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Stadium Review: The Palace of Auburn Hills

When you watch a game at the Palace, what strikes you is the emphasis on Detroit. The pump-up video the arena shows before the game centers on Detroit. The billboards and slogans you see driving around the area center around Detroit. You don't hear "Let's go Pistons"; you hear "Detroit basketball". The marketing around the team isn't around the Pistons; it's around the city itself. That's somewhat ironic given the team plays in Auburn Hills, not Detroit, but it's also striking to see the team wholeheartedly embrace Detroit. I was at the Palace on a fairly nondescript night; low attendance, the team seemed tired, didn't play well and lost. On a night like that, the emphasis on Detroit was what stood out and made the Palace a unique and different experience.

Atmosphere: 3.5/10: As cool as it was to see a team embrace a city in that way, the cold hard fact is that the city of Detroit didn't exactly embrace the Pistons the night I was there. The reported attendance was 17,857 and that seems pretty generous. The stands looked half-empty at all times, nobody really got into the game (not that the Pistons gave them reason to do so), and things were generally dead. The only real positive in this category came from the PA announcer, who has to be one of the better PA announcers in sports given his enthusiasm. If only that enthusiasm was shared by the fans.

Quality of Facility: 9/10: The Palace, if nothing else, was a great place to watch a game. Our seats, in the second deck, felt pretty close to the action and even the Jumbotron was really new and almost overbearingly large. Getting to the seats was easy and I even caught a foam mini-basketball that they launched into the crowd. And I never catch anything launched into the crowd. The closest I've ever come was a foul ball that bounced off of my dad's seat at a 2009 Yankees-A's game and a ball that I leaned over the Rays' bullpen at a Spring Training game and begged them to give me a long time ago. The fact that I remember both of those instances and even the date of one should tell you all you need to know about how close I usually am to any object that goes into the crowd. You can imagine my surprise when, while a cannon was launching these balls into the crowd, I turned around to see that one them had found its way to the back of my seat. I'm sure it will never happen again, but at least I have that story to tell.

Quality of Game: 4/10: The game was never close as the Pistons trailed by double-digits for essentially the entire game. At one point things seemed as though they may get interesting as the Pistons cut Atlanta's lead to around 10, but the Hawks quickly stifled the comeback. The only positive of this was that Andre Drummond shot just 9 free throws as Mike Budenholzer had no need to use Hack-a-Shaq liberally given that the Hawks were comfortably in the lead. The Pistons missed a lot of open threes, as a team they were 7/29 on the night which particularly hurt them given that Atlanta readily helped off the weak side no matter who was there. Detroit's lack of ability to make that shot really hurt them, especially when Stanley Johnson was on the court as the Hawks essentially ignored him when he was standing in the corner. Johnson is on my list of players who need to shoot 1,000 shots a day this summer and develop a 3-pointer in order to take the next step and be more successful (the biggest name on that unofficial list: Ben Simmons). If teams play him like that in the playoffs (assuming Detroit gets to the first round), Johnson will be borderline unplayable, as will Steve Blake who is somehow averaging 16.7 cringe-worthy minutes per game this season. Why the Pistons didn't try to include C.J. Watson in the Tobias Harris deal is beyond me. 

Other Things to do in the Neighborhood: 5.5/10: Auburn Hills is decently out of the way if you're staying in Detroit which makes seeing the Pistons a pain. However, there is good food in the area (we found a solid pizza place 5 minutes from the Palace) and the parking is easy. Additionally, we passed by an outlet mall that I'm sure some people would be enthusiastic to visit. There's certainly enough to do in Auburn Hills, but the stadium not being in Detroit itself hurts this score (and probably attendance as well).

Random Jersey Sighting of the Day:

A Grant Hill throwback! Per sportslogos.net, the Pistons wore this jersey from 1996-97 to 2000-01. Hill played for the Pistons for four of those five years, earning three All-Star appearances over that span and averaging 22.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game. In 96-97 he led the league in VORP, had a 25.5 PER and 36.0 assist percentage. It's easy to forget how good Hill was before he got hurt. Basketball-Reference's similarity scores have him as most similar to (in this order): Chris Mullin, Ben Wallace, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Shawn Kemp. Ironically, Tracy McGrady, another star whose career simply wasn't as well-remembered as it could have been, is also on that list.

 

 

Overall: 22/40: The Palace was solid, but the lack of people in the stands and the fairly pedestrian game hurt the experience.

Stadium Review: Joe Louis Arena

The Red Wings-Penguins game yesterday was the first leg of two Detroit sporting events I attended yesterday and, despite the game turning into a blowout, I was impressed with Joe Louis Arena. It's an old facility (the third-oldest in the NHL) and you feel that when you're inside. With a retro scoreboard and an intimate setting, where every seat offers a pretty good view, watching a game there feels a little bit like stepping into a time machine. Of course, there's a reason that a new arena is being built and that's evident as well. Parking is a nightmare, the concourse is crowded, and the building simply looks old and outdated on the inside. Maybe that's part of its charm because even with shoddy infrastructure, Joe Louis Arena remains a great place to watch a game.

