March 31, 2003 [LINK]
PLAY BALL!
How many long, agonizing, dreary, months have I been waiting for Opening Day?? The "boys of summer" have finally begun to play, and yet there is still snow on the ground outside my window. Arghhh! Cincinnati's beautiful new Great American Ballpark had a "sneak preview" opening on Saturday with an exhibition game against the Indians. You can get great 360-degree "virtual reality" views of this brand new "gem" at cincinnati.com. (NOTE: To view it you will need QuickTime software, which available free from Apple.)
Virginia officials unveiled a scale model and an artist's conception of the proposed baseball stadium in the Rosslyn district of Arlington. It is indeed a spectacular setting, very close to the Iwo Jima Memorial, and just across the Potomac River from the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Memorial. On the north side of the stadium would be a shopping center, and beyond the center field fence (on the east side) there would be a large grassy park-like area for casual spectators and kids. Unfortunately, "NIMBY" opponents in Arlington have started to organize to prevent a new stadium from being built in "their backyard." William Collins, who leads the group of investors that is seeking a major league franchise for Northern Virginia, was dismissed (on cordial terms) by the Metrocall paging company earlier this year. This will enable him to spend full time on this project as the dramatic tension over the possible relocation of the Expos franchise to the D.C. area continues to build.
UPDATE: It snowed during the opening Orioles- game today, forcing play to be suspended for about 15 minutes. Which reminds me to mention that Thomas Boswell wrote in the Washington Post that Orioles owner Peter Angelos seems to be setting his team up to lose as a deliberately cynical ploy to maintain a monopoly over the Baltimore-Washington market:
The Orioles appear to be fielding the worst team possible, again this year, to kill their attendance in hopes that their fake plight will keep a team from relocating to Washington. That's despicable.
And it deserves our punishment.
He comes very very close to calling for an outright boycott by Washington-area fans. He concludes:
[F]or now, an Orioles game is not a proper place for any fair-minded Washington area baseball fan to be seen.
My sentiments exactly! Now when is the Washington Post going to stop covering the Orioles as if they were the "home team"?