Some of these notes will be fairly old because they have been in the inbox for a while.
The picture to the left was taken by me during my trip to Augusta, Georgia last year to Lake Olmstead Stadium in its final season of minor league baseball.
The Augusta Greenjackets have a new stadium across the state line now in South Carolina, but what are the plans in Georgia for their old stadium?
Augusta University is currently using it for their games, but there is some talk of installing a stage and making Lake Olmstead a facility for concerts.
I would imagine that would take some dollars, but it would make sense to increase the financial viability of keeping the stadium around.
At just 23, it's surprising that Lake Olmstead has already been tossed aside, but there is going to be a movement in the majors and minors on stadiums that now are in or approaching their 20's from the last stadium boom, it'll be interesting to see the future for some of these stadiums and for baseball in these cities.
This ESPN article on Ichiro Suzuki might seem like it is a tribute to the outfielder, who retired recently, but it is actually from the off-season and it's a really interesting look at the Japanese star.
Ichiro's work ethic and attachment to the game is fanatical and what author Wright Thompson brings out shows the person behind the bat along with just why Ichiro might be one of those guys that attempts a comeback eventually, even if it is in the Japanese leagues, which would love the attention and ticket selling that would bring.
The star of the story is the lost relationship between Ichiro and his father, which I think many fathers and sons can relate to at some level.
This truly is worth your time...
Hardball Times writes of a 1980 showdown between Mike Norris of the Athletics and Jesse Jefferson of the Blue Jays at old Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
Norris, who would win 20 games in 1980, dueled with Jefferson, who at the time was a journeyman pitcher, who had once been a touted prospect with the Orioles, for eleven innings before a 1-0 decision in eleven innings.
Hardball Times also writes of the connection of baseball and the television show MASH with the various time's baseball was part of the show.
I agree with the author that the peak of the show was its early years when it was funnier than the often "heavy-handed" (to quote the author) episodes of later seasons.
I did love the episode with "Hawkeye" and "BJ" recreating an Indians-Yankees game as my favorite of the mentioned episodes.
One more from Hardball Times as they write about the battles for neutral ground from two nearby teams.
The neutral ground is Columbus in this article and it writes of the fight between Cleveland and Cincinnati for the hearts of the capital city.
The article also discusses the history of baseball in Columbus as well.
CBS Sports has a really good article on the Chicago White Sox "Ballpark that could have been", which writes about just how lousy a park "New Comiskey Park" is (Considering how "Old Comiskey was an awesome place to watch a game) and how the original plans could have been far different and better than the resulting facility.
New Comiskey is almost universally recognized as the last "new" ballpark (built in 1991, it is now 27 years old) that is terrible before Camden Yards came along and started a new era in how and what a baseball stadium is and looks like.
However, even though Camden Yards was the trendsetter in ballparks by HOK, the architects of both parks, I learned that HOK almost gave Camden Yards a look that was far more New Comiskey than an old-school ballpark, but the Orioles/Baltimore had a better field in mind.
Thank the lord for that.
SABR's Baseball Card Blog takes on an old mystery from 1969 on the baseball card of Wally Bunker.
Bunker, whose hat was airbrushed due to the expansion draft and Topps having to use old pictures after issues with the players association for the 1968 and 69 sets, is clearly at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, but the mystery is this- just what is the orange thing over Bunker's shoulder?
The author says it bothered him for years, but the great news is this- SABR members figured it out and solved it!
I'm not giving the answer away, but the answer is in the comments following the article.
SABR baseball gaming finishes this inbox with an article on realism in baseball board games and even a personal note as the author, Joe Pritchard, is a person that Ryan and I knew years ago and even played in the IFL for a while.
Joe writes of his baseball game background, including his time with MLB Showdown which I think is where Ryan met Joe in the first place.
I still get cards from that set signed to this day for Ryan, including Todd Pratt earlier this year.
Pratt was catching for the Mets on the cards and currently manages the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the Marlins Low A affiliate.
Joe currently plays a game called History Maker baseball that has much customization than other baseball games.
Me? I'm still with ol' standby Strat O Matic, but I'm even thinking of giving Action baseball a try since I like their football and basketball games so much.
SOM makes you buy a brand new game every time you want to purchase the latest season, while Action doesn't, so I'm considering giving Action a try sometime, but not quitting SOM.
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