All Star Announcement

It's official, the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be held in...Target Field!

This caught me off guard, as I was expecting either Wrigley Field or the New Yankee Stadium. Target Field is a huge ballpark, definitely built for pitchers, so the scoring may be affected by the dimensions.

I've never shied away from my distaste for the "Era of Expansion", the time period that claimed such architectural masterpieces as Tiger Stadium, Shea Stadium, Comiskey Park, and eventually even Yankee Stadium. However, the Metrodome was not built for baseball, period. Retractable roofs are all the rage nowadays. The Twins had to leave, period.

Target Field is a better venue for baseball. With the Vikings moving in 2016, the Metrodome may meet a sad end.

But, consider this, the Metrodome was built in 1982, making it 34 years old at the time of its replacement.

The city of Minneapolis/Vikings/Twins spent $124,000,000 (million!) for a venue that lasted just 34 years. This total does not include any renovations, such as patching the roof after it collapsed in 2010.

In STARK contrast, the Red Sox spent $650,000 for a venue that has lasted 100 years, not including the $285 million spent to improve the park over the years, such as the added Green Monster seats (.406 Club).

New stadiums do not have HALF, not even HALF, of the craftsmanship, artistry, and care that was put into the old ballparks. After 34 years, the Metrodome is being abandoned. In 2011, cracks were discovered in the concrete at the New Yankee Stadium ($1.4 Billion). After just 13 years, rumors are surfacing that the Rays are thinking of leaving the Trop (please be true!).

New Stadiums are just that, stadiums. Built to attract fans and promotions, all about the cash and trying to entice people into visiting the park.

Case in point, Citi Field.

After New York, the Mets, and NYC spent $900,000,000 for the stadium, and playing three years in the venue, following the 2011 season, they spent an additional fortune (only stated as under the original $800,000,000 estimated for the renovations) to move in the fences.

Let this be both a warning and a lesson to future teams. Before breaking the bank to build a stadium that will last 30-40 years, think for just a few moments: Is it really worth it to spend all that money on a venue just to tear it down before it's 50th anniversary?

With that said, I will leave the taxpayers of America to ponder the very questions that I have posed and the evidence supporting or denying them. Leaving them with the writings that show the terrible quality of new venues...

...an this picture of the collpase of the Metrodome roof.

There Used to Be A Ballpark

There Used to Be A Ballpark

Stadiums' demises show carelessness, lack of appreciation for history.

We've all heard the stories of years gone by. Parents, grandparents, and other realtives relating the first time they visited their favorite team's home field.

Those stories now seem like ones out of a history book, as many of the venues that were so revered by bygone generations are now just memories and feelings.

Benjamin Kabak of riveraveblues.com wrote of the New Yankee Stadium: "For the Yankees, this new stadium isn’t about necessity, and it sure wasn’t about history. Say what you will about the renovations in the 1970s, but Yankee Stadium, man, it has some history. It had Gehrig and Ruth and DiMaggio and Mantle and Reggie and Mattingly and the late 1990s. Sure, the concourses were a bit narrow, but if the Red Sox can eke our more seats in Fenway, the Yanks could have found a way to make their current stadium more hospitable for the 4.2 million fans who made the pilgrimage up the Bronx last year. They could have improved the food offerings and renovated the bathrooms." He also put, "Unsurprisingly, this new Stadium really is all about the money."

I've been to the New Stadium. It was nice, it was beautiful. It was everything I expected, but no history.

Mets fans all over cried foul as they followed in the Yankees' footsteps and demolished Shea.

"Shea Stadium brings tears to my eyes, it was such a magical place with its own personality, so many awesome memories, I miss it…
Afraid to go to Citifield b/c I hate new stadiums, I’m even gonna to admit missing the Vet!!! [Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia]
These New stadiums are cookie cutters, with so much going on in the park…At least the old ones…… served one purpose..to watch a ballgame, that is it!!!!"

"You can have historical things happen at Citi, like the Mets winning another Championship. But it will never be Shea. It will never be home."

On to Detroit.
"Comerica will never get the repect that historic Tiger Stadium has."

"There is so much history at the Corner. And it was there when Detroit was a great city, not part of the rebuilding process. It's seen the rise of the auto industry (and falling of it), the 68 riots, a couple world wars and the associated parades afterwards, various Chop Houses, and Sonny Elliott. Comerica has a long way to go, with a lot of winning needed, to be on the same level as Tiger Stadium."

Even the New Era commercial with the White Sox fan and Cubs fan arguing states "It [Wrigley Field]'s powered by tradition my friend, something you wouldn't know about at mobile phone park."

It's far too late to look back now. You cannot resurrect Tiger Stadium, Shea, Yankee Stadium, or Comiskey. But you can realise that the beginning of the Era of Expansion was bad for historical purposes. Only three teams have gotten it right.

"'It [Fenway Park] is a living room, it's a backyard. It is a temple. It is all those things,' said Janice Page, longtime Red Sox fan."

"I feel like I'm walking into a place where things happen, says Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe "Something special may happen today. Babe Ruth played there, Ted Williams played there."

 "'We don't allow people to use the S-word. We fine people $5 if they use the word 'stadium,'" said Red Sox President Larry Lucchino.

