Archives,
2008

January 4, 2008 [LINK / comment]

Nationals Park update

The Nationals Park page (which I formerly called "New DC Stadium") has been updated with a revised diagram based on closer inspection of the Web cam photos. Outside the temperatures are dropping into the teens, but Opening Day is less than three months away! Fear not, sports fans, after another brief hiatus, more updates are to come...

The mail bag

Charles Dodds related to me some interesting details on Sportsman's Park (older diagram versions pending), and wants to know if any photos of the concourse of the old St. Louis ballpark are available. I found some very good photographs by Bernard M. Waxman (via Wikipedia, I must confess), but that's about it. Anyone else?

(Preposted to maintain desired sequence.)

January 17, 2008 [LINK / comment]

Riverfront Stadium update

On my way back from South Dakota last weekend, I stopped at the Cincinnati airport for the first time, catching a glimpse of Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ballpark prior to landing. So, it seemed logical for me to update the Riverfront Stadium diagrams based on an aerial photo in the latest edition of Green Cathedrals. Contrary to my previous assumption, the outfield fence was not parallel to the curvature of the surrounding grandstand, but was slightly compressed in the power alleys. I also realized from a photo at www.ebaseballparks.com that during the final two seasons while "GABP" was under construction (2001 and 2002), the bullpens were moved from foul territory to behind the right field fence. To finish up with Cincinnati, Crosley Field is "on deck!"

The plane I was on passed near Indianapolis, and I saw the future home of the Colts for the first time. It is quite a striking structure, with a brick exterior and a slanted roof (not yet finished), looking rather like a church. This was just before the Chargers' surprise victory over the Colts at the RCA Dome next door. In Texas, meanwhile, the Cowboys, who are building a new home stadium in Arlington near Ameriquest Field, lost in an upset to the Giants. What does all this say about teams that abandon stadiums that have at least ten more years of usable service?

Stadium construction

I have replaced the "Stadium propects" table on the right side of the Baseball blog page with a new "Stadium construction" table. Four major league baseball stadiums are currently under construction, and two more may get started by the end of this year.

On Bud, dope, etc.

How's this for a meaningful coincidence? Within a day of news that the World Anti-Doping Agency [link fixed] has criricized MLB for failing to ensure adequate drug testing procedures, the guy who looked the other way for the last decade just got an extension on his contract through [2012]. When will those owners learn that baseball fans' patience is wearing thin? Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that the number of exemptions given to players more than tripled last year, mostly for (ahem) "Attention Deficit Disorder."

Negro Leaguers

While we ponder the meaning of only one player getting nominated to the Hall of Fame this year ("Goose" Gossage), we can think about some of the best Negro League players. A roster can be seen at Diamond Mine; hat tip to Bruce Orser.

Richmond Braves: NOT

Shocking news from the capital city of the Old Dominion: the "R-Braves" will leave Richmond after next season and move to Gwinnett County, Georgia, located just north of Atlanta. This is totally nuts. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports, "The Braves' announcement came days after the city unveiled a consultant's plan to redevelop the Boulevard, including building a new ballpark." Apparently, the honchos in Atlanta got fed up with delays over making a final decision and just bailed out.

January 21, 2008 [LINK / comment]

Ballpark construction news

Mike Zurawski has sent me another batch of links on ballpark renovation and construction projects. First, a long series of photos of the Nationals Park construction, including many before-and-after views of the surrounding are at jdland.com. They are high quality, and very useful, with some showing angles that I hadn't seen before. For example, one of them shows the northern ramp of the Frederick Douglass Bridge, which was lowered to street level last summer to make for a nicer stadium entrance.

More photos of construction at the New Yankee Stadium are at baseball-fever.com. They are making a lot of progress, and most of the concrete in the three decks has been poured. (Sigh...) It is pointed out that the second deck will be much bigger than at other ballparks, and will be covered almost entirely by the third deck. Also, the roof will be very large, with a correspondingly large frieze along the front edge much like the original. For what it's worth, I'm working on a proposed renovation of the old stadium to make it more like the original. Stay tuned...

In Kansas City, renovation on Royals Stadium is well under way, with the big old crown-topped scoreboard in center field already taken down, making room for an even bigger replacement; see the Royals Web site. This will be a multi-year project.

Likewise, the concourses at Dodger Stadium are being enlarged and modernized, with new dining facilities and other fan amenities; see the Dodgers Web site ; thanks again to Mike. I'll get to more such news items soon.

January 24, 2008 [LINK / comment]

Designing Nationals Park

As the countdown to Opening Day nears the 60-day mark, anticipation of D.C.-area sports fans is building steadily. Yesterday's Washington Post had a background article on the process by which Nationals Park was designed, including the original crude sketch. I have to give a lot of credit to the lead architects Marshall Purnell and Joseph Spear for making the stadium a perfect fit to the surrounding street grid. It takes a while to appreciate some of those subtle design features. Students from Cardoso High School were recently given an exclusive tour of the ballpark, which is almost finished. Lucky kids! Based on the photos shown at jdland.com, which I mentioned previously, I've tweaked the Nationals Park diagram. It occurred to me that with the scoreboard and right field wall angled the way they are, they could put a football gridiron in there, and most seats would have very good sight lines. Was it done that way intentionally, in case of some emergency faced by the Redskins at FedEx Field?