Atmosphere: 6.5/10: This is tough to judge because the Red Wings got blown out and it wasn't competitive after the first period. When the team plays badly, the crowd is going to react accordingly and this crowd was no different. People started leaving after the second period and after Pittsburgh took a 5-2 lead in the third, the crowd left in droves. However, it’s tough to blame them for doing so. The Red Wings were playing terribly, getting outshot, outhustled, and outplayed by a Penguins team that seemed superior. If you're a Red Wings fan, it's understandable why you wouldn't want to stick around and watch more of that. And when you factor in that the crowd was into it during the first period, when the Red Wings were winning and playing well, you get a decent score in this category. It was a near sellout crowd when the puck dropped and people were into it. Chants started without the help of the PA announcer, Sidney Crosby was booed without fail every time he touched the puck, and it was tough to find an empty seat if you looked across the way. It's tough to make an argument that, if not for the nature of the game itself, this score wouldn't be a lot higher. When you consider that, 6.5/10 almost seems low.

Quality of Facility: 6/10: The retro feel and history of Joe Louis Arena outweighs any deficiencies it may have in terms of amenities for me. It's not a modern arena by any stretch of the imagination, if you're someone who wants to sit in a suite and have people wait on you as you watch the game, don't go. You have to be a hockey fan to enjoy Joe Louis Arena because, although it lacks modern amenities, there’s an unmistakable history about it. There's the retro feeling that comes when you look at things like the scoreboard and the closeness of the seats to the ice that leads to an appreciation for the history that happened in that arena. When I sat down, I was struck by the banners, the sheer number remind you that the Red Wings are an Original Six team with a history of success. Though I don't like that they hung banners for fairly pedestrian achievements like playoff appearances (something that should be above a franchise that has won 11 Stanley Cups), history isn't lost on anyone who walks into Joe Louis Arena, and that matters more than anything else.

Quality of Game: 2/10: This game was competitive for the first period, but from the second Pittsburgh tied things up at 1 (which happened just 20 seconds into the second period), the Red Wings looked lost. The end result was a 7-2 Penguins win, a 41-23 shot disparity, and both Detroit goalies (Petr Mrazek was pulled for Jimmy Howard late in the second period) being somewhat embarrassed by a Penguins team that looked vastly superior. This was no unimportant game either. The Red Wings are tied on points with the Flyers for a playoff spot having played one more game. With less than 10 games left to secure a playoff spot, you'd think the Red Wings would show some urgency, but apparently not. This was a pathetic performance from a team that needed a win and a fairly dominant performance for a team that's fighting more for seeding than a playoff berth. The effort was lacking and the play was even worse from the Red Wings. After having watched that, I can't say I expect them to do much in the playoffs.

Other Things to do in the Neighborhood: 4/10: This would be much higher if transport to and from the game wasn't a complete disaster. There's good food a short distance from the arena which is a huge plus, but the parking at Joe Louis Arena is among the worst I've ever seen. From what I could tell, there's just one, gigantic parking structure to house everyone, leading to rampant traffic and an overflow of people walking in and out of the arena at a given time. As far as I'm aware, there isn't much in the way of public transport which leaves the fans to navigate a cesspool of traffic in a hellish parking garage. 

Random Jersey Sighting of the Day:  A Brett Hull jersey at a Red Wings-Penguins game! Hull won the 1991 Hart Trophy with the Blues and led the league in scoring three times while he was in St Louis. He played there for the bulk of his career and his #16 is retired by the Blues.

 

Overall: 18.5/40: The game itself really hurt this score, but seeing a game at Joe Louis Arena is something all hockey fans should do, especially with it closing soon.

Stadium Review: PNC Arena

I'm going to preface this by saying that I don't go to very many hockey games. And when I say that, I mean that I could probably count the games I've been to on one hand. I also don't watch a lot of hockey in comparison to other sports. The Rangers are the only team I watch with regularity before the playoffs start and my knowledge of the rest of the league is fairly limited. I don't have the NHL package and I'll generally watch basketball over hockey 99 nights out of 100. There's an NHL tab on this website and I'm not really sure why. In fact, I'll probably delete it at some point because it implies that I have enough hockey knowledge to write about it intelligently, which, in my own estimation, I don't. But I'm going to try to do so here.

Last night, I attended my first hockey game in over a year and saw the Hurricanes take on the Sabres. It was a fun game and hockey is generally more fun live. This is because the fans are more likely to be paying attention to what's happening in the game. There's no campy music playing during the action like in basketball and hedge fund managers who will take clients to a hockey game over basketball or baseball are few and far between. There are more diehards and less people who are there for the hell of it. The unfortunate part of this is that sometimes, there aren't enough diehards willing to shell out money to see their mediocre team take on the crappy team that's in town on a Tuesday night. This seems to be what happened in Raleigh last night, where most of the seats were empty and the ones that were filled, were often filled with players wearing Sabres gear. 

As always, if you're not familiar with the grading system, go to the 'Stadiums' tab and scroll down.

