The MLB Multimedia Experience

I've occasionally complained about the Ballpark Formerly Known As Enron and the fact that it's such a blaring, multimedia experience that it's hard for a purist to enjoy the GAME (despite the fact that one is much closer to the action than one ever was in the stadium now known as Reliant Astrodome).

Russ Smith takes up the argument in a fine article for the Taste page on Opinion Journal:

There is gourmet ice cream, micro-beers, sushi, fresh-squeezed lemonade--and insufferable "classic" rock 'n' roll blaring between innings. There are exploding scoreboards on Diamond vision screens. And in Arizona at least, there is that swimming pool. Gone is the era when you could bring a magazine to the park for between-innings reading. No longer can you engage in a sports-filled conversation with your neighbors. It's just too noisy.

One of baseball's great attractions used to be the chance to spend a few hours outdoors and simply relax. Now, after visiting a faux-museum like Baltimore's manic Camden Yards, I'm a wreck.

My past experiences at The Ballpark Formerly Known As Enron were pretty much as Smith describes. But last night, I had a fine time at an Astros exhibition game against Jimy Williams's former team, the BoSox. The weather was outstanding, the roof was open, and the audio portion of the multimedia blast definitely seemed toned down from recent times. I hope it remains that way. I had a really good time, although I must admit I did a lot more people watching and socializing than watching baseball.

[Posted at 10:41 CST on 03/30/02] [Link]