Last week, we had another of Mike Chamernik’s “Question of the Week” series, the response was great, and Mike is back again with his next question.
Question of the Week
by Mike Chamernik
Sunday Night Football was in Houston this weekend. The telecast mentioned that the Astrodome is still standing, across the street from the Texans stadium. The Astrodome is a historical landmark, but it doesn’t host sports anymore, and redevelopment plans are uncertain.
The Astros and Oilers each moved out in the 1990s, so I missed my chance to see a game there. Which is a shame, because I’ve always been fascinated with its retro-future charm.
What bygone arenas, stadiums and ballparks would you have liked to see a game at, and why? Have you ever made it a point to visit a venue before it permanently closed?
Thanks, Mike. This is definitely another fun QOTW.
I actually caught a game in the Astrodome. A September game in 1991, and the Astros were long out of the Pennant Race — I think there may have been 3,000 people at the game. As far as stadia I wish I could have seen a game? All of them, but if I had to pick just one, I’d say Ebbets Field for sure.
Can’t wait to hear the readers’ responses! OK guys…fire away!
I made a point to see games at Shea and the old Yankee Stadium before they closed. I also saw several O’s games at Memorial Stadium before it closed.
I wish I’d seen the Dodgers at Ebbets Field and the Giants at the Polo Grounds. I also would’ve liked to see both the ‘Skins and the Senators at Griffith Stadium.
Seeing a Bears game at Soldier Field while I still can is on my sports wish list.
Soldier Field! Never been there for the Bears, but I was there this past weekend to see the Fire for soccer.
The stadium is interesting because all the luxury boxes are above even the nosebleed seats. And the endzone seats at the north end go up forever.
I grew up in St. Louis in the 70s and 80s. Our family owned one the the biggest concrete companies in the city and had provided all the concrete for the (all-concrete) Busch Stadium 2. We had season tickets for both the football and baseball Cardinals.
By the time the stadium was being replaced, I had moved out of town. But I wanted one more trip down memory lane. So I took my mom (my dad had passed away a couple years earlier) back to the old stadium one last time sitting in the first row. We had a couple frosty cold Budweisers to toast my dad. The fact that they honored my childhood hero, and my mom’s not-so-secret crush, #17 Jim Hart with the 17th to last game made it an extra special memory.
I still miss that stadium. It was by far the best of the multipurpose stadiums of the era (and I went to most of them) with the improvements the baseball Cardinals made over the years and the architecture that mirrored the Gateway Arch. And all that beautiful Central Concrete.
I love this question. Outside of my local venues, Crosley Field is at the top of my list. It’s just one of those places I’ve always been drawn to and love to see pictures of.
My brother and I made it a point to get to old Yankee Stadium and am glad we got to see a game there in it’s final year. There are a few other places that I would make it a point to get to if word came down that they were going to close.
I vaguely remember going to Crosley Field when I was like 5 or so. Was with my Dad and my bug brother. I tattled on my brother because he kept asking me to read the scoreboard to him. A couple weeks later he had glasses.
I’d love to have gone to a game at Giants Stadium. Sure part of why Giants games suck now is because the team has been mostly terrible for more than a decade, but also, Metlife is just a boring venue.
I’m *barely* old enough to remember a few games at the original Yankee Stadium, but I’d love to have gone to a game there before the 1970’s renovations.
Only one answer for me: Highbury.
My dad used to go when he lived in North London in the 70s, which planted the seed for me becoming an Arsenal supporter. I was able to visit the grounds when I went to see them play in 2010, but by then it had been converted to a residential space.
I might have said old Maple Leaf Gardens, but it was my university’s home arena and was also used for exams, so I probably got to see more of it than most fans!
I’ve always wanted to be able to visit the old Tiger Stadium. The intimacy and quirkyness of it was so different than stadiums today. It’s such a shame they tore it down.
As a Pittsburgh native and fan, Forbes Field. I’ve, of course, visited the section of the outfield wall that still stands in the Oakland section of town.
Wish I could have visited: White Hart Lane (Tottenham Hotspur).
