Opened: 1999
Capacity: 47,116
What the authors say: “Whether the roof is open or closed, baseball at Safeco always feels as it it’s being played outside, which enhances the game-day experience.”
Learned from the book:
• The authors consider Safeco’s retractable roof the best in the sport, because even when it covers the field it does not enclose it, thus allowing a welcome airiness.
• Unlike most stadiums, which have had their grand openings on the Opening Day of the season, Safeco opened midseason in 1999.
• As of the book’s release, Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, the Mariners owner, reportedly had never seen the team play in Seattle since buying the club in 1996.
• The closing of the roof after games is a show in itself.
• Safeco is in industrial area at the edge of downtown and working trains still rumble by the ballpark, sometimes sounding their horns.
• Seattle being an artsy city, the ballpark has tastefully incorporated art into the stadium’s design. One of the more striking examples: a chandelier in the rotunda entrance fashioned from a thousand glass baseball bats.
• Fans can order food to delivered to their seats using cellphones, iPad, and other wireless devices.
