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Category Archives: Stadiums
Wait ’til Next Year
The drouth was over. It ended the only way it could. A rebarbative, plague-infected, player celebrated along with the still-healthy ones. After six games. Some fans were inside a gleaming hitherto-unused, untested (no pun in this “get-tested” era) stadium: the … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Cricket, IPL, Right Off the Bat Website, Stadiums
Tagged Al Kaline, Amed Rosario, analytics, Aroldis Chapman, Atlanta Braves, Babe Ruth, batting average, Bob Gibson, Boston Red Sox, Buffalo Bisons, Chicago Black Sox scandal, Cricket, designated hitter, doubleheader, exit velocity, Florida Marlins, Globe Life Field, Hal Chase, home run, Horace Clarke, Hot Stove League, Houston Astros, ICC, Joe Morgan, Justin Turner, launch angle, Literature, live-ball era, lively ball, Los Angeles Dodgers, Lou Brock, Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball Players Association, Mark Twain, Mendoza Line, Miami Marlins, minor leagues, National League, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Ronald Reagan, Sabermetrics, Sahlen Field, Spring Training, Steve Cohen, strikeout (K), Subway Series, Summer Olympics, Theo Epstein, Tom Seaver, Tony Clark, Toronto Blue Jays, Whitey Ford, World Series
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Joe DiMaggio’s Second-longest Hitting Streak at 70 Years*
As I (Evander) write this on July 16, 2020, it is 79 years since Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak reached its 56th and final game. In the twilight of his proud career the Clipper would enjoy his second-longest consecutive-game batting streak: … Continue reading
Great Stadiums (12): When No One Shows Up
June 1, 2020, with nary a game played. There is no lockout. There is no players’ union work-stoppage. There has been no declaration of war. There is no paralyzing scandal. What do we do with an empty stadium? As the … Continue reading
Great Stadiums (11): From Blueprints
Credit Rod Kennedy Jr. for a keen perseverance. Pursuant to the story linked to his name, Kennedy unearthed (the right word) the blueprints for Ebbets Field. This is where Kennedy lives in his memories (as all us fans of baseball … Continue reading
There Used to Be a Ballpark Again
“How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people!” (Lamentations) William Carlos Williams is the author of an epic poem about Paterson. It is one of the cities “left behind.” Maybe not anymore. In fall 2019, it was announced … Continue reading
Great Stadiums (10): Big Beautiful Shea Stadium
I (Evander) went wild first visiting the then-new home of the New York Mets (short for Metropolitans), something like 55 years ago. Ground was broken for “Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium” on October 28, 1961. Shea was McLuhan-cool. It had … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Right Off the Bat Book, Stadiums
Tagged Astrodome, Bill Shea, Houston Astros, Jane Jarvis, Joe Namath, Literature, Major League Baseball, Mike Piazza, National League Championship Series, New York Mets, Nolan Ryan, Pat Jarvis, Shea Stadium, Stadiums, Tom Seaver, World Series
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Great Stadiums (9): Daphne du Maurier Stadium (Oracle Park in San Francisco)
Daphne du Maurier wrote “The Birds,” a short story expanded upon by Alfred Hitchcock to a film of eco-psychology that features his greatest special effects, glamorous skulduggery on Mount Rushmore notwithstanding. Oracle Park—Pacific Bell, then SBC; after those corporate-naming auspices … Continue reading
Good-bye, Mel
One of my (Evander) heroes, Mel Stottlemyre, is gone. With a 2.97 ERA and possessor of one of the great sinker balls, Mel was headed for the Baseball Hall of Fame if not for shoulder problems. I remember his first … Continue reading
The Thousandth Test
On March 15 1877, Charles Bannerman and Nat Thomson strode out to open the batting for Australia at Melbourne against an England team, in what is generally acknowledged to be the first “Test” match—a cricket game of two innings each … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Cricket, England, India, One-Day Cricket, Stadiums, T20 Cricket, Test Cricket
Tagged Alastair Cook, Charles Bannerman, Joe Root, Keaton Jennings, Ned Thomson, Virat Kohli
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Prospect Pipeline
As the 2018 MLB season dawns and hope springs eternal, it precedes the draft by nine weeks (June 4 to 6). Months before that and earlier in blooming careers, Perfect Game, once a term solely relating to pitchers mowing down … Continue reading
Right Off the Bat 