Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium review

April 27, 8:25 PMColorado Rockies ExaminerTravis Lay

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A little off topic tonight as I review the new Kauffman Stadium.

I say it is new because it looks nothing like it did last summer. It has the same shape, but the outfield area is completely different and the space behind home plate is redone. They even opened up the walk ways, added extra natural light and in the upper deck they opened up some entry ways which give the stadium a bigger, more open feel.

My wife and I have now been to 17 big league ball parks. Our goal is to get to all of them and we are well on our way. We have been together for nearly six years and try to hit a couple each summer (we are heading to San Francisco and Oakland this summer). Here is my current rank of the parks we have been to and when we went:

1. Wrigley Field (numerous, most recently in 2007) - ranks #1 because I am a Cubs fan.  That and like 1 million years of history.
2. Coors Field - I honestly think Coors is one of the best ballparks that I have been too, homerism aside.
3. Yankee Stadium (2007) - The history here cannot be beat and it is a shame they built a new one.  I was upset that when we went I couldn't get to Memorial Park because we sat in the bleachers.
4. Petco Park (2006) - Beautiful park and absolutely enormous.  Great sight lines, very unique, just plain beautiful.
5. Camden Yards (2007) - One of the parks we have to thank for the trend of the new ballparks.  Lots of cool unique features with my favorite being that any ball that lands near the old warehouse is marked in the pavement with a small plaque with the year and person who hit the bomb.
6. New Kauffman Stadium (2009)
7. Jacobs Field (2004) - See Camden Yards.
8. New Busch Stadium (2008) - Nothing too fancy for a new park but the view of the arch is just gorgeous.
9. Turner Field (2007) - I was amazed at the some of the unique features of this park.  On TV it looks almost cookie cutter with the even outfield, but once you get to the park there is a lot to do.
10. Angel Stadium (2006) - Not sure what it was about the Big A, but I really enjoyed the game there.  I think it was partially because of the fans and their knowledge of the game.
11. Tiger Stadium (2004) - One of the first stadiums we went to and nothing about it sticks out as positive in my head.  Probably because I think Detroit is about the worst city I have ever been to.
12. Old Kauffman Stadium (2006 & 2008)
13. Chavez Revine (2006) - I thought this place was a dump.  We sat in the bleachers (maybe that is why) and it just felt old and dirty.
14. Shea Stadium (2007) - Worse than Chavez Revine.
15. Old Busch Stadium (2004) - Felt like I was going to fall down the seats to my death.  Those old stadiums are horrible.
16. Metrodome (2007) - Football stadiums should not have baseball.  I had to look around the people sitting next to me to see home plate.
17. RFK (2007) - No wonder the Redskins and Nationals got out of there as soon as possible.

Other parks and/or baseball places we have been: Negro League Museum, Field of Dreams, HoHoKam Park and Hi Corbett Field.

Here are some of the changes that were made to the Big K:

• Fans can now walk around the entire park. Previously you could not walk past the left field corner and not much past the right field corner. Now you can walk all the way around the park.
• New party sections and standing room only sections in the outfield, along with typical seating. 
• The Royals hall of fame was moved from behind home plate to left field. The old hall of fame is now a new and improved team store.
• There is a huge kiddie park in center field. They have miniature golf, batting cages, radar guns for pitching, little kids mini ball park where they can hit and run the bases, merry-go-round, face painting, EA Sports video game room and much more. 
• Bars behind the fountains for the adults to drink at.
• A very large scoreboard in center field, larger than Turner Field and I think it is the biggest in the majors. Maybe the biggest in sports until the new Cowboy Stadium opens.
• I mentioned the walk ways and this is a big improvement. In years past walking around from first to third it was crowded and dark, now it is wider, more open and much brighter.
• Same with the upper deck, there are two large entrances from the upper deck concourse to the seating area, gives the park a much more open feel to it.
• New seating behind home plate including a large restaurant a la Coors Field and the dining in the right field corner.
• Statues behind the fountains of past Royals greats including George Brett.
• There also appears to be more vendors and new higher quality vendors. New ballparks all have specialty type of foods, whether it is the garlic fries in San Francisco or the Rocky Mountain Oysters here in Colorado, you can get more than a hot dog and peanuts at the park. KC opened up a coffee shop and other vendors that offered much more than just cotton candy.
• They also were selling Boulevard beer; a local brewery that I feel is very similar to New Belgium in Fort Collins. Whether they have been selling that beer there for years, I do not know for certain, but I had one this past weekend and it was great.

Overall I think the new park is a huge improvement and for a fraction of the cost. While the Yankees spent $1,500,000,000 to build their new park and most teams spend around 1 billion the Royals did it the small market way and their new park cost only $250,000,000 – one sixth of Yankee Stadium. It still has the feel of when George Brett used to park balls into the water fountains but with the new amenities required to keep current in this day and age. And if you sit in the outfield you can see the entire outfield, not like new Yankee where if you sit in right you cannot see left and vice versa.

I give new Kauffman an A+ and it is a great place to watch a ball game. And for a fraction of the cost of Yankee Stadium you get to see a team that is also 9 - 9.

Check out my slideshow of the pictures I took this past weekend.