Want to visit: Pittodrie Stadium (Aberdeen). The plans to replace it got killed by Covid and only a training facility was built on the site, so it has some life left in it. The quirkiest thing I’ve ever come across about a sports stadium is that Pittodrie didn’t have a scoreboard until last year (link). When the Scottish Premiership added VAR, they needed a board to show when something was being reviewed.
I was also at the last D.C. United game at RFK in 2017.
I wish I had better memories of Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, but I only went to a handful of games as a kid.
Lifelong Boston sports fan who grew up in D.C. I went to college in western Mass. 1986-90 which meant I was able to see several games in Fenway but I never saw either the Bruins or Celtics in the old Boston Garden. Even allowing for how expensive those seats were for college students when both teams were among the best in their leagues I have never quite forgiven myself for not getting there somehow.
Growing up a fan of both the Dodgers and Angels, I would have liked to have seen both play in their original home stadiums in Los Angeles. These stadiums still stand and are still used, but not for these teams, and one not for baseball. The Coliseum was such a crazy set up for baseball and the Dodgers, that it would have been great to see it used for that. And seeing the expansion Angels playing as the home team in Dodgers Stadium, which they called Chavez Ravine, would have been great. Of course back then AL and NL teams never played each other unless they met in the World Series, and it would have been special seeing all the AL teams come into LA and play in that stadium against the Angels. Sadly I was just a little too young to have attended.
I thought you were going to say LA’s Wrigley Field (home of the Angels in 1961)
I thought of that, and was going to mention it, and then had a brain fart. I think it was a stupid decision to move to “Chavez Ravine”. They should have stayed, and maybe put up some temporary bleachers in the outfield to expand seating. I wonder if they had stayed, if they would have continued in Los Angeles and not move to Orange County. I mean they were named the Angels after Los Angeles and the long history of the PCL Los Angeles Angels.
One of the old-school ballparks with the impossibly deep center field (such as the Polo Grounds, Philly’s Baker Bowl, or Milwaukee’s Borchert Field)
From Philly –
Lucky to have seen lots of action at the Vet and Spectrum before both went bye-bye, and the Palestra and Franklin Field (still kicking)…was born too late to see the Phils at Shibe/Connie, and regret not going to Live Aid at JFK (RIP).
Never thought I’d get a chance to see a race at N. Wilkesboro…gotta get there someday now that’s it’s been resurrected. Made it just in time to see Nazareth Speedway, Joe Louis, YankeeStadium Alpha & Shea…Polo Grounds would have been cool I think.
I made a point of catching a game at old Comminsky Park in its final year of hosting the White Sox. I’ve seen games at Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, old Busch Memorial Stadium, RFK, and Shea Stadium. Seen the Astrodome a few years ago, from the outside.
Sure wish I could’ve watched an Atlanta Crackers game at old Ponce de Leon Park. I would’ve been a kid, and probably wouldn’t have remembered much.
Craven Cottage for me. I went to the last league game there (as a Leicester fan) which was emotional, and then actally played on the field in a corporate 5-a-side tournament which was the last football at the ground with Fulham moving to groundshare with QPR while the stadium was demolished.
Of course, a couple of years down the line, all the plans fell through and Fulham ended up opening up Craven Cottage again and moved back in, opting to rennovate it, making those historic moments I’d been part of completely irrelevant!!
I’m forever disappointed in myself for never making it to a game at the much maligned Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Despite numerous trips to the Bay Area things just never worked out; the A’s were out of town, it was the off-season, and straight up poor planing on my part.
Oakland is a gem and was robbed of the Raiders and are currently being robbed again by the current owners of the A’s, they deserves better.
No joke, I love Oakland Coliseum. And I went even after Mt. Davis. It just *feels* like a stadium. All concrete, no nonsense. The newer venues are nice but can feel too sterile, too corporate.
I wish I’d gone to see the A’s in Oakland at some point.
My biggest regret is not seeing a game at the Orange Bowl. I never pushed myself hard enough to make the 5-6 hour drive there despite its rich history, and I missed out.
