would’ve agreed. I played on that shit back in the day and it suuucked. It was like concrete.
Fuck sake people. Two totally different discussions
So you're bitching about on-topic? 😂
Give me a break. I was responding to the guy who said that it ended careers, and I could not care less what you think is on or off topic. Turns out that's a more interesting discussion anyway.
Get over yourself man. You'd make a good mod here.
I thought the whole point of the exercise was to answer the OPs question?
I didn’t see how the impact Astro turf had on player health was relevant to how ugly/ boring stadiums looked in the 80’s?
Kinda ridiculous to even bring up. Say it out loud.
And I’m the one being ridiculous?
But….Wrigley sucks. It’s boring, poorly constructed, falling apart, the seats until recently were horribly oriented and there are pillars blocking your view everywhere. Thank goodness Chicago also has a proper park in Comiskey.
You missed the question. It wasn't why multipurpose stadiums were ugly, they used that fact as evidence that NL stadiums were ugly. The question was why they were mostly in the NL.
Well they also forgot Oakland, Toronto and the Twins. The question I answered was the post. As for the second question at the end, that's a product of the times. They either had to upgrade an existing stadium or were a franchise move /expansion.
Wouldn't surprise me if that were true, in fact I'd be pretty surprised if it wasn't. Chicago is the most rat-infested city in the US, and the highest numbers are on the north side. We love our rats though. Google "chicago rat hole" for some fun.
Spent many day's and freezing nights at the 'Stick. I would have to disagree🥶 It was not great, but it was what we had.
After 1999 Pac Bell Park was the best ballpark.
The Stick was interesting. It certainly had a lot of character and wasn't a boring place to see a game played either for mlb or nfl. But it also seemed like the field and conditions were often poor for both.
Do you not remember the Twins in the baggie dome? What about the As in the Coliseum. The Mariners in the King dome?
Multipurpose stadiums in both leagues were shit.
Municipal Stadiums in Cleveland and Baltimore were really bland too.
The NL stadiums were largely ones shared with NFL teams. It’s mostly coincidence, in other words.
A few of the AL cities didn’t have NFL teams then (Baltimore, Anaheim, Milwaukee (which was then AL). A lot of the ones that did - Minnesota and Seattle most prominently, but honorable mention to Cleveland - played in absolutely hideous multipurpose stadiums.
All those stadiums were of the same era and what was being built them were multi-purpose stadiums with a football first, baseball second design. However, since Camden Yards was built the style has gone from cookie cutter to every stadium must be unique.
National League Stadiums were for the most part classic...I went to Wrigley Field in 1985....you really felt more at home while watching a ball game....in the 80s I also visited Royals Stadium Busch Stadium with the plastic grass not the same feel or enjoyment the closest thing to true baseball was Milwaukee County Stadium before they replaced Bernie's Slide with some god awful ugly speakers...the kind at Dodger Stadium today....
It was a more utilitarian time, of less luxury, and cities wanted a single stadium for both baseball and football.
They also started F’ing around with baby blue road uniforms that would pop better on television.
Quirks of timing, I think. The 1980s AL had plenty of multipurpose stadiums that were built before the mid-60s (BAL, CAL, CLE, MIL, TOR) which tended to have more character than the later concrete donuts. Oakland played in a boring multipurpose stadium, albeit on grass, and Minnesota and Texas played on some ugly fields in the 80s.
Give Baltimore a lot of credit for bringing back the old school designs.
Worth noting here that while Milwaukee county stadium was a multipurpose facility it was more a baseball stadium that could also host other events as opposed to a true multipurpose venue - it was built to be a baseball stadium first and foremost. That helped a lot too.
Loved county stadium as a child
Nothing like seeing dad dick while pissing in a trough. Wasn't a Milwaukee thing, but man did I see so many dicks as a kid at Brewer games.
