BASEBALL CATHEDRALS

The MLB landscape has changed a lot during the last 20-25 years.  Most of the changes are positive and enhance the game.  Some of the things I personally dislike are the cream pies and Gatorade dunks during interviews, the chasing, pulling and tearing of uniforms after a walk off hit and to a lesser degree the state of the uniforms.  The old look unis with matching color caps and stockings was pretty neat and had a very professional look.  Somehow today, there seems to be less professionalism in that sense.

An area of vast improvement has been the rolling out of new ballparks and stadiums with natural grass surface replacing the old multipurpose artificial turf cookie cutter stadiums that have become obsolete for baseball.  Only 2 ballparks remain with artificial turf, Rogers Center in Toronto and Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay.  Even the new generation artificial turf seems more palatable than the older versions.  Whenever Tampa Bay gets a new ballpark they will  be using natural grass surface.  The new Atlanta Braves Stadium to open in 2017 will also sport natural grass. 

PNC Park   Pittsburgh

Busch Stadium   Saint Louis

Teams changing from synthetic to natural grass last 20 years:
NAME                  TEAM                NAME/YR
Riverfront             Cincinnati          Great American Ballpark 2003
Three Rivers         Pittsburgh          PNC Park  2001
Busch Stadium      Saint Louis        Busch Stadium   2006
Olympic Stadium  Montreal            Nationals Park   2008
Veterans Stadium  Philadelphia      Citizens Bank Park   2004
Royals Stadium     Kansas  City      Kauffman Stadium   1995
Metrodome           Minnesota          Target Field   2010
Astrodome            Houston              Minute Maid Park   2000
Kingdome             Seattle                 Safeco Field   1999

Chase Field   Phoenix

Marlins Park   Miami

Even the retractable roof stadiums now have natural grass with the exception of Toronto.  These are:  Minute Maid Park (2000),  Safeco Field (1999), Chase Field (1998), Miller Park (2001) and Marlins Park (2012).

AT&T Park   San Francisco

Yankee Stadium   New York

Some of the great new ballparks besides the above mentioned  include:  AT&T Park in San Francisco (2000), Citi Field in New York (2009), Yankee Stadium in New York (2009), Comerica Park in Detroit (2000) and Petco Park in San Diego (2004).

Dodger Stadium   Los Angeles

Wrigley Field   Chicago

The older parks have seen renovations and facelifts that keep them beautiful.  Here is a,list with their inauguration dates:
Kauffman Stadium (1973), Angels Stadium (1966), Oakland Coliseum (1966), Dodger Stadium (1962), Wrigley Field (1914) and Fenway Park (1912).

Consider the excellent spring training facilities that serve the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues and we can see this is a great time for ballparks.  We are fortunate to enjoy the great National Pastime in these green cathedrals of baseball.