The Josh Innes Show - USA Today Ranking MLB Ballparks

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

Look, I'm aware it's kind of lazy. But, I've been to a good number of the MLB stadiums and I have some thoughts. Sue me. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So I'm looking at USA Today, looking for what stories I can find to discuss about, you know, race and sports and politics and shit, because that's what USA Today does. But I actually saw a list here, and generally speaking, I don't like to dig into list conversation, but this is a list that I have some thoughts on, because I've, it's, a lot of times there are lists and you don't know a lot about the things in the list. I have a decent idea of a lot of the things in this list. It's the ranking the major league stadiums list. I think I've been to, of the current stadiums,

I want to say I've been to over half of the current stadiums, so I think I kind of have an idea on this, but their number one is the number one that everybody goes to, and that's PNC Park in Pittsburghittsburgh never been there of all the places what's funny is the things that are high on the list are ones i haven't been to so look at me talking shit uh but everyone i've talked to that's been to pnc park loves pnc park i think what i like about it is is it's not a giant stadium that seats like 50 000 people it's like it like a, it's under 40,000. I love stadiums that have skylines in the background. Like, I just think that looks better. Like that's kind

of why I always like, I thought the whole setup for citizens bank park in Philly sucks. Like having a football stadium and a giant empty parking like that doesn't really matter. Cause you're not going to see much anyway. There are very few football stadiums where there's scenery like Seattle, of course, like there's a cool like view in Seattle, but most stadiums, you're not going to have great views of a lot of shit anyway in football. So who cares? But you have to really be in certain spots of the ballpark to even see downtown or center city Philadelphia.

So it always just felt kind of bland to me. I mean, ultimately, it's a ballpark and you're going there to see a game and all that but the view does work and the view of Pittsburgh is fantastic at this ballpark I've never been I've been to Pittsburgh maybe once ever and that was driving through on our way to move to Philadelphia but every movie you watch that features Pittsburgh makes Pittsburgh look like the coolest fucking town on the planet like it's just like there's this rebirth of Pittsburgh like I was watching a movie and now I don't remember what it's called but um it was a movie with um oh the Jay Baruchel and he's this

kind of dweeb and this chick's really into him and now I um it's I think it's got she's in the title. But she's really into him. And everybody's like, why is she into this dude? And I think it took place in Pittsburgh. And all the shots of Pittsburgh made Pittsburgh just look fantastic. I remember sitting there. I saw the movie with Alice Eve is the chick's name. And we interviewed her on 610 about the movie. And me and Vandermeer, and I think me, John, and Mark went to see the movie when we interviewed her on 610 about the movie and me and vandermeer and i think me john and mark

went to see the movie when we interviewed her and uh we all go well you know they make pittsburgh look really fucking great and i'm like yeah so the one time i went i thought pittsburgh was pretty cool but a great view you got the bridge in the background like it's pretty fucking cool but i've never been but i'd like to go it seems like a good place to see a game seems like all the views are solid uh Oracle Park in San Francisco uh also never been there uh fun fact I don't know that I've ever been to San Francisco probably been to the airport there but I've never actually been to the city of San Francisco in fact I know I haven't so I have nothing to offer you on Oracle Park uh let's see Wrigley Field I think Wrigley Field's an overrated experience it's uncomfortable I mean it's cool it's cool that you

know you can say hey I was at Wrigley Field legendary ballpark they've really chopped the ballpark's balls off though by taking away some of the charm of the rooftops and you're adding more video boards and shit it kind of ruins the charm of the park and that's really what you're adding more video boards and shit. It kind of ruins the charm of the park. And that's really what you're selling here is old-timey charm. The problem is you're slapping a coat of paint and a bunch of electronics on the old-timey charm. So do you commit? I mean, you kind of just have to commit to the old-timey charm or do something else. Now, Wrigley's going to exist forever. It was fine.

