Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Yankees Fans Unable To Save Old Gate

From NY1

"The Parks Department will not be incorporating the old Yankee Stadium's historic Gate Two into the design of the new Heritage Field.

Some Yankees fans say they want to preserve the old Yankee gate to use as an entrance to Heritage Park, the 10-acre park slated to be built on the site.

Officials say it would cost too much money to restore the gate and build a proper structure for it, and they say some community groups did not want the gate restored at the expense of the public park space."



video report

Miami Vice

http://assets.bizjournals.com/story_image/252943-0-0-1.jpgMiami-Dade County approved financing for Marlins stadium in Miami’s Little Havana.

The county is on the hook for $342 million in short-term financing, instead of $347 million for the on the $640 million stadium and infrastructure.

The New York Times raises some questions.
"County officials faced yawning budget gaps, potential layoffs and cuts in social services. Yet they forged ahead, anyway, largely dismissing voter opposition and the lessons learned elsewhere that new stadiums sometimes fail to deliver the economic punch promised in forecasts and that the public financing for them can handcuff future generations.

“'Even as the numbers got worse, the mayors viewed it as an unacceptable political defeat, so they continued,' said Dario Moreno, the director of the Metropolitan Center, a public-policy research group."

Friday, September 4, 2009

Do you know the way?

A's owner Lew Wolff

Talk of a new ballpark for the A's, stalled in committee over at MLB, has heated up with a renewed effort by team owner Lew Wolff to move the team to San Jose. The old plan in Fremont died months ago. SJ gov't issued a glowing economic projection, which is viewed with some skepticism by some. Staying in Oakland, with a terrible field and the second-worst attendance in the majors, is not an option. Stay tuned.

Monday, July 6, 2009

All-Star Parks for the Break

Here are three ballpark stories I stumbled across: one lost park warmly remembered on it's 100th birthday, one park in ruins, and a collection of one man's current favorites

Forbes Field is long gone, but fans mark its 100th birthday
Sunday, June 28, 2009




The 10 Best Major League Stadiums
by Andrew Jordan

I don't agree with all his picks -- where's Pac Bell, Andrew? But he hits his stride after a while and it's nice to see the effort.


Monday, June 8, 2009

Judge lifts Tiger Stadium's stay of execution

While I was posting, the case was decided ...

Judge lifts Tiger Stadium's stay of execution

DETROIT (AP) — A judge has lifted Tiger Stadium's stay of execution.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards rejected a request Monday morning by a nonprofit group to issue an injunction preventing further demolition of the historic Detroit ballpark.

Edwards agreed with attorneys for the city that the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy has little chance of raising enough money for a proposed $33.4 million redevelopment project.

Detroit Economic Growth Corp. executive vice president Waymon Guillebeaux (GEE'-ah-boh) said that demolition would resume immediately...

oh woe, hoe, whoah

A backhoe drops a concrete block to break up the seating area at Tiger Stadium in Detroit on Friday, June 5, 2009.

... The demolition of Tiger Stadium was halted by a judge Friday, just hours after crews began tearing down what's left of the historic ballpark. Wayne County Circuit Judge Isidore Torres issued a temporary restraining order, said Robert Rossbach, spokesman for the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. The injunction was requested by the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy, a nonprofit group ... AP

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Remainder Of Tiger Stadium To Be Demolished


Sad news, just in. T/C: Brian Borawski

Posted: Tuesday, 02 June 2009 12:46PM


Remainder Of Tiger Stadium To Be Demolished

Detroit (WWJ) -- The effort to save a portion of Tiger Stadium has been thrown out by the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. Members voted 7-to-1 Tuesday morning in favor of tearing down what's left of the ballpark at Michigan and Trumbull.

Speaking live on WWJ, Gary Gillette of the Tiger Stadium Conservancy, says the vote is a bombshell, adding that Michigan Senator Carl Levin was able to get federal money to help turn part of the park into a museum.

more ...

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

A good deal for tickets

Have you seen this on a NY newspaper's website?

Reader Gary Cicio, NYC podiatrist, did the research, and asks us to choose one of the two options to see a Mariners-Yankees game this season, and from the very best seats:

Option 1: Two tickets to Tuesday night, June 30, Mariners at Yanks, cost for just the tickets, $5,000.

Option 2: Two round-trip airline tickets to Seattle, Friday, Aug. 14, return Sunday the 16th, rental car for three days, two-night double occupancy stay in four-star hotel, two top tickets to both the Saturday and Sunday Yanks-Mariners games, two best-restaurant-in-town dinners for two. Total cost, $2,800. Plus-frequent flyer miles.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Opening Day is coming

Link list for Friday:

We'll get more info on these stories soon.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Citi Field Virtual Tour

The Mets still offer only a Virtual Tour of a Virtual Citi Field, the computer model. They also have a time-lapse construction video.
now have panoramic views of Citi Field from a great variety of locations around the park. Pretty cool.

Here's the terrific Flickr group.

