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December 7, 2018 [LINK / comment]

State of the diagrams, 2018

"Rounding third and heading for home!" With a relentless force of will, I am approaching the end point of this Odyssean (!) endeavor of diagramming baseball stadiums. Well, at least an end point: completing the major league ballpark diagrams of the concrete-and-steel era, as opposed to ballparks built prior to 1909, or the various foreign, minor league, and college ballparks that I believe qualify for such treatment. In fact, I probably should have highlighted the fact that, with the updating of the Angel (Anaheim) Stadium diagrams on November 25, my diagrams for all 30 current MLB stadiums are essentially state-of-the-art! An unheralded landmark event. Some of them are lacking in details such as in the bullpens or the concourse areas, but I'm confident the stadiums and the fields are rendered with a satisfactorily high degree of accuracy. One possible question mark is Candlestick Park, which I last updated on the very last day of 2012. At the time, it was a huge leap forward, diagram-wise, and as far as I can tell, that set of diagrams has withstood the test of time.

Anyway, as this final stretch begins, I thought it would be fitting to review where the diagrams stand, following the example of five years ago, when I presented my own "state of the diagrams" assessment. My diagrams for each of the 76 MLB stadiums are ranked from "A" (superb), "B" (pretty good), "C" (marginally acceptable), and "D" (just plain lousy). This reflects only the diagrams themselves, in their current published state, and has nothing to do with the aesthetic appeal of the real-world stadiums. This list only includes major league stadiums, including short-term ones such as Sick's Stadium but not temporary ones such as Hiram Bithorn Stadium, minor league stadiums, or those in foreign countries. So here goes...

Baseball stadium diagrams, current status
Stadium name Team name Diagram status Last update
Baker Bowl * Philadelphia Phillies A 2016
Forbes Field Pittsburgh Pirates D 2005
Shibe Park * Philadelphia Athletics & Phillies A 2016
Sportsman's Park * St. Louis Browns & Cardinals A 2016
League Park * Cleveland Indians A 2016
Comiskey Park * Chicago White Sox A 2017
Polo Grounds New York Giants, (Yankees, & Mets) C 2007
Griffith Stadium * Washington Senators C 2008
Crosley Field * Cincinnati Reds D 2006
Tiger Stadium * * Detroit Tigers B 2009
Fenway Park Boston Red Sox (& Braves) A 2018
Ebbets Field Brooklyn Dodgers A 2018
Wrigley Field * Chicago Cubs (& Whales) A 2018
Braves Field * Boston Braves A 2014
Yankee Stadium New York Yankees C 2008
Cleveland Municipal Stadium * Cleveland Indians A 2016
Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee Braves & Brewers A 2015
Memorial Stadium Baltimore Orioles A 2013
(K.C.) Municipal Stadium * Kansas City Athletics & Royals A 2014
(L.A.) Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles Dodgers A 2016
Seals Stadium San Franciso Giants A 2015
Candlestick Park * San Franciso Giants A 2012
Wrigley Field (L.A.) Los Angeles Angels A 2015
Metropolitan Stadium Minnesota Twins B 2014
Dodger Stadium Los Angeles Dodgers (& Angels) A 2014
Colt Stadium Houston Colt 45s A 2013
Robert F. Kennedy Stadium * Washington Senators & Nationals A 2013
Shea Stadium New York Mets (& Yankees) A 2015
Astrodome Houston Astros A 2015
Angel Stadium of Anaheim * L.A. / Calif. / Anaheim Angels A 2018
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium * Atlanta Braves A 2016
Busch Stadium II St. Louis Cardinals A 2015
Oakland Coliseum * * Oakland Athletics A 2016
Jarry Park Montreal Expos A 2013
Sick's Stadium Seattle Pilots A 2015
Jack Murphy Stadium * * San Diego Padres A 2016
Riverfront Stadium * Cincinnati Reds A 2018
Three Rivers Stadium Pittsburgh Pirates A 2014
Veterans Stadium Philadelphia Phillies A 2016
Arlington Stadium Texas Rangers A 2018
Kauffman Stadium * Kansas City Royals A 2015
Olympic Stadium Montreal Expos B 2012
Kingdome Seattle Mariners A 2015
Exhibition Stadium Toronto Blue Jays A 2014
H.H.H. Metrodome Minnesota Twins A 2016
Rogers Centre * Toronto Blue Jays A 2016
Guaranteed Rate (U.S. Cellular) Field * * Chicago White Sox A 2015
Oriole Park at Camden Yards Baltimore Orioles A 2014
Dolphin (Sun Life) Stadium * * Florida Marlins A 2015
Mile High Stadium * Colorado Rockies A 2015
Progressive Field * Cleveland Indians A 2016
Globe Life Park in Arlington * Texas Rangers A 2016
Coors Field Colorado Rockies A 2016
Turner Field * Atlanta Braves A 2016
Tropicana Field * Tampa Bay Rays A 2014
Chase Field * Arizona Diamondbacks A 2015
Safeco Field Seattle Mariners A 2015
AT&T Park * * San Franciso Giants A 2016
Minute Maid Park * Houston Astros A 2015
Comerica Park Detroit Tigers A 2015
Miller Park Milwaukee Brewers A 2018
PNC Park Pittsburgh Pirates A 2015
Great American Ballpark Cincinnati Reds A 2018
Citizens Bank Park Philadelphia Phillies A 2015
PETCO Park San Diego Padres A 2015
Busch Stadium III St. Louis Cardinals A 2016
Nationals Park Washington Nationals A 2015
Yankee Stadium II New York Yankees A 2016
Citi Field New York Mets A 2016
Target Field Minnesota Twins A 2016
Marlins Park Miami Marlins A 2018
SunTrust Park Atlanta Braves A 2018
Red border: Denotes stadiums whose diagrams are not yet finished.

