Roki Sasaki has signed, the Hall Of Fame inductees have been announced… yep, it’s official, we are in the dredges of the offseason.
Now the only thing baseball fans have to look forward to is third-tier level FA signings and pitchers and catchers reporting in mid February. So that means that us baseball writers have very little to actually write about, outside of previews to the upcoming season of course. If you don’t want to write draft guides and way-to-early predictions, however, what are you to do?
INTRODUCING: THE DEFINITIVE BROADCAST CAMERA ANGLE RANKING!!!!
Yes, that is right. The definitive ranking of only the most important of broadcast features. Not the broadcasting talent, not the scorebug, but the camera angle itself.
There’s a surprising amount of depth to this. Plenty of variety in angles, visual appeal, zoom, and how much the broadcast seems to care about the fans in the 8th row. If you have an MLB.tv subscription and just want to watch the most visually appealing broadcast, here is your guide:
30) Oakland A’s
I don’t know what to expect now that they’re in Sacramento. So they aren’t officially ranked.
29) Progressive Field – CLE
Cleveland’s camera angle allows us to talk about the criteria for this list. Good camera angles allow the viewer to track the movement of a pitch well. The further the shift toward third base, the less a viewer is able to effectively track horizontal movement. This Carlos Carrasco curveball had nearly a foot of horizontal movement, but you wouldn’t know based on this camera angle. Furthermore, the K zone is not centered, and the backstop is really ugly. All this adds up to a last-place spot on the list.
28) Chase Field – AZ
The problems with Progressive Field are also found at Chase Field. The angle is bad and the K zone is actually more toward the right side of the screen. Overall, however, it’s not quite as egregious though, and the backstop is marginally better. Not last!!
27) Angel Stadium – LAA
It is unfortunate that so much talent has been wasted on the Angels over the last decade and a half. It is also unfortunate so many neutral fans just wanting to watch Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani had to deal with this camera. Big ads behind home plate are gonna lose you major points, sorry.
26) Great American Ball Park – CIN
Why is the strike zone there??? It has a nicer backstop than Arizona or Cleveland, but jeez that angle. Also, there are too many ads – I don’t need two different tire ads on my backstop.
25) Kauffman Stadium – KAN
This one wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact it has one of the most extreme shifts toward third base of any angle on this list. Look where Singer is standing relative to the frame, he’s standing on his own name! There is no way to tell how much horizontal movement there is on pitches from RHP, and the QuikTrip ads suck to look at. Next.
24) Rogers Centre – TOR
You know what kills my opinion on a camera? A big fat ad that stretches across the whole screen. Gross.
23) Busch Stadium – STL
I know Cardinals fans are called the best fans in baseball, but do we really need to see 10 rows of them? Jonah Heim is covered up by Roycroft here, and while the camera angle isn’t bad for looking at pitch movement, the big electronic ads and low angle hurt it a lot here.
22) Comerica Park – DET
Detroit is the first one that doesn’t do anything too egregious, but there are enough nitpicks that it moves it down the ranking: The angle is off-center, the backstop is ugly, and it shows too many fans. Not bad, not great either.
21) Citizens Bank Park – PHI
It’s unfortunate because Citizens Bank Park is one of the nicer ones in MLB, but this angle is just too extreme. Nola is way off to the left here, much more than is tolerable. The strike zone placement is proper, and the backstop is nice to look at, but this changeup looks like a gyro slider. Next.
20) Nationals Park – WSH
This one isn’t too bad, and this is the part of the list where we are really going to have to start splitting hairs. The strike zone is off-center and there are gambling ads on the backstop. That’s gonna lose you points! Sorry, it’s my article I make the rules – gambling ads suck.
19) Oracle Park – SF
I don’t like the green padding for the backstop. Fenway can get away with it but they’re special. Ugly backstop and off-center angle strikes again.
18) Yankee Stadium – NYY
What’s with the grass???? This would be fine if they zoomed in, but they really wanted to make sure the groundskeepers got their dues, I guess.
17) Citi Field – NYM
The other New York stadium has a pretty unsightly electronic background but otherwise is pretty solid. Few complaints here… just change the ad please.
16) Petco Park – SD
Good job by the San Diego broadcast crew to put the scorebug in the bottom right, making up for the fairly lousy angle. This is sort of a better version of Rogers Centre, with the same flawed camera but a better backstop and a more centered strike zone.
15) Guaranteed Rate Field – CWS
The White Sox are very bad, but their broadcast camera angle is merely average. Not too much to say about this one, it does nothing especially well or poorly, so at the #15 spot it goes!
14) Dodger Stadium – LAD
Dodger Stadium may be a concrete urban hellhole, but its camera angle is pretty good. Visually appealing, without too many irritating ads. The camera angle is just too far off-center for it to crack the Top 10.
13) Marlins Park – MIA
Sorry Marlins fan, I have nothing to say about this angle. It’s good. Above average. Better than your team. Next!
12) T-Mobile Park – SEA
Baseball’s most pitcher-friendly park has one of its more viewer-friendly broadcasts. You can easily see how effective George Kirby’s sinker is here… but Seattle please move the camera like, two feet to the left. It’s asymmetrical and I don’t like it.
