March 11, 2003 [LINK]

[Baseball in Virginia and D.C.]

Snow is still on the ground, but spring is in the air! Government officials in Virginia and D.C. are scrambling to get stadium financing terms set up as MLB officials plan to meet next week to make a preliminary evaluation of the proposals that have been submitted. Technically, Opening Day will be March 25, when Seattle plays Oakland in Tokyo, Japan. For the rest of the major league teams, Opening Day will be March 31. The first game at Cincinnati's brand-new Great American Ball Park March 28, when the Reds will host the Cleveland Indians in an interleague exhibition game. Sadly, there will be no exhibition games at RFK Stadium in D.C. this year...

[Baseball in Mexico]

During our recent trip to Mexico, Jacqueline and I passed by the baseball stadium in Oaxaca, the home town of Vinny Castilla, who is fighting to keep his job as third baseman for the Atlanta Braves. The stadium is fairly good size (2,000 seats, I would guess) and modern, and is apparently owned by the Benito Juarez de Oaxaca Autonomous University (UABJO). Unfortunately, we were too exhausted by hiking and bird watching in 95-degree temperatures to take the time to see a game there.