Atmosphere: 0/10: As I said above, last night was the type of game that people just weren't willing to shell out money for. Not too many people want to pay to see Hurricanes-Sabres on a Tuesday night, which is understandable. That's pretty far from a Stanley Cup preview. But this place was half-full at best and at least half the people in attendance were Sabres fans. Raleigh seems to be a weird place to have so many Buffalo expats, but they were out in full force last night. There were "Let's go Buffalo" chants that could be heard all night as easily as the pro-Hurricane chants that the PA announcer was trying to start. When the Sabres scored two goals late in the game to take the lead, the place was twice as loud as it was for anything else that happened all night. Considering that the Hurricanes are Raleigh's only pro team and while they're not a playoff team, they're certainly competitive, that's beyond disappointing. If you're in a market where you have one professional team, the least you can do is show up and support them. If the NHL ever decides to open up discussions on relocation, the Hurricanes are going to be one of the first franchises to be given the choice of building a new arena with public money or being relocated to Quebec or Las Vegas or San Antonio or wherever. And after seeing the crowd last night, I understand why.

 Quality of Facility: 6/10: This is a decently new arena with a wide concourse area and broad food options, but it has one fatal flaw. The seats have a painstakingly low amount of leg room. It's normally a stupid thing to complain about, but if you can sit in one of those seats for an entire period without cramping up then props to you. If you've ever been to Fenway Park, they have a section of seats that they've kept in essentially as long as the park has been in existence. It's a nice ode to the history of the park, but they're also probably the worst seats you can imagine to sit in for a 3 hour ballgame, despite decent proximity to the field. The seats at PNC Arena are like that, except they were built in the 21st century. It's mind-boggling that nobody stepped in while this was being built and said "Hey wait a minute, sitting in these seats for 3 hours makes your legs feel like you just got off a flight to Shanghai." Ultimately, the wide array of food options and general cleanliness in the arena saved this score, but sitting in those seats was a bad experience.

Quality of Game: 7/10: Despite the fact that the game was essentially meaningless, this was a fun game. It was close throughout and three goals in the third period resulting in the Hurricanes taking a lead, then the Sabres taking back the lead--and the game--was a great end. It's always a positive to see someone like Jack Eichel, and although he didn't stand out in this game I was impressed with some of the passes he made, and as I said before, hockey is a great spectator sport. It's frantically paced, you can't take your eye off of things, and there are constant scoring chances. It surprises me that kids don't like hockey more for this reason. Kids should love hockey, it's the perfect sport for people with short attention spans. Fast-paced action, frequent breaks, constant scoring chances, it's perfect for kids. I want to know why the NHL isn't marketing more to kids.

Other Things to do in the Neighborhood: 6/10: Raleigh is nestled right between UNC and Duke which gives you a plethora of things to do. Those colleges offer a lot of entertainment and good food, although I can't say much for the actual city of Raleigh. Those surrounding areas do a lot of the heavy lifting, but do it well enough to salvage everything Raleigh lacks.

Random Jersey Sighting of the Day: Tough to beat this guy in a #11 Quebec Nordiques sweater. Upon further research this seems to be an Owen Nolan jersey. Nolan, in five seasons in Quebec before the team moved to Colorado, had two All-Star appearances and two seasons of over 70 points. Not too shabby.

 

 

Overall: 19/40:  Solid experience, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a big fan.

All stats are from hockey-reference.com unless otherwise noted

 

Stadium Review: Time Warner Cable Arena

This review has been a long time coming. It's been over six months (!) since I've written a Stadium Review and I've missed it. These pieces are meant to be infrequent, more because it becomes impossible for them not to be after a while than anything, but I do wish that there were less than six months between them. Fear not, in addition to this one, I'll be at PNC Arena, the Palace of Auburn Hills, and Joe Louis Arena this week and will be reviewing each of them. 

After that...we could be on Stadium Review standby for six months.

If you're not familiar with the grading system, go to the 'Stadiums' tab and scroll down.

Atmosphere: 4.5/10: Tonight's game showed both sides of the coin for Hornets fans. Walking into the arena, there was a noticeable number of fans wearing Spurs garb and at tip, the arena was maybe a quarter full. It's not a good thing that my first impression of the fanbase was to say "Oh, this is why they moved to New Orleans". But as the game went on, and as the Hornets continued to pull closer, the arena filled. By the end of the game, the entire arena was on its feet, the volume of the crowd was good, and the Spurs fans were less noticeable. That doesn't change the fact that none of those people were there at the beginning of the game, nor does it change that even at the end of the game, the crowd wasn't at capacity. And this was the type of game that should have sold out. The Hornets are a fun team fighting for playoff position and the Spurs are in town. That's pretty good reason to buy a ticket and it's not as if they're particularly expensive. The end of the game was nice, but that crowd should have been there from the beginning, and there should not have been an empty seat in the building for a game of that stature.

Quality of Facility: 5/10: Not much to say here. Time Warner Cable Arena is definitively average in this category. Not a ton of amenities, but pretty clean and modern. Nothing notable on either end of the spectrum, if you're going, you're probably going for the basketball.

