Leitch/MLB: The best moment in each ballpark’s history

Indians (Progressive Field): Rajai Davis homers ... but the Cubs win the 2016 World Series - Nov. 1, 2016 (World Series Game 7)

Indians fans will always have a soft spot in their heart for Davis, whose game-tying homer off Aroldis Chapman was the stuff of fairy tales. But for the purposes of baseball history, the most significant moment at Progressive Field is the Cubs winning that game and their first World Series in more than a century.

Royals (Kauffman Stadium): Don Denkinger’s call - Oct. 26, 1985 (World Series Game 6)

If they had clinched the 2015 World Series at home—or if Alex Gordon had been sent home and scored at the end of the 2014 Series—maybe that would be the moment here, but Denkinger’s call remains immortal.

Empty Stadium Sports Will Be Really Weird

So, with the very likely possibility that baseball and basketball — at minimum — will be played to empty stadiums, it begs the question: Will it be as fun?

And before you answer, think about it for a second. No crowd noise. No intensity that builds for the home team or against the away team. Yes, the scoreboard will tell the tale, but the pressure is cranked up when you have a building full of crazy fans screaming their lungs out.

New Rangers park among possible MLB ideas for season start

North Texas has more to offer than just the new Rangers ballpark should MLB decide to start the pandemic-delayed 2020 baseball season with teams grouped together in different regions.

Among the different plans looked at by Major League Baseball is to use Texas as a mid-American hub.

“Depending upon a variety of the other factors, it makes a lot of sense,” Rangers general Jon Daniels said Monday, when asked about the possibility of Texas being part of such a plan. “Just given the nature of the market, the proximity of a lot of the facilities, the quality of the facilities, the quality of not just baseball facilities, but the hotels in the area and other things that you’d need.”

While the Rangers have had “some involvement, just from a due-diligence standpoint” to help Major League Baseball gather information, Daniels stressed during a conference call with beat writers that is just among several ideas being looked at by league officials.

Artificial Turf Strikes Back in Baseball

Hall relented last year, agreeing to replace the grass at the Diamondbacks’ downtown ballpark with artificial turf. He changed his mind after finding a synthetic grass technology that he believes genuinely mimics the real thing in terms of how it plays and affects players’ bodies: the B1K—which stands for “Batting 1.000”—system from Georgia-based Shaw Sports Turf.

Artificial turf nearly disappeared from Major League Baseball. Now it’s suddenly back. After eight years with grass at their home in Little Havana, the Miami Marlins have switched to Shaw’s turf in 2020. The Texas Rangers will also use it at Globe Life Field, their newly constructed stadium in Arlington scheduled to open later this month.

Worcester approves about $30M more for new ballpark

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The Worcester City Council has approved a revised financing plan to address about $30 million in increased costs for a new baseball stadium being built in the city for the Boston Red Sox Triple-A affiliate.

The plan approved Tuesday addresses an additional $9.4 million in construction costs and about $20 million in increased costs associated with the redevelopment of the neighborhood where the park will be located.

The team, currently based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and known as the Pawtucket Red Sox, will play one more season in Rhode Island before relocating to Worcester in 2021.

Given what MLB has been threatening lately, I’m not sure that investing more in minor league stadiums makes sense at the current time….

How exciting: Braves rename their ballpark ‘Truist Park’

Last year North Carolina-based BB&T bank bought SunTrust Bank, creating the sixth largest bank in the country. The bank’s new name: “Truist.” I don’t care about that, but given that the baseball team I root for plays in a place that was originally called SunTrust Park, I did wonder what the name of the park would be called going forward.

As of today, we have that answer: the Braves and Truist just announced the new name: Truist Park. Which is exactly what I guessed they’d name it last year. Hey, you pay millions for an advertising campaign, you’re gonna slap your name on it.

As I noted last year, “Truist” is not a real word, but it’s the 21st century, so I’m not sure that even matters anymore.

For those of you wondering why we ran that exercise for giving baseball stadiums alternative names a while back…..