Biggest thrill seeing a closed stadium was while the car my 9 year old self was stuck in a traffic jam next to Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The field was being used as a parking lot before its demolition but the stands, the signs (“Yah-hoo Mountain Dew!”, thrilled me then!) and the left field hill were still there.
Agree with the Orange Bowl. Super Bowls, CFB Championships. So much history, now gone.
Good answers, everyone!
My list is long, but I would have loved to see a game at old Comiskey or Chicago Stadium, since they’re still frequently talked about by locals here in Chicago.
I was glad I got to see some games at Milwaukee County Stadium as a kid.
Griffith Stadium because I am a Washingtonian
The original NY baseball stadia because I would have liked to experience what my grandfather did and all the history.
Would have loved to have seen a game at the original Yankee Stadium, but that closed for renovations when I was 2 (1973).
It’s too bad I never got a chance to see the Celtics or Bulls in their old, rickety arenas — the Boston Garden and Chicago Stadium. Sweating without the AC, feeling the seats rumbling below me… the new arenas just don’t match that atmosphere.
I managed to see a game at the Astrodome during the Astros’ last season there. It was… interesting.
Luckily I got to see a game at old Yankees Stadium in 96. Got 2 tix behind home plate just before a cold April game in 96 vs White Sox. The place was intimidating with all the allure. Saw Bills plays Rams at Colosseum In LA in 2016, another episode and historic venue. I wish I could have caught at game at old Montreal Forum. Growing up a huge hockey fan in Buffalo it was the crem de La crem of hockey venues in late 70’s and early eighties.
I don’t know if this counts since I went numerous times, but Manchester City’s long-demolished Maine Road ground. It was right in the middle of a (pretty rough) residential area, the stands were ugly and haphazardly built and there was a severe lack of any modern amenities. In short, it was a shithole. But it was our shithole, and no matter how badly City played (and they played some awful football at times) we never stopped singing. The City of Manchester Stadium is a lovely modern ground – comfortable, easy to get to, plenty of facilities and totally accessible. But it’ll never have even a tenth of the atmosphere of Maine Road.
Maine Road – Football’s Last Dive Pub, to paraphrase the Oakland Coliseum’s nickname of Baseball’s Last Dive Bar.
One more that I just thought of – I wish I’d gone to see the Miami (tennis) Open when they still played at the facility in Key Biscayne. Crandon Park was an actual tennis facility. Now the Miami Open is played at Hard Rock Stadium where they put up temporary courts in the parking lot. Yeah, no thanks.
Saw a few at Crosley Field as a kid (our closest MLB team), and made it to old Comiskey a couple of times. Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds were long gone before I got a chance, but those would probably top my list among US venues I regret missing out on. I suppose the original Yankee Stadium too.
Would have required going out of my way a bit, but had a chance to see a game at Tiger Stadium before it closed, and didn’t take it, which I now regret. Would also like to have seen Forbes Field, with the batting cage stored in play in deep CF.
Outside the US, there’s only one answer: Highbury. I came to be a soccer (and Arsenal) fan pretty late in life, in the mid-2000s, so I just missed it. Have been to the Emirates several times but really wish I’d seen a game at Highbury.
I appreciate how similarly we worded our responses re: Highbury :)
I regret never seeing the Vikings play at Metropolitan Stadium and the Bruins at the Boston Garden.
I made road trips from Wisconsin to see Comiskey and Yankee Stadium before they closed.
Being in Green Bay, I would have liked to see the Packers at old City Stadium, particularly with Don Hutson playing.
Elsewhere, I would have liked to see Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds for baseball, Montreal and Toronto’s old barns for hockey, and Boston Garden for hoops.
Forbes Field and Polo Grounds would be my two baseball ones.
I was lucky to get a tour of Boston Garden about a year before it was demolished. It was very cool, but unfortunately I didn’t see a game there.
There are a lot of Premier League responses here. With Goodison Park on the way out, was this a popular ground? Will there be a lot of sentiment around the final season before demolition?