[ * (asterisk) = name change; * * = multiple name changes.]

As you can see, all but eight (i.e., 68 of the 76) diagrams are state of the art, or close to it. For those who only visit this website occasionally or may be new, there are two related pages that track my past progress in updating stadium diagrams: Stadium diagram updates (chronological archives, year by year) and Diagram update log (arranged by city name in alphabetical order). Occasionally I find mistakes on those pages, such as when I was almost done with a particular stadium and that got sidetracked after after inserting a link for an anticipated completion date. So, like the diagrams themselves, those pages are "subject to revision." This table summarizes how many of the diagrams were last updated in each successive year. Since none of the "A"-rated diagrams were done prior to 2012, I have omitted them. But for those who are really curious, I began posting such diagrams way back in 2002 -- a full 16 years ago! (By my current standards, they are embarrassingly crude and amateurish.) My progress over the years has been interrupted by occasional pauses, and indeed I had forgotten what a bleak year 2017 was, diagram-wise.

Year Number of final
stadium diagram updates
2012 2
2013 4
2014 8
2015 20
2016 21
2017 1
2018 10
TOTAL 76

With eight stadiums left to do, the total for 2018 could theoretically go as high as 18. Anything is possible! As of today, December 7th, here are the "coming attractions," in order of targeted completion:

  1. Tiger Stadium
  2. Polo Grounds
  3. Yankee Stadium
  4. Olympic Stadium
  5. Griffith Stadium
  6. Metropolitan Stadium
  7. Forbes Field
  8. Crosley Field

Nats sign Patrick Corbin

The Washington Nationals signed free agent Patrick Corbin to a six-year contract that is supposedly worth $140 million. He was evidently the most sought-after pitcher on the open market, so that seems to be a coup for Nats General Manager Mike Rizzo. Corbin was an All-Star this year (representing the Arizona Diamondbacks), and he will become the third Nat starting pitcher (after Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg) to have earned that honor. Corbin is 29 and had an ERA of 3.15 this year, with 246 strikeouts. The main downside is the possibility that his arm may not last for the full six years, since he had Tommy John surgery. See MLB.com. But as we know, both Stephen Strasburg and former Nat Jordan Zimmermann have pitched well for years after having had such surgery. As a left-handed starting pitcher, Corbin essentially replaces Gio Gonzalez in the pitching rotation.

If Bryce Harper was looking for a sign that the Nats owners are willing to spend what's necessary to attract a full roster of top talent, this was it. Personally, I think Bryce wants first and foremost to play on a championship team, and the salary is not necessarily to determining factor in where he ends up. I really hope he does decide to settle down in D.C., but the longer negotiations drag on, the less likely that seems. frown

The mail bag

Thanks to Joe Johnston for confirming that the curved grandstand along the first base line in Arlington Stadium was indeed built in 1973, as I hypothesized. He was at a game there in 1972, the inaugural year of the Texas Rangers, and he remembers the temporary rectangular bleachers (built for football games) on that side.

Mike Zurawski recently informed me about Elon Musk's plans to build a tunnel for a high-speed subway line to Dodger Stadium, presumably from downtown. A separate proposed line was recently turned down. Now comes news that they want to build a gondola transportation system that would take 5,000 passengers per hour from Union Station to Dodger Stadium in approximately five minutes. See urbanize.la. Such a system functions much like a ski lift, and in fact I rode one in Medllin, Colombia nearly two years ago. Depending on the terrain, they can be expensive to build, but seem fairly cheap to operate.

More news about the future Oakland stadium soon...

Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 07 Dec 2018, 11: 46 PM

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