Sports Illustrated: Best and Worst Ballparks

Sports Illustrated has produced a fan survey that ranks all 30 Major League Ballparks in 10 different categories. The fans were asked to rate their own hometown park in the survey conducted this March. The magazine notes that “nearly 15 percent of the responses came from season-ticket holders, and more than half of all the responses came from fans who attend at least five games per season.”

Even though Fenway Park ranks in a few of the top categories, it also comes in last place for affordability and promotions because they can charge the most and not have to lure fans with bobblehead nights in order to sell out a game. The Marlins ranked dead last in 5/10 categories, to no surprise. Below are the highlights for the #1 and #30 picks in all 10 categories.

Overall Rankings

Best: Cleveland Indians
Worst: Florida Marlins

Affordability

Best: Kansas City Royals
Worst: Boston Red Sox

Food

Best: Milwaukee Brewers
Worst: New York Mets

Team Quality

Best: Detroit Tigers
Worst: Pittsburgh Pirates

Tradition

Best: Boston Red Sox
Worst: Florida Marlins

Atmosphere

Best: Seattle Mariners
Worst: Florida Marlins

Fan IQ

Best: St. Louis Cardinals
Worst: Florida Marlins

Hospitality

Best: St. Louis Cardinals
Worst: Philadelphia Phillies

Promotions

Best: Milwaukee Brewers
Worst: Boston Red Sox

Traffic

Best: Chicago White Sox
Worst: Los Angeles Dodgers

Neighborhood

Best: San Diego Padres
Worst: Florida Marlins

Read more:

Fan Survey—MLB Rankings [ SI.com ]

Pirates Bobblehead Possibly Giving the Finger

Oh geez, the Pirates really have nothing exciting going on (currently 10-15, ranked 29th out of 30th in attendance) so it looks like the hot story out of Pittsburgh is focusing on a bobblehead giveaway featuring pitcher Tom Gorzelanny. The bobblehead in question (see picture left) has many wondering: Is that bobblehead giving me the finger? Tom Gorzelanny? The guy who is 1-3 this year with an ERA of 8.46 is giving me the finger? 

Amazingly, this is news although it’s fairly certain the finger in question is actually an index finger, from the picture circulating the web you can see how one might get it confused.  WTAE TV is holding a poll on their website asking viewers what they think. And guess what? The voting is deadlocked at 44% for both “yes” and “no” as the answer to the question. At this current moment, 12% have yet to make up their minds. 

So how does this happen in the first place? According to Pirates spokesman Jim Trdinich, “The team sends photographs of players to a company that makes its bobbleheads, and the company tries to replicate those pictures as best they can when it designs the dolls. It was not done in bad taste.”

Read more: 

Is Pittsburgh Pirates Bobblehead Giving The Finger?  [ The Pittsburgh Channel ]

Behind the Batter’s Walk-Up Music

        

Very much like VH1’s Behind the Music series, MLB.com has launched its own behind the scenes take on the music played during a batter’s walk-up to the plate. It’s officially called @-bat music (because the “@” makes it more relevant for mlb.com.) Currently the site is profiling the music of the Dodgers. A few years back there was an article written in the Wall Street Journal about how the organist at Dodger Stadium was slowly being replaced by an in-house dj who would play songs before each at-bat, rather than an organ riff. 

When did the trend of playing walk-up music start? It’s a relatively new thing (in the last decade), but there isn’t much out there documenting the switch from traditional organ or in-house music to playing a 30-sec clip of a player’s favorite song. 

You can find a few lists of current walk-up songs used by players here and here.  

Read More:  @-bat music [ MLB.com ]

Barry Bonds Killed the Economy at AT&T Park

Ever since the San Francisco Giants told Barry Bonds not to come back this season, business hasn’t been good at AT&T Park. According to the Wall Street Journal, Bonds had a huge influence on the financial success of the Giants and the related businesses surounding the ballpark. That’s no big shock, considering that the Giants are pretty terrible this year (currently at 11-15) and they don’t really have any big superstars to replace Bonds. (An offseason signing of outfielder Aaron Rowand doesn’t exactly replace the void that Bonds left.)

What is more surprisingly is all of the different aspects of the park that are suffering because of the absence of Bonds and his homerun chase. Attendance is down 15% from last year, and the press box is much emptier now that all the 400 or so members of the press don’t show up to follow Bonds every day.  

Other businesses that are feeling the hurt:

Kayak rentals—only 10 people rented a Kayak for 2008 Opening Day, down 80% from the 50 who rented on Opening Day in 2007. For a point of reference, Bonds hit 35 of 45 homeruns hit into McCovey Cove since the park opened in 2000.

Rubber chickens—yes, rubber chickens. These were sold to taunt opposing pitchers when Bonds would come to the plate. Intentionally walking Bonds was a popular thing to do and fans waved rubber chickens at the visiting pitchers. 

So attendance may be down, along with press coverage and souvenir purchases. But fear not, Giants fans—you do have one more milestone to look forward to—Omar Vizquel will soon break the record for most games ever played by a shortstop! Go Omar!

Life After Barry is a Strikeout at the Park [ Wall Street Journal ]

Fenway-esque Green Monster Apple Store

Pretty sweet front for the Apple Store under construction in Boston. You can see the rest of the gallery at the Unofficial Apple Weblog. 