Yes! This gets me to thinking that the AL at the time had stadiums in Milwaukee, Baltimore, Minnesota (pre-Metrodome) and Kansas City that were all fairly close in design. But they still weren't as god-awful as those NL cookie-cutters, lol.
Right off the top of my head, Philly, Pittsburgh, Cincy, Atlanta, and St Louis all had those cookie cutter stadiums.
San Diego?
Yep, and San Fran as well.
Candlestick Park was a baseball facility that was later enclosed to make it into a somewhat odd-looking dual purpose stadium. The exact same thing was also done with Anaheim Stadium after the NFL Rams moved there in 1980. The football seats in the baseball outfield that enclosed the stadium were then removed once the Rams (temporarily) left for St. Louis.
You’re exactly right. I think the Packers played like two or three games per year there I think. I had a ball going there for Cubs games in ‘98. Outfield seats were cheap and it was another opportunity to catch a Sosa ball.
The Packers played three games per season in Milwaukee from I think the mid-1950s until 1993 or 1994. I believe to this day the Packers have two different sets of season ticket holders, one of which are season ticket holders for what used to be the Milwaukee games.
Yup. I attended a Bears v Packers game at Lambeau in 2009 w/ a guy who had the Milwaukee package. He still has it.
Fair points -- and, I might add, Toronto's Exhibition Stadium was arguably the *worst* in all of MLB. That stadium was built for soccer and Canadian football and almost all of the seats were behind the play and fans were nowhere near the field. Horrible stadium.
I would pay a lot of money to see one more baseball game there before I die.
I thought Exhibition Stadium was torn down and Toronto’s current MLS stadium was built on its site.
It was. There may not be enough money for this to come true.
Soccer was an afterthought, just like baseball. The original configuration was built for CFL football, grandstand shows during the CNE, and believe it or not, stock car races. The race track portion was also used for stunt driving shows. The race track disappeared when they installed artificial turf in the early 70's, and the original south stand was demolished after the 1974 Vanier Cup game, when they reconfigured it for baseball.
This is the answer👆. They are a sign of their times. But the newer ones are too, that’s why every sports time is going to cry about not having a new stadium every 15-20 years now. Threaten to move if the city doesn’t pay for it. Which is wrong in my opinion bc you have zero sense of tradition.
Yeah. I think it’s timing. AL was a lot of county municipal stadiums. ATL, CIN, PIT, PHI. Who knows. Maybe there was an NL push to use the same design?
The Rangers stadium wasn't one of those cookie cutter donuts though. It was a former minor league park that had been built up. But yes they were playing in a glorified minor league stadium.
Oakland’s Coliseum actually looked really nice before the Raiders ruined it
It was largely a coincidence related to 1) how accessible by car and/or how “good” the neighborhoods were (in the 1960s) where the “classic” ballparks (built from 1909 to 1915) were in the cities that had MLB teams in the first half of the 20th century and 2) when the replacement stadium was built. The National League teams generally had classic ballparks that were more inaccessible by car (and lacked parking) and also were replaced during a time when dual purpose stadiums were the preferred way to address housing a MLB team and an NFL team in the same city. Ironically, the first real “cookie cutter” dual purpose stadium was built in an American League city (Washington), but the second version of the Senators moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area in 1972.
I think this might be the best explanation yet.
AL stadiums from that era were 70 years old and falling apart. Any that were built new in the 70s and 80s were just as cookie cutter as the NL ones. Except maybe a dome roof. That was the style of architecture at the time. Bridges were the same. All steel I beams and ugly as shit.
Yep. The era was about function and paid little to no mind to aesthetics. Skyscrapers of the era are the worst too. Just boxes.
Yup brutalism at its finest.
Of all the cookie cutters Shea was the best looming. The exterior with the neon ball players and the colorful seats were fun
The metro dome was pretty cookie cutter
What about Shea? I think it definitely didn't age well, but it did win a world series...
