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April 2004
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April 2, 2004 [LINK]

Play ball!

Another sign that spring is really here is BASEBALL!!! The Tampa Bay Devil Rays somehow beat the Yankees in the opening day game in the sold-out Tokyo Dome (capacity 55,000), but the Yanks got more than adequate revenge the next day, winning by 12 to 1. Jorge Posada homered twice, and Hideki "Godzilla" Matsui thrilled the crowd with a home run of his own. The short power alleys in that ballpark (only 361 feet) probably account for most of the runs in that slugfest. It's nice to have such international exposure for our national pastime, but there's something not quite right about staging Opening Day abroad. It should be held in The Nation's Capital, like in the old days... Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell complained about the ungodly hour at which the first game was broadcast (5:00 A.M.) and slammed Commissioner Bud Selig's short-sighted commercialism.

In time for the "real" Opening Day, the U.S. Cellular Field page has been revised, with new diagrams that show the original design and the recently completed renovation. The Anaheim Stadium and SBC Park (formerly Pac Bell Park) pages have been updated to reflect the changes in their names during the off season, and the former page has an improved dynamic stadium diagram. Yet to be revised are the diagrams for Olympic Stadium and Busch Stadium.


April 2, 2004 [LINK]

Intelligence disputes get political

The fracas over the recent incendiary comments by former intelligence adviser Richard Clarke are a disquieting symptom of the breakdown in consensus over national security and foreign policy. This breakdown is another consequence of the terrorist campaign against the United States, a dismal reminder of how far we really are from victory. Clarke argued that the U.S. war to remove Saddam Hussein from power was not warranted and has made the U.S. more vulnerable to terrorism. He has (or had) a high reputation for his knowledge of terrorism, and he was one of those "super-bureaucrats" who knows all the intricacies of the Federal government in Washington. He knows where to pull the right strings and push the right levers to get something done fast. Indeed, he earned a reputation as a know-it-all maverick who sometimes ran roughshod over anyone who got in his way. What would cause a highly regarded expert to give up any pretense of neutrality over policy questions, squander his professional esteem, and jump into the partisan political fray? Perhaps it was years of built-up frustration over the Federal regulations on political activity of civil servants. (That's something I can relate to.)

In response, Condoleeza Rice pointed out an obvious fact that many critics refuse to face: The terrorist threat is not specific, but is instead very broad in nature. That is, the threat does not reside so much in the particular leaders, weapons caches, or safe havens, but rather in the sociopolitical pathology that has infected much of the Middle East. Indeed, terrorism -- or more accurately, Arab-Islamic fascism -- is not a tight-knit conspiracy but a broad movement whose strength lies in the realm of ideas and passions. Many people in Europe and in the Democratic Party regard terrorism as a form of international crime, for which the appropriate response is finding, arresting, and prosecuting the guilty parties. Adopting that approach -- the "multilateral" approach, you might say -- would lead to many years of fruitless searching. Indeed, even the Bush administration has at time fallen victim to treat terrorism as a crime against humanity. Fortunately, though, the strategic thinkers such as Condoleeza Rice, and even the neoconservative ideologues such as Paul Wolfowitz, are well aware of the true political nature of the war in which we find ourselves. Like all wars, the struggle is to a large extent a contest of willpower, which makes many people uncomfortable because it implies we might have to play tit for tat with barbarians. Nevertheless, the only way we Americans will ever be reasonably safe is by either systematically destroying terrorist bases and bringing about regime change in countries where governments are accustomed to garnering popular support by (tacitly) giving safe haven to terrorists, or else by building a "Fortress America" with constant land, sea, and air patrols all around North America. The former course may entail a long, hard struggle with no certainty of victory, but latter course is probably unthinkable.

NOTE: This is a "post facto" blog post, taken from the pre-November 2004 archives.


April 14, 2004 [LINK]

Surrender?

According to the Washington Post (registration required), Mayor Anthony Williams has proposed full funding for a new stadium in D.C., which would cost from $340 to $385 million. Perhaps there is no further point to resisting the extortionary pressure of MLB. On the bright side, a new stadium site has been proposed at the west end of the waterfront in Washington, just south of the Jefferson Memorial. Though a tight squeeze, it would certainly be the most convenient spot in D.C. for us Virginians, and perhaps therefore least objectionable to "Dr. Evil," a.k.a. Orioles owner Peter Angelos.