Ortiz Jersey Fetches $175,100 in Auction for Jimmy Fund

Yep, in less than two weeks after the David Ortiz jersey was removed from the concrete of the new Yankee Stadium, the eBay auction to benefit the Jimmy Fund is now officially over. Over 280 bids were submitted during the week long auction. And the winning bid amount? $175,100. See what happens when you offer “free shipping” on your eBay auctions?

Sounds pretty high for a beat up jersey that no one could wear, but after all it was for a most excellent cause. The winner “2004carman” will be presented the jersey at a 2008 Red Sox home game. A quick check of 2004carman’s activity shows that he has also contributed to charitable foundations in other eBay auctions as well. Maybe he will be planning to wear his new Ortiz jersey with his Paul Stanley KISS boots that he won on eBay a few weeks ago.

On a personal note, last year I visited 189 ballparks raising money for the Jimmy Fund in just under 160 days as part of the Tour for the Cure. All together, including monetary, in-kind donations and gifts, the Tour raised over $40,000. Little did I know all I had to do was visit a stadium that wasn’t built yet and bury a Red Sox jersey and we could have more than quadrupled our fundraising total. Either way, I’m glad to see the Jimmy Fund is continuing to raise a bunch of money for its great cause.

See more: Ortiz “Yankees Curse” Jersey to benefit the Jimmy Fund [ eBay ]

MLB Decides to Ban Water From the Dugout

First the Yankees ban candy from the clubhouse. Now MLB has done them one better, by banning any player from drinking water in the dugout. That’s right, MLB is denying their players from drinking water during the games. So what are they supposed to drink? NJ.com has the answer:

”Gatorade is Major League Baseball’s “official sports drink.” So instructions were sent that no player could be seen drinking anything but Gatorade in the dugout. Not even Aquafina, which is the “official water” of MLB. Not even bottles of water with the labels removed.

White Sox clubhouse personnel said if players take bottled water onto the bench, all the bottled water will be removed from the clubhouse as punishment.”

Before you know it, the players will be drinking Brawndo, the thirst mutilator (it’s got electrolytes!) What is the next thing that will be banned from player use? Who knows, but it’s going to be exciting news when it happens.

MLB Pulls Video of Dropped Foul Ball, Guy Who Posted It On YouTube Goes Off on MLB

So the famous video on YouTube of the Red Sox fan catching the ball, then dropping it, has been pulled off the web by the MLB. And besides upsetting the thousands of people wanting to watch a Red Sox fan humiliate himself, MLB has struck a nerve with the guy who originally posted the video. Why is he so upset? Well, he was trying to post the #1 video on YouTube and the video he posted had received 350,000 and was the 2nd most popular video on the site before it was yanked off. Now he is pissed, and he was sure to record a personal rant against the MLB and post it to YouTube. Watch for yourself.

Yankees No Longer Allowed to Eat Candy

According to reports from the LoHud Yankees Blog, Joe Girardi has banned candy from the diet of the Yankee players. Apparently the Yankees “called visiting clubhouse manager of every stadium where they play and asked that the candy and ice cream be removed before the team comes to town.” First steroids, now candy is being banned? What is the baseball world coming to?

If you want proof this is actually happening, take a look at this picture. Yep, it’s an ice cream freezer that has been placed outside the clubhouse and wrapped up with tape all around it.

My favorite reader comment from the post is by Randy, who says “no way a blanket wrapped with tape would keep me away from ice cream.” Touche, Randy. I think Yankee players probably feel the same way.

Read more: Eat healthy, play better? [ LoHud Yankees Blog ]

Mariners and Nintendo Offering Baseball Content via Nintendo DS

The Seattle Mariners are offering a unique experience to Mariners fans who own a Nintendo DS this season at Safeco field. Fans who bring their Nintendo DS to the ballpark will be given free access to the Nintendo Fan Network, which offers a bunch of baseball content. According to TechVat:

The Nintendo Fan Network includes features such as access to player statistics, scores from other MLB games in progress, current team standings, chat with other fans and the ability to compete in trivia and other mini games. Additionally, fans can watch the in-stadium live broadcast video and use the Nintendo DS touch screen to order ballpark food and beverages delivered right to their seats.

This service was tested last year, although fans apparently had to pay a $5 to use it. DS Fanboy rigorously tested the service last year, and they didn’t seem to thrilled with it. Some issues included a 17% service fee when ordering food, coupled with a more limited menu and a $10 minimum order fee. In addition, the review also noted video feed lagged behind the instant replays by a few seconds and the quality of the video picture wasn’t all that great. I’m guessing that using this during day games in not particularly useful with the glare from the sun. Hopefully the Mariners will continue improving on this service as more people start to use it. 

There are two sections where at Safeco where you can download the NFN along with 15 other kioks around the park as well. This type of technology has been mentioned in the development of the Oakland A’s new ballpark, but it’s interesting to see Nintendo making use of a popular portable video game system. (Side note:The Seattle Mariners are owned by Nintendo, who bought them in 1992 for $125 mil.)

Read more:

Nintendo and the Seattle Mariners Team Up to Offer Baseball-related Content via DS
[ TechVat ]

DS Fanboy Review: Nintendo Fan Network [ DS Fanboy ]