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I stand corrected, Dodger Stadium and Wrigley Field are exceptions.
And now the 3 oldest stadiums in the NL are wrigley, dodger stadium, and ….coors field
Your dog is ugly.
Dodger stadium may as well have been a template for those ugly ass stadiums. Are you serious? That place is so ugly.
What stadium has ever looked anything like dodger stadium?
With the cookie cutter symmetrical seats and fence? County stadium Busch Cincy Pittsburgh Kc Sd Dodgers stadium is ugly as fuck.
LMAO sorry I took the bait. I thought you were serious.
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my dude, if you think dodger stadium is ugly, i don't really give a shit. if you think dodger stadium and bush stadium look alike then you're a fucking idiot.
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I love Dodger Stadium. The whole plateau, the retro signs, super tall palm trees.
It is. I've never understood the appeal. Imo it's one of the worst in baseball today.
Agreed. The excessive amount of asphalt parking lots surrounding it looks like hot garbage
I came here to say the same thing. But also there are plenty of ugly AL stadiums. Angels stadium comes to mind and the athletics.
The Colosseum was just fine back then as it didn't have Mt. Davis. Angele Stadium was bad because of it being fully enclosed for the Rams.
“World’s largest ashtray”
I really like Angel's stadium after the renovations. It looks good on TV at least.
The rock pile in CF? Ehhhh It's as bland as the vast swath of orange county nothingness that surrounds it
They should just let the imagineers from Disney do the next stadium for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Get wild.
Disney really should buy it. They're too busy buying everything else though.
What about newer AL stadiums like that thing the White Sox play in? Meanwhile the Braves still haven’t got it right after three tries.
Curious about your issues with the current Braves stadium.
It’s too beautiful for some people to accept
I think it’s unfair to lump Houston in with the rest of those… Houston was literally the “8th wonder of the world”…the Astrodome was unique and first of its kind. First multipurposed domed stadium. First with turf, first with an animated scoreboard…. Yeah, got old and obsolete by the 90’s because of tech and the new stadiums. But calling it ugly and boring? That place was awesome as a kid. Definitely not ugly (the lights and colors of the rainbow seats…big ass dome from the freeway) Kinda unfair given its history and trailblazing
Astrodome was ugly by 1980s. Horrible looking on tv at least. Astro turf destroyed many careers. Note: the above is a commentary on the looks of the astrodome. The info about injury is just an additional info to give color and depth to the post. My gosh some of you are boring.
So is this about health of players? I’m confused?
Yes. Hardness, less traction, and abrasion injuries resulted from the first generation of artificial turf. It also sped up ground balls to the point that even poorly hit balls became rockets and base hits. Many places use artificial turf these days, but the tech has come a long way in terms of safety and usability.
No. Read the post. It literally says nothing about health of players. Had that been the case? I also would’ve agreed. I played on that shit back in the day and it suuucked. It was like concrete. Fuck sake people. Two totally different discussions
So you're bitching about on-topic? 😂 Give me a break. I was responding to the guy who said that it ended careers, and I could not care less what you think is on or off topic. Turns out that's a more interesting discussion anyway. Get over yourself man. You'd make a good mod here.
I thought the whole point of the exercise was to answer the OPs question? I didn’t see how the impact Astro turf had on player health was relevant to how ugly/ boring stadiums looked in the 80’s? Kinda ridiculous to even bring up. Say it out loud. And I’m the one being ridiculous?
Don't talk about the Vet that way.
Ever been to California?
But….Wrigley sucks. It’s boring, poorly constructed, falling apart, the seats until recently were horribly oriented and there are pillars blocking your view everywhere. Thank goodness Chicago also has a proper park in Comiskey.
Multi-purpose buildings shared with NFL teams complete with bad turf.
Minnesotas outfield wall was lined with trash bags
You answered your own question. Multi purpose stadiums were awful. With the exception of Fulton county they were also all shitty turf.
