The Detroit Tigers are spending a lot of money this offseason: Besides signing Prince Fielder, the team is also spending millions on one of the largest high-definition LED video displays in Major League Baseball. Incorporated into the existing left-field structure, Daktronics will install a new state-of-the-art light emitting diode (LED) video display. Measuring approximately 48 […]
Archive | Major-League Baseball
Twins: We like Target Field fences where they are
Though other teams are moving in their ballpark fences to pump up the offense, the Minnesota Twins braintrust says they’ll keep the spacious dimensions at Target Field — for now. Target Field is known as a pitchers’ ballpark, partly thanks to the spacious dimensions and partly thanks to the high fences. (In right field, for […]
Summer ballpark concerts: Roger Waters, Madonna, The Boss
It’s shaping up to be an active summer on the ballpark concert front, with Roger Waters, Madonna, Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw slated to play at MLB facilities — with rumors of Bruce Springsteen gigs as well. The most extensive ballpark tour this summer will be undertaken by Roger Waters, who is staging Pink Floyd’s […]
It’s Truck Day — and the first day of workouts
We have a weird situation this year in spring training: it’s Truck Day for the Boston Red Sox and the reporting date for the Seattle Mariners. In other words: baseball season has officially begun. Normally we don’t see Truck Day for most MLB teams so close to a reporting date. But this is a weird […]
Another sign of spring: changes at Digital Domain Park
With reporting dates fast approaching, we have another sign of the times: the New York Mets released some photos of changes to its spring-training home, Digital Domain Park. The two big changes to Digital Domain Park this spring: the installation of a new high-definition scoreboard in left field and a picnic area/party deck down the […]
Blue Jays considering grass field at Rogers Centre
The Toronto Blue Jays are considering a major change to Rogers Centre: replacing the artificial turf with grass. It’s not uncommon anymore to find grass at a retractable-roof ballpark — it’s been done for years in Seattle, Houston and Arizona — but it’s a challenge to add grass to a facility built for artificial turf. […]
Comerica Park, Michigan Stadium to host ’13 Winter Classic
The chatter was true: Michigan Stadium and Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers, will both host games at the 2013 NHL Winter Classic. The University of Michigan Board of Regents approved a lease of the historic football stadium today for Dec. 1, 2012 until mid-January 2013; the NHL will pay $3 million for it […]
Lee County pitches Nats on spring-training move
Lee County officials are once again pitching Washington Nationals brass on a move to the vacant City of Palms Park, but there are no plans yet for the team to shift from Viera’s Space Coast Stadium. The information comes from Lee County Commissioners pursuing another MLB team for spring training. How much serious interest there […]
Braves reveal new alt home uniforms
The Atlanta Braves today unveiled a new alternative home uniform patterned after the 1966 team uniforms. The cream-colored uniforms feature the traditional Braves script in red across the chest minus the tomahawk, red numbers on the front and back, navy piping, navy player letters and a new logo patch on the left sleeve. The logo […]
Solar power on agenda for Kauffman Stadium
A solar array — the largest in the major leagues — has been installed at Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals, with the capacity to generate 36,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. That’s enough electricity to power four average houses in a year. The ballpark uses much more electricity than that, of […]
Oakland bows out of Victory Court site for new A’s ballpark
Faced with a lack of redevelopment funds seized by the state, Oakland is dropping its plans for a new Athletics ballpark at Victory Court — leading the way for a move of the team to San Jose. Regular readers of Ballpark Digest have followed the issues posed to professional sports by the decision from the […]
How best to use old spring-training facilities: Soccer
Spring training may be totally gone from Tucson, but it looks like the city found a great use for former MLB training facilities: professional MLS soccer will bring six teams to the Kino Stadium complex. Six MLS teams will be training in Tucson this spring, with four of them set to participate in the Desert Diamond […]
It’s Marlins Ballpark for 2012
It looks like the Miami Marlins will be calling their new home Marlins Ballpark for the time being, as a naming-rights deal has failed to materialize. Appearing on a local radio station, team president David Samson said that a complex naming-rights deal had failed to close in time for the 2012 season, making Marlins Ballpark […]