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Archives: July 22-28, 2007

Archives: July 22-28, 2007
Tiger Stadium to be torn down
Posted July 27, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
After months of wrangling, the Detroit City Council today approved a plan to sell the seats and other memorabilia inside Tiger Stadium and dismantle the ballpark by the end of the year. By a 5-4 vote the council committed to the following timeline: a demolition contract will be awarded in October with all demolition and site preparation completed by September 2008 and construction on the ballpark’s replacement to start in April 2009. The council went ahead with the decision despite today’s last-minute plea from retired sportscaster Ernie Harwell to delay a decision until September. What will happen to the land remains in some doubt, as the council separately refused to turn over the land to the quasi-government Detroit Economic Growth Corp.

 

Drillers to honor Coolbaugh
Posted July 27, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
The Tulsa Drillers (Class AA; Texas League) announced plans for a "Remembering Mike Coolbaugh" memorial and tribute on Tuesday, July 31 at Drillers Stadium. It will be the first home game for the Drillers since the tragic accident on July 22 that claimed Coolbaugh’s life. Coolbaugh was struck and killed by a line drive while coaching first base during the Drillers game against the Arkansas Travelers in Little Rock. The Drillers will officially retire Coolbaugh’s #29 jersey during ceremonies that will be held prior to the game on Tuesday. In addition, the Drillers players will have memorabilia and autographed items available for a silent auction that will take place during the game on the stadium concourse. All proceeds generated by the auction will go to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund that was established to benefit his family. Send a contribution to: Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund, c/o Spirit Bank, 1800 S. Baltimore Av., Tulsa, OK 74119.

Dodd Stadium: An outing worth the 3-hour tour
Posted July 27, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
The word in this article is that a game experience at Dodd Stadium, home of the Connecticut Defenders (Class AA; Eastern League), is well worth the drive: "I will accept any chance to go to Dodd Stadium afforded to me in the future. Bring on a torrential downpour and I’ll raft my way to Norwich. Dodd Stadium offered the most pleasant baseball experience I’ve encountered in any stadium built after the signing of the Versailles Treaty (yes, this includes Yankee Stadium)." Noteworthy: the ballpark design and the food choices.

Business fights for parking around York ballpark
Posted July 27, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Such a high-class problem to have. When York City limited parking on the residential streets near the new Sovereign Bank Stadium, the home of the York Revolution (independent; Atlantic League), baseball fans from out of town weren’t the only ones shut out. Neighborhood residents got permits that let them park on the street during stadium events, but businesses in the area did not. And while some businesses have the off-street parking they need, at least one is depending on the city for help. City officials said they’ll try to work something out in the coming weeks.

Attention! Seats near dugouts in strike zone
Posted July 27, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
With all the attention paid to Mike Coolbaugh’s tragic death, there’s another part of the ballpark world that is potentially at risk: fans. We know baseball teams usually can’t be held liable for injuries due to a foul ball, but that doesn’t mean fans aren’t exposed. Here’s a look at how some fans were affected by foul balls.

Munson Stadium race track plans hit a roadblock
Posted July 27, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Plans for a stock-car racing track at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium, the former home of the Canton-Akron Indians (Class AA; Eastern League) may be off the table. Earlier this week, city officials met to discuss a formal proposal pitched by Randy Smith, a local car lot owner with a background in stock-car racing. Smith proposed a lease-purchase agreement with the city lasting up to 15 years. During that time, Smith would pay the city $2,500 a month to lease the property and baseball stadium with the option to buy the site in the future.

Ballpark Notes
Posted July 27, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
The Arizona Diamondbacks announced that longtime Major League Baseball executive Roland Hemond will return to the organization as Special Assistant to the President, according to D-backs President Derrick Hall. Hemond has 55 years of professional baseball experience, including five seasons with the D-backs as a Senior Executive Vice President from 1996-2000. Hemond will assist Hall in a variety of capacities, including special projects, industry relationships and international initiatives….The Lexington Legends (Low Class A; Sally League) announced that Deven Brashear of Georgetown was the franchise’s 2,750,000th fan. Brashear was met at the turnstiles with his family at 6:44 pm with cheers and confetti. The 7-year-old threw out a ceremonial first pitch and then dined in the Maker’s Mark Club before the Legends’ game with Lakewood. Brashear also received a Legends prize pack…..The Gateway Grizzlies (independent; Frontier League) will welcome their one-millionth regular-season fan to GCS Ballpark very soon. The team expects to reach the milestone sometime in the next home series. The team is just 8,879 fans away from the historic mark. To date the Grizzlies have drawn 991,171 fans in their history. That total includes the previous five seasons at GCS Ballpark as well as the inaugural season at Sauget Field. They will become just the third Frontier League organization to draw one-million regular-season fans; Evansville and Washington have both previously eclipsed the mark.

