Thursday, September 17, 2015

The only city with two stadiums in the top 10 is Los Angeles, with both of them being rare specimens of MLB venues standing since the 1960’s. The rest of them have mostly been around since the 1990’s, with two exceptions: Yankee Stadium built in 2009 and Rogers Centre, opened in 1989.

Angel Stadium of Anaheim – 45,957

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The home of the Los Angeles Angels since 1966, it has been also known as Angels Stadium and later Edison International Field of Anaheim, it’s been under its current name since 2003. During the early 1980’s the capacity was over 65,000 but has been drastically reduced over the years. On Saturday, August 9, 2014, the stadium hosted its longest game ever: a 6-hour, 31-minute marathon between the Angels and the Boston Red Sox. in

Oriole Park at Camden Yards – 45,971

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The home of the Baltimore Orioles since 1992, Oriole Park has a record attendance of 49,828 from July 10, 2005 in a game against the Red Sox. On April 12, 2010, the low-attendance mark was set with just 9129 fans watching the Orioles play the Tampa Bay Rays. On August 19, 2008, the stadium hosted its 50 millionth fan, a milestone reached in just 17 seasons, the fastest park in baseball history to reach such a figure.

Safeco Field – 47,574

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Home of the Seattle Mariners since 1999, it replaced the Kingdome although it took the team making the playoffs and winning the ALDS in 1995 to generate a powerful enough lobby to vote in favor of the new stadium. Safeco reportedly paid $40 million to have its name on the stadium for 20 years.

Globe Life Park in Arlington – 48,114

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The Texas Rangers have been playing there since 1994. It was known as The Ballpark in Arlington until May 7, 2004 before changing to Ameriquest Field in Arlington. That didn’t last very long, with the Rangers severing their ties with Ameriquest and announced that it would be renamed Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. In 2014, Globe Life and Accident Insurance Company bought the naming rights to it. On October 30, 2010 a record 52,419 fans watched Game 3 of the 2010 World Series against the San Francisco Giants.

Chase Field – 48,519

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Chase Field has been around as long as the Arizona Diamondbacks; since 1998. It’s record attendance of 49,826 was set on June 9, 2007 in a game against the Boston Red Sox, who show up quite a lot when teams set their record attendance.

Rogers Centre – 49,282

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Home of the Toronto Blue Jays since 1989, it’s the biggest of the retractable roof stadiums in baseball. It was known as the SkyDome from 1989 to 2005. The Blue Jays record attendance at the stadium was set in the 1992 World Series with 52,268 attending game five. The smallest crowd for a Jays game occurred in April 2010, when 10,314 watched them play the Kansas City Royals.

Turner Field – 49,586

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For one year, the home of the Atlanta Braves was known as the Centennial Olympic Park. It’s not going to be the home of the Braves for much longer (has been since 1997), with the Braves leaving downtown Atlanta and moving to the more roomy SunTrust Park, where they’re projected to start playing after the 2016 season.

Yankee Stadium – 49,642

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Yankee Stadiums 2.0 has been the home of the New York Yankees since 2009, replacing the original one, one block north of it. While it cost $2.3 billion to construct ($1.2 billion of it in public subsidies) it’s been criticized for lacking the atmosphere of the one it replaced, with both opponents and Yankee players, active and retired, noting how it’s not as loud and intimidating as before. The Yankees won the World Series their first year at their new home.

Coors Field – 50,398

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Like Yankee Stadium, Coors Field had a reputation for a while of being a very home-run friendly venue. It’s been the home of the Colorado Rockies since 1995, and was the first major league park with an underground heating system. During its construction, workers discovered a number of dinosaur fossils throughout the grounds, including a 7-foot-long (2.1 m) 1,000-pound (450 kg) triceratops skull. Because of this, “Jurassic Park” was one of the first names to be considered for the stadium. This later led to the selection of a dinosaur as the Rockies’ mascot, “Dinger”.

Dodger Stadium – 56,000

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The home of the Los Angeles Dodgers since 1962, it’s the oldest on the list and third oldest in baseball behind Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, both over 100 years old. Five home runs have been hit completely out of Dodger Stadium: Willie Stargell (Pirates) has done it twice (1969, 1973); Mike Piazza of the Dodgers did it in 1997; Mark McGwire of the Cardinals got his big hit over left field in 1999 and four months ago, it was Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins with a 478-foot home run over the left-field roof.

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