The San Diego Padres are above the .500 mark, getting an apparent boost from their new home at Petco Park, which has seen a surprising number of home runs, in spite of the deep outfield distances. An article on the MLB.com Web site addresses that puzzle. No such luck for the Phillies, who are 1 - 6 despite the grand opening of Citizens Bank Park.

Has someone in Miami seen this Web site? The distance marker in right center field at Pro Player Stadium has been corrected: It used to say "385" (at least ten feet too long according to my estimates), but now says "363." However, the difference is partly due to the fact that said marker has shifted toward the right field pole. In other stadium news, the outfield fence at Kauffman Stadium has been moved back ten feet, where it had been originally.


April 17, 2004 [LINK]

Revenge!

Both of last year's pennant winners just lost two road games against their main division rivals: the Yanks fell to the Red Sox, and the Marlins fell to the Braves. Manny Ramirez got credit last night for a home run that did not in fact cross the fence, and perhaps out of guilt he almost threw the game away a while later by dropping an easy pop fly. Remembering Game 6 last October, I was gratified that Florida's ace pitcher Josh Beckett got taken out of the game in the face of hot Atlanta slugging. Early signs are that the division races will be pretty competitive this year. Hopefully that will put to rest all the whining about the Yankees' "unfair advantage" with their $180 million payroll. By the way, I've run across a number of Red Sox fans in various places since last October, and have had mixed reactions from them to my expressions of goodwill and respect. Some smile warmly, and some give me an icy glare. For many Bostonians, the Yankees are as irredeemably evil as George W. Bush is in the eyes of many Democrats. Oh well... Perhaps we all need to be reminded of a basic fact: It's just a game, for crying out loud! Perhaps the extreme degree of fanaticism portrayed by Robert DeNiro in the movie The Fan is more widespread than I thought.


April 21, 2004 [LINK]

It's Miller Time!

As the ever-growing number of regular visitors know, the latest addition to this Web site, Miller Park, has been a long time coming. In fact it is not 100% complete, since I plan to add a "dynamic diagram" to it in coming weeks. Speaking of which, I've updated the Bank One Ballpark page to make the "dynamic diagram" on it more controllable, much like the Busch Stadium (New) page I updated last week. I realized a few months ago that Busch Stadium is slightly oblong in shape, not circular, necessitating a redrawn diagram. Once again, I appreciate comments from the public, and I endeavor to make factual or graphic corrections to these pages whenever they are brought to my attention, though not always as promptly as I would like.


April 21, 2004 [LINK]

The Counterattack: Now what?

The awful wave of guerrilla attacks and suicide bombings in Iraq over the past few weeks have unnerved many Americans who blithely assumed we would be welcomed as liberators. The comparisons many people have made between this surge of violence and the Tet Offensive in Vietnam are not very apt, since the scale in the former episode was much larger, with hundreds of deaths daily, and control of most major South Vietnamese cities remaining in doubt for a week or more. True, Coalition forces have proved to be insufficient to maintain complete control of Iraqi cities, but there is no danger that they will be pushed out. Ironically, the Tet analogy is very apt in highlighting the psychological angle, which is of supreme importance in this war: If enough Americans are convinced that we are losing, then we will have lost. President Bush's press conference last week started and closed on a pretty good note, but there was one distressing interlude of uncertain stammering, when he was asked what mistakes he thought he had made in the war, and he said couldn't think of any. The President should have nothing to be ashamed of in admitting he wasn't as attuned to terrorist threats before September 11 as he wished he had been. I think any decent person in his shoes would feel awful about not having paid closer attention to reports about Al Qaeda's intentions. If he doesn't start speaking in a more candid fashion about his own decision-making, and about the need for Americans to make big sacrifices in the war against Arab-Islamic fascism (which he has yet to identify as such, unfortunately), he may well lose the election to Senator Kerry.

