As someone who has been attending ball games at the Big A my entire life, I realize I have a bias of familiarity with our stadium and think it’s a great ballpark as is. However, I wanted to voice some of the things I would like to see changed at our stadium and also hear what other fans think. Here is my personal list:
Centerfield Remodel
I’m good with the rocks staying, and think they provide a unique aesthetic to our ballpark. However, I would love for an upgrade to the section between the rocks and the bullpens, where the truck is currently on display. Although I would love to see a homerun go through the trucks front windshield, it’s wasted space that currently serves no purpose other than advertising for Toyota. This area could be reconfigured into an awesome outfield standing area with an accompanying food / beverage location. They could call it “Halo’s in the Outfield” or something, make it first come first serve, and the viewing area would go all the way up to the left-center outfield wall. The Mariners have this at their stadium and it was an awesome experience. The Coors Light section always seemed to me like a half-assed attempt to do this, but the view from that area sucks, as you are behind the camera crew and there’s only a handful of bar seats there.
Raise the Right Field Homerun Line
Pretty simple here. Go back to pre-2018 homerun line and let that out of town scoreboard play a part in making balls off the wall interesting again. I hate the idea of having a yellow line on a wall determine what is and isn’t a homerun.
Hotdog / Food Upgrade
Our hotdogs suck. Period. I’ve been to numerous ballparks where their standard hotdogs taste like costco hotdogs, and are around the same price. I’m totally fine with paying a little more per dog if it means we get a juicy/bigger dog, as what we have now just isn’t good. We also need more options in general food wise. Most other stadiums have custom food options that you’ll hear their fans recommend. “If you’re going to [insert stadium here] you gotta try [insert custom food item]” or the visiting teams announcers will talk about trying something delicious that the stadium grills or BBQ’s there. We have…. the helmet nachos? If I’m going to spend $15-$20 for stadium food items, I want something that is unique to us and that the staff puts love into making a memorable part of the ballpark experience.
Bring back the Kids Zone in Right Field
As a right field sitting veteran ( we love the right field seats ), the section underneath is a ghost town of what it used to be. I remember going to games as a kid and having a blast with all the stuff we could do there, and now there’s just… nothing? I’m 36 years old and I still think about how fun it was to get in a booth and be a broadcaster for epic baseball moments, or hitting a homerun on the miniature wiffle ball angel stadium. Even though I like watching every single pitch while i’m at the game, I have young nephews and nieces that would have a blast in an area like what we used to have growing up. It would also be nice if they put something fun back where the Erstad race challenge used to be ( did anybody ever even come close to beating him? ). Currently it’s empty barring the occasional corporate sponsor setting up a small booth there.
On field fan activities / crowd engagement needs a serious revamp
Kids stealing third base. The occasional warning track pac-man race. The recycled same in-between pitches hype media ( deyyyyy-o, clap clap clap your hands etc. ). These are all boring and lack any effort from the organization, given that its the same every. single. year. There’s got to be young marketing graduates that they could find to come in and spruce things up to make the experience more engaging, instead of sticking with the predictable every game. I’m fine with letting the kids steal third base as I’m sure that’s a cool experience for them, but there’s 100’s of other things they can come up with in addition to that to entertain the crowd. Another thing to note – when Joyce is coming out of the bullpen next year to blow 106 mph fastballs by opposing hitters… turn the stadium lights off and let the rock flames light up the dark stadium. We did it a couple times in 2023 for Estevez, other ballparks do it for their guys, and the fans go crazy. I want that.
Time to retire “Calling All Angels
Saved the controversial one for last. In my opinion, it’s time to officially retire this snoozefest of a song, or at the very least, limit the games it is played. If I was a player getting ready to battle for 9 innings, I wouldn’t want to hear this song play for 10 minutes before every single game. And as a fan, I wanna get fired up and ready to yell at the opposing team and cheer for our boys on the field. Train is not a band that’s going to get my adrenaline pumping. I’m all for showing video highlights of past accolades and memorable moments, but I want to be geared up for a battle and this just isn’t cutting it anymore.
Curious to read your thoughts.
