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The mid-century modern baseball stadium is a bit of an endangered species these days. Most teams have moved into ballparks designed to evoke the sports glory days, or into hulking monstrosities like those in Milwaukee and Miami. The exception, perhaps, is the Oakland Coliseum, a memorable dumpster that has hosted Athletics games for more than 50 years.

But with this week’s release of MLB The Show 21, classic ballparks are suddenly back in style thanks to the new stadium creator. Users have been using the feature to create detailed replicas of familiar stadiums and posting them to Reddit.

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Reddit user SomeLadyNamedRuth has been one of the platform’s most prolific creators. Their creations include remarkably detailed renditions of Candlestick Park, the former home of the Giants; Qualcomm Stadium, the unloved concrete bowl where the Padres used to play, and Anaheim Stadium with its distinctive halo.

The one that may stir the most emotion in baseball fans though is Tiger Stadium. Known as one of the most historic and beautiful ballparks in the league, Tiger Stadium opened the same day as Fenway Park in 1912. The Tigers relocated in 1999, and the stadium was subsequently torn down in 2009. Seeing it again in MLB The Show is apt to life the heart of any old-school baseball fan.

MLB The Show 21’s stadium creator is one of a handful of notable features in an update that’s otherwise fairly conservative. It includes more than 1,000 unique props, from the Gateway Arch to actual alien starships. According to developer Sony San Diego, the stadium creator is only possible on next-gen consoles owing to the huge variation in Major League ballparks, which is why it’s not available in the PS4 or Xbox One versions of the game.

MLB The Show 21 has its own selection of classic ballparks, of course, including such diverse locations as the Polo Grounds and the Metrodome. It’s also possible to recruit an array of classic ballplayers to your team, from Babe Ruth to Ken Griffey Jr. The stadium creator serves to enhance MLB The Show 21’s already robust historical offerings, in addition to giving players a chance to embrace their creative side.

Cool as this feature is though, there is one major drawback. There’s currently no way to rate stadiums, meaning that gems like Tiger Stadium are basically impossible to find. Sony San Diego plans to add additional search functionality in an upcoming patch, but for now these hidden gems remain buried.

MLB The Show 21 launched earlier this week. It’s available on PS4 and PS5, and for the first time ever, the Xbox One and Xbox Series X.

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Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN and an unfortunate fan of the Minnesota Twins.
Source: IGN Video Games All
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