MLB Stadium Saga: Oakland/Tampa Bay/Southside

[BBTV]

Mayor endorses the Sixers arena, despite more protests. Claims that a “deal has been reached”, implying that there’s some things that haven’t yet been made public. Possibly some guardrails to protect Chinatown, but we all know that those guardrails will be bypassed nearly immediately.  
 

Goes to council now, where it likely wont be voted on until early December. Her “reaching an agreement” just means that it can get sent to council, not that it actually is approved in any binding way. I’m pretty sure she can’t unilaterally go against council for something like this, but she already has done that for other things. 

[GDAWG]

33 minutes ago, BBTV said:

Mayor endorses the Sixers arena, despite more protests. Claims that a “deal has been reached”, implying that there’s some things that haven’t yet been made public. Possibly some guardrails to protect Chinatown, but we all know that those guardrails will be bypassed nearly immediately.  
 

Goes to council now, where it likely wont be voted on until early December. Her “reaching an agreement” just means that it can get sent to council, not that it actually is approved in any binding way. I’m pretty sure she can’t unilaterally go against council for something like this, but she already has done that for other things. 

And once that is finalized, the ownership of the Sixers will focus on a new stadium for one of the other two pro sports teams that they own: the Washington Commanders.  

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

What are the chances the Commies jump to NoVa? They'll never be in DC proper, right?

[tBBP]

1 hour ago, GhostOfNormMacdonald said:

What are the chances the Commies jump to NoVa? They'll never be in DC proper, right?

 

I mean, if they can get some entity to blow up RFK and rebuild on that site, that'd probably be the best option, would it not? I mean, as it is now, RFK is just sitting there collecting weeds, rats, roaches and all other manner of vermin. But then, I ain't any kind of expert on these kinds of matters,  so I'll defer to the smart people who are on this one...

[GDAWG]

3 hours ago, GhostOfNormMacdonald said:

What are the chances the Commies jump to NoVa? They'll never be in DC proper, right?

 

If she's still in the Virginia legislature by then, Louise Lucas will shut down any deal for the Commanders in Northern Virginia.  She was the one who said no to the proposed arena deal between Northern Virginia and Monumental Sports and Entertainment (Wizards and Capitals) that forced the Wizards and Caps to go back to DC for major renovations for their current place.   

[The_Admiral]

The team has been headquartered in Ashburn for years, though. They've put down some roots there, a Virginia stadium has been the white whale of the team and the state for years, and if new ownership asks for minimal help in making it happen, they probably could. Sizable difference between an NFL stadium in America's ghastliest suburban sprawl and trying to shoehorn an arena into Alexandria by shuttle-busing people in from the airport lot.

 

Anyway, back to America's sweethearts, the White Sox, who put down an actual field at Roosevelt/Clark to prove they can at least afford that part:

 

 

They invited lawmakers to play catch on the field and then they didn't go.

Quote

One suburban state representative told the Sun-Times they passed on the invite “because I don’t need a tour to know it would be awesome with that outfield skyline.
 

“Everyone knows this would be awesome. That doesn’t mean taxpayers should put up a dime for it,” the representative said, asking not to be named.

“People have been really clear on where they stand about the broader idea,” said downtown state Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, who missed the tour while campaigning in Georgia this week for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

 

But look! You can see b u i l d i n g s! Look, there's that one! And then the other one!

[Sport]

Isn't the reason the current stadium faces southeast rather than northwest with the more aesthetically pleasing view is so that batters aren't looking directly into the sun at sunset? 

[The_Admiral]

That would make the most sense--I think just about every park faces somewhere from northeast to southeast for that reason (not to mention the grandstand staring into the sun).

 

Legend has it that it's oriented that way so that baseball would continue to be played "at the corner of 35th and Shields," but that never made any sense to me, because the park would be at that corner no matter where home plate was. As it is now, plebes can't enter from 35th/Shields anyway; you have to enter from the bleachers or from the annex across 35th.