Fish Get A New Tank
We'll begin with the Florida, soon to be Miami, Marlins. Since 1993, the Fish have been trying desperately to get a baseball-specific stadium to escape from the horrible confines of Dolphin Stadium. Well, they finally got that stadium thanks to the city approving the new digs. Deadspin already beat me to it, but this then fulfills one of the two criteria needed to make the prediction made by Back to the Future II correct, as the Marlins will become the Miami Marlins in 2012. Now, if we can just get the Marlins in the AL somehow, although I would like to make it clear that I am not condoning the Cubs winning the World Series.
While looking through the design plans, I noticed something, this:
I apologize for the quality of what I'm trying to show, but is that at least a section and a half of obstructed-view seating? Aren't we past that in this day and age? And further more...A SECTION AND A HALF OF OBSTRUCTED-VIEW SEATING? Great way to thank the fans for coming out. Either that thing is a pillar or it's a wall extending back to the stadium wall, regardless of which, it will block fans from seeing the action. Luckly, HOK is doing the construction, and I remember hearing them state that they will not build a stadium with obstructed seating. So if I'm seeing this image correctly, then it will be addressed before completion of the project.
There are some more pictures here. I hope they nickname this thing "The Shell" or something to that effect, it reminds me of a tortoise shell. One positive thing I will say though, is that I like how the retractable roof doubles as an awning. That's a great design element.
WBC MVP?
The WBC ended with Japan defeating Korea in their fifth match up of the tournament and Daisuke Matsuzaka came away with the Classic MVP honor. Dice-K was 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA and him and I have something in common now!
We both think he shouldn't have won the honor.
Matsuzaka has been reported as saying he thought that Hisashi Iwakuma should have won for his solid relief perfomances and I think Ichiro should have garnered the title. Iwakuma could also have a solid claim to it, but really, Ichiro was the MVP of that team.
First off, in Japanese culture the oldest person is almost always the leader, that was Ichiro and the team acknowledged him as such. Secondly, his clutch performance in the Final alone should be enough to make him the MVP, but his stats we solidly consistent throughout the tournament. He was first on team Japan in hits, runs and total bases. He also was third on the team in Runs Batted In. The only thing I can say that hurt his cause was the fact he only batted .273, which still isn't enough to not give him the honor. I think that with his leadership and his clutch performance he should be the WBC MVP, although I do acknowledge Matsuzaka and Iwakuma as solid choices as well.
Ken Burns' Baseball
Yes, I know, it came out 15 years ago, but I have never had a chance to see it all the way though. I've watched The Civil War before and loved it, so last night I sat down and watched just the first two innings (that's what the 9 episodes are called). I have to say that I am completely captivated by the series and I think anyone who is a Baseball fan who hasn't watched them yet, should. So much interesting history is in this series and I'm really glad a great documentarian like Burns did this. One of my favorite parts about baseball is the history, I think that's why this sport almost always holds my attention and why I could talk about baseball all day, everyday. Also, Burns has stated that an "extra" tenth inning will be coming out in 2010 which will cover the events of 1994-2008.
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2 comments:
Two things: One, in the 4th rendering in the Marlins Ballpark slideshow, I can clearly see that the font used for "Marlins Ballpark" is Colonna MT, one of my all-time favorite fonts and the one I use for my blog logo on Twitter. This makes me extremely happy - at least, it will if they use it in the final design (which they should, 'cause otherwise it'll make me unhappy, and when the lone Marlins fan in the universe is mad at you, well, you're in danger of losing your enire fan base).
Two, your poll asks "Which are more excited about?" instead of "Which are you more excited about?". Then again, if I remember correctly, Blogger won't let you change a poll after people have voted, so maybe there's nothing you can do about it... I dunno, it's bugging me.
Thanks for your comment, we'll try and remedy the problem with the poll, if not, it's only there for 4 more days then we'll move to something else.
Also Colonna MT is a nice font.
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