Quality of Game: 8/10:  Really impressive win for Charlotte. The Spurs were up 28-7 at the end of the first quarter and I was wondering if we would get a Boban Marjanovic appearance to salvage the three quarters of garbage time that were coming. But the Spurs slowed down and the Hornets came back to win it 91-88. I think that reflects a lot on Steve Clifford, a particularly underrated coach who's done a great job in Charlotte since being hired. In this game, he played Frank Kaminsky in crunch time over Marvin Williams, a move that surprised me, but it worked fairly well given that they completed the comeback. On the Spurs side of things, they took their foot off the pedal after the first quarter. Danny Green in particular had a bad game, going 0/7 from the field, including more than a few open threes that were missed. Tim Duncan was really the only Spur that looked good after the first quarter, which makes sense given that he played just seven minutes against the Warriors on Saturday. Kawhi Leonard seemed tired and didn't do much in the fourth quarter when he could have made the difference and San Antonio's bench unit as a whole got killed. All that being said, I didn't think the Spurs were losing this game until they were inbounding with 0.4 seconds left. Jeremy Lin hit some big threes for Charlotte late on and the Spurs rolled over a little bit in the fourth quarter. Seeing that slow and steady comeback with the crowd slowly getting into it made for a fun game. 

Other Things to do in the Neighborhood: 6/10: I haven't spent enough time in Charlotte to have a good opinion on this but in my (very) limited experience; it seems like a solid city. There's an entertainment complex just a few blocks away from the stadium and our hotel gave us shuttle bus transportation to and from the game. Other than that, I can't really comment on anything because I've spent most of my time in and around Raleigh since I've been in the state.

Total: 23.5/40: Fun night, but unless you're a big basketball fan I wouldn't go all out trying to get to a Hornets game.

All stats are from basketball-reference.com or NBA.com unless otherwise noted

Stadium Review: Busch Stadium III

When I started doing these Stadium Reviews, I thought they'd be pretty infrequent. I didn't want to do a stadium more than once and there are only so many I can do in a year. If you had asked me at the time, I probably would have guessed that there would be maybe 5 of them by this time. Well, there have been more than double that and Busch Stadium is the 8th baseball field that I've been too this season and thus, the 8th that I've reviewed. 

I'm telling you this because my best guess would be that there won't be another baseball review this year. I don't have any more plans in place to travel anywhere that includes baseball and though I'll certainly make it to some Yankees or Mets games (hopefully in October) I wouldn't write about those from this scope because I've reviewed both Citi Field and Yankee Stadium before. I could be wrong, I certainly hope I am. But, for the time being, it's fairly safe to assume that Busch Stadium will be the last baseball stadium reviewed for this year.

In any case, Busch was nice but I didn't feel that it lived up to my expectation entirely. That being said, it is certainly one of the better places to watch a ballgame that I've been to and perhaps my expectation was too high. As always, if you aren't familiar with the grading system, click on the 'Stadiums' category and scroll down.

Atmosphere: 3.5/10: "Cardinals fans are the best in baseball" says everyone, whether or not they're associated with the franchise. With that oft-repeated statement in mind, I walked into Busch Stadium with a fairly high expectation for the attendance and for the atmosphere. And, ultimately, both were what you would expect if you were dropped into a random stadium on a Monday night. Decent attendance, thinning over the course of the game with the upper deck not very full to begin with, and fans who are into it but not necessarily invested in it. If the expectation isn't there, I'd give Busch Stadium a 5 here. However, the Cardinals shouldn't laud their fans as the best in baseball when in truth, the nightly atmosphere in their ballpark is merely average and pales in comparison to their in-state rivals over in Kansas City. Maybe I picked a bad night to come but I was just very unimpressed here.

Quality of Facility: 7/10: Busch is a pretty nice ballpark though it's a step below baseball's best. It was build less than 10 years ago which means that everything is relatively new and shiny with wide concourses, good food options, etcetera. However, my favorite part of this place was the view it offered. A little background that I'll get further into later: Busch is right in the heart of downtown St Louis. As a result, you can see multiple buildings as well as the St Louis Arch from your seat. Few places offer this kind of thing--Pittsburgh being one that springs to mind immediately--and it should be appreciated. The statues outside of the ballpark are a nice touch as well--a whole slew of them in the front entrance and a larger one of Stan Musial that stands along further down. However, Busch lacked the feel that the truly transcendent ballparks, by which I mean Wrigley, Fenway, and maybe one or two others. Because of that, it falls into the second tier of places you should watch a game based on aesthetics and amenities alone.

Quality of Game: 7.5/10: The Cardinals and Nationals played a thoroughly entertaining game with the Cards ultimately taking it by the score of 8-5. If you couldn't tell by the scoreline, there was a lot of hitting inn this one with St Louis batting around once and coming close a second time. The Nationals had a great chance to win it in the 9th with the tying run at home with 2 men on and nobody out but a baserunning gaffe from Anthony Rendon would cost the Nats an out and a baserunner. Though Bryce Harper walked to give Washington the chance to bring up the tying run again, the damage was done. Ryan Zimmerman popped out and Yunel Escobar struck out to end the game and continue Washington's woes.