Could Sounds leave Nashville?
Posted July 26, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Nashville Sounds (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) GM Glenn Yaeger sounds serious when he says there’s a chance the team could leave town because of the lack of a suitable venue. It’s been known for years that Greer Stadium didn’t meet MLB facility requirements, but with a new downtown ballpark in the works that didn’t matter. Now that the Sounds’ quest for a new downtown ballpark is dead, the team is looking at alternatives. The lease at Greer Stadium expires at the end of next season and Yaeger sounds pretty determined to either win approval of a new Nashville ballpark or chat with other middle Tennessee cities about hosting a venue. But when a team is in play, staying in the same area isn’t always a given, even though we’re pretty sure PCL officials are smart enough to want to keep Nashville as a league city.

Construction shows Citi Field is on schedule
Posted July 26, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
As the National League pennant race begins to take shape at Shea Stadium, the Mets’ future home is taking shape beyond its outfield walls. With the team due to move into the $700 million Citi Field in time for Opening Day in 2009, construction on the new facility progresses in the Shea Stadium parking lot. According to team officials, the project is on schedule. Steel girders and concrete escalator towers mark progress around the perimeter, with the early makings of the ballparks’s concourse and promenade seating levels visible inside. The hub of the new ballpark will be the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, an entry area designed to evoke Ebbets Field, where Robinson played as a member of the Dodgers. The brick and limestone that characterized the legendary Brooklyn park will be featured. On a sadder note, destruction of Shea Stadium will begin in November; that site will be turned into a parking lot for the new ballpark.

Minor-league ballpark may not come
Posted July 26, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Plans for dismantling Vacaville’s Nut Tree Stadium, trucking it to Redding and reassembling it at Tiger Field may have been a bit premature, City Councilman Rick Bosetti said Wednesday. A meeting with the ballpark owners, Golden Baseball League (GBL) CEO David Kaval and contractors was to be held Wednesday in Vacaville to discuss the cost and feasibility of the plan. However, it’s not clear how advanced talks were between Kaval and the owners of the ballpark were: Bosetti says there’s been no contact, the owner says he’s not really interested in moving the ballpark, and even if he were there was another city interested in buying it.

Harwell to make last pitch for old ballpark
Posted July 26, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Legendary sportscaster Ernie Harwell on Friday will become the voice of Tiger Stadium when he urges the city to delay a decision on the ballpark’s fate until September. Harwell is scheduled to address the City Council at 10:30 a.m., invited by his longtime friend, Councilwoman Martha Reeves, to share what he thinks should happen to the vacant ballpark. The City Council had planned to vote Friday morning on a proposal by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to demolish most of the stadium by the end of the year, to clear the path for stores and homes. Harwell told The Detroit News on Wednesday that the city should put the brakes on knocking down the stadium, which has been empty since the Tigers moved to Comerica Park in 2000. Meanwhile, some neighbors of Tiger Stadium are telling the city to raze the venerable old facility, which opened on the same day in 1912 as Fenway Park.

 

Installation of McKechnie lights delayed
Posted July 26, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Installing lights at McKechnie Field, one of the most sought-after improvements at the 84-year-old spring home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, is scheduled to begin Aug. 16, about three weeks behind schedule. The changed date doesn’t affect the overall renovation’s completion, said Ron Allen, president of NDC Construction, the contractor doing the work. The city must complete the project by the start of spring training in 2008. A new 30-year lease with the Pirates goes into effect once the work is complete next year, a commitment the city needed from the Pirates to receive $15 million in state grant money for improvements to McKechnie Field and Pirate City, the organization’s practice facility on 27th Street East. Concrete is expected to be poured within several days for the new visitors clubhouse at McKechnie. Other improvements for Pirate City include a fifth practice field, an expanded parking lot and a new fence. The home clubhouse at McKechnie also is getting an upgrade.

Augusta leaders tour North Carolina ballparks
Posted July 26, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Augusta leaders say they are moving forward with plans for a downtown ballpark for the Augusta GreenJackets (Low Class A; Sally League). But, they’re making sure their ideas for Augusta are already working at ballparks in other cities.  The group spent Tuesday night attending baseball games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham and Greensboro’s First Horizon Park. Both are minor league ballpark located downtown.

Nothing’s too good for their Yankees
Posted July 26, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Three hours before the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Class AAA; International League) were to play Charlotte Sunday, every recliner in the clubhouse had been staked out by a player, and others had gathered to watch as former SWB Yankee Shelly Duncan belted the first of his two home runs against Tampa Bay. These Yankees cheered and whooped, sharing in his good fortune. But these Yankees, unlike the parent club, are in first place in their division in their first year in town, and the players say the clubhouse is one reason why. They come to the ballpark earlier and leave later, and they think the camaraderie has led them to play better than they did when their Class AAA team was in Columbus, Ohio.

