Ballpark News

Bowl Game to Be Played at Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium will become the 5th Major League venue to host a college football bowl game starting in 2010. Following in the footsteps of AT&T Park (Emerald), LandShark Stadium (Orange), Rogers Centre (International) and Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg), the yet to be sponsored "Yankee Bowl" is targeted for a December 29, 2010 debut and will pit a Big East team versus one from the Big 12. The Yankees will reportedly spend $16 million over the initial four-year agreement to host the game and plan to make that back (and then some) through sponsorships and concessions. The football field will extend from behind home plate towards center field, although the bowl game won't be the first time the gridiron will be used, as Army and Notre Dame will play in the stadium's first football game on November 20, 2010. The original Yankee Stadium hosted many football games but only one bowl game, the 1962 Gotham Bowl, which drew a paltry crowd of 6,166 and was never played again.
 Read the full story

Huntington Park Named Ballpark of the Year
For the past ten seasons Joe Mock of BaseballParks.com has visited each new ballpark and awarded the best of the group with what's now the prestigious Ballpark of the Year award. Using superior design, attractive site selection and fan amenities as his barometers, Mock announced on August 12 that the best new ballpark in 2009 was the 10,100-seat downtown beauty in Columbus, Ohio. Huntington Park, the $42 million home of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers, beat out the new New York homes of the Mets and Yankees for the award, which 12 ballparks were eligible for.
 Read the full story at the Columbus Dispatch

Yankees Tie Record For Most Wins In A First-Year Ballpark
The Yankees' 4-3 loss to the Royals in the new Yankee Stadium's regular season finale on September 30 prevented them from setting the record for most home victories in the inaugural year of a ballpark. The 2009 Yankees ended up going 57-24 at home. The 1912 Red Sox opened up Fenway Park with a 57-20 (.740) record, while the 1901 Boston team opened the predecessor to Fenway, the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds, with a 49-20 (.710) record. The two Red Sox teams are the only ones to have a better first-year home winning percentage than the Yankees' .704.

Tiger Stadium To Be Completely Torn Down
The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy tried, but they failed to save what's left of Tiger Stadium. A judge in Wayne County lifted a temporary restraining order on June 8 that had prevented the complete demolition of the former home of the Detroit Tigers after the Conservancy couldn't come up with the $33.4 million for a redevelopment project they had proposed. Most of Tiger Stadium was demolished last year. What remains will now be destroyed.

Take Me Out to the Ball Games
Those of you who fly American Airlines can read this article in print, but American Way, which is available to every passenger on every American Airlines flight, wrote about the ultimate baseball pilgrimage in their April 1st issue. And by ultimate, they mean seeing all 30 Major League ballparks in one season.

Another good article on the subject matter, Heaven, hell and the ultimate baseball road trip, was posted on NBCSports.com on May 28 and details the experiences of a few fans who attempted the trip.

Best Ballpark Eats
Forget Zagat ratings. Head to the ballpark, where for at least 81 days per year some of the best food found in a Major League city happens to be served. Recognizing this, on May 10 the wise guys at the Bleacher Report picked the Top 10 treats from around the Majors.

Baseball and Dad: 2009 Father's Day Contest
For the 9th straight year, Joe Connor's Modern Era Baseball sponsored a contest where fans of all ages could submit by e-mail their most memorable father-son or father-daughter baseball memory. Besides winning a slew of baseball prizes, the top three 600 words or less submissions were posted at ModernEraBaseball.com on Father's Day.

Rickwood Classic Set For May 27
For the 14th straight year the Birmingham Barons will return to America's oldest ballpark, Rickwood Field, to play a regular season game. This year's Rickwood Classic will take place on Wednesday, May 27 at 12:30 p.m. when the Barons host the Mississippi Braves at the 99-year old stadium in the city’s West End. The 2009 Classic will pay tribute to the 1982 exhibition played between the Atlanta Braves and Southern League All-Stars. As a special bonus, the first 1,500 fans through Rickwood's turnstiles will receive a commemorative "big ticket" that duplicates the ones used for the '82 exhibition.

On the Road Again
The 2009 season is underway and the baseball pilgrimages have begun. Gabe Scheinbaum has visited and reviewed Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, Cashman Field in Las Vegas and Wrigley Field, while Graham Knight returned from his spring training odyssey and has written up the two new parks in the Cactus League, Glendale's Camelback Ranch and Goodyear Ballpark, and the completely renovated Charlotte Sports Park.

Book Excerpt: Ballparks of the Deadball Era
Ron Selter has written a comprehensive account about the 34 ballparks that were used in baseball's "Deadball" era (1901-19) and what effect each had on batting. The best hitter's park of that era, Burns Park in Detroit, was used for just 23 games. In an excerpt from his book, Selter explains why Burns Park was seldom used and what made it so appealing to hitters.

