Despite a continuing lack of interest from Oakland A’s owner Lew Wolff, Oakland officials will be discussing the specifics of a 39,000-seat ballpark near downtown’s Jack London Square at a public meeting of the cty planning commission. The discussion will center on the scope of the project (which for the moment also features 700 condominium […]
Archive | Features
Did Cards’ sale violate its profit-sharing agreement with the city?
When city taxpayers gave the St. Louis Cardinals tax breaks for building the new Busch Stadium, a provision gave St. Louis a share of any profits arising from any sale of the team. Since then about 13 percent of minority shares have been sold, but the city has seen no revenue from the transactions — […]
Collins nabs Mets coaching job
Two summers ago Terry Collins was managing the Duluth Huskies (summer collegiate; Northwoods League) — as a midseason replacement, no less. He’s now in line to manage the New York Mets, an amazing comeback by any measure. Collins managed the Huskies for the second half of the 2009 Northwoods League season before joining the Mets […]
Who needs a full end zone at Wrigley Field, anyway?
Oldtimers remember that the NFL’s Chicago Bears played with an eight-foot-deep end zone at Wrigley Field because of the football-unfriendly dimensions there, and apparently no one did the actual math when placing a football field at the Friendly Confines; as a result the Northwestern/Illinois game will be played with only one end zone. The Big […]
College football returns to pro ballparks this weekend
College football, once a staple in pro ballparks during the offseason, is returning to MLB venues in a big way this weekend, as both Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium are hosting high-profile BCS matches. In New York City, Yankee Stadium is hosting the first of two college football games this season with the high-profile Army-Notre […]
New at Target Field for 2011: More signage and free WiFi
The Minnesota Twins unveiled a host of improvements to Target Field for the 2011 season, including more signage visible from areas unable to see the main scoreboard, more local foods, free WiFi and more. The biggest change fans will see at Target Field, the 2010 Ballpark Digest Ballpark of the Year, will come in the […]
Phillies, Pirates spring schedules posted
Pennsylvania baseball fans rejoice: We’ve posted the tentative 2011 spring-training schedules for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies, featuring lots of games between the two teams in March. You can view the Pirates schedule here. You can view the Phillies schedule here. Both schedules reflect the new economic realities of spring training: not too […]
Selig “likes” idea of expanded MLB playoffs
Major League Baseball’s playoffs could be expanded by two more wild-card teams as soon as 2011, as Commissioner Bud Selig admits he “likes” the idea of more teams in the postseason — as long as the regular season isn’t shortened. Selig’s comments, made before Game 4 of the World Series, were pretty clearly in favor […]
No economic impact for ballparks? Tell that to Giants fans
Want to argue that ballparks make no economic impact in a community? The area around AT&T Park, once a wasteland, is now a hopping, healthy area, in large part because of the impact of the home of the San Francisco Giants. And with the World Series starting there Wednesday, the impact — both financially and […]
Red Sox outline 2011 improvements to Fenway Park
The ten-year makeover of Fenway Park will be completed for the 2011 season, as the Boston Red Sox will install three high-def videoboard and scoring displays, repair and waterproof the right-field lower seating bowl, and once again expand concessions in anticipation of the ballpark’s 100th anniversary in 1912. Though many of the improvements over the […]
Wooing voters, Mesa and Cubs release ballpark renderings
In an effort to turn out support for public funding of a new Chicago Cubs spring-training complex in northwest Mesa, the city and the team released renderings of a lovely new facility, complete with retail, iconic sign a la Wrigley and office space. Mesa voters will have before them two referendum questions on Nov. 2 […]
Rays rip fans for not showing up during pennant race
The Tampa Bay Rays are in the midst of a great pennant race, but players were outspoken in their disappointment when a crowd of only 12,446 fans showed up to Tropicana Field on a night when the Rays could have clinched a divisional title. They didn’t, dropping a 4-0 game to the Baltimore Orioles. Still, […]
Cleveland to unveil Snow Days at Progressive Field
It’s the dream of every baseball team to monetize a ballpark in winter months, but the Cleveland Indians are building weeks of promotions and activities into a six-week promotion: Snow Days, featuring ice skating, snow tubing and more. Each day, beginning on Nov. 26, the Indians will blanket Progressive Field with 150 tons of snow, […]