Arenas/Stadiums/Venues of Your Past

[Moderator1]

Saw a game at the Polo Grounds that year, too, sp. I can't remember yesterday but I remember every detail of that day (10-5 Cardinals, Julian Javier with a leadoff home run).
That's a lot of center field in that park.

 

[playthrough]

Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, ballpark of my youth:

Yes it was a cookie-cutter, but it was "my" cookie-cutter. When you're a kid in a stadium like that with bad baseball that draws 5,000 per game, as it did in the mid-80s, you feel like it's your own personal playground. Would go back in winter for Falcons football, with slightly bigger crowds and the same level of suckitude.

I can still hear the old p.a. announcer urging fans to visit "the customer service booth at Aisle 119" for whatever, the long metal trough urinals and Chief Noc-a-homa's tepee.

The ballpark experience wasn't the same for me in the early 90s when the Braves started playing well. Far, far too many bandwagon fans. I liked the place more when it was empty.

 

[Dr. Howard]

Loved those pictures of the Polo Grounds. Saw the Mets play there a couple of times. Shea Stadium as well. Had season tickets in the upper deck for the Jets.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

The St. Louis Arena, which morphed into one of the worst named sporting venues of all time--the Checkerdome.

And what was the Polo Grounds like, spnited? With it's race track architecture, wasn't it like 300 down the lines (or less) and 550+ to center?

 

[WolvEagle]

Olympia Stadium was cool - great sight lines, and you felt like you were right on top of the action. Too bad the Red Wings sucked in their final several years there.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

Just looked at the google maps view of where Tiger Stadium was. So strange.

There's a group that every so often will go and cut the grass around the field, trying to keep it in somewhat playable condition. They'll even play a pickup game or two afterwards.

Most of the time the Detroit Police end up chasing them away, because apparently it's a bad thing to try to beautify a portion of a decaying city.

 

[spnited]

I actually saw Hank Aaron hit a home run against the Giants at the Polo Grounds in 55 or 56, moddy.

It was 483 to the clubhouse in centerfield. The bleacher wall, where Mays made the catch on Wertz in the '54 series was about 440.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

You got a lot of posts at Tiger Stadium too.

And a photo for Baron (although even this one is outdated as there's nothing but a fenced off field now).

Thanks, Hank. One of my big life dreams is to go to an abandoned major league park (or big minor league park) and just run around in it.

And I would have loved to have seen a game in the Polo Grounds. Having the dimensions be 280 or so in left, 260 or so in right and 483 to center must have been fun to watch.

 

[spnited]

Polo Grounds also had bullpens in fair territory in right- and left-center.
Right field upper deck also overhung the field by about 8 feet so guy would go back to the wall on a fly ball and the ball would never come down..catch the overhang for a very cheap HR

 

[albert77]

My earliest baseball experiences were at the old Colts Stadium in Houston. You could look out beyond the outfield bleachers and watch the Astrodome being built. Funny how times change. The Astrodome was going to be the "Eighth Wonder of the World," now it's just another dilapidated old stadium in a bad neighborhood waiting for the wrecking ball.

 

[finishthehat]

Saw my first pro football game at Shea. Countless baseball games, too.

 

[spnited]

Shea was a dump ... but it was OUR dump!