January 9, 2010 [LINK / comment]

Great American Ballpark update

Once again, I got carried away with the details, but the diagram on the Great American Ballpark page has now been revised. Aside from the usual enhancements (lights, profiles), there are some notable corrections. The upper deck bleachers in left field are about ten feet shallower than I previously estimated, about eight feet closer to the field, and extend about ten feet further toward center field. For the first time, the peripheral buildings on the third base side are shown, but there is no room for the building on the first base side. (It would obstruct the profile on that side, and given that the two main parts of "GABP" are so radically different from each other, I decided it was more important to keep that profile.) The other obvious change from the earlier diagram version is that the Ohio River is now shown.

In addition, I added another photo I took while I was passing through Cincinnati last August, showing the northeast corner and the "Pete Rose Way" garage entrance. In the top right of that photo you can see the freeway overpass.

Washington Park wall

SABR member David Dyte sent out an alert that the remaining brick wall from Washington Park in Brooklyn is threatened with at least partial demolition by Consolidated Edison. It was the home of the Robins (who later became officially known as the "Dodgers") before they moved into Ebbets Field in 1913. For more information, see his Web site: brooklynballparks.com. Historical preservationists in the Big Apple, get busy!

Hail to the Redskins!

And, speaking of Washington (!?), a few months ago Brian Hughes sent me some YouTube links to an ancient film on the Redskins during the 1940s, in three sequential parts. They are of primary interest to Washington fans, but others may be interested in seeing football games being played in Griffith Stadium, Wrigley Field, Shibe Park, and Venable Stadium in Baltimore, before it was rebuilt as Memorial Stadium:

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE