I was a serious baseball fan in my early days, playing organized ball from age seven thru fifteen. Most of the parks I played in as a youngster were generally large open fields without any outfield walls. It was a little depressing to hit a really good ball and then still be required to hustle around the bases without being able to take time to admire the shot. Thus, I spent a lot of time fantasizing about playing in parks that were sized appropriately for little leaguers. I even sketched out a few plans, scheming of a way to get a 260' fly ball to left-center to land squarely in the upper deck.
When the Seattle Mariners announced plans to jetison the Kingdome in favor of an open-air park, I was once again encouraged to see what I could come up with. By September of 1996, county officials had decided on the location for a new park just South of the old Kingdome, but I was especially enamored with the thoughts of shoe-horning into the site of the old North parking lot (now the approximate location of North end of Qwest field). I also like the idea of a cozier arrangement of seats the would bring all of the upper deck seats down the line in foul territory closer to home plate. I certainly agree that Safeco Field turned out well, and is a great place to watch a game, but I totally disagree with the notion that there "is not a bad seat in the house" - I have sat in some of them! I'm not saying that the lofty left-field "Sun Deck" in my rendering would be up close and personal with a play at the plate over 400' away, but with a view of Mt. Rainier on a sunny day thru the gap behind the right field foul pole, it wouldn't really matter.