January 31, 2004 [LINK]
Monopoly games
The MLB Players' Association is beginning to suspect collusion among the franchises as an explanation for the flat salary trends on the free agent market this winter. Could be. Indeed, it happened before, in the late 1980s. Or it could be the widespread realization after the near-strike of 18 months ago that baseball fans' patience with astronomic salary hikes for players has worn thin... Meanwhile, the L.A. Dodgers have been purchased by Frank McCourt (a Boston real estate developer), for $430 million. Bud Selig praised the deal, saying, "Having an unresolved ownership situation was, frankly, hurting the franchise." (Why does this seem so ironic to me?)
Old business: In my review of the movie 61* I forgot to mention that some of the digitally retouched scenes of "Yankee Stadium" along the first base side were rather lame. The second deck was far too big, since it was really the second deck of Tiger Stadium, and the third deck was just a carbon copy "pasted" over the top. The result was a frighteningly huge triple-deck image. Finally, thanks to Dave Russell for pointing out some errors in the Oriole Park at Camden Yards page, which I just fixed.