America's 7 Best Ballparks

These baseball stadiums make it a great day out whether or not your team wins.

ByABC News
April 1, 2010, 5:49 PM

April 2, 2010— -- Super-sized televisions, amazing views and high-end food are just some of the latest features at Major League Baseball stadiums across the country. In the last decade or so, cities across the nation have made substantial improvements to existing ballparks and introduced a series of new fields that constantly amaze.

With another baseball season beginning this weekend, ABC News decided to revisit the ballpark and pick our favorite places to watch a game. Even if your favorite team isn't playing, it's worth taking a trip to check out these amazing stadiums.

"They've gotten away from the cookie-cutter park, thank goodness. The parks are a lot more interesting now," said Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Heyman. "They're borrowing from the old-time park. It's been an obvious change for the better."

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In the 1970s, a series of new parks were constructed that could be described, at best, as "ugly." A better description for them might be "hideous" or "blights on the land." They were very symmetrical, often had fake grass and were, in most cases, built to accommodate football teams, as well.

Various cities and Major League Baseball have done a great job of getting new stadiums built where they were needed, Heyman said.

"There's definitely been a movement away from utilitarian fields like that, more towards ones that really capture the magic of what baseball is to so many people, which is sort of an escape from their ordinary lives," said Josh Pahigian, author of several baseball books including, "101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out."

That trend continues this year, with the opening of a new stadium for the Minnesota Twins, Target Field.

We spoke to the experts about what makes a great field and which parks they liked and then we picked some of our favorites. There are plenty of other great places to watch ballgames (including countless minor-league stadiums not included on our list.) Feel free to pick your favorite and tell us why in the comments section.