The Dumps of MLB April 13, 2012 Fenway Park is celebrating its 100^th anniversary with the centennial season starting this afternoon with the Tampa Bay Rays in town. I read some tweets and regrettably some blogs that took a quote from the Rays Luke Scott and made it seem so much worse than it was.  Gasp! Say it ain’t so. Bill Chastain’s MLB.com article quoted Scott as saying “As a baseball player, going there to work, it's a dump.”  He went on to explain himself and also added, “It does have a great feel and nostalgia.” There have been and will be more attempts to bury Scott on his quote. The goal is of course to embarrass the player and rile the Boston fan base, as if they don’t have enough to be worried about right now. The truth of the matter is Luke Scott said what so many other players feel. Going to Fenway and Wrigley as a visitor is so much fun---on the field. There is always good energy is those old stadiums and the history, if you take the time to absorb it, is pretty cool. But if you had to play there all season, with the visiting team amenities, well that would definitely be difficult to take over the long haul. I felt the same way about Old Tiger Stadium. I was fortunate to be a part of the last team to play there and be the starting pitcher for the last night game in 1999. I loved Old Tiger Stadium, playing on that field was so much fun. The history there and to know who stood there before you was an awesome experience.  Being connected to the great history of baseball in Detroit was special. The stadium itself though was well past its prime. Playing 81 home games there wasn’t exactly the most comfortable. When you traveled to places like Camden Yards or Cleveland’s then named Jacobs Field there was some level of jealousy. I had always said at the time how much I enjoyed Tiger Stadium, but its time had come and the move to Comerica Park was a necessary one. You may think this sounds like players being spoiled and that they should appreciate the opportunity to play in places like Wrigley and Fenway. In some sense you’re right and I think most do. Personally I loved every opportunity I had to play at both places, always so much fun. But this is a $7 billion industry with $200 million employees, you get used to working in certain environments with certain amenities that help you perform at a peak level in a highly competitive field. If you’re objective, you can see the other side. Luke Scott is right, the batting cages, clubhouse and weight room situation is kind of a pain for visiting players to Fenway and even Wrigley. For three days at a time though you find ways to make it work. I can’t fault a guy for being open and honest. But some will. They of course will be the same people who whine about players being to PC and not offering a good quote for a story.