Other Things to do in the Neighborhood: 7.5/10: As I said before, Busch Stadium is in a great location. If you're doing anything in St Louis, chances are you'll pass the ballpark on the way there. In addition to that, the Cardinals also boast Ballpark Village right outside of the stadium. This includes a restaurant, rooftop seating for Busch, and the Cardinals Hall of Fame. Of everything I did in St Louis, the Cardinals Hall of Fame had to be among the best. Despite an introduction video that was somewhat arrogant, lauding the "Cardinal Way", the museum itself was top-notch. Every piece of Cardinals history was covered and they even had one or two pieces about the St Louis Browns, who now play as the Orioles. The two biggest highlights from here: an in-depth look at the 1944 World Series in which the Cardinals beat their crosstown rivals and an exhibit in which you could hold the bat of a Cardinal player of your choice, both current and present. The entire museum was designed perfectly, both in terms of educating baseball fans of any team and in terms of indoctrinating neutral fans or young children into becoming Cardinal fans. I would very highly recommend it to anyone going to St Louis.

Overall: 25.5/40: If you're in St Louis try and get here.

Stadium Review: Edward Jones Dome

Last night, I had the chance to attend the Rams-Colts preseason game. Being that this could be one of the last chances to see the Rams play in St Louis, I didn't pass it up. It was only a preseason game but still turned out to be a fun thing to do. Much like when I reviewed Barclays Center during a playoff game with the caveat that the expectation is much higher because it was a playoff game, the expectation here is going to be much lower because it's a preseason game. You don't expect a sellout crowd or a really competitive game; you're just there to watch football. That being said, Edward Jones Dome is not a great place to watch a game even when you consider that. As always, if you need a refresher on the grading system, click on the 'Stadiums' category and scroll down.

Atmosphere: 0/10: It's tough to have a bad atmosphere for a preseason game. Rarely do you see much of a crowd and rarely do you see much excitement in that crowd. That being said, this crowd was one of the worst I've ever seen at a football game. Pro Football Talk reported that last night was the smallest preseason crowd since the Rams have moved to St Louis. Once in a while, if the crowd is sparse, you can pick out a section or two that's completely empty. Last night, you didn't have to look very hard. Once you looked up above the field level seating (which, at its height, was maybe half-full), you could count the people in most sections on one hand. In addition, the two people sitting behind me with signs imploring ownership to keep the Rams in St Louis and thanking Joe Buck for his support on the matter were the only people who really expressed concern with the looming move to LA. The crowd, for the most part, was quiet. Outside of the occasional cheer on a touchdown, those in attendance weren't particularly concerned with what was going on in the game. Edward Jones Dome was like a ghost town. There is no comparison, among the places I have been, for the level of atmosphere that was experienced there last night. Even considering that this was the preseason, it was far and away one of the worst attended games I've ever seen.

Quality of Facility: 2.5/10: Edward Jones Dome is ugly, it's old, and it's run down. You can immediately tell walking in that a new stadium is an absolute necessity for this team. The Dome is completely outdated, there's no good food, and not even the slightest sense of the building representing anything other than a reason the franchise should relocate. It struggles to fulfill even the barest minimum of what you expect when attending a sporting event. The building is, for lack of a better word, hollow. It's almost as if the actual stadium is undergoing renovations and the Rams rented out the cheapest option they could find. No aspect of it is fan-friendly, or even fan-cordial. The sole purpose of Edward Jones Dome is to house a football team. That is very much reflected by the failure of it to accommodate the fans in even the slightest way.

Quality of Game: 6/10: It's a preseason game, the expectation isn't very high and you just want to be entertained. This game did that but didn't go far beyond it. In terms of the players themselves, I was very impressed with Andre Johnson, who was open on every route he ran including a touchdown where no defender was within 10 feet of him, Erik Walden who had 1.5 sacks and a +3.7 Pro Football Focus grade, and Chris Givens who had 63 receiving yards on 2 receptions and beat veteran starter Mike Adams for 44 yards on one of them. What didn't impress me was Nick Foles. Despite being 10/11, I saw Foles checking the ball down a lot. That may be more of a reflection on the receivers’ not getting open than on Foles but it wasn't encouraging.

Other Things to do in the Neighborhood: 7.5/10: The location of Edward Jones Dome is right in the heart of downtown St Louis, making it easy to get to. In addition, there's a lot to do in St Louis. I'll touch on this more when I review Busch Stadium but I enjoyed the Cardinals Hall of Fame and the Arch in particular. There's also no shortage of good restaurants in the area so this is really a very easy venue to plan a day around.

Overall: 15.5/40: The main function of the Edward Jones Dome is to advertise the Los Angeles Rams.

All stats are from pro-football-reference.com or profootballfocus.com unless otherwise noted 

Stadium Review: Kauffman Stadium

As part of a six-day trip that takes me through the state of Missouri, I spent some time in Kansas City. Of course, as part of that, I attended a couple Royals games. Both were against the Orioles and the games were split between the two teams as the Royals ultimately took three of four games from the Orioles in the series. After these two games, I can say with certainty that Royals fever has gripped Kansas City. Both games featured great atmospheres, there are people in blue across the city, and you can't go down the street without overhearing a Royals conversation. This is a team experiencing a real renaissance in fan interest after their improbable run last season. After playing the underdog for the month of October 2014, the Royals are going into September 2015 as the favorites. They have the best record in the American League and look set to make another run. Their stadium was one of my favorites as well. As always, if you need a refresher on the grading system, click on the 'Stadiums' category and scroll down. Because this review is based on a two-game sample, each category will be based on the average score between the two games.

