Sean O's Fantasy Ballparks

[Sean O]

(see the bottom of page 1 for updated information on the project)

Hey everyone-

I'm potentially, just potentially considering what kind of park I could possibly work on apart from helping paulw with Classic Yankee Stadium. I originally wanted to make a small urban single-A park with smaller dimensions than most parks, but after playing around with single-A teams i'm not sure if that's needed. I also considered keeping many of the same ideas, just bumping the scale up and create a hypothetical traditional urban park, probably based on Classic Fenway, and sort of acting as a fantasy version of what Baker Bowl / League Park must have been like. This would work well for people looking for another option when playing in Total Classics, as a replacement to a modern-day park. Then I started thinking about a possible replacement for three parks that won't be around in 2010, Tropicana Field, the Metrodome and RFK. However, especially with the last three, I really want to know how much people think they would use the replacement park if I came up with a fantasy version. If people honestly feel like they would use it, then I'll be much more likely to attempt it.

For the Devil Rays and Twins, I would make a park with an incredible amount of outfield space to take advantage of their speed and range. The Rays would have a park set on the water, while the Twins would be more of an urban setting (note: this is a possibility because I hate the proposed Twins park). Alternatively, the Twins stadium (or any other team you think needs a new park, Athletics, Royals, Yankees, Mets) could be an ultra-modern design that has nothing to do with urbanity or neoclassicism, something completely new. As the final option, I could attempt to create a fantasy version of the Washington Nationals' new home in downtown DC.

Regardless of what you vote, I want input. If you have a good idea I can use in the creation, then I am that much more likely to tackle the project. Just let me know what you want, because I want to create something that people will want to play a lot of games in.

Also, please PM me if you'd rather your comments or suggestions be private, as that's completely fine.

Thank you.

Sean

[Hory]

Two Single A ballparks I'd love to see in mvp 05 are the Staten Island Yankees' Richmond county Ballpark @ St George

(check out that view!)

and the Brooklyn Cyclones Keyspan park

(Love those neons around the lights)

But whatever you do, i'm looking forward to it as I enjoy your ballparks very much

[NotreDame1]

Sean O'

classic old big stadiums

West Side Grounds-- in Chicago 340l/560c/316r Page 10 in the Book "Take me out to the Ballpark" By Josh Leventhal

Hilltop Park in NYC 365L/542C/400R

Robison Field in St Louis 470L/500C/290R

Huntiongton Ave Grounds 350L/635C/280R in Boston

Exposition Park in Pittsburgh was in between Three Rivers Stadium's site and the site of the current park PNC Park 400L/450C/400R People would stand on the outside of the park and watch when it was very crowded-- (OUTFIELD GRASS) It was in the High Heat Game but you could find the picture if you really wanted to?

Now did anyone do the Baker Bowl Park?

And Maybe D.C. new park?

and of course Classic Really Classic Yankee Stadium

I really love that old Braves Field you did that is and still a great park you did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you got my ideas or opinions and I hope I helped you?

Let me know what you think about all of this.

Thank you asking me and others,

NotreDame1

[Jeeper]

Please make a newer, better single A park. I hate the ones that came with the game.

[futzy99]

When you say urban, do you mean playing in the street, like stickball? Because that would be way cool!

[Sean O]

No, not playing in the street, but an urban park like Fenway or Wrigley. Short-ish foul lines with roads directly on the other side of the walls, buildings across the street with seating on top, the whole thing.

I'm kind of wondering if people would be interested in an ultra-modern park to replace one of the terrible stadiums in the game. Whether it's set downtown or not, I think glass and steel integrated with the neoclassical design concepts could be incredible.

So if I could change any team's stadium to something new, what team should I make? Or is a single-A park something people want?

[jg2977]

It would be cool if you could convert Cinergy Field back into Riverfront Stadium (having the stadium go all the way around).

I would definitely be interested in your "ultra-modern" park idea. That would be awesome. I never play in the single-A stadiums anyway, as I only play with the major league teams in my dynasty.

[Hollywood]

My vote is for fixing up one of the minor league stadiums.

[bill]

The SI Yankee stadium would def. be nice. The water backdrop is beautiful.

[Sean O]

The SI Yankee stadium would def. be nice. The water backdrop is beautiful.

Wait, what is this? Did SI come up with a fantasy version of Yankee Stadium?

I wouldn't rule out making my own ultra-modern version of the new Yankee Stadium, since the proposed version fails in every conceivable level.

[jg2977]

Wait, what is this? Did SI come up with a fantasy version of Yankee Stadium?

I wouldn't rule out making my own ultra-modern version of the new Yankee Stadium, since the proposed version fails in every conceivable level.

I think he means the Staten Island Yankees, not Sports Illustrated!

An ultra-modern Yankee Stadium would be fantastic. I would definitely use that. But please, no swimming pools beyond the outfield fence! :lol:

[Sean O]

Hiya-

So, I've been thinking over a bunch of ideas, and I'm starting to get a better idea of what project I'd like to do exactly. While it isn't one of the original options, I believe that Yankees fans (and Red Sox fans, since we spend so much freaking time there) deserve a much better new park than the one that George and HOK Sports is giving them.

