Meaning, they might be great places to visit, but you would hate to be a season-ticketholder at either. Contrast the cramped aisles, difficulty of movement, overtaxed restrooms and other ambient flaws with a brilliant 360-degree main CBP concourse and it is a no-brainer. Ditto the once magnificent Dodger Stadium. Sure, you can see the San Gabriels on a smogless day (mostly in the winter), but try getting a Dodger Dog and a cold one without missing two innings. And if you want to get home before midnight, better head for the parking lot by the seventh inning, or risk being part of an hourlong blinking taillight parade.
Bill Conlin: Baseball fans love to love Phillies' Citizens Bank Park
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Bringing up the rear on merit, No. 29 and 30, were a pair of football stadiums - the Marlins' Sun Life Stadium, which in its existence has been named after a person, a mammal, a beer and an insurance company, and Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, baseball's Alcatraz. So bad they couldn't even get something to name it after. How about "No-There-There-Field" in honor of Gertrude Stein's famous description of Oakland: "There is no there there."
One of these years, the Phillies will be a lot less attractive than their ballpark. It happens to the best of franchises. That will be the real test for CBP as a fanny magnet. Will they still fill the seats to see a team out of the race by Mother's Day?
"One thing in its favor when they have a lean period," Red McGarry said, "is Philly has become an attractive destination. You have the history there, the Atlantic City casinos a short drive away, the Jersey Shore. Citizens Bank Park appears to have taken its place as one of Philly's major attractions."
It is almost like piling on for me to mention that Sports Travel and Tours also rates CBP's little brother, Clearwater's delightful Bright House Field, as the No. 1 spring-training ballpark.
As if we didn't already know that. *
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