Baseball Domes

Slimdust

Me living in the Tampa Bay area, there has been a lot of talk about getting a new place to play for the rays. A lot think they need a stadium that is out doors and not a dome. I can't agree more. If you have ever been to the trop, i would say easily its the worst field in the majors.

I was just curious if you other baseball fans who have been to any mlb games at a dome feel that a dome game ruins the atmospher of a baseball game. Is there just something about being outside and baseball? I think so, what about you?

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Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

I think retractable domes are the way to go.

Baseball is MUCH better outdoors. But there are too many rainouts and weather-related delays as it is right now, which cause many problems, including:

1. The scheduled starting pitchers having to pitch on an extra day's rest instead of the normal 4 days. This can throw them off their rhythm and hurt their effectiveness.

2. Teams calling off games when there are a rash of injuries, to give the team a day to rest (the Yankees are notorious for this).

Along similar lines, in the 2004 ALCS, the Red Sox had Pedro Martinez scheduled to start game 6 at Yankee Stadium, in the middle of the whole "The Yankees are my daddy" thing. There was a light drizzle before Game 5 started, and the Red Sox called a very questionable rainout, so that Pedro could pitch at Fenway in Game 5, instead of at Yankee Stadium for Game 6.

3. If it's the last time two teams are scheduled to play each other, you run into weird situations where they have to find a common off-day, and a team may have to travel long distances just to make up that lost game.

For example, let's say the last meeting between the Yankees and A's gets rained out. And the only common off-day between the two teams is in the middle of homestands for both the A's and Yankees. Oakland would have to fly to New York, play one game, and then fly back tothe West Coast to play again the next day. A situation like that would really suck for the A's.

And it's possible, if the rainout is late in the season, that the two teams don't have a common day off the rest of the year.

There are lots of other problems too, but those are just the first ones that come to mind

Freak

Tom, those are all great points.

But as someone who's seen games in both the SkyDome/Rogers Centre (cold, barren, void of character) and PNC Park in Pittsburgh (classy, gorgeous, full of character) -- I have to say the throwback-style parks win it for me.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

I agree with that for the most part Freak but rainouts during the playoffs are annoying as hell..

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

What's amazing is that SkyDome was considered revolutionary when it was built...and it became outdated SO quickly. Meanwhile, Camden Yards was only built three years later and is still considered one of the most beautiful ballparks, even though it is 15 years old

The worst of both worlds is a place like Shea Stadium. Ugly and lifeless, without the benefit of the dome to protect from the weather.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

Shea is very ugly. I've been there, but the atmosphere is still pretty good.

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

Just to clarify, when I said "lifeless", I meant more that the stadium itself lacks a certain character about it. Part of it is the location (it's in an isolated area of Queens), and the fact that there's really nothing charming about it.

The fans, though, do a good job of keeping it energetic

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

Yeah, that's what I meant. It's another reason though why the Mets can never takeover New York. They don't have the history and they sure as fuck don't have a Yankee Stadium.

Freak

If there was a way to make domes more attractive, I'd be up for it, but my dome-experience begins and ends with the SkyDome -- quite possibly the ugliest building in North America. Not only that, but in the past five years, massive glass condos have shot up all around it, obscuring it from the road.

Jayman

Super Moderator

Another benefit to retractable domes would be to make the early season games playable in colder cities. How many games were cancelled this season because it was too cold or snowy? I bet closing the dome would have alleviated that...

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