[on April 20 2012], the Red Sox [faced] New York, just as they did on Opening Day in 1912, [in this same ballpark] when the Sox came out the victors.

Whether Red Sox fans end up celebrating or scowling, they'll be right at home - where they hope to be for the next 100 years."

"I believe the Cubs ought to play baseball at Wrigley Field forever and if there's anything I can do in the role of governor to try to guarantee and assure that the Cubs stay at Wrigley Field...than that's good for the people of Illinois." says Rod Blagochevic, former Illinois Governor.

Even the Los Angeles Dodgers have begun a program called Next 50, to prepare Dodger Stadium for the next half century.

"It [Dodger Stadium] might just be the best looking 50-year-old in the county." wrote Joe McDonnell of FSwest.com.

The Death of Detroit

How a Major League Team Contributed to a City's Decline

On October 27, 1997, the Detroit Tigers announced a plan to build a brand new stadium, Comerica Park, to be opened in time of the third millennium. The public (city of Detroit) paid $189,000,000 out of the $300 million allotted for construction of the stadium.

The city, deeply in debt, is now realizing the pain.

The "Era of Expansion" has taken Detroit as it's victim. The historic stadium, built in 1912 and demolished back in 2008, could have been restored instead, with the majority of costs for stadium restorations paid for by the Tigers.
We are entering a new phase in baseball. In this year alone, Fenway Park turned 100 and Dodger Stadium turned 50. In two more years, Wrigley Field will also reach the century mark.

Preserving history not only saves the culture of days gone by and presents it to newer generations; it also saves the money of the cities and organizations that would otherwise pay for these new ballparks.

The money that Detroit spent on Comerica Park could (and should) have been spent revitalizing the downtown area and helping the city, not wasted on a new ballpark that the Tigers' didn't need.

Tiger Stadium (top) and Comerica Park

 

"Dodging" The Bullet

2012 marks the 50th Anniversary of the historic venue, Dodger Stadium. As the Mets play the Dodgers this series, I thought I would reflect on the history and future of the ballpark.

In the late '50's and early 60's, the stadium was built, using entirely private funds, and the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, playing their first few seasons in the Los Angeles Memorial Colessium.

On Opening Day, April 11, 1962, the Dodgers played their first game, and the next day they won their first game at the stadium. It has hosted eight World Series, (including four Dodger victories), and the 1980 All Star Game.

The stadium has survived the "era of expansion" as I have dubbed it, where new stadiums seem to be popping up everywhere: New Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, Oriole Park Camden Yards, PETCO Park, and Marlins Park, amoung many, many more.

Recently renovated, the stadium looks as if it could actually reach the 100-year mark, which would make it (in my opinion), the last stadium to do so. If their respective teams have the right ownership and continue to invest money into renovations for their stadiums every 40-50 years, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and Dodger Stadium can last forever.

And quite honestly,

I wouldn't want it any other way.

Dodger Stadium, 50 years young.

My Trip to (New) Yankee Stadium

On June 10th for my 16th birthday I visited the New Yankee Stadium, (my first time in either venue). I was taken away by the beauty, the vistas and the overall atmosphere, (as well as the Martin walk off blast). It was a great experience.

However, there was one thing missing,

The history.

Watching the ceremonies, the centennial celebration that the Red Sox held for their home, Fenway Park, made even more of an impact on me. As does knowing of the impending celebration that the Cubs will hold at Wrigley in 2014 for it's centennial, as I was one of few who was not excited to here the Yankees were moving out of their home.

The Yankees have been host to some of the greatest players in baseball history: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Ron Guidry, Reggie Jackson, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Thurman Munson and Bobby Murcer among many, many more.

When you watch a game played at Fenway, you know that Carl Crawford is in the same spot Carl Yastrzemski played in. You feel the history as you see the same spot where Bucky "Bleeping" Dent's 3-run blast landed in '78. The site where the Impossible Dream team played in '67. The foul pole around which Johnny Pesky drilled a game-winning home run for Mel Parnell. The bullpen, named "Williamsburg", where Hall of Famer Ted Williams, "the greatest hitter who ever lived", hit numerous home runs. The Lone Red Seat where Williams drilled a home run estimated at 502 feet. You can look at the Red Sox retired numbers and know that all of those players (except 42, Jackie Robinson), played at the same ballpark that Jacoby Ellsburry, David Ortiz and Josh Beckett play in today. When you trek through Wrigley Field, you know that the same place where Randy Wells, Starlin Castro and Dawin Barney play is the same spot that Hall of Famer Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg, and even Greg Maddux played in their day. You can see where Babe Ruth called his shot in the 1932 World Series, where Billy Sianis was ejected and the "Curse of the Billy Goat" began, and the booth where Harry Caray called games for years.

The Red Sox and Cubs combined will never have more World Championships than the Yankees, they will never retire more numbers, they will never have more Hall of Famers, and they will never be the most successful baseball team, the New York Yankees. But the Red Sox and Cubs will always have something which the Yankees will never have again,

A ballpark steeped in history and tradition for the last 100 years, and, as future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez proclaimed,

The next 100 years.