Multi-Purpose Stadiums

Rodger Sherman noted that Sunday's Chiefs-Raiders game at the Oakland Coliseum will most likely be the last NFL game played with a dirt infield in a stadium shared with a baseball team, as the Raiders next scheduled home game is after the World Series and they will be moving to Las Vegas next year.

This put me in mind of the dirt infield shared stadiums of my memory, which begins in about 1980:

Grass:

• Shea Stadium (Mets/Jets)

• Memorial Stadium (Orioles / Colts)

• Anaheim Stadium (Angels / Rams)

• Fulton Country Stadium ( Braves / Falcons )

• Cleveland Municipal Stadium (Indians / Browns)

• Candlestick Park (Giants / 49ers)

• Jack Murphy Stadium (Padres / Chargers)

• Joe Robbie Stadium (Marlins / Dolphins)

• Oakland Coliseum (A's / Raiders )

Astroturf (Outdoor)

• Busch Stadium ( Baseball and Football Cardinals)

• Riverfront Stadium ( Reds / Bengals )

• Three Rivers Stadium (Pirates / Steelers )

• Veterans Stadium (Phillies / Eagles )

Astroturf (Dome)

• Astrodome (Astros / Oilers)

• Kingdome (Mariners / Seahawks)

• Metrodome (Twins / Vikings)

The interesting thing is that my memory of "multipurpose stadium" is of an artificial turf convertible stadium, but it turns out there were more grass fields than astroturf.

Certainly, today's single-use stadiums are a better experience, particularly for baseball. And the current efforts to put MLS teams in places like Yankee Stadium or even CenturyLink Field have not been great. Particularly in terms of player safety. The current state of Oakland Coliseum will not leave many fond memories.

Still, there's a frugality to the multi-purpose stadiums that is somewhat admirable that will be missed.