November 23, 2008 [LINK / comment]
Will Teixeira play for Nats?
As the annual meeting of MLB owners approaches, speculation about which free agents will sign with which teams is heating up. Baseball fans in the Washington area are wondering who the Nationals will seek to acquire to bolster their embarrassingly weak lineup. One possibility is first baseman Mark Teixeira, who became a free-agent at the end of this season. Even though the Nats aren't a very attractive team right now, Teixera has expressed interest in playing for Washington, partly because he grew up in nearby Maryland. It's ironic that the Nats are looking for a first baseman, because at the beginning of this year, they had two star-quality players at that position. Because of various health issues, however, neither Nick Johnson nor Dmitri Young can be counted on for next year. See MLB.com. Teixera has played for three different teams over the past two seasons: the Rangers, the Braves, and the Angels, and he probably wants to settle down with a long contract.
[Grey] Cup 2008
At this very moment, the second half of the Canadian Football League championship game is getting underway. Why should baseball fans care? Because it's a rare opportunity to see Olympic Stadium, home of the former Montreal Expos until they moved to Washington and became the Nationals after the 2004 season. At half time, the Montreal Alouettes were ahead of the Calgary Stampede, 13 - 10.
UPDATE: Final score: Calgary 22, Montreal 14. Where did that one point for Montreal in the second half come from? From a "punt single." See the official Grey Cup Web site (not "Gray," as I originally wrote).
"Citi Field," or ???
I recently contrasted (scroll down) the apparent sound financial condition of CitiBank to the fraudulent nature of two corporations that went bankrupt, forcing the names of two baseball stadiums to be changed: Enron and Ameriquest. I thought this meant the Mets had shown greater wisdom in choosing a corporate partner, but after the sharp drop in the value of CitiGroup stock values this week, I stand corrected! Apparently they are in not much better shape than other banks! They insist that the "naming-rights agreement between the Mets and Citi, said to be worth $400 million over 20 years, is not in jeopardy," but that may depend on whether they get a federal bailout. In any case, the name "Citi Field" will stay intact for the time being. See MLB.com.
ChiSox in the movies
While channel-surfing recently, I was surprised to see an extended scene [of a White Sox home game] in the movie My Best Friend's Wedding (1997). It was filmed from a luxury suite at what was then called Comiskey Park and is now called "U.S. Cellular Field." The views of the stadium were excellent, but it seemed very high up for below the upper deck.