MLB Notebook: Countering false early-season narratives; Ranking the best and worst of MLB ballparks

We're all a little guilty of occasionally overreacting to a handful of games. In case any of us forgot, that was on display earlier this week when the Red Sox were run over by the Baltimore Orioles -- never mistaken for the 1927 Yankees -- in the first series of the year.

You could almost picture the line of fans queueing up to leap from the Tobin in despair. Fortunately, some held off long enough to witness the reversal of fortune that followed, resulting in a euphoria that led to some Duckboat Parade planning for later this fall.

Along the way, a few harebrained theories began dotting the local sports media landscape. None, you'll be shocked to learn, had any sort of relationship to reality or rational thought. But, oh well.

Here are three misguided early-season (to be fair, some have been around for a while) conspiracy theories that just down hold up under closer inspection:

• The Red Sox hired Chaim Bloom because they intend to eventually have a Tampa Bay-sized payroll.

• The Red Sox are being run -- and ruined -- by nerds.

• The Red Sox are up to something nefarious when it comes to Tanner Houck.

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1. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles. I don't ordinarily consider myself a traditionalist, but there's something about this place in Chavez Ravine that captivates me. The view of the San Gabriel Mountains beyond the outfield is breathtaking, and so is the sight of downtown LA from behind home plate. The Dodgers have managed to modernize it in recent years without compromising its original charm. And the place is clean enough to eat off the floor.


2. Oracle Park, San Francisco. Build on the San Francisco waterfront, with views of bat visible beyond right field, now known as McCovey Cove. The limited footprint means fans are on top of the action. And yeah, the permeating smell of garlic fries is a huge selling point.


3. Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore. This set the template for the modern ballpark, and in that sense, it remains the gold standard by which all others that followed are measured. The idea of incorporating the historic, surrounding building was genius. People who believe replacing Fenway is heretical have likely never been here.


4. Target Field, Minneapolis. Criminally underrated, this shot to near to the top of my list from my first visit there. They nicely incorporated limestone throughout the ballpark, giving it a unique feature and the placement of the ballpark into the downtown community was nicely done.


5. PNC Park, Pittsburgh. I've only visited this for one series, but it lived up the hype, with breathtaking views of the Alleghany River and across that, downtown Pittsburgh. One of great experiences is walking across the Roberto Clemente Bridge on the way to the ballpark. Too bad the product on the field is often bad.

1. RingCentral Coliseum, Oakland. There's a reason why the title sponsorship for this hellhole is always changing: you wouldn't want your name associated with this dump. Depending on how you measure this is either the second- or third-oldest ballpark in the league, but it could pass for the oldest. As a general rule, I tend to be down on ballparks in which raw sewage flows out of the clubhouse and down to the field. But maybe that's just me.


2. Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago. To begin with, minus points for what is unquestionably the worst name for a ballpark in the country. I get the need for corporate sponsorship, but come on. This place has the ignominious distinction of being the last of the "old school'' ballparks. It was modeled after the old Yankee Stadium, but a year later, when Camden Yards opened, it was already hopelessly outmoded. It doesn't help that, too often, it's about a quarter full, and on a cold April night, just feels depressing.


3. Rogers Centre, Toronto. The Blue Jays haven't played there since 2019 because of the pandemic, and I'm guessing not a single member of the organization misses it. It seemed like a good idea at the time when it opened in 1989, what with the novelty of the first retractable roof and all. But it hasn't aged well. The seating bowl is reminiscent of those godawful multi-sport joints that blotted the 1970s landscape in that you can be, say, 20 rows back and feel like you're a cab ride from the playing field. And when the roof is closed, the environment is dark and uninviting. Plus, no matter how many times they change the playing surface, it's still abysmal.


4. LoanDepot Park, Miami. Someone thought it would be a good idea to wedge a new ballpark into a neighborhood, Little Havana, meaning your best (and only?) parking option is to pay somebody $20 to park on their front lawn. It's not much better inside, though thankfully, the whole pop art installation in center field has been removed. That doesn't excuse the nightclub in left field, designed, apparently, to trick people into believing that they've been transported into an all-night raver in South Beach.


5. Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg. This place has exactly one thing going for it: decent sightlines to the field. But its list of sins more than cancel out its one positive. Let's start with the catwalks, which are an abomination to the game. Add in the feeling that the entire place is going to disintegrate when one of the thunderstorms roll through and there's very little to recommend here.

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