New stadium smell.

Quakes media manager Frank Stranzl went on a pilgrimage to Camden Yards during the team’s road trip to Washington DC last week.  On a sunny afternoon on April 6, 1992, Rick Sutcliffe threw the first pitch in the now famous baseball park built just two blocks from Babe Ruth’s birthplace.  Incorporating the same brick work as the old B&O warehouse along right field, this beautiful stadium has context and substance, and the retro design became the paradigm for many of the ballparks that came afterwards.

This week, the Quakes will be facing the rebranded Kansas City Wizards – Sporting KC – in their brand new Livestrong Park.  A smaller stadium purpose built for soccer, the $200M venue opened on June 9, 2011 against the Chicago Fire. The Quakes staff will have the opportunity to evaluate the new facilities, get some useful ideas for the Earthquakes stadium, and discover exactly what ‘new stadium smell’ is all about.   

Just imagine if we could amalgamate the best traits of Camden Yards and Livestrong Park as we consider the new Earthquakes stadium design.   Comparing a baseball park to a soccer pitch is not as awkward as you might think: Kansas used to play in a minor league baseball park, while Portland recycled one into a fabulously feverish pitch.  Since Quakes owner Lew Wolff owns a professional baseball team (well, the Athletics) and a soccer team, maybe he’s ideally placed to consider incorporating the best of both worlds.

Capacity:  Camden Yards holds 46,000 seated fans, while Livestrong Park holds around 20,000 – average for soccer stadiums - with canopies that cover every seat, 2000 club seats and 36 sky boxes.  The last Quakes stadium projections we saw were around 15,000 seats and potential to expand to 20,000.  Of the current soccer specific stadiums, the Home Depot Center in Carson holds the most at 27,000, but wouldn’t it be great if one day the capacities of MLS stadiums were similar to baseball or European football stadiums? 

Playing surface:  I won’t consider any grass alternatives – nothing plastic has a smell that evokes soccer as much as freshly crushed grass and mud.  At Livestrong Park, the grass pitch has SubAir under soil heating and cooling systems, with dimensions of 75 yards by 120 yards.  The pitch is larger than every field in the English Premier League and 5 yards longer and 1 yard wider than Buck Shaw – 490 extra square yards to dribble, pass and tackle in.  The asymmetrically proportioned Camden Yards has Kentucky blue grass – while the field dimensions haven’t yet been configured for soccer, the proximity of the fans to the foul lines, would surely make for a great soccer atmosphere. 

Franchise player: While technically not part of the stadium structure, both the Baltimore Orioles and the San Jose Earthquakes have produced home grown heroes who define the club; their connection with the fans definitely contributes to the stadium atmosphere.  From 1983, to 2001, Iron Man Cal Ripken was the lynch pin of the Orioles, first as shortstop then as third baseman. Danville native, Chris Wondolowski, coincidentally also wears uniform number 8 and generates similar fan interest.  Cal stayed with a single club, the Orioles, his entire career, and we all hope Wondo does so with the Quakes.  Wondo was originally signed by the Quakes in 2005, and though he was kidnapped to Houston for a couple of years, we all know that he was temporarily a zombie Quake. 

In the meantime, we'll be here..