It’s been a pretty miserable year for the Houston Astros, but owner Jim Crane says fans should appreciate changes for 2013, including new uniforms and possible ballpark changes. Some of the changes are final; some are not. Uniform changes have been submitted to Major League Baseball for approval — which, barring something extraordinary, should appear […]
Archive | At the Ballpark
Sad fact: Not every old ballpark can be saved
As Alexandria (La.) begins to debate the future of Bringhurst Field, there’s one important fact to remember: not every old ballpark can be saved. Over the 10 years this site has existed, we’ve reported lots of sad stories about old ballparks that had deteriorated to the point where they couldn’t be saved. Flash back to […]
Will pro baseball return to Columbia?
From yesterday’s Ballpark Digest newsletter: with the Columbia Blowfish (summer collegiate; Coastal Plain League) season over and Cap City Stadium sold, the future of baseball there is in serious flux. UPDATED! By all measures, Columbia (S.C.) should be a pretty good market for Minor League Baseball: the city has a population of 129,272 and sits in the middle […]
Milwaukie has week to decide ballpark fate
Milwaukie (Ore.) has a week to decide if a new ballpark for a summer-collegiate West Coast League team is in the city’s future — or whether a team is unable to justify the revenue necessary for a large-scale project. Spurned by the short-season Northwest League, the city has turned to the WCL as a possible […]
Remembering the Beatles at Shea
It was 47 years ago today, when the Beatles went to Shea to play — on Aug. 15, 1965, the Beatles launched the era of stadium concerts with a sold-out performance at Shea Stadium. The Beatles actually played New York’s Shea Stadium twice — the second, a year later, didn’t generate nearly the amount of […]
Hotel tax on El Paso ballot; no direct choice for voters
The El Paso City Council voted to include a provision on the fall ballot to raise the hotel tax to pay for a Class AAA ballpark, but voters will not directly vote on whether a ballpark should be built. The plan all along was to ask voters to approve a two-percentage-point increase in the city’s […]
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks welcome three-millionth fan
The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (independent; American Association) welcomed the three-millionth fan in team history to Newman Outdoor Field last night. Nikki Rude, who says she typically attends around ten RedHawks games a season, was attending her first game of 2012 on Tuesday when she became the lucky fan. Rude won a RedHawks gift package that included […]
CommunityAmerica, T-Bones extend naming-rights deal
The Kansas City T-Bones (independent; American Association) and CommunityAmerica Credit Union announced an extension of the naming-rights deal for CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Terms of the deal will not be disclosed. The ballpark has been known as CommunityAmerica Ballpark ever since the T-Bones moved to Kansas City from Duluth, Minn., 10 years ago. “Ten years ago, we […]
Aces wrap up season; future of Bringhurst Field in doubt
With the Alexandria Aces (summer collegiate; Texas Collegiate League) season ending, the city can turn its attention to historic Bringhurst Field — and the future of the 80-year-old facility. As you’ll recall, the city cordoned off a big chunk of the ballpark earlier this month after it was determined there was considerable decay in the […]
Blowfish prevail in last game at Cap City Stadium
It was finally the end of an era: the Columbia Blowfish defeated the Fayetteville SwampDogs in the last game ever at historic Capital City Stadium, in the championship round of the Coastal Plain League playoffs. The historic ballpark, built by Hall of Famer Barney Dreyfuss in 1945 as a home for one of his Pittsburgh Pirates farm teams, served as the […]
The Week That Was: August 12
New homes for the Oakland A’s and Tampa Bay Rays, 8-bit follies, a laser pointer at Busch Stadium and new-ballpark efforts in Wilmington and Hillsboro. The most popular stories of the past week on Ballpark Digest, measured by page views. MLB committee meets with Oakland, San Jose officials about future of A’s Fan arrested at […]
New Hanover County won’t assist new Wilmington ballpark — yet
Perhaps waiting to see if there’s political support for a new downtown Wilmington (N.C.) ballpark, New Hanover County commissioners decided to wait on any financial backing for the project — for now. The hotly contested issue will be before voters this fall, as the city and Mandalay Baseball Properties are negotiating a deal to bring […]
Book news 2: A tale of Shammies and Smoke Eaters
Another book worth checking out: Tim Hagerty, the voice of the Tucson Padres (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League), has authored an entertaining overview of unusual team names and their histories. Root For the Home Team: Minor League Baseball’s Most Off-the-Wall Team Names and the Stories Behind Them (Cider House Press; $12.95) covers unusual team names from […]