Imagine owning a sports franchise worth $1.25 billion. You’ve worked for years on a new ballpark plan, finally proposing redevelopment everyone likes. One hurricane and one election later, and suddenly your current home is trashed and the future home is in doubt. Welcome to the joys of owning the Tampa Bay Rays. (more…)
Hurricane Milton not only tore the roof off Tropicana Field: It upended all planning for a new Tampa Bay Rays ballpark, potentially killing a St. Pete facility, and forcing the team to play the 2025 season at the minor-league Steinbrenner Field. (more…)
We lead the week with two big news stories from Houston. The second: The Astrodome Conservancy unveiled a new Astrodome redevelopment concept, as the nonprofit teams with Gensler Architects to create a sustainable business via adaptive reuse for the historic venue. (more…)
We lead the week with two big news stories from Houston. The first: The Houston Astros have sold naming rights to the former Minute Maid Park, leading to a new name of Daikin Park for the 2025 season through 2039. (more…)
Though this move was announced months ago, it’s still a slight shock to the heart of any baseball fan to realize that the Oakland Athletics are no more, replaced temporarily by a bare-boned Athletics moniker until the move to Las Vegas. (more…)
We have an official release date for Jim Gilliam: The Forgotten Dodger, of Feb. 4, 2025. But we have a surprise for Ballpark Digest readers and Friends of Steve: a December 1 presale that ships with an autographed bookplate. (more…)
With most of the Tropicana Field roof shredded by Hurricane Milton, the Tampa Bay Rays and Major League Baseball must address the team’s short-term and long-term needs for home play just five months before the 2025 regular season starts. (more…)
With Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida, the baseball world is sending home players and staffers and hunkering down for one of the most severe storms to ever slam the state. (more…)
With the end of the Oakland Athletics 2024 MLB season, we are likely looking at the end of the team’s tenure at the Oakland Coliseum. And while it’s not a totally done deal, this move surely marks the end of multiuse stadiums in professional baseball and football. (more…)
We have some book news to pass along: The Complete Guide to Spring Training 2025 / Arizona is now available for preorder, with units expected to ship before Sept. 15 and a free eBook download included! (more…)
We have some book news to pass along: The Complete Guide to Spring Training 2025 / Florida is now available for order in paperback and eBook editions! (more…)
We have some upcoming book titles to announce, including a full-length biography of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers’ Jim Gilliam and the impending release of our 2025 spring-training guides. (more…)
Our noses have been buried in our next three book projects; hence the lack of postings. Here’s some updates from the last month, beginning with the sad news that Winter Haven’s Chain of Lakes Park, former spring-training home of the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians, has been torn down–but baseball will still be played […]
