With yesterday being Opening Day of the Major League baseball season (my Cardinals lost 5–3 after being one out away from a win in the 9th inning), here’s a look at some technical improvements being made at ballparks around the country.
Houston Astros – Minute Maid Park
The Astros join the Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins as the only MLB teams to feature a scoreboard with a 1080i display format. “Fans are watching games on high-definition [television], so when they come out to the ballpark we want things to be in high-definition, as well,” Kirby Kander, the Astros’ senior director of creative services, told Wired.com. Where once stood a 26-by-45-foot scoreboard in right field, there’s now a 54-by-124-foot Daktronics behemoth that ranks as the fourth-largest scoreboard in the majors.
The 2.66-million pixel scoreboard was part of a $13 million project which included a 24-by-40-foot video board stationed in left field and 1,185 linear feet of ribbon boards spanning from one foul pole to the other. A state-of-the-art, two-level control room comprising 1,500 square feet was built at the suite level in left field to manage the new ‘boards.
The best thing for some teams would be installing those hugh HD screens, then showing telecasts of really good teams games…
Today is the Chicago Cubs opening day. Maybe this year they will prove that 1909 was not a fluke.
Well Tim, there’s always next year.
Maybe I should have waited a few day to say that.
No, Jonco, now is as good as any day to say that.
I think that is the first words a Cubs fan says when they start to talk.
LOL
Good to see that teams have so much money to spend blinging up ballparks that were probably built & financed by the taxpayers, the majority of whom will never see the inside. Around here, I think we’d rather see some decent baseball for once instead of bigger & fancier scoreboards.
I’d much rather go to a Gwinnett Braves (AAA level) and spend maybe $20 total than go downtown to an Atlanta Braves game and spend $60-$70…The park is just as nice, only smaller, and it is only two years old.
and the mall of Georgia is right near it
Isn’t the fun of going to a baseball game about being at the game, and NOT watching it on TV? Or is this how they lure “fans” to actual games because most of them can see it better at home? I have no problem with teams and owners financing these stadiums, but when they fall on taxpayer backs, that pisses me off.
I like the atmosphere of being at a game, but if I really want to WATCH the game, I’d rather do it from home.