It’s Friday night, and I’ve just gone up two escalators and a staircase to reach my seat in the very top row in the very last section in right field, deemed by veteran sports writer Bill Speros as the worst seat at Truist Park.
“Basically, I tried to look at what people consider when going to a game or looking at tickets,” said Speros, the writer behind a bookies.com list ranking the worst seat at every Major League Baseball stadium.
His analysis of lousy stadium seats took into account several factors: distance from concessions and restrooms; distance from home plate; and the view from each seat.
Some selections were easy. He found the absolute worst seats in baseball were at older stadiums like Fenway Park in Boston (which opened in 1912) and Wrigley Field in Chicago (1914), where some fans have to look around a giant pole to see the game.
“You know these ballparks were built to try to get people as close to the field as possible, without concern for comfort, concessions or obstruction,” said Speros, who noted that both the Red Sox and Cubs disclose that the seats have an obstructed view and usually don’t sell them unless all other seats are taken.
“People buy them knowing what they’re getting into,” he said.
Speros, who began attending games at Fenway Park in 1970, doesn’t discount the historical charm of the older ballparks.
“It’s a great ballpark – if your seat is good, if you’re not crammed in the middle, if you’re not sitting in a seat that was designed for someone who was born in 1906,” said Speros.