Trop Ends Playoff Drought
Built in 1990 and first used for Major League Baseball in 1998, Tropicana Field was the oldest ballpark to have never hosted postseason baseball prior to the 2008 American League Division Series. In fact, prior to then The Trop was the only AL ballpark yet to host a playoff game. On the National League side, Miller Park finally got its first taste of the postseason thanks to the Brewers winning the wild card. But there are still three NL parks that have yet to make their postseason debut: PNC Park (opened in 2001), Great American Ball Park (2003) and Nationals Park (2008). Pittsburgh fans have clearly suffered the most. The Pirates haven't had a winning season in the eight years since they departed Three Rivers Stadium.

The Last Night in the Bronx Zoo
The last nine teams to close their home stadium had lost their finale. That streak ended in Yankee Stadium's finale on September 21 with the home team beating the Orioles. Face value tickets for that game ranged from 14 to 400 dollars, but that's only a fraction of the price that the Yankees will receive for the actual seats once the stadium closes, as those that are put up for auction are expected to bring upwards of $1,000 per seat. That's a far cry from what they sold for after the 1973 season, when the original Yankee Stadium was completely renovated. Fans needed only to pay $7.50 then. That, and five empty packs of Winston cigarettes was all that it took to claim one of the Stadium's original wood and cast-iron seats from Korvette's, a New York City department store chain that bought them to use in a promotion. If Korvette's had merely held onto the seats they might have been able to stave off their 1980 bankruptcy. Today the same seats that they sold for $7.50 fetch around $4,500.

That's Why They Call Them Baseball's Best Fans
With a sellout crowd of 46,045 showing up at Busch Stadium for Albert Pujols bobblehead day on September 7, the Cardinals have once again topped the three million mark in home attendance. St. Louis became the fifth team in 2008 to top three million, following the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers and Cubs. The Cardinals have now drawn over three million fans in St. Louis for five straight years, and 10 of the last 11. The only year that was an exception was 2003, when "just" 2,910,386 fans passed through the original Busch Stadium's turnstiles.

50 Million Served
They don't pack the place like they used to, but someone in the sell-out crowd of 48,515 on August 19 became the 50 millionth fan to pass through the turnstiles of Camden Yards. That someone happened to be a 24-year old named Kevin Gracie. For his "troubles," Kevin received two Orioles season tickets for the next five years plus a check for $50,000. "Fifty thousand is great; five years of season tickets is amazing," said the University of Baltimore law student. As for the ballpark, the 17-year-old home of the Baltimore Orioles reached 50 million faster than any in baseball history.

A Hot Ticket in Milwaukee
Who says one player can't make a difference? On the day the Brewers acquired CC Sabathia from the Indians his new team sold more than 27,000 tickets. On a typical day the Brewers sell about 3,000. Among the stash sold on July 7, Sabathia's first day with the Brew Crew, were 9,000 tickets for his debut the next day at Miller Park. Sabathia faced the Rockies on July 8 in front of a sold out crowd, as the remaining 3,500 tickets for the game were quickly sold due to something you never see in Milwaukee on a Tuesday morning: fans waiting at the ticket windows when they opened at 9 a.m.

Baseball and Dad
Winners of the 8th annual Father's Day Essay Contest have been announced and for the first time there are co-winners. Read both essays (they're short and poignant) at ModernEraBaseball.com.

Omaha to Replace Rosenblatt With New Stadium in Time for 2011 CWS
The road to Omaha will have a slightly new destination address beginning in 2011. On June 10 the Omaha City Council officially approved a contract to build a new $140 million downtown ballpark after the NCAA agreed to a 25-year extension with the city to hold the College World Series there. Rosenblatt Stadium, home to the CWS since 1950, will be torn down after the 2010 season, with its land slated to become a parking lot for Omaha's zoo.

More Than Just Peanuts and Cracker Jacks
Peter Meehan wrote an excellent article in the New York Times (Buy Me Some Sushi and Baby Back Ribs) on June 8 about the evolution of ballpark food. He noted that in the new ballparks, "food and beer offered are no longer an afterthought to the game." Peter thoroughly sampled the concession fare at 12 major league ballparks and reported on what he tasted.

Marlins to Get New Ballpark (and Name) in 2011
Five times the Florida Marlins failed to obtain state funding for a new ballpark, but the sixth time was the charm. The Marlins will play in a new 37,000-seat retractable roof ballpark that will be built in downtown Miami on the former site of the Orange Bowl. Groundbreaking and construction on the $525 million ballpark is tentatively scheduled for November. The team is responsible for $155 million of the cost (about 30%), with Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami paying the rest. As part of the deal, the Florida Marlins will change their name to the Miami Marlins in 2011, when the ballpark is scheduled to open.

Reds Become Second Ohio Team to Flock to Arizona
The Cincinnati Reds are joining the Cleveland Indians in their exodus from Florida, and by 2010 the teams will share a new spring training complex in Goodyear, Arizona. The Reds will spend one more year in Sarasota before joining their Ohio neighbors in the Cactus League. The Indians will begin training in Goodyear in 2009.