So what should Bush do differently in Iraq now? I say move ahead with the plan to transfer sovereign authority to Iraqis by June 30, come hell or high water. Dare the Iraqi leaders to step up to the plate and work out their differences among each other right away, or else face sheer chaos for months and years to come. Of course, U.S. troops will be present in Iraq for years, but the sooner we let go of formal governing responsibilities, the less excuse the ultra-nationalists in Iraq and neighboring countries will have for waging "war" against us. Which reminds me of another lame parallel often made with Vietnam: We should NOT worry about trying to win "the hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people, or of Arabs in general. Their hatred, resentment, and suspicion of the U.S. and Western Civilization is so deep at this point that no appeal to reason is even remotely possible. The best we can really hope for is to convince enough of them that their own interests lie in cooperating with us and distancing themselves from terrorism. I am under no illusions about this conflict ending any time soon, and the ugliness and despair are likely to get worse before they get better. ("Blood, toil, sweat, and tears...") Whatever kind of regime eventually emerges in Iraq, democratic or not, our bottom line has to be no safe haven for terrorism.

NOTE: This is a "post facto" blog post, taken from the pre-November 2004 archives.


April 23, 2004 [LINK]

Upside down standings

What is going on this year? The Tigers, Reds, Padres, and Orioles are all vying for the lead in their respective divisions. It's a good sign that both the Red Sox and Cubs have shaken off their crushing postseason disappointments and are back in the thick of things this year. Sorry to sound mean, but has anyone calculated how much money A-Rod is making on a per-hit basis? Long-time visitor Steven Poppe suggested that I delete the football gridiron outline from the baseball configuration diagram of Mile High Stadium since it's visible on the football configuration diagram anyway, and I've obliged him. I used the opportunity to make a few minor tweaks in that diagram while I was at it. After I finish the last few baseball stadium pages over the next several weeks, I'll begin making "dynamic" diagrams for all the dual-use stadiums as well.


April 23, 2004 [LINK]

The war in Iraq & U.S. politics

Even as President Bush gets hammered by scholars and pundits alike over the charges leveled at him by Richard Clarke and Bob Woodward, his poll numbers are as strong as ever. Why? Charles Krauthammer in today's Washington Post explains it thus:

The answer is simple: Americans are a serious people, war is a serious business, and what John Kerry is offering is simply not serious. Americans may be unsure whether Bush has a plan for success in Iraq. But they sure as hell know that going to U.N. headquarters, visiting foreign capitals and promising lots of jaw-jaw is no plan at all.

Krauthammer goes on to credit Kerry for refusing to join those simpletons calling for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, as Spain's new Prime Minister Zapatero has done, and I agree. Foreign policy in practice embodies much more continuity than partisans would like to admit, and I wouldn't expect Kerry to actually do much different than Bush. The question is which candidate can better articulate a strategic vision to protect American interests and promote global security, and Kerry's habit of mealy-mouthed pandering to the European anti-American crowd would be far worse than Bush's often-shaky gestures of resolve.

NOTE: This is a "post facto" blog post, taken from the pre-November 2004 archives.


April 24, 2004 [LINK]

90th Year at Wrigley

Yesterday was the 90th anniversary of the opening of Wrigley Field, or "Weeghman Park" as it was known back in 1914, when it was the home of the Federal League Chicago Whales. That means when I was born it was younger than I am now. Yikes...

The Braves and Red Sox continued to get revenge against their respective leagues' 2003 pennant winners last night, just like the two rematch series last week, but this time playing away from home. Prompted by seeing the Braves beat the Marlins on TV last night, I went ahead and put a "dynamic diagram" on the Pro Player Stadium page, but that's all for now. Jennifer Lim informs me that Davey Lopes was fired as the Brewers' managers two seasons ago, and I've deleted my erroneous reference to him on the new Miller Park page. D'oh! Well, at least my stadium diagrams are fairly accurate. Thanks, Jennifer!


April 25, 2004 [LINK]

"Poor" Bosox surge

The Red Sox just swept the Yankees in a three-game series in the Bronx (shame!), and have passed the Orioles to claim first place in the AL East. But Mr. Henry, I thought you folks were at a hopeless economic disadvantage! Thanks to new visitor Alex Chernogaev for pointing out a few omissions in this Web site, two of which were in the big scrolling menu of stadiums.


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