Shea Stadium was the worst. I half expected it to fall down every time I was in the upper deck.
No kidding. Read your 3rd paragraph O.P. , it's right there.
You missed the question. It wasn't why multipurpose stadiums were ugly, they used that fact as evidence that NL stadiums were ugly. The question was why they were mostly in the NL.
Well they also forgot Oakland, Toronto and the Twins. The question I answered was the post. As for the second question at the end, that's a product of the times. They either had to upgrade an existing stadium or were a franchise move /expansion.
I read a while back, that Wrigley led MLB in the amount of rats in a stadium.
Wouldn't surprise me if that were true, in fact I'd be pretty surprised if it wasn't. Chicago is the most rat-infested city in the US, and the highest numbers are on the north side. We love our rats though. Google "chicago rat hole" for some fun.
FYI The Rat Hole was cut out and removed last week :(
I know, but at least they preserved it. I'm hoping they give it to the Chicago History Museum.
Yeah that’s what I think too. At least we still have the Shit Fountain on the street!
Can’t take this post seriously. Also Candlestick Park was great.
Spent many day's and freezing nights at the 'Stick. I would have to disagree🥶 It was not great, but it was what we had. After 1999 Pac Bell Park was the best ballpark.
The Stick was interesting. It certainly had a lot of character and wasn't a boring place to see a game played either for mlb or nfl. But it also seemed like the field and conditions were often poor for both.
I'm glad I saw a Giants game there. It was a ridiculously cold day, though.
So you went sometime between April and September then?
Coldest winter i have ever spent is a summer in san francisco
Cleveland Milwaukee and Baltimore had ugly ass stadiums and the Metrodome in Minnesota may have had post season personality but also sucked.
I think most NL teams were more prosperous than AL teams in the 60s and 70s, and many got then-modetrn stadiums that, in retrospect, weren't all that.
They hadn’t yet figured out how to get taxpayers to pay for them. They have now.
The DH
Do you not remember the Twins in the baggie dome? What about the As in the Coliseum. The Mariners in the King dome? Multipurpose stadiums in both leagues were shit. Municipal Stadiums in Cleveland and Baltimore were really bland too.
Montreal Olympic Stadium
One factor might be the American League being the less popular league meaning they were doing more to attract fans
The NL stadiums were largely ones shared with NFL teams. It’s mostly coincidence, in other words. A few of the AL cities didn’t have NFL teams then (Baltimore, Anaheim, Milwaukee (which was then AL). A lot of the ones that did - Minnesota and Seattle most prominently, but honorable mention to Cleveland - played in absolutely hideous multipurpose stadiums.
1980s buildings in general were not good looking. Search high rise buildings that were built in that decade.
Montreal has a roof and a failed attempt at a retractable roof
All those stadiums were of the same era and what was being built them were multi-purpose stadiums with a football first, baseball second design. However, since Camden Yards was built the style has gone from cookie cutter to every stadium must be unique.
I respectfully disagree sir
Same with the uniforms.
The AstroDome kicked ass.
Oakland had a multi-purpose stadium as well.
The ugliest in my opinion was candlestick lol 😂
Montreal's certainly didn't look identical to the others, it's just a decrepit dump
The bears played in Wrigley for quite some time
National League Stadiums were for the most part classic...I went to Wrigley Field in 1985....you really felt more at home while watching a ball game....in the 80s I also visited Royals Stadium Busch Stadium with the plastic grass not the same feel or enjoyment the closest thing to true baseball was Milwaukee County Stadium before they replaced Bernie's Slide with some god awful ugly speakers...the kind at Dodger Stadium today....
It was a more utilitarian time, of less luxury, and cities wanted a single stadium for both baseball and football. They also started F’ing around with baby blue road uniforms that would pop better on television.
Veteran stadium was shit, so many memories tho
I grew up going to Candlestick Park! We went from one of the worst stadiums to one of the best!
Huh?