August 7, 2008 [LINK / comment]

Griffith Stadium update

Since the Nationals are playing so poorly this summer, why not take a step back in time and remember the great Washington Nationals / Senators of yesteryear? Well, they did win a World Series in 1924, after all, and won the AL pennant in 1925 and 1933. With that legacy in mind, I give you a totally revamped, corrected, detailed, enhanced (but not with steroids!) rendering of Griffith Stadium! There are now several historical diagram versions beginning in 1911, with more detail in the concourse area (partly conjectural), lights, etc. The grandstand is a few rows smaller than I had estimated, and the outfield bleachers and right field wall are angled more toward the right than before. I realized that the angles were incorrect when I saw the photo of Griffith Stadium in the Washington Post obituary of Chuck Stobbs, which I mentioned on July 25.

One minor enhancement (?) to that page is a modified version of a photo I took in 2004, replacing the Howard University Hospital in the background with a crude drawing of what the back of the bleachers, the scoreboard, and the clock might have looked like from that same spot.

Dubious anniversary

It was one year ago today that Barry Bonds broke Babe Ruth's career home run record, hitting #756 off Washington Nationals rookie pitcher Mike Bacsik in AT&T Park. It's too bad we can't celebrate such an achievement without reservation.

Old ballparks in ruins

Speaking of pre-World War I ballparks, there is a thread full of photos of the ongoing demolation of Tiger Stadium at baseball-fever.com. It's hard to believe they are throwing away all that history.

Also, I recently found out (via the satellite images on Google Maps) that they tore down what was left of the concrete grandstand at League Park, and now all that remains is the corner office building and the brick exterior wall. What a shame that they didn't try to restore the remnants of the grandstand.

More news items to get to soon...

Blog hack attack!

In case any baseball fans of this site were wondering, the fact that your city and state are being tallied by "Feedjit" when you visit this Web site poses no security threat that I'm aware of, and is shown strictly for the sake of curiosity. I do not use that information for marketing purposes, spam, etc. Read more about it HERE. On a related note, if it weren't for Michael Fronda bringing it to my attention, I might not have known that my main blog page was hacked today. Thank you, Michael. All is well now...