February 4, 2005 [LINK]

RFK renovations ahead of schedule

In a heroic effort to make of for lost time resulting from the budget deadlock on the D.C. Council in November and December, work on renovating RFK Stadium is progressing so quickly now that it is actually ahead of schedule. (Hence the increase in probability of baseball at RFK from 99.5% to 99.8%, despite the lack of any territorial compensation agreement with Peter Angelos, who may yet sue.) One of the people involved in the project credited mild weather, which was indeed the case in December, but definitely not in January, when work began. See mlb.com. The photo on that page clearly shows a thick carpet of snow next to RFK; Washington got even more snow than us folks in the hinterlands of Virginia did last week. Less than two months to go until the Nationals play their "dry run" exhibition game versus the Mets at RFK on April 3...

The Rogers Centre (ex-Skydome) page now has updated diagrams, with warning tracks and some minor corrections. [UPDATE: Mike Zurawski provides an additional reason why grass is not practical at this stadium: there is no drainage system underneath the field, and removing the concrete base would make the park unstable. Further improvements at Rogers Centre are in the works, including possible picnic areas in the outfield.] Also, the Cleveland Stadium page has some "new" photos (from 1993, actually) thanks to Mario Vara III. There is a new post-1970 diagram on that page as well. As the season approaches, I'm getting a rising volume of e-mail with tips, corrections, etc. I always appreciate it, but please be understanding if I'm unable to respond right away.

UPDATE #2: The big bucks spent by the Marlins to acquire Carlos Delgado seem to have paid off. An agreement with city of Miami and Miami-Dade County on building a new retractable roof 38,000-seat ballpark next to the Orange Bowl is apparently on the verge of being signed. See mlb.com.