More NY History....

There is still a lot to talk about from our last trip into Gotham and what will soon be the torn down Yankee Stadium. Many of the teams have a very rich history that goes back into time, New York being one of the more prominent ones.

The folks at major league baseball have done a great job of setting up histories of teams - so do not forget to look up your favorite team - including the Indians and how they started. You can discover not only player tidbits but also moments in history that affected these clubs as well.

One of the things that I found in monument park was an interesting plaque on the creation of the NY logo that now has become so prevalent on all types of apparel. Here is a piece of an interview that you can read in full about the early Yankees from a Yankee blogger....

In 1909 the team began using what was to become the most highly recognizable symbol in the world when the famous "NY" made it's first appearance on the uniforms. Of every slick, crooked thing "Big Bill" ever did...this has to be at the top of his list of larceny. ...Louis B. Tiffany initially developed the logo in 1877 for a medal that was presented posthumously to Officer John McDowell, the NYPD officer shot in the line of duty. This became the department tradition and was known as the Medal of Valor.

"Big Bill" had to fleece the public one last time before leaving the police department, by misappropriating the very special symbol of bravery that was given to the families of those who died in the line of duty...and never paying a cent for it....It would be interesting to ask Mayor Bloomberg if in fact any royalties have ever been paid to date by George Steinbrenner, or any of the previous team owners, to the great City of New York. What's the world's greatest sports logo actually worth anyway? A few hundred million? More?

I have a couple of pics for this but the little blogger elves went to dinner..... so I will post them as soon as they are done with their break!

Monument-al Park.....

Having the opportunity to wander out to Monument Park in Yankee Stadium makes you feel like you are walking back in time. This park started by the flagpole in center field with a stone monument placed there when Yankee manager Miller Huggins died suddenly in 1932. Then other monuments were added celebrating the baseball lives of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. As more and more legends played there, the team kept adding on to the area until now it is out of play and behind the left center field fence.

Beside the monuments, are the numbers placed with plaques dedicated to each member honored by the team. This time of year, with the flowers in bloom and well tended in the area, it had a very solemn but beautiful effect on the entire presentation. It is a piece of history that will not be repeated.

So I would suggest the following if you are interested in the history of baseball......If you have the chance, head to NY one last time to see these historic stadium. And while you are thinking of that, c'mon down to Progressive Park and visit the Indians historical area - Heritage Park - which has exhibits and plaques dedicated to members of the Cleveland Indians ball club. And stick around - you may even see some history being made with the 2008 edition of the Tribe!

"New" New York....

We certainly hit the ground running here in the Big Apple - it has been non-stop from the time we landed here. And on the baseball front, as previously noted, the new baseball stadium here for the Yankees has created quite the buzz. Lest we forget, around the corner, another stadium is being built....the Mets are also getting a new home and will take occupancy next year as well. In town here, the rivalry continues between teams and now new stadiums.


Here in the Bronx though, the new ballpark here is quite visible from the #4 train heading out of the city and stopping at Yankee Stadium. Due to some track construction, we had to head out of town and then backtrack into the city. It was a minor inconvenience, but it afforded us a great view into the construction site from centerfield. This looks to be quite the construction site - shows you what 1.3 billion dollars can buy these days!


You cannot really move in too close to the construction area, but I offer a view personal views of the new stadium here. I cannot wait to see the finished product and view baseball in it next year!

Tempus Fugit.....

Or time flies - and does it ever!!!....the last blast here had us in KC wading through a rain delay, followed by a hastily scheduled doubleheader by the Royals. And for the traveling party, we arrived at about 4:oo AM or so...One of the few times during the year when I actually meet the morning paper carrier!

And then through the stay at home, our Royals friends brought in some more rain. All I know is the grass is real green right now - and getting higher by the day. Still a great sight to see - the weather warming and feeling at least more like baseball weather anyway.

We had a solid week at home - there seems to be a lot of home stands right now of some length. I think the preference would have been more toward the summer but the schedule makers have to do their thing accordingly I guess.

The big news right now is that we are in the "Big Apple" and anticipating our last few games in old Yankee Stadium. And as everyone passes through, there is that realization of baseball history which will be re-written in the new facility. There are some interesting stats on the new stadium that you may want to check out.

As the games occur over the next few days, I hope to take a lot of pictures and post them here for your perusal. So as we say in the business ...."Don't touch that dial - there is more to come!"

A KC Masterpiece.....

As Murph indicated, there is a lot of construction happening around the TV trucks here at Kaufman Stadium. So, to add some more visuals to it, here is what it looks like outside our front door here!

A Royal Reconstruction

Well, we just arrived in Kansas City, home of Kauffman Stadium, one of the finest facilities in major league baseball. The view from the truck look just like it does any other day, but when you look out the doors, you can't help but notice what's going on outside. The construction vehicles, the fenced off areas and workers all mean one thing: reconstruction.

When you're watching the game tonight on television, everything will pretty much look like normal; the waterfalls, the green grass and those unmistakable royal blue Kansas City uniforms. The only thing which may seem a little different is the monstrous scoreboard they now have in center field. This is the first step completed in the rebuilding process.

What you will not see on TV is the work being done underneath the stadium in the concourse. Everything will be modernized, and the walkways will go underneath the entire stadium and connect (even under the waterfalls). Then in the offseason the rest of project will be completed.

When all is said and done in time for opening day 2009, Kauffman Stadium should back to normal and back among the premier ballparks in the American League.

"Remote" TV Production.....

There is a reason the term "remote" is used in television production from a given site...and we experienced some of that on Friday night. While working with our new encoder for HD and our transmission partner, we experienced the dreaded "technical difficulties" for our baseball telecast. There are always going to be some bumps in the road, you just dont want them to turn into potholes.

It becomes a very large technical question, when all you really want to know is what the heck happened? You dont want to hear that the framitz and the localizer were not connected...you just want to know why the game was not there. There are a lot of issues in wrestling with this world of HD broadcasting, but I though it would give me the chance to show you some of the cabling that occurs at our venue.

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I wish I had the cable concession for the amount of cable that we use for a telecast. And the amazing part is, when the truck pulls in, there is nothing there....when it leaves, it is all stored on board the mobile unit. Anyone that puts out a few cables for anything, even exterior Christmas lights, knows that the cables can be intertwined or plugged in the wrong place or even missing.

Welcome to the world of the crew and the engineering staff that arranges and plugs in these cables on the truck's arrival - only to store them all on its departure. It truly is a studio on wheels that can be assembled, used, and stored in one 10 hour day. That's where the professionals come in - and from coast to coast, truck to truck, we have them.

So the next time you are watching a game, think of all the cable, the time it took to set it, and the people who were involved in the preparation.....then sit back, grab your favorite beverage and, tapping the remote as needed, fire up the ball game - it will be there! Go Tribe!