So, here is my fantasy creation for the New York Yankees' new ballpark, opening in 2008. It is set in Manhattan, with the fantastic New York skyline immediately outside of the park. Since Manhattan is defined in so many ways by the glass and steel of the skyscraper, that is what will constitute this park. Directly in center field will be a 6 story glass-enclosed fan and luxury suite building, rising above the bleacher seating bowl. This is flanked by the centerpiece(s) of the park: two 50 story skyscrapers containing a luxury hotel, condominiums, and the offices for the Yankees brass. Guests / tenants of these buildings will be able to look down and watch the game from on-high.

On the other side of these symmetrical towers are more luxury suite and fan amenities buildings, stretching to the foul lines. Each of these buildings are no more than four stories, allowing copious amounts of natural light to enter the park. Additionally, lighting standards are placed upon these buildings to provide ample illumination for the playing field. The glass also helps naturally heat these buildings, as the entire complex is meant for all-seasons use.

The seating borrows from three rather disparate sources. First, the bleachers are similar to those of US Cellular field, perfectly symmetrical and surrounded by the aforementioned outfield buildings after a large walkway area. This is also similar to the proposed Labatt Field under consideration for Montreal prior to the Expos' Washington move. The upper deck borrows considerably from Kauffman Stadium, whose tapered upper seating area provides the cleanest lines of any baseball stadium in the country. Between these two sections are the large luxury box areas, two floors worth, all enclosed in glass. All seats are angled towards the pitcher's mound, and the seating also utilizes the only design element brought over from the 1976 revision.

In the 1974-75 renovation, workers replaced the dozens of support columns obstructing views from the original design with an unseen wire system which supported the entire structure without requiring the posts. This allowed the seating areas to be build far closer to the action than many other parks, making for a more intimate feel. The New Yankee Stadium will include this element, placing the upper deck almost directly over the entire lower bowl. This along with heavy diagonal anchors set

deep inside the walls of the luxury suites will provide the support for the upper deck.

Now, to the field. After consulting with various Yankee fans, I keep hearing that the park should be large enough to favor the pitching, rather than a pure hitters' park. In response, the dimensions of this park will be large without becoming completely stifling to hitters. The symmetrical field has 340' corners, quickly extending to 390' power alleys. Directly to the left and right of dead center will be 420', where New Yankee Stadium will borrow another element from a classic park, the famous centerfield divot from the Polo Grounds. Thus dead center will be 461', the exact same distance as the Classic Era of Yankee Stadium.

Classic Yankee Stadium provided one other design element to the Yankees' new home, which will be replicated on a larger scale. In the post-1937 revision, the center field fence sloped from 3' to 11', including the batter's eye screen which stood over 20'. While the screen will not be neccesary due to the center field divot, the corners of the park will begin at 3' (which will also be the foul ground wall height) and rise to 10' directly left and right of dead center. This will both provide a unique wall arrangement while also recalling the walls of the old park.

The foul ground behind the plate will also recall the old Yankee Stadium, as it is slightly elongated directly behind the plate. Additionally, the outfield walls will contain smaller, intimate luxury suites behind a see-through one-way wall, allowing visitors an entirely new view of the action. The center field divot wall, instead of housing the clubhouses like at the old Polo Grounds, will be plated with one-way glass, behind which a restaurant will serve patrons with a tremendous, and unique, view of the game.

There are many more elements involved in the design of this park, but for right now I will let the ground plan do the talking. Once I manage to get my copy of vectorworks functional I will attempt to make a three-dimensional model, but until then, this will have to do. I hope you enjoy, and leave any comments or suggestions in the thread.

Thanks to system for his tremendous help to this point. I am hoping this will eventually become an MVP project, but until then I want to flesh out all my ideas in a more easily modified medium. I have tried to integrate the old elements of New York baseball into a modern design unlike anything seen before in the major leagues, even including the heavy influences of some of its elements. I also believe this combines the new and the old in a way more befitting the organization and the fan than the current design, which I believe fails on every conceivable level. This park will seat 45-50 thousand people, contain an incredible number of luxury suites, and will become a true destination, redefining the Yankees organization for the 21st century.

Thank you.

Sean O

(Click for larger image)

[big shmooz]

Sean O... is the above essay taken from an actual proposal to build a new Yankee stadium? LOL

[jg2977]

Please don't make the park huge - (340 down the lines, 390, 420, and 461 to center.) It will be impossible to hit home runs, especially to dead center, and half the reason I like to play MVP is to hit a lot of home runs.

Is there any chance that you can make one version with deep dimensions, and another version with the current dimensions?

[NotreDame1]

Sean O'

I hope still hope you are helping that other guy who is doing the classic Old yankee Stadium?? And this is just your project right?

[Jeeper]

Well whatever you decide to do with it, I can't wait to see it!