Atmosphere: 7.5/10: Although the K didn't sell out for either of the two games I attended, you would have been hard-pressed to find an empty seat. Kauffman Stadium is a place to be and that is more than reflected in the attendance. The crowd is into it too. It doesn't take much to get them going; they're standing up, chanting, and clapping at every opportunity. The city hasn't experienced a winner in a long time and they're clearly enjoying having one. However, there are a few negatives to the atmosphere here. First, a lot of people leave early. I would estimate 30-40% of the crowd left before the 9th inning in both games and this was not a result of the score. Both games were fairly close and fairly fun to watch, there was no viable reason to leave early. Yet, between every inning from the 7th on, large numbers filed out. To me, that's unforgivable. Leaving a game early, especially a close game, is something I hate to see. To me, if you buy a ticket for a game, you are making a 3+ hour commitment to be there. There are circumstances where this doesn't apply, but not enough to excuse the thousands who tried to beat the traffic at Kauffman Stadium. 

Quality of Facility: 8/10: Aesthetically, I think Kauffman Stadium is one of the best ballparks in baseball. The outfield is wide open--no upper decks and barely any seating at all. It's mostly concourse and standing room which makes for a unique look and view that most other places don't give you. The icing on the cake is the video board, nicknamed Crown Vision, which is in the shape of a Royals logo making it, to the best of my knowledge, the most unique video board in baseball. In terms of amenities, the K is the most family friendly stadium I've ever seen. As part of that outfield concourse, there's a mini field that kids can play on, a carousel for kids to ride, and mini golf (which, unfortunately, I did not do any further investigation on). Though I didn't get a chance to check out the Royals Hall of Fame, having it in-house is nice as well. Between the game and all of that, it's gotta be pretty tough for a kid to get bored when he's watching the Royals. I absolutely loved this aspect of the stadium. Aesthetically, it was beautiful and unique and it has a great family-friendly, homely feel to it. It's not easy to impress me but the Royals did that and more.

Quality of Game: 7/10: Finally, I get to see a good baseball game live. In fact, I got to see two of them. This is by far the worst year I've ever had in terms of live baseball. It's been blowout after blowout after blowout after blowout. However, in Kansas City I got two straight good baseball games. The first was fairly high-scoring with an 8-5 final and only two innings in which a team didn't score. It also felt a lot closer than a 3-run game. In the bottom of the 6th innings, the Royals had two lineouts that, had they been a few inches another way, would have been hits. As a result, they stranded two runners and only scored one. If those balls are a few inches to the side, the Royals win the game. In the second game there was slightly less scoring but the Royals nearly blew the game in the 9th inning. Closer Greg Holland gave up two runs in the 9th and the Orioles had the tying run come to the plate. Both games were thoroughly entertaining with two good teams playing and, with the Orioles fighting for a playoff spot, they mattered. 

Other Things to do in the Neighborhood: 4.5/10: Not a ton to do in Kansas City. I enjoyed the Negro League Museum, and apparently there's a good World War I museum, but after that I don't think there's much. The food in the city is top-notch if you like barbecue but that alone doesn't make up for a lackluster amount of attractions. In addition, getting to and from Kaufmann Stadium is not a good experience. I don't believe there's a public transport system, meaning that everyone has to drive. We were lucky enough to stay in a hotel right across the street, meaning that we could walk. What we didn't realize was that the quickest walking route includes walking down a steep dirt hill to get to the parking lot. I don't see how a Major League Baseball team can allow something like that. The Royals should hold themselves to higher standards than having their fans attempt not to kill themselves while walking down an unsafe dirt hill when trying to get to the stadium quickly. I was really unimpressed here; Kansas City was one of the worst cities I've seen when it comes to the transportation aspect.

Overall: 27/40: I really enjoyed Kauffman Stadium. If you're in the area, make it one of your top priorities to get there. 

Stadium Review: Yankee Stadium

Today, I attended a funeral. The location was Yankee Stadium and we mourned the 25 men in pinstripes who died a slow death throughout the afternoon. 

Never have I been to a game that held such importance, was attended by a good number of people, and was this quiet. It wasn't a blowout either-- the Blue Jays only won by the score of 2-0-- the crowd just couldn't bring itself to get into it. It was as if the entire crowd knew the outcome of the game beforehand and was trying to spare the person next to them from getting his or her hopes up. After Josh Donaldson homered in the first inning it was like the outcome was already sealed. Despite having one of the league's best offenses, one run seemed too big a deficit for the Yankees to try and come back from. Once Jose Bautista homered to make it a two-run lead, the game was over. For the next five innings, the game felt like an obligation and nothing else as if the Yankees were a last place team, already out of it, and not the team in first place desperately clinging onto a divisional lead in a fight that seems hopeless right now. 

I hope I'm overreacting but that series against Toronto seemed like the beginning of a slow death for the Yankees. Now that Pineda is injured, all of the other potential cracks in the facade are starting to show themselves. Suddenly the rotation looks as bad as people thought it would at the beginning of the year, the lineup feels an injury away from disaster, and at this point I wouldn't be surprised if Teixeira and A-Rod come back down to earth. It's only August and things can shift more than once but this does not look good. As always, if you need a refresher on the grading system, go to the 'Stadiums' category and scroll down.

