Jaybird's Jottings

My Favorite Blogs

One last post for 2007. Thought I would list my favorite blogs of the year with comments.

The Baseball Analysts

Amazing, cutting-edge stuff these guys are doing. Don’t understand it all, but it fascinates me to no end.

Business of Baseball

Maury’s been quite busy this year. He’s actually a news source. Many time after I read his post, I google news it, but don’t find it.

Near Southeast

Just can’t get enough of the action at Potomac and South Capitol and the surrounding development between those imaginary first and third base lines.

RUSH IS A BAND

2007 marked RUSH’s 34th year “With Neil,” and in terms of everything that happened, it was one of their best.

Whether the topic was RUSH’s new record, the tour, awards, magazine articles, interviews, the band’s standing in charts and lists, Geddy, Alex and Neil in pop culture, neilpeart.net updates, tribute band gigs, polls, photos, merchandise, bootlegs, Cleveland's Ed Stenger, in his sixth year covering my favorite band, stayed on top of all.

Nats320

Jeff’s blog emerged this year as quite the place for inside scoop on the Nationals and the new ballpark. This facet was exceeded only by his love and passion for the game and the team. Great pics too.

Thorn Pricks

John doesn’t write a lot but when he does, it’s great stuff like his discovery of the 1843 Magnolia Baseball Club and his thoughts on steroids.

Giants Win!

What was that line from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon?

"give 'em a quick, short, sharp shock…”

The Hardball Times

Sabermetric analysis, well-written. And John John Brattain has emerged as one of my favorite baseball writers.

Blog of the Year

My Blog of the Year is a real toughie. Sabermetrics was never better, MLB boomed in news and revenue, RUSH had a banner year and the rising Nationals Park made for some great photos and thoughts.

I’m going with JD’s Near Southeast. I don’t know it for a fact, but my guess is no one has ever covered the rise of a sports stadium better than this D.C. native. That and she hosted a ballpark and area tour, and I met her Mom.

Thanks to the above and others for making 2007 a great one for blog reading.

See you in 2008!

Ronnie Strompf

“Strompf arrives at the ballpark by 5 o'clock most mornings, meets daily at 8 a.m. with the major subcontractors and spends the rest of his day attuned to the details of the project… By 7:30 p.m., he is in bed with the latest Clive Cussler novel until he drifts off to sleep by 8. But the ballpark is in his dreams. He's usually wide awake three hours later, scribbling notes to himself on the nightstand. Lately, he has been waking up every two or three hours, thinking of what to do the next day. And the kind of worries that set his mind racing show just how much work goes into a ballpark, beyond putting down turf and switching on the scoreboard.” - Ballpark Field General Rallies the Troops, Daniel LeDuc, Washington Post Staff Writer, December 26, 2007

It will be a politician who throws out the ceremonial first pitch next March 30th at Nationals Park. After reading this piece, however, about the stadium project manager, with his heart and soul work and his connections to the Senators and Griffith Stadium, I thought to myself, maybe Strompf should get the first toss honors.

Having played third base at Virginia's Fishburne Military School, he even has the arm for it.

Seasons Greetings

Hope everyone is having a nice holiday season.

We hosted my older sister and her husband, visiting from North Carolina. Bob is a Marine who served during the Vietnam War. Took them to the Iwo Jima statue (officially known as The United States Marine Corps War Memorial), one of the places the locals never seem to find the time to take in and whose entrance is not clearly marked. It's a moving piece of work that captures that important moment in history.

We also visited the National Cathedral. It’s another one of those places that takes a certain kind of motivation to stop and see. Gail wanted to go and we were glad she did. Upon entering, she softly spoke the words, “Oh my God.” Stole the words right out of my mouth.

All I can say is if you want to be humbled, go there some day soon. They have guided tours but be sure and check for the tour interruptions at their website.

Our State Department friend Sue visited yesterday. So glad she did. Sue is a fun person to be with and every taxpayer should know just how dedicated she is to her job. Sue is the foreign policy story you rarely read about in the newspapers and and seldom, if ever, see on "World News" Tonight.