Bosox vs. A's in Tokyo

The 2008 schedules were released today, and it was confirmed that the Boston Red Sox will play a series in Japan, against the Oakland Athletics. The March 25 date will be the earliest "Opening Day" in MLB history, but for purists, only games in North America really count. The real "Opening Day" will be in Our Nation's Capital on March 30, with the Nats against the Braves. See MLB.com

The mail bag

Jacobs Field no more: The Cleveland Indians have sold the rights to their ballpark for $58 million; Jacobs Field will henceforth be called "Progressive Field." See ESPN. Groan... Orlando Rays? Also, the Tampa Bay Rays hope to expand their fan base by playing a series in the Disney Company's "Wide World of Sports" ballpark in Orlando in April, like they did last year. It will depend on approval from St. Petersburg officials; see ESPN also. Hat tip to Mike Zurawski for both stories.

Bronx construction update: Some more great photos of the future Yankee Stadium are at Sliding In To Home; hat; tip to Bruce Orser.

January 27, 2008 [LINK / comment]

Crosley Field update

The Crosley Field page has been updated with corrected diagrams as well as additional diagrams for 1912, 1927, and 1938. There are still a few inconsistencies, and I came up with a few slightly different estimates than what are published in Phil Lowry's Green Cathedrals. (The previous edition gave the left field and right field dimensions as 360 feet, which I knew was utterly impossible!) I learned a lot in the process of doing research, such as the fact that until late 1935, the famous outfield slope was only in left field. Because the light towers were a crucial feature, I included them in the Crosley Field diagrams, and will do likewise in future diagram updates.

Stadium page upgrades

The Crosley Field page is the first one to feature some aesthetic and functional enhancements that I have been planning for some time. For one thing, the layout of the dynamic diagram interface has been integrated with links to other stadiums (prior and subsequent), as well as the diagram key. What is especially cool is being able to compare the stadium with the prior one used by the team (if any), as well as the subsequent one (if any). The links to other stadiums will no longer appear on the bottom of the stadium pages. Within the next week or so, all stadium pages will adhere to this new standard, which should make it easier and more pleasant to navigate from one page to another. Until I get all that finished, there are bound to be a number of minor formatting glitches in the baseball pages, so please pardon the "construction mess."

While I was at it, I redid the Baseball banner image.

Marlins keep hoping

I've heard this one many times before, but the Marlins are getting desperate, and everyone knows that if they don't get a stadium deal soon, they will be forced to move out of the Miami area. The Marlins will pay at least $150 million toward the half-billion dollar retractable-roof stadium project. Negotiations are nearing a critical phase, and I hope they finally succeed in "getting to yes." See MLB.com.

January 31, 2008 [LINK / comment]

Bogus stadium names

As part of my general upgrade of baseball reference pages, I have revised the Stadium names page. This was prompted by the news that Jacobs Field will be renamed "Progressive Field." Also, Stephen Poppe recently reminded me that the Texas Rangers renamed their home stadium "Rangers Ballpark in Arlington" last year, so I finally got around to updating (and renaming) that page. The Rangers terminated their naming-rights contract with the (now defunct) Ameriquest Mortgage Company last March. Oddly, the Rangers' Web site makes no mention of the name "Ameriquest Field." (Erased ... from existence!).

The mail bag

From Mike Zurawski comes news that the St. Louis "Ballpark Village" which will occupy the land where Busch Stadium II once stood will probably not be completed in time for the 2009 All-Star Game. It's a complicated arrangment involving several parties; see stltoday.com.

As for the Marlins, a business man has filed a legal challenge to the proposed new stadium financing deal; see sun-sentinel.com. The wealthy plaintiff, Norman Braman, is the former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, and claims he is acting on principle. The Miami Herald has some interesting background on him and his possible grudge motives. Mike comments, "This is the same genius that let Reggie White go when he was owner."

Some blueprints of the new Yankee Stadium have been posted at baseball-fever.com. Now that the dimensions have been set, I will probably go ahead and set up stadium page for it and for Citi Field in the near future, but a (preliminary) diagram may be a few months away.

Also, Mike came across some detailed photos of construction and architects' models of the Twins' future home, also at baseball-fever.com; they are very creative in squeezing that ballpark into the tight space available. The glass and stone wall design looks very good, and very unique. Speaking of which, Bruce Orser found more info on that at www.twinsballpark2010.com.

Finally, John Cappello pointed out an error in my narrative of when the outfield fences were moved at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, which was due to an inconsistency in the previous edition of Green Cathedrals. The new edition fixed that, and now so have I.