Oriole Park at Camden Yards - Ballparks Influenced By Camden Yards

Ballparks Influenced By Camden Yards

Since its opening day in 1992, Camden Yards was a success and fan favorite. Attendance jumped from an average of 25,722 over the last ten years of Memorial Stadium's tenure to an average of 43,490 over the first ten years of Camden Yards' existence. Due to its success, many other cities built traditional-feeling asymmetrical ballparks with modern amenities (such as skyboxes) in a downtown setting. Many of these stadiums, like Camden Yards, incorporate "retro" features in the stadium exteriors as well as interiors; these parks have been dubbed "retro-classic" parks. Other parks, known as "retro-modern" parks, have combined "retro" interiors with more modern exterior elements.

These ballparks include:

Retro-classic

• Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in Arlington, Texas (1994)
• Coors Field in Denver (1995)
• Turner Field in Atlanta (1996/1997)
  • The park was originally the Centennial Olympic Stadium of the 1996 Summer Olympics. After the Olympics and Paralympics were complete, the stadium was converted (as originally planned) into a baseball park, opening in that form the following year.
• AT&T Park in San Francisco (2000)
• Comerica Park in Detroit (2000)
• PNC Park in Pittsburgh (2001)
• Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia (2004)
• Busch Stadium in St. Louis (2006)
• Citi Field in Queens, New York City (2009)
• New Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York City (2009)
• U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago (1991/2010)
  • This park opened in 1991 as the last of the so-called "modern" ballparks. It was heavily renovated from 2001–2010 into a retro-classic park.

Retro-modern

• Progressive Field in Cleveland (1994)
• Angel Stadium of Anaheim in Anaheim (1966/1998)
  • Angel Stadium opened in 1966 as a modern park. From 1979 to 1980, it was converted into a multi-purpose park shared with the NFL's Los Angeles Rams. After the Rams moved to St. Louis after the 1994 NFL season, the stadium was extensively renovated a second time from 1996–1998, with the most significant change being the removal of almost all of the seats added for football. The final result was a retro-modern park.
• Chase Field in Phoenix (1998)
• Safeco Field in Seattle (1999)
• Minute Maid Park in Houston (2000)
• Miller Park in Milwaukee (2001)
• Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati (2003)
• PETCO Park in San Diego (2004)
• Nationals Park in Washington (2008)
• Target Field in Minneapolis (2010)

The newest MLB park, Marlins Park in Miami (opened in 2012), was the first since Camden Yards not classified as a "retro" park, whether of the classic or modern variety. Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria specifically rejected the retro model for the new park, desiring a facility that reflected the 21st-century culture of Miami. Populous, which designed both Camden Yards and Marlins Park, was willing to listen; the lead designer for Marlins Park would later say the company was "waiting for a client willing to break the mold." Stadium planners are labeling Marlins Park the first example of contemporary architecture in MLB.