November 15, 2008 [LINK / comment]
Cy Young winners are named
I heard a lot of vague chatter about the Giants' pitcher Tim Lincecum during the 2008 season, and he indeed finished with a 18-5 record, for which he was given the National League Cy Young Award. Aside from his unusual name, the young (24) ace has a goofy face and a slight build, but his fast ball is almost unhittable. The Giants desperately need someone like him to get competitive again in the post-Barry Bonds era. See MLB.com. In the American League, a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians won for the second year in a row, but this time it was Cliff Lee, not C.C. Sabathia. Prior to this season, he had played four full years with Cleveland but got demoted to the minors last year, playing for Buffalo. Apparently that did the trick, as the mid-career starter made a spectacular comeback this year, finishing with an amazing 22-3 record. It's quite an inspirational tale. See MLB.com.
Saving Tiger Stadium
I'm still catching up with e-mail from last month, and came across some pleasant news from savetigerstadium.org:
The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation have reached agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding that will ultimately transfer title to the stadium to the Conservancy and grant a long-term lease of the playing field.
Good! Let's hope they can keep what's left of the grandstand preserved for the future.
A's yearn for ballpark
In Oakland, the owner of the Athletics, Lew Wolff, still hopes to build a high-tech ballpark in suburban Fremont even though the economic situation is discouraging. If that particular deal falls through, he says, Sacramento is not a likely alternative. Fortunately for the A's, the new Giants' owner (managing partner) Bill Neukom says he is not worried about the possible effect on the Giants would be if the A's move closer to San Jose, which is supposed to be the Giants' territory. See USA Today; hat tip to Mike Zurawski.
Mystery in Brooklyn
SABR member David Dyte has done a lot of research on exactly how much still remains of the original structure of Washington Park in Brooklyn. Apparently the brick wall that still stands today was built after the Dodgers left, when the Brook-Feds rebuilt the ballpark in 1914. "The Washington Park Wall" is a fascinating exercise in weighing various pieces of photographic evidence, and it includes a rough sketch diagram...