August 23, 2006 [LINK]
The Nationals wasted multiple offensive and defensive opportunities in last night's 7-5 loss to the Marlins. Ryan Zimmerman, Felipe Lopez, and Jose Vidro all made fielding errors, which probably made the difference in the game's outcome. This comes a day after Alfonso Soriano made a crucial error. The Nats have now lost four games in a row. See MLB.com. The team is just not pulling together, and there seems to be a lack of leadership.
Speaking of Miami, there is a renewed push to have the Marlins' new stadium built closer to the city's downtown. It would be built on the south side of the Miami Arena, but there is no way of knowing whether it is a serious prospect or not. See Miami Herald, via ballparks.com. I have a feeling this process is going to drag out longer than the process of relocating the Montreal Expos to Washington. It's a shame that fan enthusiasm for the Marlins is so low (attendance at the Nationals games has been under 10,000), given their two World Series championships, but low summer attendance at sporting events is probably an inherent problem in tropical or semi-tropical climes. That is why relocation or contraction cannot be ruled out.
The Kansas City Royals have "big plans" for Kauffman Stadium, including restaurants and picnic areas behind right field, spiffing up the main video board, and moving one of the bullpens from right to left field. The alternative of putting the bullpens in foul territory was discarded, fortunately. See Wichita Eagle, via Mike Zurawski.
Many thanks to Mark London for renewing his sponsorships of the Forbes Field, Three Rivers Stadium, and PNC Park pages, and for sponsoring Metropolitan Stadium and the Metrodome as well. Existing sponsors have until the end of the week to renew, after which they're up for grabs. Hur-ry! Hur-ry! Hur-ry!