CBP deserves better

I have some disagreement concerning the placement of Citizen's Bank Park (CBP) on this list. Mostly my issue is with the apples/oranges comparison done by SI. While sure, this was a "fan value" initiative, and so based on feedback from fans, how many of those fans have visited how many of those other ballparks? Now, I'm not one to speak as an expert, because I've hardly been to a significant number of the ballparks myself, but I HAVE been to #1, #2, #5, #9, #11 (oh yeah, we didn't make it), #13, #14, #15, #16, and #19. So, as you can see, most of my ballpark experience comes from "top half" parks, meaning I don't speak entirely out of my butt on this issue.

My issue is this... were fans asked "how good is your park in these areas" or "how good is your park in these areas WHEN COMPARED TO ALL THE OTHER PARKS". Those are two distinctly different questions, and I'd wager many fans would at least tweak their answers somewhat if they knew there was a skewed comparison occurring. And I say skewed because the psychometrist in me (yes, I had computer psychometrics in college) knows there's no true standard of measure for many of the criteria between parks. And without that, it's very difficult to make a valid representative comparison.

I know, I know, that one Anaheim reader of my blog is like, oh heck, you just want CBP to be #1 rather than EIF (oops, it was Edison International Field when I was last there in 2002) Angel Stadium. But no, that's not the case. In fact, I'm not saying CBP should be #1 at all. But, having been to both parks, I do feel CBP was a better experience than my experience in Anaheim. That said, I'd also say that the overall experience at Camden Yards was better than at CBP. So, I'm not saying CBP is best, just that it deserved better.


Update, 16 September
Add #17 for me, as I went to Houston today to check out MMP. AWESOME! And also much more deserving of a better rank.