Blog post

November 10, 2015 [LINK / comment]

Keeping up with the diagram revisions

As my work on revising stadium diagrams heads into the final stretch, I updated the Diagram update log for the first time in several months. For nearly all current and past Major League Baseball stadiums, it shows when the diagram in question was last revised (aside from trivial "tweaks"). Currently, the oldest diagram is Forbes Field, which was last updated ten years ago. For most such stadiums, that log shows the history of diagram updates, with links to the blog posts when those updates were announced. For the remainder of the stadiums, there is simply a blank cell to indicate that the compilation of past updates is still underway. By the end of the year, that task should be completed.

Also, I have taken a big step in the transition toward a simpler layout for the stadium pages. For recently-updated stadium pages, and eventually on all such pages, the key displays interactively when you roll the mouse over the last of the "dynamic diagram" links. It no longer appears on the right side of those links. This is part of the ultimate plan of making the stadium pages easier to view on mobile devices such as iPhones. (Yes, I'm aware of that.)

Williams back to Phoenix

The Washington Nationals' former manager Matt Williams is going back to the Arizona Diamondbacks next year, serving as third-base coach. He played third base in Phoenix from 1998 through 2003, when he retired. See ESPN. I hope the experience does him good. He has many good potential qualities, but just needs more experience before managing a championship-caliber club.

Shea Stadium mini-update

Having finished my Citi Field diagrams after much laborious pixel-tweaking, it was fitting (and relatively easy) for me to make a slight enhancement to the Shea Stadium diagrams as well. Only two things changed that anyone would notice: First, the entry portals in the upper deck have been moved back a couple feet, and are rendered more accurately with the vertical discontinuity in back of the lateral walkway, and the small stairs (five steps) on either side of each entry portal. Second, the pitching rubbers and home plates in the bullpens are now shown.