Daikin Park

A review

One goal of mine is to visit every team’s ballpark. I’m actually doing pretty well in that department so far—I’ve been to:

Arizona Diamondbacks: Chase Field
Baltimore Orioles: Camden Yards
Boston Red Sox: Fenway Park
Cincinnati Reds: Great American Ballpark
Chicago Cubs: Wrigley Field
Chicago White Sox: Rate Field
Cleveland Indians/Guardians: Jacob’s Field
Colorado Rockies: Coors Field
Detroit Tigers: Comerica Park
Los Angeles Dodgers: Dodger Stadium
Miami Marlins: LoanDepot Park
Minnesota Twins: Target Field
New York Mets: Shea Stadium & Citi Field
New York Yankees: Old Yankee Stadium & New Yankee Stadium
Oakland Athletics: Oakland Coliseum
Philadelphia Phillies: Citizens Bank Park
Pittsburgh Pirates: PNC Park
San Francisco Giants: Oracle Park
St. Louis Cardinals: Busch Stadium
Texas Rangers: Globe Life Field
Toronto Blue Jays: Rogers Centre
Washington Nationals: RFK Stadium & Nationals Park

I’ve been to more stadiums than I’ve missed at this point, and I’ve even gotten the chance to visit a few that no longer exist. I also visited the old Miami Marlins stadium for the Orange Bowl (which I’m not counting).

So when I attended a few World Baseball Classic games, I was able to knock another stadium off my list. I thought it might be fun to do a quick review of Daikin Park. I’ll grade the park across five categories on a 1–5 scale: 1 being almost impossibly bad, 3 being average, and 5 being best in class. The categories are:

Ambience: What did the park make me feel, if anything?
Beauty: Is the park visually appealing?
Comfort: Is it comfortable to watch a game here? Do I feel cramped, how long are the lines, etc.?
View: How easy is it to follow the game—not just from my seat, but around the concourse?
Amenities: Can I get a decent beer or food, and am I getting decent value?

Ambience: 3

Eh, the ambience in Houston was fine. I liked the park more when it was “Minute Maid Park” instead of Daikin, and that probably cost it a point. But I walked in and felt…nothing. There was Astros branding, but nothing that really stood out.

Admittedly, the Astros aren’t the most storied franchise, and their recent history is a mixed bag—two championships and several pennants, but also the 2017 sign-stealing controversy. It also doesn’t help, in my mind, that they switched leagues.

The fans were fine. Since it was the World Baseball Classic, I didn’t run into many true Houston fans. The international crowd was a lot of fun—more cheerful and boisterous than I’m used to, and not particularly partisan. There were also plenty of fans from non-participating countries, which gave things a different feel.

For me, the pinnacle of ambience is Old Yankee Stadium. You walked in and immediately felt a sense of awe. Babe Ruth played there. Bob Feller pitched there. World Series games were played there. Bob Sheppard’s voice echoed there. It felt like walking into baseball history—even if it was the Yankees. I got none of that in Daikin. Not bad—just not memorable. An average score feels fair.

Beauty: 2

The stadium is ugly. I’m not a big fan of roofed parks to begin with, but this one felt like a bit of a dungeon with the roof closed. The concourse felt dark and heavy. Nothing about the park made me stop and think, “wow, this is a beautiful place to watch a game.” It came off as bland and uninspiring—which, I suppose, fits Houston in a way.

Comfort: 3

I sat almost directly behind home plate about 20 rows back, so my seats were excellent. They were comfortable, with enough room and a place for my drink—about what I expected. If I were grading just the seats, it’d probably be a 4.

The lines, however, were fairly long—longer than I’m used to, though I’ll admit Cleveland doesn’t exactly sell out often. Bathroom lines were long, and not especially clean. More noticeably, the concourse felt jammed. I was moving at a snail’s pace most of the time. It wasn’t an easy park to navigate, which became more frustrating given the lackluster amenities.

Amenities: 2

I don’t ask for much at a ballpark: peanuts, a decent hot dog or burger, maybe something lighter if I’m trying to avoid total junk. I checked ahead and found one spot in the park that supposedly offered something beyond the basics. I made the trek over—and found no salads. The “healthier options” stand sold beer and cotton candy.

Fine. I grabbed a burger—it was mediocre—and then went looking for beer. The options were underwhelming. I found one place that wasn’t just serving macrobrew, and even that selection wasn’t great. Everywhere I went, it was the same rotation of hot dogs and average beer.

I get that ballparks aren’t known for variety, but at Jacob’s Field I can find multiple local beers and a few more interesting food options without much effort. Houston felt pedestrian by comparison. For a city that several locals told me is more diverse than New York, the ballpark felt very one-note—unambiguously American, in the most basic sense.

View: 2

The view from my seat was good, as expected. The problem was everywhere else.

Walking the concourse, there were very few TVs, making it hard to keep up with the game. There was almost no view of the field unless you walked all the way to the edge. Maybe that was a World Baseball Classic quirk, but there was no radio broadcast playing either. I had to rely on crowd noise to figure out what was happening.

The jumbotron didn’t help much. It was large and clear, but positioned at an awkward angle. I found myself searching for basic information like the count or stats. In most parks, you just glance up and everything is right there—this wasn’t that.

Overall: 2.4

I can’t say Daikin Park was a particularly fun place to watch a game. The field itself is interesting, with the tall left field wall somewhat reminiscent of Fenway’s Green Monster (or the smaller version in Cleveland), but the overall experience just didn’t stand out.

-BenjaminJ