SB Nation User Blog: dtpollitt

08.22.08 Tigers @ Royals Kauffman Stadium review

dtpollitt — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 04:42:33 -0000

Barn burner here in Kansas City tonight - Verlander @ Bannister. Royals are eliminated from the playoffs, and the Tigers are damn near elimination. Even so, an old roommate and I went to the game tonight. Here's a review of the game, stadium, and everything else.

We arrived at the ballpark about an hour before first pitch and promptly bought tickets from a scalper. The tickets weren't bad, and excellent seats at Kauffman can be had for every game. My buddy Sam - fellow Badger alum - and I cracked a few brews and walked around the park for a bit to check out some of the construction going on. Sam and I:

Arrowhead and Kauffman share the same sporting complex, Truman Sports Complex, which is pretty damn cool. Same parking, room for lots of tailgating before Chiefs' games, etc. At one point about two years ago, the notion of creating a "rolling roof" was brought up, which essentially meant a roof that would travel between the two stadiums. Here's a picture of the two parks, just to give an idea of the distance the roof would have to travel (only brought the iPhone for pix today):

No free give-aways tonight, but I think the Royals marketing does a great job of self-promotion through jerseys (like the free Billy Butler jersey I wore tonight and got a few months ago), hats, umbrellas, and other give-aways that entice families and fans of all ages to come out to the ballpark. Personally, I like the 10 or 20,000 give-aways more than the "100 random winners" idea. One more picture outside the ballpark, a statue of George Brett. One of my favorite players.

Kauffman is 35+ years old, and looks like nothing but concrete from the outside. Once you get in, however, I think it's beauty really shines through. It is going through a $200+ million renovation over the past year, and should be completed sometime before or during next year's season, according to a few ushers I chatted with. The biggest addition is the new Crown Vision scoreboard, which is 84x105 feet, shaped like the Royals' crown, and will be capped off with the gold this off season. I'm not too sure how I feel about it - it's fantastic to watch, full of stats, replays, and looks crystal-clear, but surely won't be favored by traditionalists. Game ushers also informed me that a concourse will wrap around the outfield and the fountains, making it possible to walk the entire park, include a left field Hall of Fame museum of sorts, and right field will have a bar/restaurant. Finally, I was told that a near-future all-star game will be here in Kansas City. Here's a glance at the Crown Vision:

Onto the game. Verlander @ Bannister is about the best one can ask for in this series. A few notes on the Tigers first:

--Sheffield looks damn near worthless these days. Is there anyone besides Andruw Jones that's being paid more for less?

--Cabrera hit two solo shots, one of which *should* have hit the white Dodge in left field, but was protected by a silly net. I don't like cars in outfield, and I even more don't like that a good moon shot can't break their windows. Tsk, tsk.

--Detroit had six hits, three of which were doubles, and two that were homers. Verlander threw well - 6.2 innings, 6 K, 3 BB, and 8 hits - but the ineptitude of the Royals offense never put them close with Justin on the mound. And as for Justin, he just doesn't look the same as he did a year or two ago. He won 17 and 16 games the last two years, with 3.6 ERAs, and this year he has nearly half the victories with an ERA a full run higher. I saw the gun hit 92 only a few times.

And a few notes on the Royals:

--This team has three players that must succeed to see a resurgance in Royals baseball: Teahen, Butler, and Gordon. If these three young guys can get things going, mesh, and start to hit the damn ball, combined with their core pitching staff, they can go places. But Gordon will be compared to Longoria and Zimmerman, Butler has been punished by being slapped back to the minors, and Teahen hasn't performed.

--Jose Guillen is not a good fit for this team, and he's damn too selfish. He said a few weeks ago he likes to play on the road more than at home. WTF?!

--Bannister was hit hard; most hits were solid, hard line drives. 8 IP, 4 ER, 2 K, 3 BB.

--I thought two plays defined this Royals team tonight. First, in the 6th, with men on 1st and 2nd and one out, down 0-4, Guillen was held up at third when he could have easily scored on a roller to center. Instead, with the bases loaded, John Buck struck out looking (looking as if he didn't want to be there), and then Joey Gathright did his best Juan Pierre impersonation by weakly grounding out to end any scoring opportunity Second, the 9th was quite exciting, and most of the 18,000+ fans (!) stayed around to watch David DeJesus half-assed jog home, down by one, on a wild pitch. DeJesus had no sort of lead at third, and with Fernando Rodney (listed @ 5'8, 220...maybe a bit shorter and a bit wider) throwing one in the dirt and to the backstop, DeJesus should have had an easy chance to tie this game. Instead, DeJesus had about 75 feet to go, and Rodney simply wanted it more. It's stuff like this that would make me act like this guy if I was the manager.

Picture of the park, from third base concourse:

Sam and I after the game:

And finally, Friday is family fun night, with fireworks win or lose. All the ballpark lights go off, and the fountain lights are turned up. Lots of families stuck around for this.

I'd recommend a visit to Kauffman next time you're in the area. It is an affordable venue for a family, the stadium is going through a revival of sorts, and the team has a handful of young players that show promise.

