Friday Fun: Ranking the Ballpark Neighborhoods of Major League Baseball

The Midsummer Classic is over, and the dog days of summer are looming. Not every team has a chance at October baseball, but some still offer a lot to love in the neighborhood outside the ballpark.

1 minute read

July 20, 2018, 10:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Yawkey Way, Boston

Marcio Jose Bastos Silva / Shutterstock

Anyone who has trekked across parking lots to get to parking lots in Los Angeles, Anaheim, or Oakland knows that not all ballparks were designed to integrate into the neighborhood. Go to the North Side of Chicago or Yawkey Way in Boston and you'll see the benefits of ballpark planning before car-centric planning was a thing.

A Chicago Tribune team has created an unscientific ranking of the neighborhoods outside the ballparks of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball, with somewhat predictable results at the top: Fenway Park in Boston at number one and Wrigley Field in Chicago at number two. Petco Park in San Diego might surprise some at number three. Most likely to be controversial, however, is the new suburban ballpark for the Atlanta Braves, SunTrust Park in Cobb County, which comes in at number four.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018 in Chicago Tribune

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