Atmosphere: 1/10: This was the biggest game of the season and the crowd wanted no part of it. It was well-attended, not a sellout but certainly sizable enough that it should have contributed. Of course, what the crowd can do is based in part on what the players are doing. In fairness to the crowd, the players didn't seem to want it very much either. They all seemed to play as if this was a day game after they had played a 19-inning game that ended at 3:23 AM and had to fly across the country immediately after. This was not the case. Not one person in Yankee Stadium, player or fan, seemed to care that much about the outcome of the game. The crowd reached it's loudest point during the game in-between innings where they had to find which cap the ball was hidden under (it was the first cap if you're wondering). They didn't seem to find the game itself all too enticing.

Quality of Facility: 10/10: Yankee Stadium is barely five years old and the shininess of it has yet to wear off. Things are pretty clean, every video board and piece of technology is state of the art, and the place has a nice look to it. The food is also great. You can get just about anything you want (though not at a cheap price) and it's pretty good too. As far as ballparks go, Yankee Stadium takes the cake in this category.

Quality of Game: 1/10: Disclaimer: I am a Yankee fan. Second disclaimer: Even the Blue Jay fans had to have been bored by this one. The players themselves were bored which did not help my interest as a fan. The Yankees didn't seem to be trying and they took the loss laying down. The Blue Jays at least tried to win but there were few run-scoring situations for either team because both of the runs scored in the game were off of solo home runs. Both teams left a decent amount of men on base but they often got there via walk or hit by pitch. Ironically, hits were fairly scarce for either team and they both failed to get multiple hits in one inning. The Yankees didn't even get a man on third base the whole game. It felt like they lost before even stepping out onto the field.

Other Things to do in the Neighborhood: 5/10: The Bronx is a bit of a trek and your day certainly revolves around the Yankee game more than you'd like but being able to take the train directly to the game is a huge plus. Although similar things exist with other teams, taking the train to the Yankee game is the easiest way to get to a sporting event that I know of. One quick housekeeping note: there's a good chance I rename this category to 'Transportation' because that's mainly what it measures.

Total: 17/40: I really hope I overreacted to this series.

All stats are from baseball-reference.com or fangraphs.com unless otherwise noted.

Stadium Review: Angel Stadium of Anaheim

After an All-Star induced hiatus, baseball is finally back. On my last night in Los Angeles, I was able to go to the Angels-Red Sox game that was the first game back from the break for either team. In a year where nearly every baseball game I've attended has been decided by 7 or more runs, this was by far the best game I've been to. After Mike Trout ended a pitchers dual with a walk off home run to give the Angels a 1-0 win, I tweeted that there's nothing like seeing Trout in person. This is the second time I've had the privilege of doing just that and Trout has only impressed. Even with future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols hitting behind him, it is Trout for whom fans, and the opposing team, await. It is a rare occasion that you can attend a game with the knowledge that you could be watching 2 or more future Hall of Famers playing that night. It is even rarer that once you get there, that game lives up to your expectation. This one did. Despite a lack of run scoring, the thought that entered my mind upon his game-winning blast was that everyone in attendance saw the best player in baseball do something that only he could do. Throw Wade Miley taking a no-hitter into the 6th inning on top of that, add in the game being tied until the last pitch was thrown and you have the formula for a game that everyone will want to attend. As always, if you need a refresher on the grading system, go to the 'Stadiums' category and scroll down.

Atmosphere: 7.5/10: The attendance was fairly strong for the Angels on Friday night and the fans were fairly loud. Outside of the upper sections in right and left field, the place was mostly full. Another positive: Very few of the fans left early. In fairness, the game was only 2 hours and 24 minutes but it is still rare to go deep into a game, even a close one, and see 95% of the crowd still sitting there. The only real problem in this category is that about 10% of the fans were rooting for the away team. That percentage was enough that a "Let's Go Red Sox" chant broke out at one point without being stifled. You also couldn't look too far without seeing someone in a Boston cap (personally, there were 3 or for Red Sox fans in immediate proximity of me). As full as the place was, the Red Sox being the opposing team clearly played a role in that despite their struggles this year. I've said before that I don't think there should ever be very many fans of the away team at a stadium and I don't think that they should ever be able to hear themselves above the home crowd. Although this didn't reach the level of Dodger Stadium where at one point the majority of the crowd was rooting for the other team, the fact that the away fans were as noticeable as they were is very telling.

Quality of Facility: 4/10: My biggest problem with Angels Stadium is that it looks like someone put up a giant slab of concrete with a waterfall in the middle. The giant Angels cap outside is nice and so is the waterfall in centerfield but the purpose they serve is to hide the aesthetic monstrosity that is Angels Stadium. They do a good job with that, but it doesn't hide the fact that Angels Stadium is quite simply not unique. There is very little about the design that separates it from every other ballpark. It's not especially modern, as a matter of fact they probably need new scoreboards because one didn't look entirely high definition and the other is too small to tell. The upper levels feel like they were crammed in as an afterthought in order to make more money from ticket sales. There are points walking through the concourse when the space in between a concession stand and a wall is barely wide enough to fit through in a way reminiscent of Nassau Coliseum. Ultimately, the feeling that comes from being at Angels Stadium is that they could do so much more with the building. With more than enough space to operate in, a big market, and money that would not be hard to come by for ownership, Angels Stadium should be among the best parks to attend on a nightly basis. Instead, it is far off of that mark and leaves something to be desired.