Dan

Post-rain delay thread: Cubs vs Astros, Monday 8/4, 6:05 CT

dtpollitt — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:13:36 -0000

Here's a fresh new thread for anyone that's still awake for the ballgame tonight. Hopefully we can hit the new pitcher throwing for the 'Stros and gain a full game on the Brew Crew, who lost 3-6 tonight to the Reds. The Cards were idle tonight.

Dan

I love chicken, I love liver, Meow-Mix Meow-Mix please deliver. I love chicken, I love liver, Meow-Mix Meow-Mix please deliver. I love chicken, I love liver, Meow-Mix Meow-Mix please deliver. I love chicken, I love liver, Meow-Mix Meow-Mix please deliver.

OT: The Dark Knight Discussion SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

dtpollitt — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:53:55 -0000

Here's a good place to discuss TDK, since it's about the only thing on my mind this weekend. Saw it twice, got tickets to see it @ IMAX next weekend.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS LEAVE NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

Here's a first question I have to kick off discussion...

..Is Two-Face/Harvey Dent dead or alive? Upon first viewing, I thought the mini-press conference held by Commissioner Gordon was a ploy until TF/HD was "cured" or could get back to being The White Knight for Gotham...just as Batman said, he's the hero. But, upon my second viewing today, I think he's dead, and we start the third re-booted Batman films with a whole new host of villians.

Thoughts?

Dan

2008 All-Star Game Overflow Thread 3

dtpollitt — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:24:45 -0000

LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL! LET'S GO NL!

OT: 8 year-old boy plays baseball with one leg

dtpollitt — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:00:41 -0000

I ran across this story today and it definitely warmed my heart, so I thought I'd share it with my fellow BCBers:

Adam Bender is an 8 year-old boy that loves sports. Adam has played football and baseball, but the only difference between him and his teammates is that Adam only has one leg. He lost a leg when he was 1 to cancer. Check out the story and then click on the YouTube link to watch Adam run, hit, slide, and even block the plate. Feels good to remember why I love this game so much!

Dan

Salary vs. Performance graph

dtpollitt — Mon, 12 May 2008 05:56:49 -0000

My buddy sent me this tonight. It's a visual graph of each team's performance (i.e. record), updated regularly, compared to its salary. Blue lines mean teams are doing well relative to their salaries, red means they are not. Drag the bar at the top left and right to track season progress. Enjoy!

http://benfry.com/salaryper/

Dan

PS - More words required: I do not enjoy testing null hypotheses for two or more correlations based on the sample size for my psychology in research and education class @ 1:05 am during finals week.

Official BCB NCAA Bracket

dtpollitt — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:53:15 -0000

Group--

I just got the approval from Al to set up a bracket for all BCBers. There is no money or prize involved, just good ol fun. Below is the necessary information...

Go here:

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/

Our team name is "Bleed Cubbie Blue". The group ID is 123834 and the password is "believe". Good luck!

Dan

A-Rod opting out of contract

dtpollitt — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 03:04:37 -0000

Sports Illustrated is reporting Alex Rodriguez is opting out of his contract...

Who can afford him? I think the Cubs and the Angels are the only two teams that both have enough bank to get him and are in dire need of one of his two positions. The Mets WOULD be a possibility, but their two best position players (Wright, Reyes) play both of A-Rod's positions.

Seems to me the money that would have gone to A-Rod is now going to be banked on Johan Santana. Watching this guy in real life for the last few years in Minnesota, he's worth of the biggest pitching contract in baseball history.

This is huge news, folks, are the Cubs a front runner? Or does the bending sale change things?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/specials/playoffs/2007/10/28/rodriguez.contract/i ndex.html

Dan

What are you wearing to work today?

dtpollitt — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 13:27:21 -0000

Just asking how you are representing your 2007 Chicago Cubs this first playoff day!

I am wearing my 2003 Kerry Wood All-Star Game jersey (which was played at U.S. Cellular, ungh). Down here in Kansas I might be the only Cubs fan representing, but I gotta do it! What are you wearing today to support our team?

Dan

Insecurity, Redux

dtpollitt — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:15:46 -0000

The other day a thread was started about recent fans acting disorderly at Wrigley. After today's incident, it is more evident than ever this issue demands attention at all ball parks, not just Wrigley Field.

So I just deleted my entire diary, but I'll try again...

At first I was hesitant to agree with the felony charges two young men are facing after running on the playing field at Wrigley, but it is now quite clear that this issue requires a stronger security force in the stands, alcohol limits, or some type of more stringent laws outlining the specific fines, penalties, or charges one will face when deciding to endanger both fans and ballplayers alike.

Al's recent diary:

http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/story/2007/7/23/95755/7766

Finally, today Mike Piazza was hit in the back of the head with a water bottle during the A's vs. Angels game. The game was at Angel Stadium and Piazza was in the on-deck circle, unaware of what had happened or the perpetrator.

Athletics Nation diary:

http://www.athleticsnation.com/story/2007/7/26/125349/961

Dan