When I went, they had trough urinals, in fact. They still had the, like, you would go take a leak, like, right next to another dude. You're like, this is really weird, but hello. They had ice in the urinals, that type of vibe, you know, and you'd stand next to some dude. No dividers or anything, just hand on your dongs, taking a leak. That's also, I've been to, I think, two or three games there. One of the games I went to was a Sunday night baseball game between the Cubs and the Cardinals I think the Cardinals rallied to win that game

Steven Piscotty hit a grand slam I believe but I'm going to take a leak and they're bringing in Aroldis Chapman and was that that game was that the same game or am I conflating them no I think it was that game and Aroldis Chapman comes in and they play smack my bitch up when he comes in the game and I'm like that seems kind of an awkward song to play for a guy where we're talking about domestic violence and as it turns out I wasn't the only one thinking that I think they fired the music guy after that because the world was like wait a minute smack my bitch up and roll this Chapman it doesn't make any sense that the ambiance of Wrigley is great Like I love it that it's in the middle of a neighborhood like that

and there's tons of bars. Like that's awesome. Like obviously it's a little bit more corporate than it used to be but I like that better than like in Atlanta where there's a whole little village but they built this whole town for the stadium.

So like yes there are restaurants and there are bars but they're very new, very current and they don't really possess a lot of charm. I guess it's better than being in a situation where there are no bars like you know in Philadelphia but Wrigley's fine but it's not my favorite uh Orioles Park at Camden Yards is number four I enjoyed that I've been there a couple times like Baltimore if you're in the right spot Baltimore's cool the problem is there aren't a lot of right spots in Baltimore it's just

mostly gross but the ballpark is great it's kind of like the original old school retro vibe wouldn't be my favorite park but it was fine uh Fenway Park I've never been to Fenway Park so I can't speak on it Petco in San Diego was actually fucking phenomenal now I gotta figure that after I read their list I gotta write down mine shit I gotta write down my list on this. But first, let me play a few commercials and we will continue. All right. If you're ready to win some real cash during the basketball playoffs, you got to check out pick six from DraftKings. When it comes to basketball payouts, DraftKings pick six posterizes the competition, including price picks. It's a very simple concept. Hit all your picks and score higher minimum payouts on Pick 6, plus even more

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One per new customer. Bonus awarded is non-withdrawable pick six credits that expire in 14 days. Limited time offer. See terms at picksix.draftkings.com slash promos. All right, so Petco, the time that we went i think we only went once we actually had a cool setup where we went to to basically three not basically we went to all three of the southern california ballparks over the course of a weekend jillian i did it just worked out that way like in 2012 maybe 2013 so we went to i think we started in la went to dodger stadium went to angel stadium

and an hour anaheim stadium then we went to petco petco it was kind of chilly that night but like the ballpark itself is phenomenal like the left field area has an old warehouse that like is incorporated into the stadium and i think there's suites in there downtown san diego's fucking fantastic the weather in san diego like during the day the weather was immaculate it got kind into the stadium and I think there's suites in there. Downtown San Diego's fucking fantastic. The weather in San Diego, like during the day, the weather was immaculate. It got kind of misty and cold at night, but fuck Petco Park was phenomenal. I think Dodger Stadium's fucking awesome. Problem with Dodger Stadium is it takes forever to get in. If there's a big crowd, it takes forever to get into the parking lot. It takes forever to get out. Now that we also went for the World Series one year at Dodger Stadium. stadium fuck i think we've been to dodger stadium three different

times but dodger stadium just like it's a great like art deco color scheme and vibe and you're in the fucking ravine and like dodger stadium fucks and the color scheme is great inside it just takes forever to get in it's like getting into a theme park kind of and it takes forever but the vibes are great we never got our asses kicked outside of the stadium like Giants fans do so that's good um yeah I do I think Dodger State Dodger Stadium is one of my favorites I've been to Coors Field was great when we went to Coors Field I guess it was last summer when we went to Coors Field we We went to Denver randomly. We always look for cheap places to fly and then find something to do when we're there. So Colorado, we're like, we've never been to Denver. So what do you want to do? Let's go to Denver. All right, Rockies,

let's go cross off a ballpark. The weather in Denver was great, but they have a really cool area in the upper right field area that's like a Coors bar, an indoor bar. But unlike a lot of places where you go into a bar in a place and they jack up the prices, like before the games in there, you can get beers for like $5, and it's a great vibe, and it's cleaner. It's kind of like what St. Louis wanted to do when they took out their upper deck right field seats and built a bar. The problem is the fucking Cardinals one looks like shit, and it's just like it's not good. This one was fucking phenomenal. Um, I don't think there's

