Showcasing baseball's first dependable retractable roof, SkyDome opened in June 1989, replacing Exhibition Stadium as the home of the Toronto Blue Jays. This expensive 50,000-seat stadium is not so much a ballpark as it is a large mixed-use building with a multi-sport athletic field at its center. What the Astrodome was to the mid-1960s, SkyDome was to the late 1980s -- an engineering marvel and an unprecedented hybrid of diverse functions. It contains a 300-room hotel, a large restaurant, what is claimed to be the world's longest bar, and a Hard Rock Cafe (all of which overlook the field) plus a health club and a television production studio.

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The 310-foot-high roof is the tallest in sports, and can be opened or closed in 20 minutes. The roof has functioned reliably, unlike the finicky fabric curtain at Montreal's Stade Olympique, which was installed a year before Toronto's and which has remained closed for most of its existence.

But for all its technological prowess (or perhaps even because of it) SkyDome, like the Astrodome, is not a place of charm and strong baseball character. Its roots lie in the round multipurpose stadia of the 1960s and 70s, and its dimensions are a conventional 328-375-400-375-328. It is a neutral park in terms of scoring and home runs, but for some reason has been conducive to triples, and, to a lesser extent, doubles.

Nevertheless, the park has housed some memorable baseball moments. Jose Canseco hit a gargantuan 480' home run into the uppermost deck for the visiting A’s in Game Three of the 1989 LCS. Joe Carter’s World Series-ending homer against Philadelphia’s Mitch Williams on October 23, 1993 was even more dramatic.

The Dome has five decks, one of which contains luxury boxes that require separate ticket purchases for every event scheduled. The SkyDome features baseball's largest TV screen, 150' wide and 35' high. Strong teams and the park's popularity enabled the Blue Jays to set a major league attendance record in 1989, and then steadily increase their patronage in each of the next four years, exceeding four million three times.

SkyDome's success led to a wave of other operable roofs in baseball -- two in use in Fukuoka, Japan, and Phoenix (Bank One Ballpark), three under construction in Seattle, Milwaukee, and Houston, and several in the discussion stage in other major league cities. Although SkyDome and Fukuoka have artificial turf, the current trend has been to use natural grass. (JFC/JP)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 5, 1989: The Toronto SkyDome opens, but the Blue Jays lose 5–3 to the Brewers. Baseball's newest and most modern stadium features a $100 million fully retractable roof, a hotel, the world's largest video display board, and a Hard Rock Cafe. Construction crews work around the clock to get the stadium ready. Both teams had to skip batting practice before the game because the fences were being painted. » August 27, 1990: The Brewers-Blue Jays game is delayed 35 minutes when a huge swarm of gnats descends onto the field through the open SkyDome roof. Milwaukee scratches out a 4–2 win. » September 17, 1990: The Blue Jays' 6–4 win over the Yankees is watched by 49,902 at the SkyDome, giving Toronto a ML-season attendance record. The Jays will finish the season with 58 consecutive sellouts and a total attendance of 3,885,284. » August 28, 1992: The third place Brewers set an AL record with 31 hits in their 22-2 rout of the Blue Jays at SkyDome. It is the most hits in a game by a major league team in 91 years, and this time there were no fans on the field to add to help the hit total. The 26 singles sets a new AL mark. Kevin Seitzer and Scott Fletcher each get five hits, combine for eight RBIs and seven runs. Milwaukee fails to score in just one inning as they record their first win on the road for the Brewers in 11 games. » June 22, 1995: Two acoustic panels fall from the roof of the Toronto SkyDome, injuring seven fans during the 7th inning of the Brewers' 7-0 win over the Blue Jays. » July 9, 1995: A worker installing lights for a computer trade show falls 25 feet to his death in the Toronto SkyDome. » July 29, 1995: Toronto defeats Oakland in an 18-11 slugfest at the SkyDome. A's P John Briscoe allows two runs in the 6th inning without letting a ball leave the infield. He allows an IF hit, a walk, a hit batsman, another walk, and another hit Batsman. » July 27, 1996: In Toronto, Joe Carter becomes the 3rd player to hit a homer into the upper level at the SkyDome, a 3-run shot that carries 483 feet. Geronimo Berroa and Matt Stairs homer for the A's, the 23rd straight game the A's have collected a homer run. But the Jays beat the A's, 6–4. » June 18, 1997: In the fog in Toronto, Carlos Delgado hits a 3-run home run to give the Jays a 5–3 win over the Braves. There is a 14-minute fog delay in the fourth inning as the game is interrupted while the retractable roof at SkyDome is closed. The fog then dissipates. » May 10, 2001: At the SkyDome, the A's outslug the Blue Jays, 14–8, as seven homers leave the park. Miguel Tejada hits a 3-run home run, the 6th game in a row he's homered at the SkyDome. Jason Giambi and Carlos Delgado match homers, and Brian Simmons and Darrin Fletcher go back-to-back. » July 2, 2001: At the SkyDome, Manny Ramirez belts a 3-run homer in the 1st and the Red Sox roll to a 16-4 clipping of the Blue Jays. Manny's blast travels 491 feet, the longest homer in Dome history; it is his 7th of the year against the Jays, the most an opponent has hit in a season; and his 5th at the Dome, which also ties an opponents record. Chris Stynes has three hits, three runs, and three errors in the hitfest. Hideo Nomo is the winner. » August 3, 2001: The Blue Jays defeat the Orioles, 10–1, despite an infestation of aphids in the 3rd inning. Although the game is not delayed, home plate ump Tim Welke asks that the roof of the SkyDome be closed. Toronto's Jeff Frye wears a dust mask in the dugout. » October 5, 2001: In only the 2nd doubleheader ever played at the SkyDome (the first was 1989), the Blue Jays sweep the Indians, 5–0 and 4–3 in 11 innings. Jose Cruz Jr. leads the offense by stealing three bases and hitting a homer in his 6th straight game—a club record: he joins the 30-30 club. Roy "Doc" Halladay flirts with a no-hitter before Travis Fryman singles with two out in the 8th. Wil Cordero added a single in the 9th. Halladay lost a no-hitter in 1999 when he gave up a 2-out 9th inning home run to Bobby Higginson in his first ML win. Halladay had been sent all the way to single A Florida State league earlier in the year, following his 10.64 ERA in 2000, the worst in ML history.