Despite the anti-tax sentiment carrying the day in most of America, Mesa voters yesterday voted to spend almost $100 million on a new Chicago Cubs spring-training facility, funded by higher hotel taxes and a selloff of city land. The approval came via two ballot issues. The first, which passed with 63 percent of the vote, […]
Archive | Major-League Baseball
U2 to play four ballparks in 2011
Four Major League Baseball ballparks — Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Angel Stadium, Rogers Centre and Busch Stadium — will host rock band U2 on its 2011 360° Tour. The band originally was scheduled to tour the United States in the summer of 2010, but physical issues related to Bono caused the delay of the tour. 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 […]
Mesa to vote on new Cubs complex today
Mesa (Az.) voters will go to the polls today to decide on the fate of a new Chicago Cubs spring-training complex, as two questions on the ballot will authorize the city to go ahead with the plan and its funding. Voters must approve a referendum question to raise the city hotel tax by two percentage […]
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 […]
Alderson hiring good news for Mets farm teams
After years of neglect, the New York Mets farm system should see improvement under new GM Sandy Alderson, a man known for building a strong personnel system when he was GM of the Oakland A’s. Alderson was introduced Friday as the new GM of the Mets, replacing Omar Minaya as the face of the franchise. […]
Orioles release 2011 spring-training schedule
In what is undoubtedly the wave of the Grapefruit League future, the Baltimore Orioles released a 2011 spring-training schedule today that’s heavy on games against local opponents, with no visits to or from Treasure Coast teams. You can view the full schedule here. As you can see, the schedule is heavy on Gulf Coast teams, […]
Nats to unveil new unis in November
Suffice it to say the Washington Nationals didn’t display too much sartorial splendor when the team moved from Montreal, a city where the uniforms were always noteworthy. That situation should be rectified next month when the team unveils new unis. The new uniforms, to be unveiled at a Nov. 10 event, will reportedly be more […]
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 […]
World Series launches Wednesday
The schedule for this year’s World Series has been released, and it begins Wednesday when the San Francisco Giants host the upstart Texas Rangers at beautiful AT&T Park. Gametime for Wedneday’s game is 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Cliff Lee is expected to start for the Rangers, with Tim Lincecum slated for the Giants. Here’s the rest […]
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 […]
Rough week for the Yankees: Goodbye, Freddie Sez
The New York Yankees have had a terrible week: besides dropping two ALCS games at home to the Texas Rangers, the fabled franchise said goodbye to one of the few superfans left in the game: Freddy “Sez” Schuman. Schuman, born the same year the original Yankee Stadium opened, was a fixture at Yankees games since […]
Uecker set for more heart surgery next week
Some sad news from the broadcast booth: legendary Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker requires additional heart surgery, only months after a valve replacement that kept him away from Miller Park for much of the 2010 season. The surgery is necessitated by a pseudoaneurysm, or tear, at the site of his valve replacement. It is believed […]