11) Target Field – MIN
As a Twins fan, I watch a lot of heartbreak Twins games at Target Field, and it doesn’t disappoint. Fun Fact: the backstop and much of Target Field is comprised of Minnesotan-mined Limestone. It’s unique to Target Field and makes the stadium look really nice. Like many entries here, it’s shifted a bit too much toward third, but still works well. Second fun fact: when Clayton Kershaw threw 7 perfect innings in 2021, unlike most of you who were just watching, I was one of the few who were actually at the game. Never seen a pitcher absolutely slice up a lineup like that, still haven’t forgiven Dave Roberts for pulling him. I will not hear any arguments about how “oh we needed Kershaw for October” as if 20 more pitches in April were actually going to matter that much. I was robbed of a generational story to tell… Curse you Dave!!!!!
10) Wrigley Field – CHC
You can tell that Wrigley Field was designed by a Chicagoan. Compared to Fenway, which – like Boston – is an amalgamation of renovations and seemingly random decisions made over the years, Chicago’s Wrigley Field is much more cohesive. It gets some bonus points for being such an old stadium and still having a good camera angle, so a Top-10 finish it gets.
9) Oriole Park – BAL
Oriole Park at Camden Yards is great. A darn good ballpark. Look at this camera angle. It’s really good. God I miss baseball. When do pitchers and catchers report?
8) Minute Maid Park – HOU
Kid you not, I made notes for this article and the note for Minute Maid Park was just “ugly backstop”. Otherwise pretty good.
7) Coors Field – COL
Everything about Coors’ camera angle is really good. No aspect is quite perfect, but there are no actual criticisms, just slight nitpicks. Coors is really nice, and so is its camera
6) Truist Park – ATL
I’m a sucker for brick backstops, and while Truist Park is in a really silly location, it has the decency to look really nice. Pretty much no notes here.
5) Globe Life Field – TEX
Globe Life Field is perhaps the oddest angle because no broadcast zooms as far out as Texas does. Look how small Nathan Eovaldi is on here! Look at how far up the first baseline you can see! Still, it’s right behind the pitcher’s mound and is a very aesthetically pleasing shot.
4) Fenway Park – BOS
Baseball’s oldest stadium somehow has one of its best cameras. Like I said, Fenway gets away with the green backstop, and with the red seats, it visually stuns. The angle here just rocks, ever so slightly shifted toward first, it showcases the duel almost perfectly. Like many of the Red Sox’s efforts in free agency, they finish 4th here.
3) PNC Park – PIT
The Pirates are one of the most fun teams in baseball. Awesome team colors with city synergy, exciting young players, gorgeous uniforms, great stadium, and a really nice camera angle. The only reasons this isn’t fighting for the top spot is that it’s a bit too zoomed out and the Xfinity ads are really annoying – sharply contrasting with the black and yellows of PNC Park. Still, Buccos faithful have a great angle to watch here.
2) Tropicana Field – TB
Tropicana Field is ugly but the composition of this shot is anything but. Interestingly, there are two faces you can see in the crowd here, focusing heavily on the actual action (take notes, St Louis). This is pretty much everything you’d want in a camera angle. The status of the Rays and Tropicana are currently up in the air but we can only hope they keep their camera angle on future endeavors.
1) American Family Field – MIL
Milwaukee gets everything right here. Right behind the pitcher, framed very well with the action focused on the at-bat, but still showing the Milwaukee faithful in the background. There’s excellent symmetry here, and while the ads are a tad obnoxious, they aren’t nearly as bad as many others on this list. The brown, blue, green and touches of yellow complement each other very well too, giving AmFAM’s camera very appealing. Milwaukee has had loads of fun to watch pitchers over the last few years, and no doubt have the enjoyment level of their starts been amplified by such a great viewing experience.
Like a lot of aspects of the franchise, the Cardinals had one of the best camera angles in baseball, then they screwed it up
I actually despise how zoomed out Texas is. It really annoys me for some reason. Perhaps, because it feels less intimate or something?? I don’t know, but it’s last for me.
Texas’s is BY FAR the most divisive, but I’m a big fan. Totally understand this take though
This is one of the main reasons why I love this place. You guys get into what fans are thinking, but the industry stubbornly refuses to address. I made a post bashing a camera angle on Reddit earlier in the offseason, ending with, “where are we, Cincinnati?” It was one of my most popular comments ever.
I do have to pick the nit that you’re not ranking camera angles. You’re ranking the viewer’s experience of the centerfield camera. The backstop has nothing to do with the camera angle, as you’re going to see the same backstop from center field regardless. If you’re going to include that, you have to factor in things like the park’s shadows that make pitches impossible to track, etc. IMO, the worst camera angle is Great American Ballpark.
…What I really, really want to see, at every game, are stabilized, umpire’s-view cameras for every pitch. They had ump cams during the playoffs, but they were what you’d expect when capturing the view of a guy whose job is to repeatedly squat in front of 100mph fastballs. Maybe cop body cameras or go pros on some sort of gimbal mechanism and embedded into the helmet or chest protector? (I wouldn’t mind something similar for batting helmets, although stabilizing them may prove too much of a challenge with the violence of the activity involved). Humanity is on the brink of cracking quantum computing. WE CAN DO THIS!
Thanks for reading!
Ultimately, the backstop thing is a tiebreaker. The difference between 21 and 26, for example is miniscule, and I only included it because otherwise the differences would be negligible and I wanted it to be properly ranked.
That being said, you make a good point about the shadows. It would’ve taken a *lot* more research to account for all of those factors, but it’s a valid nitpick regardless