Very few old ballparks are around the majors today
The oldest ballpark in the Major Leagues is ...
An easy answer.
And obvious answer.
If you follow professional baseball at all.
In fact, the two oldest ballparks should both be easy.
Because anyone born after 1961 has been around for the unveiling of 28 of the 30 ballparks currently in use.
The latest editions ... both of which made their debut this season.
Ironically, both located in The Big Apple.
Citi Field which houses the New York Mets.
And Yankee Stadium, the edifice that replaced The House That Ruth Built.
The two newest parks bring to 12 the structures put into use in this century.
Nationals Park in Washington and Busch Stadium in St. Louis were the last ones before 2009, Nationals Park began operations in 2008 while Busch Stadium made its debut in 2006.
New parks in 2000 were Comerica Park in Detroit, Minute Maid Park in Houston and AT&T Park in San Francisco.
In 2001, opening their turnstyles were PNC Park in Pittsburgh plus Miller Park in Milwaukee.
No new parks in 2002 but in 2003, the fans in Cincinnati trooped to Great American Ball Park for the latest in stadium ambience.
In 2004, two more National League parks went on line. In fact, Yankee Stadium is the first American League park to come on line since Comerica Park in Detroit back in 2000.
There were no new parks in 2005.
The decade of the 1990s involved nine parks being unveiled, kicking off in 1991 on the South Side of Chicago when Comiskey Park came on line. In 1992, the newest park was Oriole Park at Camden Yards. After a lapse in 1993, another couple of American League franchises had new parks in '94.
The fans in Cleveland started attending Jacobs Field while Texas unveiled The Ballpark in Arlington (notice the Ball Park in Cincinnati as opposed to the Ballpark in Arlington ... whatever the sponsor wants, I guess).
Finally, a National League park came on line in 1995 with Coors Field in Colorado. After a skip in '96, 1997 was the debut season for Turner Field in Atlanta.
There were two new stadiums in 1998 (Chase Field in Arizona and the Tropicana Dome in Tampa) before the last park of the '90s to admit fans was Safeco Field in Seattle.
For those that are counting, that means 21 of the parks currently in operation opened their doors in either the decade of the 1990s or the new century.
Which leaves the oldest parks from the 1980s, the 1970s, the 1960s and the couple before that.
The 1980s? A trio of new parks with two being in the American League. The other was the Florida Marlins, who reside in Landshark Stadium (wonder where they came up with that name) in 1988.
The pair of A.L. parks that came on line in the 80s were the Minnesota Twins in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis in 1982 plus the Rogers Centre in Toronto in 1989.
How about the only park to make its debut in the 1970s?
Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City for the Royals in 1973.
The three new parks in the 60s?
The Dodgers moved into Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in 1962. In 1966, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim switched to Angel Stadium of Anaheim. There was another new park in California two years later, when McAfee Coliseum made its debut in Oakland.
I am using the latest names for the current teams. It seems like the Angels, for instance, change the name of the stadium (or how they want to be identified) every year or two.
So, now to the pair of oldest parks.
Dating back nearly a century.
The oldest park in the National League is none other than Wrigley Field in Chicago, which has been undergoing extensive renovations. Of course, when you play in a park that dates back to 1914 ... there might be a reason or two for some updating or rejuvenation.
In the 1990s, Cubs management added some new private boxes, along with an elevator added to the third base concourse (1996) before following the 2005 campaign, there were expansion in the bleachers, added a restaurant in the batter's eye and added a window to Sheffield Avenue in right field.
But the oldest park in continuous use in the Major Leagues belongs to the Boston Red Sox. The Boston American League Base Ball Club was a charter member of the A.L. in 1901 before moving into Fenway Park in 1912. Fenway Park opened on April 20 of 1912, being bumped off the front pages of the local papers by the sinking of the RMS Titanic earlier in the week.
