Jesse Goldberg-Strassler, Mick Gillispie and Kevin Reichard discuss the news of the day, preview the 2020 Best of the Ballparks fan vote, future MLB markets, the worst ballparks encountered in their careers, and why Memorial Day was sad without baseball in this week’s Ballpark Digest Broadcaster Chat.
Topics on this broadcast:
- We introduce the annual Best of the Ballparks competition, which begins May 27 with voting for Low-A Midwest and Sally League ballparks. The fan vote runs through the middle of July with Low-A, High-A, Class AA and Class AAA votes; later we’ll announce starting times for independent, summer-collegiate and short-season leagues ballpark votes.
- How our ballpark rankings in the Best of the Ballparks competition plays out in markets seeking new facilities.
- Mick and Jesse share their thoughts on the worst ballparks encountered in their careers, including those in Huntsville, Potomac (replaced for 2020), Beloit (set to be replaced in 2021) and Mobile. They also express a general disdain of cookie-cutter stadiums.
- Why baseball ballparks are superior to NFL stadiums.
- Jesse defends Rogers Centre.
- Whether Tampa and Oakland deserve new ballparks; why Portland and Montreal deserve consideration for MLB expansion or relocation.
- Why Memorial Day was sad without baseball.
Jesse Goldberg-Strassler is the Voice of the Lansing Lugnuts and the author of The Baseball Thesaurusand The Football Thesaurus from August Publications. Mick Gillispie is the Voice of the Tennessee Smokies and a spring-training Voice of the Chicago Cubs. Kevin Reichard is publisher at August Publications and Ballpark Digest.