Archives

Looking up links to articles on our home page "blog"

I know how it is. Sometimes when you're really into ballparks, you want to do some research on recent ballpark news. Since the home page of BASEBALLPARKS.COM acts as a blog of sorts to lead you to articles on all of the ballpark news of importance, it's a great place to check first. However, there's so much breaking news about baseball stadiums happening all the time that we change the content in those "feature boxes" very often -- sometimes multiple times in a day.

So what do you do when you want to read about a topic that has been "rotated off" the home page? Well, now you can check this Archives page to see what topics have been touched upon on our home page. Of course, there is absolutely no guarantee that the links will still get you to the right article by the time you check out an older home page, but at least our blurb will probably give you enough info so that you can research the topic further on Google News or the like. And, of course, you can always search the entire BASEBALLPARKS.COM site through our Site Search function.

Obviously, as time goes on, this will become a more and more valuable resource, so bear with us. I'll be updating this archive every week or two. If you're doing research for a newspaper or magazine article, and you don't find what you're looking for here, feel free to call me at 512-826-0853.

Below are our summaries from 2008. If you're looking for items from last year, we've saved all of the summaries from 2007 on a special page.

• January 2, 2008 -- There was a link to an analysis by the Miami Herald on the city's huge public-works initiative that includes a new ballpark; our Ballpark Year In Review photo essay was featured; the first regular-season game at the Nationals' new park will be a lone contest before any others are played in the U.S.; Wrigley Field could be sold to the state of Illinois; Hal Bodley's last baseball column appeared in USA Today.

• January 23, 2008 -- After a long search, the Indians found a corporate partner to pay for naming rights of Jacobs Field; the Atlanta Braves announced that their triple-A affiliate will move into a to-be-built ballpark in the suburbs of Atlanta in 2009; Oriole Park at Camden Yards is getting a new scoreboard; the Reds are contemplating moving their spring training to Goodyear, AZ to be side-by-side with the Indians; progress is occurring on the Tampa Bay Rays' plans for a new park; the Twins' new park will probably receive an LEED "green" designation.

• February 2, 2008 -- The Tulsa Drillers have announced that they intend to move into a new ballpark that will be built within the city limits of Tulsa; an enterprising researcher has provided links to video of various ballparks being imploded; the Cubs are hinting that the Wrigley Company might need to start paying for the name "Wrigley" to stay on the ballpark; the Marlins and Miami-Dade County are quite close to finalizing the financial terms to build a new ballpark; a stadium in Beijing will host two spring-training exhibition games; the Indians are trying to convince the Reds to join them in moving spring operations to Goodyear, AZ.

• February 8, 2008 -- The city of Omaha is strongly considering a new downtown ballpark to be used by the College World Series and the Omaha Royals; we've updated both the Major League Ballpark Changes page and also the one for the Minors; parking availability is creating a snag in the plans for a new Marlins park; a look at the Nationals' new park two months before its first game; the Reds agreed to negotiate only with the city of Goodyear for the coming 75 days regarding the relocation of their spring facilities; all 90,505 tickets to the Dodgers exhibition game in the L.A. Coliseum were sold within an hour of them going on sale to the general public.

• February 18, 2008 -- BASEBALLPARKS.COM debuts a new Contest, this one on baseball in the movies and TV shows; the Marlins are extremely close to finalizing the agreement with the county and city to build a new ballpark at the current site of the Orange Bowl; the new owner of the Cubs wants to sell Wrigley Field separately from selling the team; Sarasota is offering an 11th-hour proposal to pour money into the spring-training complex there to keep the Reds from bolting; the Yankees changed the name of their spring ballpark in Tampa; the Yankee Stadium that's currently under construction will end up costing $1.2 billion.

• March 1, 2008 -- The History Channel will air two shows about baseball stadiums in March, and your humble webmaster will be featured on them; we've distributed a new newsletter to our mailing list; Wrigley Field is in news, as the state will want the city of Chicago to relax strict architectural rules if Illinois takes over ownership, and fans don't want a new name on the ballpark; Citi Field's logo is introduced; a public hearing about the Rays' proposed park drew loud opposition; the Twins' new park will end up costing $22 million more than budgeted, but the team will pick up the over-runs.

• March 18, 2008 -- The first of two episodes on baseball stadiums on the History Channel airs this Saturday; we've completely updated our photo album of all of the pro parks in Arizona; Goodyear, Arizona already has the Indians coming to conduct spring training there in 2009, but now it looks like the Reds will join them in 2010; if the State of Illinois buys Wrigley Field, they will want to renovate it significantly, necessitating that the Cubs would have to play for a period of time at US Cellular Field; the high-resolution video screen at the Nationals new park is stunning.

• March 27, 2008 -- More on the History Channel's shows on ballparks; the family of the late Mike Coolbaugh visited the Rockies' spring training; in February and March, college baseball is played round the clock at the Metrodome; the Pirates's spring park finally played its first night game; MLB opening day in Japan was in jeopardy until payments to coaches was resolved; the Dodgers played their last spring game at Dodgertown.

• April 5, 2008 -- We covered the incredible night at the LA Coliseum where the largest crowd ever to see a baseball game gathered; the Washington Nationals' new park opened the very next night; the Rockies might be planning a move of their spring-training complex west on I-10 to Marana, AZ; the total attendance for this year's spring-training games was the highest ever; the Dodgers hope to overcome the severe parking problems they suffered through last season; and the Dodgers announced that they will definitely be moving their spring training to Glendale, AZ in 2009.

• April 9, 2008 -- BASEBALLPARKS.COM's webmaster was on hand at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, Arkansas to present the plaque for the 2007 Ballpark Of The Year; Prime Seat Tickets is a great source for tickets to big-league games; the Reds will definitely be moving their springtime operations to Goodyear, AZ in 2010 after the city approved a $33 million package to expand the training complex there; Sarasota is starting to work on finding a team to replace the Reds; the Yankees will operate its own concessions at their new park, meaning 2008 is Centerplate's last year as the team's vendor; Forbes rates the healthiest food served at MLB parks.

• April 17, 2008 -- Our extensive review of Springdale, Arkansas' brand-new park has been posted; a key hurdle regarding a new downtown ballpark for Omaha has been overcome, but it remains to be seen if the Omaha Royals will want to join the College World Series as tenants there; the Pope's visit to Washington's Nationals Park went smoothly; a Mets fan died following a fall at Shea Stadium; the plot of a Red Sox fan to jinx the new Yankees Stadium was foiled; supporters of a new park for St. Petersburg were out in force at a City Council meeting.

• April 25, 2008 -- The Dodgers announced far-reaching plans to modernize and expand Dodger Stadium; the family of Mike Coolbaugh, killed by a batted ball during a game in July 2007, moves on with their lives in a special story; a contract to demolish Tiger Stadium has been awarded; a report prepared by the city of St. Petersburg is critical of the Rays' plans to build a new waterfront park; the pope's visit to Yankee Stadium went very smoothly; the A's have pushed back the expected opening of their new park by a year; the entry rotunda in the Mets' new park will feature a tribute to Jackie Robinson.

• May 2, 2008 -- Flooding from the Mississippi River forced the Quad Cities River Bandits from their home park, and one of our visitors provided a photo; for the first time ever, a Minor League game will be played at Wrigley; a rundown of the renovations needed at Wrigley was provided by Milwaukee's paper; The Red Sox are closing in on the record for consecutive home sellouts; one of the unsightly neighbors of the Washington Nationals' park is in line for redevelopment; the Red Sox are contemplating the move of their spring-training operations to Sarasota once the Reds leave for Arizona.