the first time a big league baseball game will be played in an arena that wasn’t originally built with baseball in mind.

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum? I think the Dodgers played there a couple of years, I mostly remember "Moon Shots."

Not only did the Dodgers play there many years ago, but they also just played some exhibition games there at the end of spring training against the Red Sox in 2008.

Memorial Coliseum was the first to come to mind for me too. Also, technically, the Polo Grounds were not meant for baseball, they were of course, meant for polo.

Could Polo Grounds be a more obvious hint?

Coke

Exhibtion Stadium in Toronto was originally built for footall. So was Mile High.

Good lord. We're in an era in which research has never been easier or less time-consuming, and there's less and less of it being done all the time.

Good lord. We're in an era in which research has never been easier or less time-consuming, and there's less and less of it being done all the time.

I'm not sure this is true. People just get called out on it now because the information to prove them wrong is readily available. I think writers have always been lazy. The difference is that they used to get away with it.

Good lord. We're in an era in which research has never been easier or less time-consuming, and there's less and less of it being done all the time.

I'm not sure that the writer meant this was the first time baseball's ever been played in any facility that wasn't built for the sport, just that this was the first time it would be played in the Alamodome, "an arena that wasn’t originally built with baseball in mind."

It's written awkwardly, but that was my interpretation.

I was just about to post #7. Sometimes we're a wee bit quick on the snark around here.

That's fine, just adjust the snark from "obvious research failure" to "extremely poor writing(ambiguous sentence)".

There's never a reason to hold back on the snark.

My interpretation was the same as SoSH's. It seems likely that the writer was talking specifically about the Alamodome. I think his use of "arena" is a giveaway, that term (at least in modern times) usually refers to a roofed stadium.

Sometimes we're a wee bit quick on the snark around here.

Sometimes?

My French is rusty, but I think Stade Olympique also might have been built for other purposes. And that's an arena.

technically, the Polo Grounds were not meant for baseball

Like Madison Square Garden, the Polo Grounds existed in several different places before settling on one far from its original site and purpose. The last Polo Grounds, the one of the Thomson home run, was built for baseball, but used for lots of other events too, of course.

This stadium was originally built for figure skating, until somebody had the bright idea to use it for "base ball" matches.

EDIT: However, this park, built a year eariler, apparently was constructed with baseball in mind, though it was also used as a skating rink in winter.

ANOTHER EDIT: This article states that a "skating pond" already existed on this block, then they decided to build the stadium around it, for both baseball and skating. Anyway.

I'm not sure that the writer meant this was the first time baseball's ever been played in any facility that wasn't built for the sport, just that this was the first time it would be played in the Alamodome, "an arena that wasn’t originally built with baseball in mind."

It's written awkwardly, but that was my interpretation.

Fair enough, and editorial QC always seems to take a backseat at ESPN, but that interpretation is rather plainly not what is actually written in terms of conventional grammar.

I don't know what Tropicana field was built for, but it sure as hell ain't baseball...

I don't know what Tropicana field was built for, but it sure as hell ain't baseball...

Actually, my understanding is that it was built pretty much for the purpose of luring an MLB team.

Back in the day, I went to a spring training game at the Louisiana Superdome, which also wasn't originally built with baseball in mind.

Back in the day, I went to a spring training game at the Louisiana Superdome, which also wasn't originally built with baseball in mind.

Or long-term public housing.

From the Superdome Wikipedia page:

"The stadium was conceptualized to be a multifunctional stadium for football, baseball and basketball [with moveable field level stands that would be arranged specifically for each sport and areas with dirt (for the bases and pitchers mound) covered with metal plates on the stadium floor (they were covered by the artificial turf during football games)] and there are also Meeting Rooms that could be rented for many different purposes."

So while it was not built for a specific team, it may well have been "built with baseball in mind".

San Antonio has been Astros country for baseball for a long time. It's easy to see why the Rangers are doing this, since the relative recent success of the two clubs has certainly created a shift in loyalties. And with both teams in the same division, the people are more likely going to have to root for one or the other rather than both.

The Cards played a game at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, but I was surprised to find out the Hawaii Islanders baseball team used to play there. That's a pretty big stadium for a AAA team, no?

So while it was not built for a specific team, it may well have been "built with baseball in mind".

If it was, it wasn't built very well. There were huge dark shadowy spots in the outfield.

At least 1-6 only featured four separate posters, sullying two fewer posters than I originally thought.

The Cards played a game at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, but I was surprised to find out the Hawaii Islanders baseball team used to play there. That's a pretty big stadium for a AAA team, no?

Aloha Stadium used to have a rather interesting system of reconfiguring itself for different events. About ten years following the game that #22 cites, the local powers-that-be locked the facility into its current football-only shape. Shortly thereafter, the state dumped almost $200m into refurbishing it -- and the place is still said to be falling down. With heavy rail moving forward as per the election results earlier this month, one huge public works boondoogle at a time is all we can manage in paradise.

For the record, Aloha Stadium replaced the ancient downtown park in 1975 as a multi-purpose yard. Capacity for the PCL's Hawaii Islanders was pretty close to the 50k mark cited for UH football and other events. As one might guess, attendance was never good and eventually became miserable enough for the franchise to move to Colorado Springs in 1987.

the rangers are smart to jump right into the san antnio market seeing as how the astros games won't be broadcast there any more - no comcast network

if drayton mclane hadn't stopped caring about the club after 9/08, he should have done his best to get the Missions franchise - ESPECIALLY after he told nolan ryan to take a hike over to the rangers if he wanted to run a club seeing as how he KNEW that nolan owns the austin franchise

the astros really are finished

not that i care real too particular much no mo