a lot around the ballpark. If I recall, I don't remember. I don't think there's a ton around Coors field, but the ballpark itself is fucking amazing. And the food was good and I liked it. So Coors field I'd put high to, uh, never been to T-Mobile park in Seattle. So I can't comment on that. I haven't been to target field. They have that at put high too I've never been to T-Mobile Park in Seattle so I can't comment on that I haven't been to Target Field they have that at number 10 I've never been to Target Field in Minnesota and I haven't been to Citi Field in New York so there's three in a row I haven't been to uh Kauffman Stadium at number 12 I think Kauffman Stadium is wonderful and I hate the fact that they want to tear it down and you know that's kind of this quest to get rid of all these stadiums outside of the city of Kansas City.

Football, like a bunch of fucking idiots, are going to tear down Arrowhead or move from Arrowhead and go to Kansas. And they also want to put a ballpark in downtown Kansas City. And I get the appeal of that, like having ballparks in downtown is great and all that. But Kauffman, again, kind of has that old school, like not like ancient Wrigley vibe but that 70s vibe about it but they've done an amazing job of keeping it up and renovating it and the scoreboard and center field with the crown and the fucking waterfalls and shit I fucking loved it we ended up with good seats when we went to we were right behind home plate and I think actually for that when we went to that we got really cheap like all-inclusive tickets in the club right behind home plate. It was fucking amazing.

They've got Citizens Bank Park in Philly at number 13. I was never impressed. It's fine. It's a nice ballpark. But you're also in the middle of fucking nothing. I get Xfinity Live is there, but you're in the middle of fucking nothing. And in the years that I was going to the ballpark, nobody else was. So I didn't really get to experience the vibe. but it's fine. Uh, Comerica park in Detroit. I went

there once when I was doing radio in Detroit and I went with the PD of that station. I thought it was cool too. The thing I like about it is it's got all the scenery of like the downtowns and shit. Like you get a skyline behind there. I think it looks great. I enjoyed it. I don't remember a ton about it cause it was a very quick in and out type of deal, but I liked it. I thought Comerica was good. Uh, Dakin park, formerly minute made park in Houston. I love that ballpark. Although the last time I went last year, way too expensive now. And the air conditioning's fucking brutal. Like it's hot. Like I get Houston's hot. But the point of building a ballpark that has a roof is, like, you keep the fucker cold. It was balls hot.

But just the ballpark itself is gorgeous. I'm a huge fan of Minute Maid Park. Let's see. Truist Park in Atlanta. I thought that was fine. It was nice. And as I told you, they built that whole area up around there in Cobb County. And, look, it's better to

have that than nothing, right? Like I feel like there's nothing around the ballpark in Houston, like, and they're trying to work on that. They're going to build up. I think they want to build a complex like this, but like, look at Philadelphia outside of Xfinity live. You got nothing looking at in Atlanta. You've got a whole damn city with apartments and everything they built just for this ballpark. So that was cool. Like you'd rather have that than nothing. But I prefer like ballparks built in areas where there's kind of a charm around them and a lot of local bars and shit like that.

And you didn't really get that at Truist Park. I actually was a fan, the most comfortable I've ever been at a baseball game weather-wise. Well, one night I went to a Dodgers game at Dodgers Stadium and it was just fucking immaculate. But in Atlanta one year when me and Jilly went, we went to the old Turner Field and sat right behind home plate and it was like 65 degrees and partly cloudy at night. And it was, oh, that's phenomenal. But Truist Park was fine. I think we got in there late as well because I was trying to play the stub hub game bush stadium is number 17 when bush stadium is full it's truly amazing and the team is good and it's opening day like opening day is fucking awesome it's the best opening day you're ever going to get you got the