Quality of Game: 9/10: I talked about the game at length in the intro so I'll keep this section fairly short. I said earlier that this was the best game I've attended all year and even in a normal year where I wouldn't have attended almost all blowouts, this would have been up there. From the first pitch to the last pitch, this game was enthralling. Wade Miley took a no-hitter further than I've ever seen anyone take one live and being in the stadium for that was an experience of its own. Once Miley got to about the 5th inning, the entire park was anxious during every Angel at bat. That was in the 5th inning. The no-hitter was broken up in the 6th so the feeling in the stadium during the latter innings of a no-hitter will be left to my imagination. Despite that, being able to even think about a no-hitter seriously during a game is something that you rarely see. Throw that on top of the Trout factor that I discussed earlier and you really could not ask for more.

Other Things to do in the Neighborhood: 6.5/10: The problem with Angel Stadium of Anaheim is that it is located in Anaheim. That means from Los Angeles, you're probably driving somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes to get there depending in traffic. And, because Los Angeles has terrible public transportation, you have to drive. There is no other choice. If you can get by that, there aren't many other problems here but the ones that do exist are glaring.

Total: 27/40: Angels Stadium is nice but you're going for the game much more than the stadium.

Stadium Review: Dodger Stadium

On Sunday afternoon I was able to make it out to Dodger Stadium to watch what eventually turned out to be a massacre in the Mets beating the home team by the score of 8-0. The third-oldest stadium in baseball however, is one of the game's best. Dodger Stadium does a great job straddling the line between old and new. Despite 2 HD scoreboards that I would assume are decently new, the stadium has a vintage feel to it through a design that looks as if it hasn't changed since its inception. The landscape and feel is paralleled, in my experience, by only Fenway and Wrigley. Although the game that I attended was far from the best, the stadium itself lived up to its strong reputation. As always, if you need a refresher on the grading system, go to the 'Stadiums' category and scroll down. 

Atmosphere: 5/10: This was a pretty standard Sunday afternoon game in July. The crowd was far from sold out, made noise when needed but was not particularly loud, and there was no overbearing sense of interest as there would be in October. Normally, that would fetch a 6/10 but I knocked a point off for one reason: There were a lot of Mets fans. I couldn't give you a ratio, but there were enough fans of the opposing team, which happens to play on the opposite coast, that multiple "Let's go Mets" chants broke out. It didn't help that the Dodgers played very badly and a good amount of people probably left early, but fans of the opposing team should never be heard when they're on the road. Even in a scenario like this where the game wasn't close and it wasn't a particularly meaningful game, opposing fans should not be able to make the majority of crowd noise. Part of a home-field advantage is having the crowd on your side and the Dodgers didn't have that on Sunday.

Quality of Facility: 9.5/10: I said before that I love the feel around Dodger Stadium and how it straddled the line between old and new. It also helped that our seats were in a part of the stadium that got us access to one of the clubs with free food and other amenities. Even outside of that though, Dodger Stadium ranks highly on my list just because of that feel. Another thing they did very well that some other teams (cough* White Sox *cough) did not was toeing the line between celebrating their history and not harping on past wins. The concourses were filled with reminders of past successes which both looked good and served as a nice reminder of prior success but once you get to your seat, the focus is on the 2015 Los Angeles Dodgers. Not 1988, 1981, 1955, or any other year. In straddling multiple lines very well that other teams fail to do, the Dodgers gave themselves a great feeling around their stadium that few are able to rival.

Quality of Game: 3/10: This game was a blowout, but the dagger wasn't dealt until the 7th inning. Up until then, the score was closer and the Mets were winning by 4 runs or less. In addition to a game that was slightly better than the final score may have indicated, we were also treated to a gem of a start by Steven Matz in his first ever start on the road and to this Not Top 10 gem from Yasiel Puig. A little more offense from the Dodgers would have made this game infinitely more entertaining but it was able to salvage some watchability up until after the Mets opened up a bigger lead in the 7th. The Dodgers themselves are certainly a polarizing team due to a pitching staff that includes Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw as well as a clubhouse that, at least last season, had some chemistry issues regarding Puig and a lineup that includes young stars such as Joc Pederson and Puig himself. And, they're in first place. I may have gotten a little unlucky on Sunday, but I wouldn't worry too much about the quality of baseball you're getting by coming to Dodger Stadium.

Other Things to do in the Neighborhood: 8.5/10: Dodger Stadium gets a higher score than StubHub Center did in this category because it has closer proximity to downtown LA but it's essentially the same scenario. Chavez Ravine is a bit of a drive, but nowhere near bad enough that it should cause any trouble or inconvenience when it comes to timing out your day. 

Total: 26/40: Dodger Stadium was a lot of fun and I would highly recommend it for any baseball fan.