JMU hires architect for ballpark
Posted July 26, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
James Madison University officials don’t know what their new baseball and softball complex will look like yet, but they’ve decided who they want to create it. JMU vice president Charlie King said Wednesday that the school has selected the architectural firm of Clough Harbour and Associates LLP to design the complex. Clough Harbour – based in Albany, N.Y., with an office in Richmond — designed the school’s track/field hockey/lacrosse facility off of Reservoir Street in 2001. King said Clough Harbour was one of three companies the school interviewed to design the stadium, which will be built on the site of Memorial Stadium, home of the Harrisonburg Turks (summer collegiate; Valley Baseball League).

The glow of history
Posted July 26, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
It’s been 20 years since the Salt Lake Trappers (rookie; Pioneer League) went on a record-breaking 29-game winning streak. They were popularly labeled and self-described "rejects," players who had gone undrafted by major league organizations out of college. While full leagues of independent teams exist now — thanks partly to the Trappers’ influence — the team was a rarity then, competing in the rookie Pioneer League against clubs stocked with drafted prospects. They were discovered and signed by Van Schley, a part-owner of the Trappers, who was well established in independent baseball and remains involved today as owner of a Massachusetts team in the Can-Am League.

Preview of Oakland ballpark plan isn’t a home run
Posted July 25, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
The Oakland A’s previewed their vision for a new $1.8-billion ballpark village development in Fremont to decidedly mixed reviews Tuesday night, prompting team owner Lew Wolff to promise changes will be made before he submits a development application. Councilwoman Anu Natarajan declared her disappointment with the densities, walkability and lack of concern for environmental principles in the residential portion of the proposed 174-acre village. That village would also include a new 32,000-seat A’s ballpark, Cisco Field, at the center of the development and large Santana Row-style retail-residential component. It sounds like the basic ballpark plan is the only part of the development with any degree of certainty; what remains are details like how children will be educated, how people will get around and park, and how the development will adhere to green principles. More from Inside Bay Area.

International League announces 125th anniversary plans
Posted July 25, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
The Class AAA International League announced plans to celebrate its quasquicentennial season (125th Anniversary) in 2008. The International League traces its roots back to 1884, which makes it the second oldest league in all of professional sports, second only to the National Baseball League, which began in 1876. Fifty-nine different cities — including seven major-league cities — have fielded IL clubs over the years. A total of 97 former International League players, managers, umpires and club executives are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, including 2007 inductee Cal Ripken, Jr. Co-Chairmen of the League’s Anniversary Committee, Syracuse Chiefs executives Tex and John Simone unveiled the 125th Anniversary logo that in 2008 will adorn official game balls, uniforms, ballparks, merchandise and much more. Included in his remarks, Chiefs’ GM John Simone explained the significance of the League making the announcement in Rochester. "The International League has a great history of success in many cities over the years, but the longterm support and resulting history that you find in Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse is unmatched. Upstate New York has been very good to the League over the years and we are here today due to the fact that Rochester has been in the League longer than any other team, 120 of 124 years. Both Buffalo and Syracuse have been League members for 93 years." Plans call for a traveling exhibit to visit each of the League’s ballparks, which will include the original and current Governors’ Cup trophies as well as the League’s Hall of Fame plaques denoting all members. Also, beginning with opening day, a series titled "This Day in International League History" will run in ballparks, on radio and television broadcasts and on team websites.
    As part of the festivities, the league is reviving its Hall of Fame, which last saw an inductee in 1963. As part of the revival the league is enshrining former International League General Managers and League Presidents Harold Cooper, Jr. and George Sisler, Jr. An August 20 ceremony has been scheduled for Cooper Stadium in Columbus prior to the evening’s Clippers vs. Louisville Bats game at which time Cooper and Sisler (posthumously) will be formally inducted.

Today’s video: New Britain Stadium
Posted July 25, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)

Speaking of New Britain Stadium: here’s a video tour of the ballpark courtesy of the New Britain Rock Cats (Class AA; Eastern League). Keep the videos coming in: We’ve been really pleased with the response to our call for videos: we’ve already heard from several teams and vendors, so we’ll continue bringing them to you. If you want to share your videos with the baseball community, drop us a line at editors@augustpublications.com.

Today’s bonus video: Willie Horton discusses the 1967 riots
Posted July 25, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)

Detroit Tiger great Willie Horton describes what it was like when the Detroit riots of 40 years ago caused the Tigers to move a series to Baltimore. He was speaking with Tiger broadcaster Rod Allen at Home Plate 2007, a Christian outreach gathering held April 28, 2007 before the Tigers-Twins game at Comerica Park. If you want to share your videos with the baseball community, drop us a l