Another Domed Stadium

The exterior of the Kingdome, Sep-1997.

Perhaps because of the players and the crowd, it wasn’t as sterile as it looked.

Chronological Tour: Stop 129

• Location: Fourth Avenue near Jackson Street, Seattle, Wash.
• Opened: 1977
• Closed: 1999
• Demolished: 2000
• Home team: Seattle Mariners, American League (1977 to mid-1999)
• Capacity: 58,801

Rating: 1 baseball

By all appearances, this was just another place for sterile indoor baseball. Strangely, though, I didn’t have as much of a problem watching a game here as I did in places like the Metrodome and Olympic Stadium. Perhaps the presence of Ken Griffey, Jay Buhner, etc., made up for it.

The first live event ever telecast by ESPN’s Classic Sports Network was on the morning of Sunday 26-Mar-2000, when they aired the implosion of the Kingdome. The Mariners had moved into Safeco Field after the 1999 All-Star Break, while the NFL’s Seahawks had made arrangements to play nearby at the University of Washington.