Why Owners Don't Build Stadiums By Themselves

It's just not worth it.

 And:

Vinik Gobbling Up More Downtown Tampa Land; Still Not Building a Stadium.

Read more
here
and here at
shadowofthestadium

The Opening of SkyDome: A Celebration - intro

Starring Alan Thicke and Andrea Martin!

The Navin Field Grounds Crew

Saving Tiger Stadium

What to do about a demolished local landmark? Ask the crew of dedicated Detroiters who resurrected a forgotten ballpark and transformed it into a sports sanctuary.

Cleveland's League Park to get $5 million renovation

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland is finally set to restore League Park, at least two decades after city officials first discussed it. Mayor Frank Jackson's administration has committed $5 million to complete the first phase of the project, which is expected to be completed in 2012. That will include restoration of the ticket house and bleacher wall (in photo), which are still standing, and re-construction of the ball diamond.

See the story in the Plain Dealer.

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

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.

Judge lifts Tiger Stadium's stay of execution

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

Judge lifts Tiger Stadium's stay of execution

By BEN LEUBSDORF – 26 minutes ago

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

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 ...

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.

Opening Day is coming

Link list for Friday:

• Hal Steinbrenner: Some Yanks tix may be overpriced
• more on the new Stadium
  
• Video: Camaden Yards upgrades
• Fenway completes annual upgrades

We'll get more info on these stories soon.

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

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

Cisco's Future for Oakland

They may not have the money to do it, but here are some plans for the new park in near Oakland.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/fan_forum/cisco/virtual_ballpark.jsp

You Maniacs!

What's left of Tiger Stadium

We finally really did it. You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!

Yankee Stadium Construction

Here's a shot of the old Stadium right next to the construction site

virtualglobetrotting.com

3D Tours of MLB Ballparks

This is a good recorded tour recorded in Google Earth, though it's low-res.

This tour mixes Google Earth and a video game. Pretty cool. This is part 2, just the NL.

End of the Old Parks

Check out Home Run Derby's collected YouTube videos of ballpark demolitions. Sad endings for the old fields, some great, some not-so-great.

Comiskey Park - original

There are some great videos of old Comiskey Park on Youtube. Here's one



There are more linked from there, as well as many videos on other ballparks. Lots for me to catch up on.

See recent views at
Space Ghosts

Polo Grounds

155th St & Frederick Douglass Boulevard, New York, NY

Location of the Polo Grounds III and IV, next door to PG II

Giants, Yankees, Mets

Demolished in 1964 with the same wrecking ball that demolished Ebbets Field

more history

virtualglobetrotting.com

model

drawing


location