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February 24, 2009 [LINK / comment]
Mardi Gras baseball? Superdome!
While everybody in New Orleans is whooping it up for Mardi Gras, a.k.a. "Carnaval" in Latin America, it's worth asking about the possible use of that venue for late-winter/early-spring exhibition baseball games. "Let the good times roll and play ball!" This year Mardi Gras (also known as "Shrove Tuesday") falls in the early stages of spring training, but since Ash Wednesday and Easter are "movable feasts" (depending on the lunar cycle), in some years it would be more convenient for Major League Baseball teams than in other years. Last September I raised the issue of baseball games in the Superdome, which elicited some intriguing tips, including a YouTube video of the 1987 "Busch Challenge" college series. So that got me to working on a diagram for the Superdome, and it is now sufficiently refined to make public. Ta da-a-a!
The Superdome has a unique solution to the age-old football-vs.-baseball configuration dilemma: they simply retract the entire lower deck along both of the sidelines. That explains why the lower deck in the Superdome is so small compared to most other stadiums. Like the Kingdome in Seattle, it combines a circular perimeter with a more-or-less rectangular interior field shape, though it is actually an "octorad," like in Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego or Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. It is unique in how the symmetry of each deck is slightly different, more oblong in the upper deck.
For the time being, I don't plan on a separate page for the Superdome, since an official major league baseball game has never been played there. Those who are curious can check out superdome.com and stadiumsofnfl.com. I couldn't find any decent 2-D seating charts at the NFL Web site, but there is an interactive 3-D chart of the Superdome at seats3d.com.
You know the drill: Roll your mouse over the diagram to see the football version. Click for a surprise.
UPDATE: There was really never much chance that New Orleans would get a Major League franchise, due to its relatively small population. That's why the baseball configuration is problematic, with very poor sight lines in the upper decks; big league baseball just wasn't regarded as a serious prospect. Surprisingly, however, in the year 1900 New Orleans was the twelfth biggest U.S. city, with 287,104 residents. In the 2000 Census, however, it ranked #31, with 484,674, and of course, after Hurricane Katrina, the population shrank considerably. How long will the Saints remain in the "Big Easy"? The future of professional sports in that marvelous urban center is uncertain...
Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 26 Feb 2009, 11: 41 PM
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January 5, 2009 Illegal immigration: no problem
January 10, 2009 Bush's fiscal profligacy: a recap
January 20, 2009 Inauguration Day 2009
March 13, 2009 Tax revolt in Augusta County!
March 14, 2009 Mexican Army counterattacks
March 27, 2009 Facebook: resistance is futile
April 5, 2009 RPV chair Frederick is removed
April 8, 2009 Fujimori is convicted, again
May 3, 2009 (Very) Big Spring Day, 2009
June 12, 2009 Tiger Stadium memorial update
June 16, 2009 Home runs in New Yankee Stadium
June 28, 2009 Obama's health care proposals
June 29, 2009 House votes to regulate climate
July 7, 2009 R.I.P. Michael Jackson, Superstar
July 9, 2009 Conservative defeat in Mexico
August 16, 2009 Great Baseball Road Trip 2009
August 23, 2009 Road Trip 2009: The Birds of August
August 27, 2009 R.I.P. Edward M. Kennedy
September 7, 2009 Two clutch homers end Nats' skid
October 10, 2009 Republicans reunite in Verona
October 16, 2009 Health care polemics heat up
November 4, 2009 Republicans sweep Virginia races
November 5, 2009 Yankees are the 2009 champions
November 21, 2009 Senate votes on health care
December 23, 2009 Musings on health care "reform"
December 30, 2009 Decade of creation, and destruction
December 30, 2009 Whither the Republican soul?
December 31, 2009 A (half) decade of baseball in D.C.
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