In 2009, Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla., appeared to be a park without a future. Over the years since the ballpark was built in 1989, the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds had all moved their spring-training operations out of it — the last straw for the Reds coming when local voters rejected a bond measure to rebuild the park in 2008.
BART General Manager Grace Crunican has all but slammed the door on the idea of building a station near Oakland’s Howard Terminal — the waterfront location that Mayor Libby Schaaf has been promoting for a new A’s ballpark.
Eight months before construction crews are expected to begin renovations work on the now-shuttered Astrodome, some groups already are hatching plans to make use of the famed stadium’s nine acres.
Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg wants to make Ybor City the team’s next home. Speaking Friday in Tampa, Sternberg said the team would focus its new ballpark search on a 14-acre site in Tampa that sits just north of Ybor Channel.
All 30 ballparks will have extended protective netting reaching at least to the far end of both dugouts by opening day, Major League Baseball announced Thursday.
Athletics President Dave Kaval peers out his snazzy new digs in downtown Oakland toward San Francisco and the bay, and also the Howard Terminal site that could become home to his new ballpark.
If you have driven by or flown over Wrigley Field lately, you know more major renovations are under way. The most noticeable difference this season will be the relocating and widening of the dugouts, which will be moved from 15 to 30 feet down the left and right field lines and should provide more air circulation and better sight lines for the players.
For fans looking to mingle during the ball game but still follow the action, head to the right field side of Busch Stadium this season to check out what the St. Louis Cardinals are branding the Budweiser Terrace.
The giant hole just south of Globe Life Park keeps getting deeper and deeper, and at some point in the not-too-distant future it will begin to be surrounded by steel and concrete and eventually covered by a retractable roof.
The 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic will pay tribute to the cityscape where it will be played. Citi Field, the home of Major League Baseball’s New York Mets, is the host of the 2018 Winter Classic, the 10th anniversary of the League’s traditional New Year’s Day game.