Is Camden Yards getting old?

[bryanac625]

Last thing, Citi did bring back the Ebbets Field look back in the exterior but its Jackie Robinson lobby is a rip off of Safeco Field's baseball chandeler lobby. New Yankee should have brought back the interior old Yankee pre-renovation feel back but instead it cateres to the rich people, in fact, they even pushed back the bleachers so box seats get the undisputed best seats in the outfield, its the bleacher fans that make Yankee Stadium, not the rich fans who probably never lived a day in the working class sections of NYC.

I haven't been to Citi FIeld, so I don't know what the chandeliers look like. But Ebbets had a chandelier. I don't know how it would be considered a ripoff.

[bryanac625]

I read in a baseball parks book that they said Camden Yards is getting old. They cited that their field level seats are a fortress setup where you can't see the field from the concourse. Also, they cited that they don't have the huge food court like most ballparks do. I hated this article because Camden Yards started this everyone must get a new ballpark movement. They brought back the classic look to ballparks and got rid of the cookie cutter movement of the 70s and they made grass cool again. Plus they put staples into their ballpark like the warehouse and they were the first to do standing room only in a while. This ballpark is still my favorites among the new ballparks because I see this ballpark will go 75 years instead of the 20 year then demolish it. A lot of people praise parks like Citizens Bank but where is the staple, a food court in CF, the purpose of a park is to create a staple that focuses on the game for the tv viewer and fan. Safeco (the most underated ballpark in the league) has the true roof where your still outdoors and the frieght train which sits outside the park. The Giants Park (just name it after Willie Mays to prevent another phone company merger) has the cove and the view of the bay. In my opinion, Oriole Park is not getting old because it still has its staples plus I enjoy going to Pickles across the street to hang out before a game and I like pigging out on Eutaw Street to the BBQ pit (I only pig out before the game starts, once it starts, I am glued to my seat until it ends, no bathroom breaks). Last thing, Citi did bring back the Ebbets Field look back in the exterior but its Jackie Robinson lobby is a rip off of Safeco Field's baseball chandeler lobby. New Yankee should have brought back the interior old Yankee pre-renovation feel back but instead it cateres to the rich people, in fact, they even pushed back the bleachers so box seats get the undisputed best seats in the outfield, its the bleacher fans that make Yankee Stadium, not the rich fans who probably never lived a day in the working class sections of NYC.

I wouldn't care too much what CY looks like as long as the O's put a decent team on the field.

But what I noticed at one of the last games I went to... the team should replace the TV monitors in the stands/bathrooms/etc with HD screens.

[The Monument]

Just made my first CY visit and I don't think it's getting old. Everything about it was pleasant except for the generic looking seating bowl. The wide concourses are important at games end as thousands are leaving at once. If you've ever been to RYS, especially in the upper deck, you know what I mean. Don't see much need for improvement at CY, it's very comfortable and functional.

[Chevy114]

Its funny to me that its one of the older parks by today's standards, but a lot of baseball park fans have it in their top 5 and some even say top 3. So age really is just a number.

[JohnCropp]

To answer the question posed in the title: NO.

I nearly laughed at the "fortress seating" name for what is basically the most efficient way to organize seats around a ball field. Open concourses are overrated. Aside from giving you a sightline while you wait for someone in the bathroom or to provide "standing room only" areas, they serve no purpose for anyone who has gone to a ballpark to watch a game. Part of the fun of going to a ballpark is hearing the roar through the tunnel and the reveal of the green grass when you get to the end of it. Open concourses steal that experience.

As for the park itself, it is still fun, clean, and offers all of the same amenities of the latest ballparks.

Baltimore did it right and there's no reason to believe that Camden Yards won't last as long as Wrigley and Fenway.

[Chevy114]

To answer the question posed in the title: NO.

I nearly laughed at the "fortress seating" name for what is basically the most efficient way to organize seats around a ball field. Open concourses are overrated. Aside from giving you a sightline while you wait for someone in the bathroom or to provide "standing room only" areas, they serve no purpose for anyone who has gone to a ballpark to watch a game. Part of the fun of going to a ballpark is hearing the roar through the tunnel and the reveal of the green grass when you get to the end of it. Open concourses steal that experience.

As for the park itself, it is still fun, clean, and offers all of the same amenities of the latest ballparks.

Baltimore did it right and there's no reason to believe that Camden Yards won't last as long as Wrigley and Fenway.

I would like to counter your opinions on open concourses, sure it sounds like nothing when you say people can stand around or wait in line and watch the game at the same time. But its 2013 there isn't much else to add to the stadium so why not enjoy the little things in life.

Now I am not saying Camden sucks because they don't have open concourses, but rather Camden is good and so are open concourses.

[rdbecker]

The "concourse view" is the most overrated feature ever.

I know I'm responding to a four year old post, but I agree. Who walks around the stadium staring out over the seats onto the field? Seems to me you'd be slamming into anything/anyone that gets in your way.

[Chevy114]

Again just thinking out loud, and I don't think open concourses are the greatest invention in the last 20 years of stadiums but they are not pointless or even a waste to me, they are very underrated to me.

Sometimes its in the middle of an inning and you don't want to be that guy who makes people get up yet so instead of standing in a cramp tunnel you can stand in the open concourse eating your food comfortably and watch the game until its a good time to go to your seat. It's not like open concourses are hurting the experience like the left field seats at at AT&T face the 3rd base seats not home plate like they should, or the glass railings at Citi field that block 10% or more of views in the entire stadium.

Does anyone even know how much an open concourse adds to the cost of a new stadium? If it's like a retractable roof where it can double total costs then I don't need one, but if it's not that big of a difference why not.

[JohnCropp]

I'm not dismissing the perks of an open concourse, but the Oriole Park experience is not lacking because OPaCY does not have an open concourse.

It does not make Oriole Park "old," in other words.

[27&COUNTING]

00000000000000000000000000

[Chevy114]

Just glad we all agree that Camden is a top 5 or top 3 park with or without them. I wonder if open concourses would make it #1?

[Paul W]

...Open concourses are overrated. Aside from giving you a sightline while you wait for someone in the bathroom or to provide "standing room only" areas, they serve no purpose for anyone who has gone to a ballpark to watch a game...

couldn't find a clip of ed mcmahon so this'll have to do...

here's the real one, w/o a bud-in-hand...