Tim Cowlishaw

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It was while reading about Tuesday night's All-Star Game at the new Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis that I began thinking about the five new stadiums and ballparks I most needed to visit for the first time.

But before I could even decide where to rank Pittsburgh's PNC Park (looks fabulous on HD) or the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx (hate the concept, still have to go see it), I was struck by another thought.

And this doesn't happen much in the sports-dead of summer, random column topics clashing in my brain.

Forget the new parks, I thought. What about the old ones?

How many stadiums and parks where I have chronicled games as a reporter or enjoyed them as a fan have been torn down or at least been taken off the mainstream map?

I figured there might be quite a few.

And then, before I could even include a couple of favorites like State Fair Coliseum, where I watched so many minor league hockey games as what some might call a high school loser, or the Sportatorium, which was home mostly to something other than true sports, I reached 50.

Fifty!

That either means I am aging more rapidly than I care to admit (surely not) or we are replacing arenas and parks at an alarming rate (let's go with this one).

The way I see it, we rave about the new places too much and fail to give enough love to the old buildings that served us awfully well, places where we saw records fall and championship banners raised.

So here's to the 50. My Favorite Ol' 50.

Note that stadiums are ranked for particular home teams (may not have seen some, others not worthy).

Here's my top 10 from Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA and NHL for the games they staged and for the memories that endure.

1. Yankee Stadium (Yankees, MLB): The formative years. Saw Roger Maris hit one of his 61 in '61. Saw Mickey Mantle hit a home run there. Not sure any memory beats seeing the crowd go crazy in '73 when closer Sparky Lyle emerged from the bullpen car. I'm serious.

2. Cotton Bowl (Cowboys, NFL): Some local love is well in order. Sitting in end zone as Bob Hayes' "Great Race" vs. Giants' Clarence Childs came toward us. Saw Jim Brown rip apart the Doomsday defense. All I know is my dad's season tickets on the 5-yard line in '67 cost $48 for eight games, and for that you got Don Meredith, Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, Lee Roy Jordan and all the rest. Best deal ever.

3. RFK Stadium (Redskins, NFL): Yes, I'm serious. The media hated it because the chairs in the press box were about eight inches wide and there were no windows, so your typing fingers could be freezing. But it also provided atmosphere unmatched by that miserable place the Redskins call home today.

4. Boston Garden (Celtics, NBA): Saw one game. Took older brother on trip for his 40th birthday. Greatest self-serving use of miles and points ever to see Larry Bird launch a bunch of 3-pointers against Portland in '91.

5. Forum (Canadiens, NHL): Stars played in final game. Moving ceremony of former captains including Rocket Richard passing the torch ("From these failing hands we pass the torch to you to carry and hold on high") one of five greatest things I have seen. Ever.

6. Arlington Stadium (Rangers, MLB): I said this was my list. Major League Baseball came to town when I was in high school. To friends and me, it was a dream come true. Even if the stadium was a dump, even if the team mostly stunk ... it was big league ball. And, hey, I caught foul balls off the bats of the Yankees' Celerino Sanchez and the Rangers' Claudell Washington. So there's that.

7. Polo Grounds (Mets, MLB): OK, just how old is this guy? I might have been in negative digits at the time, but I seem to remember a Milwaukee Braves-Mets Sunday afternoon game there in '63 before the family left the woods of north Jersey for some place called Richardson, Texas.

8. Maple Leaf Gardens (Maple Leafs, NHL): Loved it when Toronto's being a division rival meant three trips there a year as the Stars beat writer. Loved the little Christmas trees atop the old center-ice scoreboard. And was just young enough to endure the 130-step climb to the press box. Elevators? The Gardens don't need no stinkin' elevators.

9. Municipal Stadium (Browns, NFL): If you had been down on the sidelines with me, ankle deep in dog biscuits, watching John Elway guide Denver down the field on "The Drive" in 1986, you would put the Mistake by the Lake on your list, too.

10. Reunion Arena (Stars, NHL) While Mavericks' opponents had no worries here in the '90s, opponents of the city's new hockey tenants hated this place, with good reason. It was hard to play there, even hard to dress there. And the two Western Conference finals Game 7 victories there in '99 and '00 – two of the loudest sporting nights I have attended in the last 20 years – score big points for the Morning News building's old neighbor.