Ranked 9 out of 30 by the team at Urine Feces Everywhere (UFE), the Seattle Mariners ballpark has landed in the “Worst of the Worst” group. Their park, Safeco Field, was designed to inspire the Seattle Mariners ballplayers and produce revenue for the city of Seattle, which was struggling financially in the 1990′s. The construction of the field was mimicked by the other parks that were going up in the 90′s; the natural grass, the brick facade and the retractable roof were all shared characteristics of these neo-traditional types. So why are all the parks built around the 1990′s with retractable roofs like Chase Field, Rogers Center, Miller Park, and Minute Maid Park scoring higher than Seattle Mariners’ Safeco Park? It is simple: they have better sanitary methods for handling food and drinks for the fans.
As beautiful as Safeco Park is on the outside, it is equally as dirty on the inside. Several UFE violations were reported from the UFE Team, such as cross contamination of food, i.e. touching raw meat then pouring a fan a beer without changing gloves or washing hands. Handling of food was often done with bare hands, without washing hands before or after touching the food. Granted there would have to be a lot of hand washing going on, but that is the purpose of the hand washing stations. It is more work to protect the public from bacteria; the other parks are working harder to properly handle and prepare their food, and that is why it is the other ball parks are getting the higher ratings by UFE!
To view the ratings of the remaining MLB Parks click here.
So, we’re merely talking about employees’ cross contamination and whether or not patrons wash their hands? That’s pretty weak considering hand washing is a personal choice and has nothing to do with upkeep of the stadium. I have attended many games at Safeco and have never left thinking the place was anything but clean and sanitary.
Safeco is an awesome ballpark, for sure, but we are reporting on the UFE there. It is what you can not see that worries us.
Clean probably….
Really? Dude, every park is dirty a little. And its not always personal choice. I was at a college football game yesterday and there was one sink area with three nozzles, 5 stalls, and 4 or 5 (can’t remember) urinals. So sometimes, there isn’t enough space to wash.
Excuses! Excuses!!
I agree with Lance. I have season tickets to Safeco and while I wouldn’t give it 100% – I don’t think any stadium would – I certainly never felt it was unsanitary. In fact, I’ve seen plenty of hand washing and/or glove changing. However, I was at Busch stadium and not only did I have a seat that felt like it would break at any minute, the concessions were less than spectacular. Maybe there needs to be a more comprehensive, year-long, multiple visit trip to each stadium because based on this survey and my personal observations, I feel like The top is probably the same as the bottom.
Multiple trips to the MLB Parks would help our results, as would any repetitive trails or observations. I am ecstatic to hear that you saw hand-washing and glove changing. There had been zero glove changing noted by the team. You are so right, we are just hitting the tip of the iceberg. However, there is no denying that some parks (in this case not so much Safeco), are not designed for proper sanitation practices, and some employees do not practice cleanliness ( as in Safeco Field’s case) as well. There are some undeniable facts here, and some situation driven happenings as well. Safeco is a beautiful stadium with great food, awesome entertainment for families, top technology, etc.. UFE did observe and report poor food handling, and they went there more than once.
Thank you for posting JoyceK
I vote for myself to partake on this study field trip. Lol. I promise to be professional and work with the team. Please contact me if this is possible…I’ll buy my own ticket.
-Adam
Are you ready for football? You have my vote. Will get back to you, the team must agree to all decisions. Love your enthusiasm Adam!
Thanks. I don’t have a job right now, but would totally do it.
I’m curious if you spoke to the people who are in charge of the concessions or janitorial services. It’s like giving a kid an D- in school but not telling them why. I just happened upon this, and I too have been to Safeco Field a great number of times and I see gloves used properly. Love the ballpark, by the way!
We sent an e-mail to Wrigley Field, weeks ago, asking them if they wanted to see our reportings. We have not heard back. We will be calling them soon. We thought that they would be curious because they had the worst rating. We are open to any park that wants to question us.
Kay, you bring up a great point and yes we are in the midst of providing move proof as to our findings. Please understand that the employees at UFE have no problems with any one team and perhaps the times that certain stadiums were studied; it was a "bad day". It would be wrong for us to suggest fans and stadiums improve if we didn’t improve ourselves. This is why we greatly appreciate the email suggestions and the comments that have been posted. Thank you for bringing up your concern and we will try to be more specific in future reports. Have a great day.
UFEGuy