Kansas City Royals: Comparing Kauffman Stadium to Newest MLB Park

Kansas City Royals fans take a lot of pride in Kauffman Stadium. So we decided to compare the experience with seeing a game at the newest MLB stadium—SunTrust Park. Here’s what we found.

Growing up as a fan of the Kansas City Royals, it was always a special treat when my family would make the drive from rural Pettis County, Missouri, up to Kauffman Stadium. The team wasn’t so great in those days of the early 2000s (Sorry to make some of you feel old.), but I loved going to the ballpark. And not just because we could usually sit close down the lines for cheap.

Unfortunately, I was only able to go to one home game during the amazing 2014-15 stretch due to moving out of state. During that visit, it was just as I remembered it—with a few more bells and whistles. It was the only MLB stadium I’d been to my entire life, so I was always a little partial to it. I understood, obviously, the majesty of Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. As modern stadiums go, The K was definitely in the upper echelon for me.

I got my first chance to compare it to another ballpark on Tuesday night.

It just so happened that the stadium is the newest one in MLB—SunTrust Park. In July, my family relocated to Marietta, Georgia, just a few miles away from the Atlanta Braves’ new stadium. We finally made it to a game on Tuesday with the Washington Nationals in town. Ironically enough, former Missouri Tiger Max Scherzer was pitching for the Nationals.

It seemed like the perfect time to go.

My girlfriend suggested I write something about the game. I thought it would be cool to compare the experience at Kauffman Stadium to the one at SunTrust Park. So here are my completely (un)scientific findings.