Apr

13

A Natty New Ballpark

Posted by Greg | Filed Under News | 2 Comments

This past week my son and I visited the brand new Nationals Ballpark in Washington, D.C.  We attended Wednesday night’s Florida Marlins at Washington Nationals game, just the third home game for the new ballpark.   The Nationals did not look very good despite some strong early pitching by Jason Bergmann, and they lost 10-4.

The Nats may well pull up the rear of the National League this season, but their shimmering new ballpark is well worth visiting.  To be very honest, I loved it. 

I lived in Washington, D.C., from 1986 to 1994.  For all of those years I would slog from DC to Baltimore — first to Memorial Stadium and then to Camden Yard.  In fact, I was at the first two Opening Days of Camden Yard.  Had the Nationals Ballpark been around in those days, I have a feeling I would have gone into debt fast.  I didn’t have the money to be a season ticket holder back then, but if tickets were aplenty and the journey nothing more than a short Metro ride, I could not have stayed away. 

There is a lot to love at the new ballpark.  It is not one of those retro- urban ballparks that Camden Yard ushered in.  I would describe it as sleek, contemporary, spacious but with intimate sight lines. 

Without a doubt, Nationals Ballpark must have the best outfield scoreboard in baseball — maybe in sports, period.  It is an enormous, gorgeous, bright, high-definition scoreboard with live video, easy to navigate graphics and a great out-of-town scoreboard.  I couldn’t stop looking at it.

A few other highlights/observations of the new park:

  • Its proximity to the yellow line of DC’s Metro makes it very convenient.  For a new ballpark, it blends in with the city well.  You rise from the subway into an old neighborhood with a new ballpark.  The Capitol is to your right and the park to your left.  The centerfield entrance looms in the distance at the end of a narrow street.
  • The staff was cheery and clearly excited.  (One vendor, though, asked me how many innings there are in a ballgame as the night drug on.)
  • Some might think it cliche but I loved the way food stands were given baseball names.  Changeup Chicken.  Baseline Brews.  Slice Down the Line (pizza).
  • At Safeco, I can listen to the live action from the broadcast booth but at Nats Park I had a hard time hearing the live action although there are TVs around the concourse.
  • The bullpen is not very visible.  You can see pitchers get up from the infield seats but you can’t get to the bullpens as you can at Safeco or some other parks.
  • The press box looks like it’s up in the clouds.  I was surprised how high and far removed it appeared from home plate.

The game started as a pitching duel between Bergmann and Scott Olsen but turned into a hitting fest in the 5th inning when the hapless Marlins teed off on Bergmann for 7 runs, two of them homers.  The highlight, frankly, was the Major League debut of Burke Badenhop who retired three consecutive batters in the 9th to get the save.

Readers of CodBall play in the  ballparks that I review, and many more will one day play in them as their careers progress.  Check out my notes from Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New York, Philadelphia and other points of interest.  

Apr

6

Orleans Fails to Net a Grant

Posted by Greg | Filed Under News | 1 Comment

Matthew Belson over at WickedLocal.com has an interesting article, “Orleans Citizens Cry Foul Over Loss of Yawkey Grant.”

Matthew writes that the Orleans Cardinals and the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox are the only teams yet to receive a $150,000 grant from Yawkey, a Boston-based foundation that has helped support Cape Cod baseball for years.

Yawkey requires a local community match – or financial support – in order to qualify for its grant money.  It appears that the town of Orleans appropriated dollars for an irrigation system rather than for the protective netting that would help to meet league safety policies.

You’ll have to read Matthew’s piece to sort it all out.  Seems like the protective netting should have been the priority in Orleans.

Apr

6

A new look in Falmouth

Posted by Greg | Filed Under News | 5 Comments

We’ve had a little fun over the past year or so watching my home team, the Falmouth Commodores, choose which logo it will sport on its hat each season.  Well, General Manager Dan Dunn has confirmed for CodBall readers that by popular demand the Commodores team is dropping the ‘C’ so that the ‘F’ for Falmouth can stand alone.  For the past couple of seasons the team has donned, “FC” atop its sombrero.

I started to title this: “Falmouth cuts the ‘C’” to accompany my previous headline, “What the ‘F’?'  But I decided otherwise.

The Commodores will keep its basic look this season.  Falmouth will have three uniforms – the traditional black for the road, white sleeveless for home and a light weight maroon for Sundays and hot days.

Dan reports the team will introduce a new home uniform in 2009.

He also noted the team will hit with pink bats on June 28th against the Y-D Red Sox in support of cancer research.  Both teams will sell the pink bats at auction to raise money for cancer research.  Thanks, Homer!

Apr

1

Gordon Beckham Off to a Hot Start

Posted by Greg | Filed Under News | 3 Comments

He was one of the best players on the best team in the Cape — Gordon Beckham.  The Y-D Red Sox slugger and CCBL All-Star as well as Home Run King made a name for himself last summer.

Beckham is making headlines again during this spring’s major college baseball season.  Sports Illustrated profiled him this past week.  According to SI:

The Bulldogs struggled last season, but Beckham improved as a sophomore, hitting .307 with 13 homers and 51 RBIs. He then provided a peek at what was to come this year when he led the Cape Cod League with nine homers and tied for the lead with 35 RBIs last summer while leading Yarmouth-Dennis to the championship.

“I went up there and said the same thing I did coming into this season, that I was going to go up there and have fun and whatever happens, happens,” Beckham said. “I think that’s been paying off for me.”

 

Mar

22

Letter to Commissioner Bud Selig

Posted by Greg | Filed Under News | 14 Comments

Dear Commissioner:

It was reported today in the Cape Cod Times that Major League Baseball continues to negotiate with the Cape Cod Baseball League for a license and revenue deal for the merchandise of six Cape league teams bearing the names of Major league teams — the Mariners, A’s, Cardinals, Braves, Red Sox and Mets. 

With all due respect, Commissioner Selig, you’ve made a mistake with respect to Cape Cod Baseball.  You can still avoid the sin of making this amateur baseball league that produces your stars of the future pay anything more than $6 per year to Major League Baseball.  

I am not a lawyer (I’m just an opinionated fan), but I do understand MLB’s need to license its names and logos.  In intellectual property law, as I understand it, he who fails to protect his property loses his property.  So I get the need for the CCBL to enter into a license agreement for merchandise.  But what I don’t understand is why MLB would want to take profits from amateur baseball.  Why not license the team names and logos for $1 per year? 

Why make headlines that reinforce the image of greed in an era of steroids and rampant player contracts (not to mention a nearly $200 per game average cost for a family of 4)?

Rather than allowing it to come to this, you should have deepened MLB’s relationship and support for the six teams bearing MLB logos.  The pride that fans, sponsors, players and parents feel for these Cape League teams is really the heart and soul of your sport. 

Why not call the Cape League commissioner today and say, “sorry, let’s get the lawyers out of this.  Here’s the deal, you give us $6 per year to use our team names and logos.  And because we all love baseball and recognize the vital role of the Cape league, let us know how we can help to support you more.” 

The MLB has shown recently that it is capable of helping amateur baseball in meaningful ways.   The Major League Basebal Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif., brought UCLA and USC baseball together with Historically Black College baseball (Bethune-Cookman and Southern) to provide more exposure to great college baseball for low-income and minority kids.  Perhaps the MLB could help more HBC players get a shot on the Cape.

Mr. Commissioner, you serve in a unique position — the top job in the world’s best sport.  Cape Cod Baseball is the best showcase and proving ground for your future.  I encourage you to reject dollars from amateur baseball and instead unleash the creativity of your staff on a more positive course — how to support Cape League baseball.

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