English football are the home of the clubs and growing up, teams just didn’t move. They just gradually replaced stands for patchwork stadiums that had character. It was inconceivable for a team to move. Many grounds had been home for over 100 years – longer than anyone’s living memory!
This started to change following the need for all seater stadiums, and new grounds have become more common, but you only have to look at Aston Villa, Liverpool, Newcastle and Man Utd (maybe) to see how important these spiritual homes are.
As a Leicester fan, Filbert Street was home. It was disjointed and ugly, but it was unique and full of memories down the generations. The last season was awful on the pitch, but was the end of an era.
The new stadium is bigger, has better facilities and is the same all the way round. And has had some incredible memories already! But its not home, and it still feels a bit sterile.
It will be like losing someone important for Everton fans after so long at Goodison. I do feel sorry for them having gone through it, but its just another sign on commercialism in sports being more important than history, and the true fans the ones who suffer.
Definitely RFK to see the Redskins. Sadly, both the team playing there and the team being worth seeing are before my time. I have heard the stories about the enthusiasm and the atmosphere there, stands shaking, etc. I am fortunate to have been to RFK for the Nats and DC United, though.
Went to many games at the Astrodome back in the day growing up in Houston. The outfield bleacher seats were $4.
I used to be obsessed with stadium configurations, so this is a fun one:
For baseball, I would have loved to see a game at the Polo Grounds. Just the weirdest dimensions imaginable that would have made for such an interesting viewing experience.
Football – Vikings at Metropolitan Stadium because of the unique field/stands setup. And the snow. Candlestick is a close second.
Basketball – Sonics at the Kingdome, Jazz at the Superdome or Pistons at the Silverdome. Just for the spectacle.
Hockey – Maple Leaf Gardens
Went to many games at the Astrodome back in the day growing up in Houston. The outfield bleacher seats were $4.
I used to be obsessed with stadium configurations, so this is a fun one:
For baseball, I would have loved to see a game at the Polo Grounds. Just the weirdest dimensions imaginable that would have made for such an interesting viewing experience.
Football – Vikings at Metropolitan Stadium because of the unique field/stands setup. And the snow. Candlestick is a close second.
Basketball – Sonics at the Kingdome, Jazz at the Superdome, Pistons at the Silverdome. Just for the spectacle.
Hockey – Maple Leaf Gardens
Polo Grounds, or any baseball stadium that had a bullpen that was in play.
I could go on with this question forever, but in the interest of keeping this (relatively) short, I’ll say Mile High Stadium. I’m a lifelong Broncos fan, but somehow I never saw a Broncos game there before it closed.
I lived in California and Iowa growing up, and while we visited family in Colorado every year (sometimes more than once) those visits were invariably over the summer or during Christmas break, not during football season. So I saw a Denver Bears minor league games there – and even a couple of Colorado Rapids soccer games – but never the Broncos. I’ve seen many, many Broncos games at their current stadium in the 20+ years since I moved to Denver as an adult, but I’ve always regretted that I never got to see them in their original stadium in all their Orange Crush glory.
As for making a point to visit a stadium before it was closed/torn down, I can think of four: (1) Old Comiskey in August of 1990 (knowing the new stadium was slated to open the following year); (2) Mile High Stadium (I saw a Rapids game there in the summer of 2001, shortly before it closed and the Broncos and Rapids moved to the new stadium next door); (3) Memorial Stadium in Baltimore (I never got to see the Orioles there, but I did go to a preseason Ravens game there in 1997 so I could see it before it closed); (4) Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins (I went to a Colorado State game there in 2015, before my son was born, knowing that I wouldn’t likely get to a game there in its last season n 2016 when he was an infant – and I was right!).
I was 5 when Olympia Stadium closed, and 12 when it was demolished, but I would love to have experienced a Red Wings game at the Old Red Barn.
Became a Celtics fan in 1983, so when they announced the Boston Garden was closing down, I knew I had to see it before it was demolished. Flew out to Boston in April 1995 and saw Bruins/Sabres and Celtics/76ers. Was everything I’d heard on TV – old, terrible sightlines – but the trip was great.
