Andrew Stetka: Orioles have a stadium to be proud of

I was baffled late last week when I read that the Texas Rangers are aiming to have a new ballpark built within the next five years. I visited what is now called Globe Life Park but was then called the Ballpark in Arlington just four short years ago. My visit came in August on a warm Texas night when Adrian Beltre clubbed three home runs against the Orioles in a 12-3 win. Later that year, the O's would get their revenge by winning the first installment of the wild card game in Arlington behind a gritty effort from Joe Saunders. The stadium itself, while not one of my favorites, was beautiful. It's in a great location, in great shape and the setup could not be more ideal. There are a lot of arguments to make for teams to get new stadiums, but I am baffled as to why the Rangers would need one after opening their current one in 1994.

The Rangers aren't the only team set to move into a new stadium despite having what would seem like a perfectly good home already. The Atlanta Braves will open SunTrust Park next year in rural Cobb County, Georgia. Instead of polishing up Turner Field, which was built starting in 1993 for the 1996 Olympics and has been used by the Braves since 1997, the team is pulling up the stakes and heading northwest of Atlanta for greener pastures. I've never been to Turner Field, but I've also never heard anyone say that it's an out-of-date facility that can't be renovated.

The Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays are teams that are in need of new facilities. Just this past weekend, there were more stories about plumbing issues at O.co Coliseum, where both the A's and NFL's Oakland Raiders play home games. We've also seen in years past the electrical problems that have caused power outages at Tropicana Field. These are real facility issues that would warrant a move. The Rangers and Braves simply can move because they'll rely on taxpayer dollars to get new stadiums. It's one of the underlying stories in all of sports these days. These massive stadiums and arenas are built on the dime of the public. There are certainly reasons for individual teams to make these moves, whether they are practical or financial, but it's just a shame to see the movement.

I'm firmly in the camp that stadiums should be funded by the wealthy owners that want them. There are benefits for the public to having such facilities, especially in the case of arenas that host basketball and hockey teams. Concerts bring in revenue and help the economy greatly. The same can be said for football and baseball stadiums at times. Too often in sports, teams are using the threat of leaving town to force taxpayers into building a new facility. But these venues are popping up often across the U.S. and there's no real history to them anymore. Only two baseball stadiums today are so old they can be considered jewel box ballparks - Fenway Park and Wrigley Field.

That brings me to Oriole Park, which is really the point of all of this. The recent developments in Arlington and Atlanta really got me thinking about how fortunate Orioles fans are to have Camden Yards. It's not that Oriole Park is perfect. In fact, it was also one of those stadiums funded on some public money, with state revenue bonds being used for most of the cost. You're paying for the stadium each time you buy a ticket or even play the lottery. But the O's also aren't looking to move any time soon. They have a stadium that started a movement. Once the O's built Camden Yards, a number of other franchises began the retro ballpark movement we've seen carry into today. The Birds have themselves a gem of a ballpark and what is now one of the older stadiums in baseball. Only a handful of teams haven't built new stadiums since 1992. I haven't been to all of the major league stadiums, but for my money, I don't need to in order to see my favorite one. I hope it's at least another 24 years before the Orioles are even thinking about a new park because the one they have suits them just fine.

Andrew Stetka blogs about the Orioles for Eutaw Street Report. Follow him on Twitter: @AStetka. His thoughts on the O's appear here as part of MASNsports.com's continuing commitment to welcome guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.