legends and you guys it's a great vibe that you get a better you get a solid skyline view you get the view of the arch food's pretty good you Ballpark Village, which is like a better version of Xfinity Live in Philadelphia. But what's kind of taken a hit is the local bar scene there. This Cardinal Nation area has been, Ballpark Village area is a team run thing. And it kind of killed a lot of local businesses. There are still some local bars down there and they're fine. But you just get the overpriced shit over at the the the cardinal nation but there are some cool parts

about it now i haven't sat in these seats but they have a rooftop seating that's on the bar across the street that's that would be cool i haven't done it they also have the cardinal museum which is ridiculously awesome so like the ballpark itself is fine i think they did a bad job in the way they built it not having an open concourse like if you walk around the ballpark at minute made you can see the game while you're walking whereas at bush stadium you can't see anything you have to kind of walk through like a corridor to see shit so but i look i love it and as much as i hate st louis now for the way this shit's gone down and all that i fucking love the goddamn Cardinals and you know I like going to the ball game and if we're still here for opening day I'll find a way to go to fucking opening day and and be part of it and

see the Clydesdales and everything else but um that's a solid ballpark uh let's see Miami Marlins Lone Depot that's what they call that now Lone Depot Park in Miami number 18 I remember very little about that place except that i fucking hated it uh progressive field in cleveland i've never been so i can't speak on it new yankee stadium i went there once actually ricky ricardo got us hooked up there his spanish speaking voice of the yankees philly uh wip guys the eagles uh uh uh Spanish broadcaster no uh no senor on the double doink uh it was fine again it was just this big building it was a big structure you know that's all I remember about it I mean I'm sure it's very nice and we sat in the outfield for that game we got to go in the press

box and and meet um Hawk Harrelson who was in town with the White Sox we met John Sterling it's like that was cool but the ballpark itself meant absolutely nothing to me it was just kind of blah i've never been to roger center in toronto so i can't speak on that i have not been to globe life field in texas but i have been to the old rangers ballpark in arlington and it was just hot as fuck every time i went and i wanted to die i thought angel stadium they have it at number 23 angel stadium in anaheim wasn't bad but it but it was still kind of like that 70s vibe, but not nearly as charming as Kauffman Stadium. American Family Field in Milwaukee, they have it at number 24. I believe I've heard it referred to as a giant airplane hangar, and that's kind of the vibe I got

from it too. Nothing overly special. I've never been to Nationals Park in Washington, can't speak on that. Never been to the Great park in washington can't speak on that never been to the great american ballpark in cincinnati like it seems like it'd be cooler than what they have it ranked it's right there on the river uh but it's number 26 chase field in arizona i've never been i have been to rate field in chicago uh that's like one of the first new stadiums that was built in the early 90s and it's basically a shithole like it's nothing special so i agree with them there uh and that's that so uh they have it as the worst they don't put tampa in there because the uh well because tampa is playing uh at george steinbrenner field in tampa because their ballpark got taken out by the weather that ballpark was also shitty the uh the tropicana

field where they have a stingray just in a in a in a fucking uh you know tank out in center field like it is a dump of a place so that would be the worst my favorite of all the ballparks is probably dodger stadium i thought dodger stadium was phenomenal i think kaufman stadium is phenomenal but dodger stadium just has the old school vibes, but it doesn't feel cluttered and terrible. I love Bennett Maeder slash Dakin Park, I think is good. But just from the total package of the views and everything that I've been to, I loved Coors Field as well,

but I'd actually put Dodger Stadium and Petco Park very, very high on the list. I think Dodger Stadium, especially if the weather's right. You got a good mix of an old school vibe. Dude, I love Dodger Stadium. I think it was great. Just the vibe of it was good. And we didn't die when we went, and I thought that was very important. Because I imagine if you die at Dodger Stadium, like some people have, or end up with brain damage, that's no fun but I just love a ballpark in the heart of a downtown you know like like a skyline it just looks good like that always that to me is what hampered um the ballpark in Philly what hampered Citizens Bank Park is like you didn't get that like you want to be able to walk out of a ballpark

and then walk to other places and kind of be part of the city and everything else and you didn't get that there so that's why that one wasn't higher for me on that one i need to go to america and detroit again and experience a couple more games there i thought it was kind of cool too but uh there you go thanks usa today for providing me with exciting list podcast content