Both of my ‘I wish I could have gone there’ spots have been mentioned…Ebbets Field and the old Boston Garden.
I’ve been very lucky and have been to many long gone venues like the Polo Grounds, the original Yankee Stadium, Connie Mack Stadium, and the old Madison Square Garden. I sold beer at Oilers games in the Astrodome and saw more events there than I could count.
Back in 1990 I suggested to my dad that we take a weekend trip to Chicago to see Comiskey Park before it closed. For some reason or another we never got around to it. This may have been the genesis of my “visit old ballparks before they tear them down” mentality. In 1991 my best friend and I traveled to Baltimore to see Memorial Stadium, in 1992 we went to Wrigley Field and County stadium and in 1993 we went to see the Indians play at Municipal Stadium. In 1999 I flew down to Houston to catch an Astros game. The next year I visited Pittsburgh to bid farewell to Three Rivers. And in 2002 I caught a Reds game at Cinergy Field (cringe). Surprisingly, both Atlanta and Texas have used 3 ballparks in my lifetime but I’ve never seen any games there.
I wish I had gotten to the Montreal Forum and Maple Leaf Gardens. At least I got to see Patrick Roy behind the Remparts bench at Colisee Pepsi.
I missed out on Comiskey Park. I put it off for too long after I moved here.
I came THISCLOSE to attending their first-ever (?) throwback game and then something came up at the last minute and I double missed out.
I got to watch from the 35th floor of a nearby office building as the Kingdome was imploded… that was awesomely memorable! Had been to some games there prior.
Like many others, Ebbet’s Field would be at the top of my wish list.
Really, though, for me it’s the team that went with the stadium. Like, I wish I got to watch the ‘70’s Dolphins at the Orange Bowl. Team AND location.
Boston Garden. During a playoff game with no A/C. And I’d make sure to take the train. -C.
Texas Stadium for the Cowboys. I have gone to AT&T Stadium for several events, but never got the chance to go to Texas Stadium before it was demolished.
There are two in particular for me. I would’ve loved to see my Philadelphia Flyers play at the old Spectrum. And I wish I could have seen the Bulls at the old Chicago Stadium, during the Jordan years, with “Sirius” blasting and Ray Clay on the mic during the player introductions!
The good: Candlestick Park.
The bad: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Three Rivers Stadium, Hoosier Dome (Springsteen concert).
The wish I could have: Old Tiger Stadium. Friends say it was great.
Why is my comment not being accepted? There’s nothing offensive in it.
Oh, there it is. Got held up for some reason.
I like to visit ballparks when I travel for work. However, I made of point of NEVER visiting the Metrodome for a Twins game. I only went to a Twins game once they moved into Target Field.
I played baseball on Connie Mack Field in West Palm Beach in the 80’s before they tore it down for apartments. The story was that the longest home run ever hit on that field was by Babe Ruth, who landed one two streets over in a swimming pool. Not sure how true that was, but the story was told many times.
As a Dolphins’ fan, I wish that I could have made it to the Orange Bowl. The look that it had on TV, the “The City of Miami Welcomes . . . ” sign between the lower and upper seating areas, and the great Dolphins’ teams of the 70s and 80s made it special for me. Unfortunately, by the time that I was an adult and could make the trip myself, the team had already moved to Joe Robbie Stadium. Thankful for old games that are available to watch online.
Any of the “original six” hockey arenas. As much as I am not a Leafs fan, if I had to pick one it would probably be Maple Leaf Gardens.
Yes! I photographed Pittsburgh Civic Arena extensively while it was undergoing demolition. I saw a few games there before it came down. I made several trips to Joe Louis Arena before it closed. I also set up a private visit to Cincinnati Gardens before it came down but I never saw a game there. I have been and am trying get to other sports arenas before they close. There are not many in that category now as so many old stadiums and rinks have already been replaced. Union College’s hockey arena is next to be replaced. That is an interesting piece of architecture.
One stadium I wish I could go back and see a game at, that I did not: Tiger Stadium. I only saw it after demo began.