Home is where the heart is and all that mushy crap, but let’s be real, everyone wants their home to be nice. The best of the best. No one in their right mind says, “Nah, I think I just want an aggressively mediocre house,” especially when building a home. If you have your pick of the litter, you want the best, and that’s the same for MLB owners and their ballparks.

We see new ballparks pop up every few years, with the most recent being the Rangers’ Globe Life Field debut this past season and host to the COVID World Series. We also see certain teams like the Red Sox, Dodgers and Cubs opt for the classic, nostalgia-filled parks they’ve had for decades despite having plenty of money and the market for the potential to build a new state-of-the-art ballpark. And then we have certain teams that are in desperate need for a new home but have not done so for whatever reason.

I myself have been to 16 of the 30 current ballparks (and seen another 3 in-person), with a good mix of new and old. From the Monster at Fenway to the view atop Dodger Hill in Los Angeles, and the dump in Tampa Bay to the Sewage Plant in Oakland, I am going to rank all 30 ballparks utilizing experience, research and educated guesses. I am considering the view and stadium location as well as the stadium itself and its defining features. I have looked at hundreds of pictures of all 30 ballparks in preparation, and am ready to plant my flag.

*Note: I completely acknowledge that food options are critical in the evaluation process of any facility. For complete parity, I will not be factoring in food options into my rankings as I have not had food from every MLB ballpark.

30. RingCentral Coliseum – Oakland Athletics (Have Been)

“Also commonly referred to as the Oakland Coliseum, RingCentral Coliseum is a multi-purpose stadium in Oakland, California…”

Hold it right there. Any time something is described as “Multi-Purpose” you just know that it’s going to stink. And the Oakland RingCentral Coliseum stinks. No, literally, it does stink.

I do have to clarify that I have not been inside this stadium since the A’s were out of town while I was there, but I have been outside of it and can undoubtedly verify that it indeed does stink both literally and metaphorically. One trip was all it took to rank the A’s home dead last in baseball. Thankfully, they are working on a major upgrade.

29. Tropicana Field – Tampa Bay Rays (Have Been)

When you pull up the dictionary and look up the word “outdated,” a picture of Tropicana Field is shown. This stadium should be the worst in baseball, but the Athletics’ inability to address sewage issues is a trump card in terms of worst ballparks.

How can you be located in one of the most desirable locations to live in the United States and you play in a DOME. Not a park with a retractable roof like some warm-climate teams with common sense, but a full-fledged DOME. Just a disgrace to one of the best teams in baseball. But as we’ve seen with Blake Snell in the World Series, the Rays are well-documented in their questionable decision making. However, they too are in talks to upgrade their home ballpark.

28. Rogers Centre – Toronto Blue Jays (Have Not Been)

This is the first ballpark on the list that I have not attended, but it does not seem like I am missing much. A retractable roof gives the park some bonus points, but not enough to prevent it from being one of the worst parks in baseball. Even the company that owns the Rogers Centre agrees, as they are planning to demolish the Rogers Centre in favor of a new stadium for the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays’ current home, although not so much recently with the team in Buffalo due to COVID, does not do justice to a team that has that much passion in their fanbase. They deserve better, especially with the exciting young core they have.

27. Guaranteed Rate Field – Chicago White Sox (Have Been)

If I was doing a ranking of ballpark names, the White Sox’ home would still be at the bottom. The only thing Guaranteed about this park is how lackluster it is. Guaranteed Rate Field feels like a ballpark that MLB the Show ‘11 builds for you. It is one of the most generic, mediocre stadiums you will see. Heading into its 30th season, Guaranteed Rate Field is already the 9th oldest stadium in baseball and is not even close to capturing the classic essence of some of the great old ballparks.

26. Chase Field – Arizona Diamondbacks (Have Not Been)

There are a couple of Top 10 ballparks that I have not yet gotten the chance to see, but if I had to pick a ballpark I want to see the most, Chase Field would be up there solely for the reason that I need to see if my hypothesis that it is the most unnecessarily large ballpark is correct.

Chase Field is 4th in capacity of all MLB ballparks with 48,686, which is probably unnecessary in its own right, but man that feels amplified when on TV, and not in a good way. The ballpark feels cavernous. It gets credit as the first stadium in the United States with a retractable roof, but I don’t think there’s anything special about this stadium. Yes, including the dumb swimming pool. I’m all for a stadium having unique features, but a swimming pool ain’t it.

25. Angel Stadium – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Have Been)

You know that scummy landlord that puts a fresh coat of paint on a run-down apartment and raises the rent? That’s what the Angels did here by adding some rocks in Left-Center Field to a below-average stadium. 

There is absolutely nothing special about this stadium, which is a crime on multiple levels. First of all, you were never an L.A. team, yet you’re trying desperately to be one. Secondly, you have the greatest player ever to walk the earth in Mike Trout. And finally, you’re a California team when there are already FOUR other teams in California. If the A’s get a new stadium that lives up to the hype, then all other California teams will have Top-10 parks while the Angels will still be one of the worst. There have been development plans for a new park, but it does not seem as far along as some of the other plans we see in progress. The California weather is not enough to lift this park up.

24. Marlins Park – Miami Marlins (Have Not Been)

I’m not sure why, but I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Marlins Park. To me, it is the embodiment of a ballpark that tried to swing for the fence in a new stadium. They hit in some places and missed in others. Unfortunately though, Marlins Park will probably be one of the worst in the next few years once some other teams get new parks. I personally liked the neon green accents and the neo-modern feel, but I know some definitely do not. I think it was a mistake to remove the sweet Marlins Home-Run Sculpture and it just feels like the stadium has moved backwards since its 2012 debut. Thanks a lot, Derek Jeter.

23. Great American Ball Park – Cincinnati Reds (Have Been)

Another stadium that I only got to see the outside of due to the team’s schedule, this stadium is on some prime real estate. It also has a great name for an MLB Ballpark. My biggest problem with this field is how generic it feels. The park does well to bring an open-feel to its fans so that it is not everyone stacked on top of each other, but in my opinion it is so open that I can only imagine how far away you feel when sitting in the stadium, which is a similar issue I have with some other parks. This is one that definitely could change once I am able to see a game in person, but from everything I’ve seen and researched, I feel comfortable ranking it bottom third.

22. Progressive Field – Cleveland Indians (Have Been)

Cleveland could really lean into the Rock ‘n Roll theme and have a truly wild, badass park, but instead they settle for mediocrity. I guess that is similar to how they run their franchise as well. The wall in Left Field is raised, but not anything special like the Green Monster. Center Field’s layout is pretty cool in my opinion, but there is nothing truly special or defining about it. It’s not a terrible park, but it’s not a good one either. However, the lease ends in 2023 and with the current direction of the franchise, and a new team name in the near future, we could see some major changes if new ownership takes over.

21. Comerica Park – Detroit Tigers (Have Been)

When I think back on Comerica, I actually liked it. I enjoyed the vibe and one of the coolest features to me was the ivy batters’ eye in Center Field. You can actually walk through it like a tunnel and they have fans misting down on you, which was perfect for a hot summer day. However, when I was putting these rankings together, I just couldn’t get myself to put it any higher than 21. I think it is in a tier above the previous 9 ranked for sure, with some defining features like the retro-feel scoreboard in Left to the view of the Detroit skyline in Right, but it is not done any favors by the rest of the Detroit area.