| Cleveland followed the trend
of Baltimore's Camden Yards by building a so-called "retro" park, Jacobs
Field. And Indian fans have flocked here since its opening in 1994,
making almost every game a sellout until 2001 when the team when into a slight decline. Having never been to Municipal
Stadium, I can only guess from the photos that Jacobs Fields is an immense
improvement over that monstrosity. The downtown location makes for
a great setting both while walking around the park and while taking in
the view while inside the park. Sometimes downtown parks are harder
to access, but I didn't find that to be the case here. While a lot of
the parking was in garages (which I don't prefer), it seemed to be sufficient.
The main entrance to the park is in the left field corner. The main
concourse is filled with a good variety of concessions and has numerous
picnic tables to enjoy your food at. Most of lower deck
seating seemed to have a good view of the field, but the same cannot be
said of the upper deck. Because of the multiple levels of luxury
boxes, the upper deck has been pushed up higher than in other parks.
The scoreboard, which was billed as the biggest in the majors when Jacobs
Field opened, dominates the outfield view. It is really too big as
it eats into the view of the skyline. The atmosphere here is probably
one of the best in the majors, most likely due to the Indians prolonged
success in the late 90's. The guy who beats the drum all game long
can get a bit annoying, but that's just a minor complaint. Overall,
a nice new park, but of the retro parks, it's not one of my favorites.
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