The Trolley Dodger

I happened to come across Flickr user oldballparks today thanks to a photo of Ebbets Field in the 1950s (above). At the moment, there are not quite 50 photos posted of various teams and ballparks, including a few others from Dodger history: Washington Park (home of the Superbas), the LA Coliseum, and the 1912 Brooklyn Dodgers team photo.

But of especial coolness are a series showing Ebbets Field under construction and brand-spanking new:

• Ebbets field under construction, 1913
• Ebbets Field, March 20, 1913
• Ebbets Field just after opening, 1913
• First game at Ebbets Field, April 5, 1913

Meanwhile, up here in the 21st Century, Flickr user eleveline has a set of pics from yesterday’s historical game versus the Padres in Beijing, China.

The Dodgers sure have come a long way.

Hiroki Kuroda vs Hideki Matsui Carp vs Giants, September 7, 2002.

2007 NPB All Star Game July 20, 2007

The preparations for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are continuing apace, and while there are pollution worries, China is definitely in a celebratory mood.

Murray Cook, blogger and groundskeeping consultant/expert, has been overseeing some of the preparations at the Olympic baseball complex, including a “test” tournament that started yesterday:

Teams from China, France, Czech and Japan will be playing in the 5 day tournament which is being staged for training volunteers on all of the logistics in operating the venue, transportation hotels etc…

Despite language difficulties and other wrinkles, everything came together at the last minute.

Tournament wise China has started off with 2 wins …and shares the lead with Japan. This sets up a game tonight where china plays japan for the first time in the tournament. Jim Lefebre (Coach of the Nationals Chinese Team) told me that China has never beat Japan in baseball. Not knowing the culture very well I was unaware of china’s dis like of the Japanese. Kind of a Yankee /Red Sox thing…

Well, that’s one way of putting it. ;)

Here’s the official Wukesong Baseball Field webpage, with accompanying news items and photos. One particular story — “Olympic Baseball Field delivered” — from earlier this week has more details on the stadium:

Located in west Beijing and adjacent to the Olympic Basketball Field, the venue has three fields – a practice field in the north, and two competition field in the center and south with 3,000 seats and 12,000 seats respectively.

[...] Major League Ballpark infield and stadium designer assigned to this project by the IBAF, Murray Cook has been working closely with BOCOG on the layout of the new Olympic stadium and is very pleased with the new facility.

[...] Cook and his crew adopted Bermuda grass, commonly used in other competition fields. The grass can be easily planted and needs only a moderate amount of lawn grass care, maintenance and mowing. The workers took the stems of the plant directly from a farm in Shanghai, saving money and time to sow and maintain.

The red soil laid on the skirts of the grass and on the infield is blended with additives that are permeable and do not raise dust.

Thanks to Frontline World Outreach for getting in touch with me about a new PBS FRONTLINE video, “Ghana: Baseball Dreams”. From their press release:

Reporter Zach Stauffer brings us the story of baseball dreams in the West African nation of Ghana. The video is up now on the FRONTLINE/World website.

“Coverage of Africa is often limited to famine, war and the latest smiling Hollywood celebrity to make a visit,” said Stauffer. “But as I discovered, not everything that happens on the continent is about unrest – some people in Ghana and other African countries like a good ball game too.”

“I love being a barber, but it’s not what I want to do,” says Sharrif Mohammed, the captain of Ghana’s national baseball team. “I love playing baseball more than cutting hairs.”

You can’t blame him, really, and after watching Sharrif in action on the diamond, it’s impossible not to share his baseball dreams.

Then again, he’s trying to become a baseball star in West Africa, in a small, poor but politically stable West African country where soccer is the sport of choice. As reporter Zachary Stauffer discovers in this week’s Rough Cut, Ghana’s baseball team plays on a former garbage dump. After they cleaned it up, soccer players began to claim the turf.

Still, adversity has not deterred Sharrif, and all he wants, he says, is a decent field, some proper equipment and a chance to compete. “The players are not demanding for money to play baseball,” he insists. “No! Just put some trophy down — let’s fight over it. That’s all.”

Check out the video, as well as background on Ghana, here, on FRONTLINE/World’s website.

The video is a little over 12 minutes long and is well worth watching.

The Geographic Travels with Catholicgauze blog recently posted on The Geography of International Baseball in which they break down the global reach of baseball into “three core and three periphery zones” with notes on each, as well as providing a map.

• American Core
• Hispano Core
• Far East Core
• Far East Periphery
• European Periphery
• Down Under Periphery

Not a lot of detail, but this is an interesting organizational starting point to look at the subject matter.