The Streetview is here.





Yankee Stadium

The Yanks offer a 3d seat selector for the new Yankee Stadium that's a little cooler. They also have a video tour. a selection of panoramic views of the old Stadium as it looked in 2008.

The Flickr group of this new park is excellent, too.

When will the satellite mappers catch up with construction so we can see Bird's Eye and Street Views ?


View Larger Map

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Selig appoints committee to study Oakland A's

"The A's cannot and will not continue indefinitely in their current situation." Selig continues his master plan. March 30, AP

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Fish Tank


Miami just voted to fund the Marlins new ballpark.

Images are here.

Some are not happy.

Monday, March 16, 2009

This Bud's For You

Although the A's plan for a new park in Freemont, CA is apparently dead, Bud Selig's unannounced master plan, the "extortion tour" to get a new park for almost every major league team during his tenure continues. With more than $6 Billion tax dollars spent. Is this a "Baseball Bailout?"

MLB website
"Under his leadership as Executive Council Chairman and Commissioner, new stadiums have opened in Arizona, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Texas and Washington, D.C. .... Two new ballparks will open in New York City in 2009, an open-air stadium will open in Minnesota as the home of the Twins in 2010 and other clubs have new ballpark plans in development."

Financing info here

That's 20. "Other clubs?" 10 to go.

21. Well, maybe not LA. They have a cult about it being perfect just the way it is. And annual upgrades to Dodger Stadium have been completed in each of the last few years. Anaheim had their renovation in 1998, installing the rockpile, the only renovation to remove seats.

22. Boston seems set. Fenway has had $100 M invested in it.

23. Wrigley will probably get the same treatment once they work out their ownership issues.

24. Kansas City is spending @250 M on renovations. I guess they're off the hook.

25. Toronto - This is interesting, are Canadians foolish enough to fall for this line? Opened in 1989.

26. Chicago White Sox. Insurance park opened in 1991 and it seemed ready to replace on the first day. You could fit the old park entirely inside the new one. But no plans yet ...

27. Baltimore isn't in the Selig hit list, yet, and was the first of the new parks that was actually pretty nice. But it opened in 1992, that's 17 years now ...

28. Miami
August 16, 2007
On the Florida Marlins' plans for a new ballpark, Selig said: "We need to make progress there. This team needs a new stadium. I've said many times I like South Florida. I think it's a major league market. But it's a major league market only if they get a new ballpark".

Two votes are coming up: March 19 and 23.

29. Tampa
June 17, 2008
Tampa Bay has been the league's success story in the first half, but it has not translated to better attendance. What is your level of concern for the future of baseball in Tampa?
"Look, they're really pushing on a new ballpark. I think if they can get it done, it will really help them, no question about it. They've got a good club. They've done a great job scouting and drafting. Their attendance is up 4,500, but it's not enough. They can't make it in that ballpark. Have you been there?"
Many times.
"Do I need to tell you any more than that? And so, they need a new stadium. The demographics of the Tampa-St. Pete area are good enough for baseball."
On the St. Pete side, though?

"Well, they're going to have to make that judgment. If they can get rights … I know there are people who think it needs to be on the Tampa side, but I'm going to leave that to (principal owner) Stu Sternberg. If they can get a new ballpark built, yes, I think they can be a very successful franchise."

30. And, of course, Oakland
January 14, 2009
"I cannot stress enough that the need for the A's to have a viable and modern stadium is a paramount objective for your organization and for the game overall," Selig wrote.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Pac Bell, AT&T, SBC

Giants clubhouseHere's the Giants beautiful home, panaramic views from all over the park, including the press box, dugout and clubhouse, from their website.

 










For an outside look, use Street View. This is a live window, so click around.


View Larger Map

This is the O'Doul Gate, Third St, with Marichal's statue in the plaza and the Cove walk behind.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Citi Field in Google Street View


View Larger Map
Google Street view is a little clunky, and it's always a bit behind the times, but it's a terrific way to look at all the major league parks.

Just go to your Google search bar and type "map [ballpark name]" and you're on your way. In map view, there's a great mashup of info about the park and user reviews, photos ann videos.

This is a look at Citi Field, obviously from last year, but how cool is that?

I haven't figured out how to link to a ballpark street view yet, and there isn't yet a definitive list of current and former big league parks, so I might have to spend some time to put that together. Or maybe one of you will do it for me ...

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Google 3D Warehouse

Baseball fans have been busy building and adding ballpark models to Google Earth. It's easy to find them in the Google 3D Warehouse. All the current parks are there, as well as some old ones.


Start here to find the old parks, but if you find more, let me know:
sketchup.google.com

Here's the list of what I found today:
Shibe Park
Wrigley Field (1914)
Yankee Stadium (1940s-60s)
Yankee Stadium
Shea Stadium
Veterans Stadium (1990s)
Tiger Stadium
Olympic Stadium
Riverfront Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium

Also, slightly off topic:
Baseball Hall of Fame