[Sean O]

As for the dimensions, I'll be happy to take suggestions on them. I still want this to be a pitcher's park, but I can move the fences forward a little bit. I don't think I would want to move them any closer than 325 corners, 380 alleys, 410 divot corners. As it is, there are several parks with corner dimensions around or greater than 340 (Wrigley Field, Comerica Park, Camden Yards, The Metrodome, Pro Player Park, Millar Park, Yankee Stadium), and parks with alleys at or deeper than 390 (Turner Field, Camden Yards, RFK, SBC Park, PETCO Park), and Bank One, Fenway, Pro Player, Minute Maid Park, Comerica, SBC and Camden Yards all have 420'+ outfield dimensions outside of dead center.

As for the divot, I really like how it breaks up the pure symmetry of the outfield, keeping it from being bland like US Cellular or the dougnut clones of the 70s, while also recalling the parks of the past. If other disagree, please let me know.

[jg2977]

Here are the current dimensions of Yankee Stadium:

LF - 318

LF power alley - 399

CF - 408

RF power alley - 385

RF - 314

Now, for some reason in this game, I can crank home runs almost 500 feet down the lines, but I've never hit a ball more than 440 feet to straight away center field. So if there was a big divot in center that brought the dimensions to over 440, I'd never hit a home run there. Now, because of the divot, there would also be way too many inside-the-park home runs, which in my view would be way too unrealistic. Also, I've played some games in the Polo Grounds, and the center fielder ran down almost every ball that went towards that divot. 430 foot bombs that would be home runs almost everywhere else were caught for outs, and that really ticked me off too. And since the center fielder would play so deep because of that divot, regular fly balls would sometimes drop in for hits. Extremely unrealistic.

I like the dimensions that Yankees Stadium has right now. I think that they are just perfect. I believe that they plan on keeping the same dimensions in the New Yankee Stadium.

[Sean O]

Yeah, I understand what you're saying about being able to hit enough home runs there, but I think part of that may be the level you're playing on in MVP. Back when I was playing in pro, I would hit bombs down the corners, but now that I'm on mvp mode, I pepper the alleys and center field with my homers. In Pro I've also been able to hit the Polo divot, which is 20' further back, and I've also hit 480' flies to dead center. It's a challenge, but it's an intentional challenge.

I personally don't like, well, much of anything in the current Yankees park except for the wire/concrete system, because I don't think the renovations created dimensions that were all that beneficial. With this outfield, it will benefit the Yankees in the long run, because they have enough money to buy both speed and power, while pitchers will also be even more interested in going because it will so help their stats. It just means that they will need an excellent defensive center fielder to patrol the large ground, which will greatly cut down on inside the park homers. Plus, the opening is only like 40' wide, so a ball would have to be simply crushed at exactly the right location for it to make it inside the divot.

This is my justification at least for the dimensions, and people can chime in on which they'd rather have. But I do want it symmetrical, because I think it is necessary for the overall look.

edit:

Also, yes, I am still working on Classic Yankee Stadium, but at best that will be released in stages, with stage one not being all that difficult in terms of my work (paul has considerably more to plow through). This is more of a long-term project that I would love to accomplish using mutliple forms of media, with the hopeful end result of making it into an mvp-playable park.

[Sean O]

Here's a quick update to show where I am after just a little bit of layout and render work. The field is starting to shape up, with the walls at their correct height and distance from home plate. Hope you all enjoy.

(I guess this should be relocated to MVP previews, but I'm not exactly sure where this will really fit. I'm fine with whatever.)

[mooseknucks]

So uh, are the corner walls going to be that low? They look like you can step right over them, which shouldn't matter cause the game AI wouldn't allow that, but the reality effect might be a bit off with 8 inch walls. :lol:

[mrmariner]

I don't normally ask for mods, but since you are asking.

How about a owner mode stadium. All I would like to see is real ads, red bud cans, I think the red would brighten up the place. Not anything that is team specific.

Thank's for asking for input.

[Sean O]

So uh, are the corner walls going to be that low? They look like you can step right over them, which shouldn't matter cause the game AI wouldn't allow that, but the reality effect might be a bit off with 8 inch walls.

It's just the angle, in reality those are 3' walls in the corners and stretching down the foul lines. Then the wall rises to 10' to the sides of dead center, with the 461' batter's eye wall at 20'.

[Sean O]

Here's the latest update for the rendering project for New Yankee Stadium. I'm going to take at the very least a few days off on this, in order to focus on some mvp stuff and generally to clear my head. If anyone has experience in vectorworks and wants to give advice on how to figure out some pretty funky angles seating arrangements, I'd appreciate it.

This shows the non-bleachers section of the lower seating area done, with the red flat sections being the concourse area and the grey box the shops and whatnot.

[Sean O]

Well, in just screwing around I managed to figure out how to build the bleachers, which was a huge, huge step for me. I'm pretty excited. I've included a POV shot in this update since I think that best represents how the park will look to a batter.

And finally, the piece de resistance:

Comments, as always, are appreciated, and I hope to get some more done over the upcoming days. Until then, get ready for Classic Yankee Stadium, which I'm going to start editing extremely soon. Paul's done a fantastic job, and I'm excited to finally get an accurate version out to the community.

Sean O