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    They are playing regular season matches in Mexico City and London this season, and have played several in Japan in previous seasons.

    They have played pre-season matches on the Continent for years.

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      The Anglocentrism of the US sporting leagues has not gone unnoticed on the continent, given Germany is demonstrably more interested in NFL football than the UK and several European countries more interested in NBA basketball. You'lll see Germans online complaining every year about the Wembley games, and pretty much Europeans from everywhere complaining about the NBA game at the O2.

      You've got to admit they have a point, considering the UK's greatest basketball player lived here for about five years*, and all the Brits in the NFL either moved to the US as kids, or moved to the US to play basketball and then converted. Meanwhile Germany has produced players through the GFL and German youth setup. Yes, they have a youth setup for American football!

      *Luol Deng
      Last edited by Flynnie; 22-11-2018, 11:12.

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        Originally posted by Flynnie View Post
        Meanwhile Germany has produced players through the GFL and German youth setup. Yes, they have a youth setup for American football!
        And Dirk Nowitzki.

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          Baseball's campaign for world domination has reached New Zealand.

          The Auckland Tuatara won their first ever game, a new franchise in the Australian (sic) league. About a thousand people turned up, which compares well with most domestic cricket fixtures.

          Tuatara is not a bad name (better than some imported weather phenomenon or non-native beast) but the badge is a bit misleading. The creatures aren't scary in the slightest.

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            I was wondering how they'd fit a baseball field in North Harbour Stadium, since that's a well known rugby ground, but it looks like there's an AFL-style oval behind it that would work well for baseball, so they'll probably use that.

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              What a rip off

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                Shouldn't that be in MLB 2019?

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                  Multi-season threads are all the rage in Sport, these days.

                  I see the Yankees have "donated" their ticket pricing expertise to the organisers.

                  The Cat 9 tickets would appear to be the best value; they seem to be anticipating that punters will prefer being aligned to the centre of the field, as at cricket.

                  The Athletics of Oakland have teased their latest plans for a new ballpark.

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                    That looks good and the plan to redevelop the current Coliseum/Oracle Arena area looks good.

                    But there's probably a million catches and won't happen and the A's will move to Vegas and it will all turn to shit because that's reality.

                    The plan also includes an aerial gondola to shuttle 6,000 fans an hour from downtown Oakland over Interstate 880 and the railroad tracks to Jack London Square.
                    That sounds more like a Shelbyville idea, etc.
                    Last edited by Hot Pepsi; 28-11-2018, 17:56.

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                      Huh. Shelbyville, aka London. The O2 already has one of those.

                      As for the Oakland image, is that a typical amount of superyatchs for their harbour or is someone being extremely hopeful there?

                      Oh, and regarding the discussion on the previous page about why various American sports keep choosing Britain (or more accurately London) for their overseas expansion, it might have something to do with the British enthusiasm for sporting events. cf. RdG's numbers for the World and Para Athletics Championships in a country that doesn't really care all that much about that sport. Or the high volume of tickets sold at the Olympics for all sorts of events people had no prior interest in. Or indeed to pick one closer to my heart, the record crowds at last summer's Hockey World Cup. At times it feels a little close to British fans being willing to turn up to the sporting equivalent of the opening of a crisp packet. That makes it very fertile ground for the sort of extravaganzas that the NFL, NBA and now MLB are organising. If the NHL pitched up over here as well, I'm sure they could fill the O2 and charge through the nose for it.

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                        That isn't a harbour.

                        The site is currently an obsolete container terminal. One of the largest ports on the West Coast is on the estuary between the site and San Francisco Bay.

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                          What are the cat ear buildings in the rendering? A hotel?

                          The vision for what it will look like from inside the ballpark is really unique. There's not really an outfield that open in any other MLB stadium.

                          Last edited by Incandenza; 29-11-2018, 15:51.

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                            Originally posted by Incandenza View Post
                            What are the cat ear buildings in the rendering? A hotel?

                            The vision for what it will look like from inside the ballpark is really unique. There's not really an outfield that open in any other MLB stadium.


                            I thought I read those are condos. Or maybe a hotel. Or both. Outrageously expensive, no doubt.

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                              I've just had a thought, looking at the first Oakland rendering - is it normal to align ballparks with the batsman in the West and the fielders in the East, so that batsmen (and majority of spectators who're generally behind the plate) don't get low sunset into their eyes? Or is that just a coincidence of this particular field?

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                                The Oakland plans are quite vague as to the allocation of space, but the overall project is supposed to

                                The privately financed ballpark will anchor a new, vibrant waterfront district that will feature a mix of housing, including affordable housing, offices, restaurants, retail, small business space, parks and public gathering spaces.
                                SB, that traditional alignment is why left-handed pitchers are called southpaws. This alignment could be an issue with "Twilught" games (which the A's would play in the post-season).

                                Given the history of this "project", I am very skeptical that anything like the renderings will actually be built.

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                                  Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
                                  I've just had a thought, looking at the first Oakland rendering - is it normal to align ballparks with the batsman in the West and the fielders in the East, so that batsmen (and majority of spectators who're generally behind the plate) don't get low sunset into their eyes? Or is that just a coincidence of this particular field?
                                  I don't know how often that is the case, but with this design, it has to be be that way for the reasons you say.

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                                    Ballparks virtually never face west for that reason. Wahconah Park in Pittsfield, MA - the oldest ballpark in America - was for decades the only professional ballpark that faced west, and sun delays were a regular feature of games there. The summer league team that plays there is now called the Pittsfield Suns for that reason.

                                    This park would face south, maybe slightly southeast, so it should be OK.

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                                      That's good information.

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                                        Most people reading this thread will already know this but it looks like Cano and Diaz to the Mets for some contracts in return plus some top prospects. Cano (another bad deal in that he probably has another year or two left as a decent defender and will piss and moan about moving to first base--although most experts think his hitting skills will age well as long as his legs age well) is a product of the previous crew in Seattle. With that said, Dipoto is a disaster. This guy seems to make a trade every week. He is constantly unsettling the club with these moves and is like a yo yo with the rosters he has assembled: first it's a bunch of mashers, then he wants speed, then he's back to mashers, then he has people out of position. If I owned this team, I'd dump him after he pulls off this miracle of a trade with the Mets.

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                                          Looks like the two games in London will be popular - I had an unusually busy day at work today and didn't access the link in my pre-sale email until I got home, by which time pre-sale tickets for both days are sold out. Not sure I will be able (or indeed, arsed) to go online for the general sale on Thursday morning.

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                                            The appetite for “big time sporting events” in London at well over the odds prices appears to remain healthy.

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                                              Patrick Corbin to the Nationals.

                                              Six years, USD 140 million

                                              The Marlins could lose 75% of their games in the division.

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                                                Harold Baines. Harold freaking Baines.

                                                And Lee Smith's a terrible pick too, but Harold Baines is easily the least deserving Hall of Famer* I have seen since Bruce Sutter. Possibly worse than Sutter because there was a real fetish then for multi-inning closers and there was a Sutter bandwagon. There was no Baines bandwagon.


                                                * he knows it too. He was quoted saying he was shocked to be inducted, and he thought the day would never come. I kind of feel bad for him, it's not like you'd turn down being inducted to the Hall, especially after a 22 year career.

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                                                  He never got more than 6 percent from the writers.

                                                  Absolutely shocking decision worthy of the Frankie Frisch Veterans Committee.

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                                                    The Nats and Reds made history’s first trade of a guy named Tanner for another guy named Tanner.

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