"The single most historic modern stadium in the world"

Might as well throw Tiger Stadium out there too. Not No. 1, but it's fairly equal to Wrigley in terms of stature. And it is on the National Registry of Historic Places (but only until fall when it gets knocked down).

- Reggie Jackson's home run off the light tower at the 1971 All-Star game.
- Deepest center field in the majors (and the only one with the flagpole in fair territory).
- Hosted the Lions for several years
- Only park where the upper deck stands in right field hung out over the lower deck (and the new Texas stadium's right field has a replica of Tiger Stadium's right field, along with Yankee Stadium's center field).

 

Hate to disillusion you Hank, but prior to the renovations in the 70s, center field in Yankee Stadium was 461, deeper than Tigers (formerly Briggs) Stadium and it not only had a flagpole, it also had three monuments IN PLAY!
As for overhangs, the old Polo Grounds in New York had overhanging upper decks and left and right fields. It also had the bullpens in play in left- and right-center fields...the benches were in play, the shed roof over the benches was in play, etc.

As for the original topic, the LA Coliseum is No 2 to Yankee Stadium.

 

I think we should change the title of the thread to "The single most historic modern stadium in the United States".

 

C'mon JR, read the original post.
The LA Times writer referred to the LA Coliseum as "the single most historic modern stadium in the world."

Damn Canucks!

 

To be "historic," you actually have to have some history in that place. The Cubs have never won a World Series in Wrigley Field.

Anyone know why the Rose Bowl hasn't had a Super Bowl recently? Is it because of the absence of an NFL team in the LA area?

 

But that would rule out the SkyDome Rogers Centre and the Big O!

The deepest part of centre field at the Polo Grounds was also 483 or 505 feet depending on where you measured it to.

That's why if Vic Wertz were to have a ball as hard and as far today as he did that day in 1954, the highlight of it would feature Willie Mays standing there, watching to see how far back in the seats it landed.

And the overhanging decks meant you could hit a pop fly down the line that Bucky Fucking Dent would have disdained and it would have counted for just as many bases. You couldn't hit a lower deck home run unless it was basically a line drive, like Bobby Thomson's Shot Heard Around The World.

 

The clubhouse in dead center at the Polo Ground was indeed 483.
But Wirtz' ball was not hit into the "well," that led to the clubhouse. Mays caught it in front of the seats to the right field side of the well.... about 440.

 

It's all relative.

Most Brits could make a pretty convincing argument about Wembley Stadium and don't give a rat's ass about Yankee Stadium.

Maple Leaf Gardens, because of its iconic status in Original Six hockey and even afterrwards is worthy of mention.

 

One more thing about the LA Coliseum..site of the first major league baseball game on the West Coast and host to the largest crowd(s) ever to see a baseball game in the US

 

May not be the main reason, but it's a contributing one.

Once you go through the New Orleans-Miami-San Diego-Atlanta rotation, and then sprinkle in Super Bowls promised to cities who built (or are building) stadiums (Glendale, Ariz., Jacksonville, Houston, Detroit) . . . then L.A. gets lost in the shuffle pretty quickly.

 

You're right. What I meant was that if Wertz hit that ball in any of today's stadiums, long gone.



And apparently only four players ever reached the centre field seats with a home run. It would have been two if the Mets hadn't played their first two seasons there, because Lou Brock of Chicago and Hank Aaron of Milwaukee did it on consecutive days in 1962.

Luke Easter was the first man to do it, in a Negro League game in 1948, and Joe Adcock of Milwaukee matched him in 1953. Strange that no member of the Giants ever managed the feat.

Here's another neat picture of the place, this one an overhead view that gives a pretty good indication of just how far we're talking (and how close the fences were down the lines).

 

Great stuff Double J.

I actually saw a few Giants games there in '56 and '57 as well as a bunch of '62 and '63 Mets games.