May 21, 2008 [LINK / comment]
Spring cleaning on baseball pages
My apologies to all the folks who have been visiting the baseball pages on this Web site for the past few months, during which the "reconstruction" has taken more time than I had anticipated. I appreciate in particular the many folks who have registered to share their impressions of various ballparks, from the exquisite PNC Park to the humble Arlington Stadium. In the next few days I will finish making the necessary changes so that the fans' impressions will appear properly on all of the pages. I also noticed that in some browsers the photo selection links were not functioning, and I think I've fixed that. Again, my apologies.
The mail bag
From Mike Zurawski: The owner of the Chicago Cubs, Sam Zell, has rejected the offer by the Illinois stadium commission to buy Wrigley Field, and now says he will sell the "Friendly Confines" along with team. See Chicago Sun Times.
Many thanks to John Mikulas for sending several batches of stadium photos. I've added four of them to the Jacobs Field page -- now technically known as "Progressive Field," but I'm not sure about going along with that just yet. More photos to come soon...
Lester's no hitter
Jon Lester hurled a no-hitter for the Red Sox on Monday night, the first such feat in MLB this year. The 24-year old ace is a survivor of cancer (lymphoma), and after spending a year undergoing chemotherapy, he returned and was the winning pitcher in the deciding Game 4 of last year's World Series against the Rockies. See MLB.com.
It was a poignant coincidence that a famous Boston fan, Senator Ted Kennedy, suffered a seizure one day before that, and watched the game while recovering in the hospital. The senior senator from Massachusetts has been diagnosed with brain cancer, and we wish him all the best in the battle of his life.