Is the 'worst' seat at the Braves' Truist Park really all that bad?
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.
But in other ballparks, finding a bad seat was a little more challenging, he said.
Newer facilities like PNC Park in Pittsburgh (which opened in 2001), T-Mobile Park in Seattle (1999) and Truist Park (2017), were designed with the full fan experience in mind.
“There’s really not a bad seat at Truist Park,” Speros said. “But, you know, I had to find the worst of a good lot.”
That seat, Section 410, Row 12, Seat 1, at the top of the right field stands, may not the best for someone who has trouble with stairs. And there’s no shade, so a day game with lots of sunshine would be brutal.
But there’s a concession stand nearby and a restroom too. You can even order a hot dog or beer right from your seat.
And the view of the action is pretty good too.
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