Baseball will always be America’s pastime. As the Dodgers look to win their first World Series in 32 years, it could mean that one of the oldest parks in the nation could host a celebration. Dodger Stadium is one of the oldest ballparks in the United States.
However, it’s not the oldest even though the stadium came out in the early 1960s. Out of 32 total MLB teams, there are three ballparks that stand out. Those would happen to be the oldest ballparks around.
No. 3: Dodger Stadium (1962)
When one thinks of California, they think of two things. Poker and Dodger Stadium. Playing in-house poker, as well as through online on Casinoble, are nearly in the same sentence as classics like the old-fashioned stadium in Los Angeles.
Dodger Stadium is one of the last three ballparks to remain from the MLB West Coast expansion in the last 1950s and early 1960s. Besides seeing a World Series crown in 1988, the field has been host to the World Baseball Classic. It’s the only ballpark in MLB history to have not increased its seating capacity, which has held 56,000 people since it’s opening.
No. 2: Wrigley Field (1914)
The home to the Chicago Cubs was originally named Weeghman Park and Cubs Park. That was before William Wrigley, a former famous gum manufacturer, re-named it after his company in 1927. It wasn’t until 2016 that Wrigley Field became home to a World Series championship, which ended a 108-year championship drought for the Cubs.
There are many traditions to Wrigley Field, which include the ivy covered walls, the “bleacher bums” out in the outfield, the rooftop seating, the hand turned scoreboard, and the seventh-inning stretch led by the sound organ.
One of the wildest traditions at Wrigley Field is when an opposing team hits a home run. If an opponent hits the ball to a Cubs fan, the fan will throw the ball onto the field. It wasn’t until about 2014 that new owner Tom Ricketts began updating the field to modern times, which included new seats and gigantic video screens along the outfield. However, the greatest addition had to the Pennant flying out in center field.
No. 1: Fenway Park (1912)
Fenway Park is best known for the 37-foot high Green Monster that resides in left field. The home of the Boston Red Sox is the oldest ballpark in the majors, but also one of the smallest ballparks in the country.
Back in the day, it was designed by James McLaughlin and it was opened the same week that the Titanic sank. In 1934, Fenway received major renovations, which included the insertion of a hand operated scoreboard. It’s located near the base of the left-field wall. Then, 12 years later upper deck seats were installed.
It took until 1947 for Fenway to install lights. Boston’s home was the one of the last teams to install lights to their home park. Other major installments include the video display in 2000, seats on the Green Monster in 2003, and three new scoreboards in right-center field in 2011, The addition of the “Monster Seats” increased overall capacity by nearly 4,000.