January 4, 2016 [LINK / comment]
Happy New Year! Now, back to work...
As usual, the old year came to an end in a flurry of hectic activity (grading exams, Christmas travels, etc.) and in terms of my diagram work, I just couldn't quite "get 'r done." That will soon change, as you can see below and in the days and weeks to come...
I saw two baseball stadiums on my way out west ("All aboard AMTRAK!"), one in Cincinnati at night and one in Chicago the next day:
U.S. Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, on the day before Christmas.
I took a similar photo while passing by on a train in October 2008, and I saw a game there for the first time last July.
There's much to be said about player transactions involving the Washington Nationals and other teams, but that will have to wait until tomorrow...
Jack Murphy Stadium update
After a "false start" or two in December, I made some further corrections and finished work on the Jack Murphy Stadium diagrams. My original main objective was simply to render the upper deck lateral walkways more accurately, showing the small steps between each of the entry portals. (Offhand, I can't recall any other stadiums with that specific arrangement.) But while I was doing that, I realized that the lower portion of the lower deck (the part that is movable) extended a few feet forward compared to what my diagrams had indicated before. Then I realized that the diagonal portion of the lower deck near the dugouts was closer to home plate than I had thought, so I corrected those things. As a result, my estimate of foul territory has been reduced from 31,900 to 28,900 square feet. (That pertains to 1998 but does not take into account the reduction in foul territory in the last four or so years when two rows of seats were added between the dugouts.) I also corrected the diagram profiles, after realizing that the second deck is a bit steeper, with entry portals that occupy the last four of five rows. (I may add a separate second-deck diagram later on.) Other changes include a new lower-deck diagram, an expanded "full" diagram showing the peripheral barriers, a new 1988 football diagram showing the configuration for Super Bowl XXII in 1988 (when the Redskins* won), the usual bullpen details, scoreboard refinements, etc.
* Speaking of the Redskins, guess who's in the NFL playoffs for the first time in three years?!! Super Bowl L (50) will be held on February 7 in Levi's Stadium, home of the Santa Clara (San Francisco) 49ers.
I should thank Marc Myers once again for the photos of Jack Murphy Stadium which he submitted, as one of them shows the position of dugouts more clearly than any other photo I have seen. That was very useful.
Next month, or by the end of March at the latest, I plan to finish estimates of fair and foul territory in all MLB stadiums, past and present.
And speaking of corrections, wikipedia still indicates the erroneous backstop distances from Green Cathedrals: "80 feet (1969), 75 (1982)." Not even close! It was way back in July 2008 that I announced my estimate of about 55 feet, plus or minus a couple.
Adios, San Diego!
This just in: The San Diego Chargers have officially begun the process for petitioning relocation of their franchise, and are expected to move to Los Angeles during the off season. (Rose Bowl?) See csnmidatlantic.com. Jack Murphy Stadium will thus enter Stadium "Limbo", without a professional sports tenant but yet lingering on perhaps for years in a semi-dormant state. It will also leave only Oakland ("o.co") Coliseum and Sun Life (Dolphin) Stadium among the current NFL stadiums that have also housed an MLB team. (See the Football use page.)