As I sat in the left field corner of Nationals Park last Friday evening, enjoying baseball, banter and beer with friend and colleague Jimmy Chiang, I was reminded once again that watching a baseball game live at the ballpark is one of life’s greatest pleasures.  The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, and even the occasional cry of “Get your ice cold [nine-dollar] beer here!” all make the ballpark a special place, even for those with only a passing interest in the game.

In my 24 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to visit the home venues of ten of MLB’s thirty teams.  While each may provide a different type of baseball atmosphere, some ballparks are certainly better than others, so as I wait to add to the list, I decided to rank the ballparks I have already visited.  Rankings are based not only on the quality of the parks’ bricks and mortar, but also on the experience each provides on any given night at the ballpark.  I am hopeful to one day compile a comprehensive list of all thirty ballparks, but now that I am a third of the way there, here is how each of the first ten stacks up:

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After a thrilling Rockies win at Petco Park in Game One of our four-day, four-city, four-game road trip, it was time to visit Dodger Stadium. Following dad’s aforementioned seven-dollar breakfast of bread and coffee at the Toscano Café, only a quick two-hour trip north on I-5 separated us from Ballpark #2.  Since we were traveling on a Sunday, traffic was almost a non-issue on the way up to our hotel in Anaheim, and we even had time to stop at the OC Sports Bar and Grill for burgers and the first few innings of Rockies vs. Padres on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain before it was time to head over to the ballgame.

Open since 1962, Dodger Stadium is by far the oldest of the four ballparks we visited and is in fact the third-oldest park in all of Major League Baseball, the two oldest of course being Fenway Park and Wrigley Field.  Dodger Stadium has plenty of history, having hosted eight different World Series, three World Baseball Classic games, and ten no-hitters.  And of course, it is home to the greatest broadcaster of all time in Vin Scully, the true face of the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise.

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