Back to work today and a turkey sandwich for lunch. Oh yea!

Two 20-Game Winners

In 1960, John Steinbeck set out to travel across the country. His reason, he said, was to “to hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light.”

In thinking about why I forked over $100 to the Nationals’ season ticket rep this past September, our deposit for a pair of 20-game season tickets, Steinbeck’s book, Travels with Charlie, came to my mind. I spend a lot of time with baseball here at the computer and some in front of the TV screen. Those ways of taking in the game have their own rewards, but it’s not really “smelling the grass.”

We got notified of our seats yesterday. We’ll be sitting in the Upper Infield Gallery on the third base side. Would have been nice to have gotten closer to the field, but at $17 per seat, we can’t complain.

Our games are plan B that includes all the National League teams once, the Giants in early June, the Mets and Phillies twice and the Angels, Rangers and Orioles.

It ain’t spring yet?

Walkable Urbanism

"The “one size fits all” suburban American dream is no longer enough for those who are looking to live in healthy, walkable communities. In the Option of Urbanism: Investing in a New American Dream, Brookings Institution fellow Chris Leinberger explains why there is pent-up demand for walkable urbanism, and how the real estate and financial communities need to adapt to meet this growing need." - The Option of Urbanism

My wife and I have lived here in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of D.C., since 1995. One of the things we like about the Washington area is the variety of one-stop places for book browsing, movie-going, eating and people watching. Among our favorite weekend spots are the revitalized Penn Quarter downtown and restaurant-rich Bethesda (both places score major points with us for having an independent movie theater next to a Barnes and Noble), as well as the smart-growth jewel that is Clarendon (VA).

One of the things associated with these areas is their walkability. Quite frankly I never gave that aspect much thought until the other day. According to a new study put out by the Brookings Institution, the Washington area is the most walkable of the 30 largest American metropolitan areas in the United States (per capita). In fact, D.C. is becoming the national model for “walkable urban growth.”

Christopher B. Leinberger, a professor at the University of Michigan, author of The Option of Urbanism, Investing in a New American Dream and currently a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, conducted the study. He counted the number of regional-serving walkable urban places. These are locations “anchored by regionally important employment, cultural and civic institutions, retail and urban entertainment as well as residential.”

The survey found New York City has the most walkable urban metro areas with 21. Washington (20), boosted by a strong economy, smart planning in places like Arlington (VA) and a healthy Metro system, ranks first per capita. Boston, San Francisco, Denver and Portland round out the Top Five.

So who is fueling (oops) this new lifestyle?

In his book, Leinberger asserts a new American dream is emerging. Singles who watched Seinfeld, Sex in the City and Friends and desire the hip, urban lifestyle portrayed in those shows, are driving (oops) this type of development. Trading in a carport for convenience, empty-nesters and retiring middle-age baby boomers who grew up enjoying the suburban bliss portrayed in Leave It to Beaver, are also choosing the new way of life. Leinberger notes that “people more than fifty-five years old are three times more likely than people in their mid-twenties and early thirties to choose a townhouse in the city as the best living option.”

Leinberger concludes his book by stating the moral case for more walking and less driving. We’re behind the green movement, but don’t always take Metro to our favorite places.

The good news is we now own a hybrid. Like building more walkable places, that’s a smart move.

The National Opener

Looks like the Nationals will lift the lid on their 2008 season against the Braves on ESPN Sunday Night baseball. Nats' beat reporter Barry Svrluga and the Times' Tim Lemke, both indicate it’s all but a done deal.

The Lerners requested this game several months ago as a way to christen Nationals Park. Fan talk has taken two camps. One is thrilled at the possibility while the other reminds folks that the average low for DC on that day is 41 with an average high of 61 (And one can imagine what the head honchos at the construction site are thinking…)

I have to admit it will be exciting if the Nationals get to pop the top in what amounts to the stateside opener. And the Sunday night game will certainly be better traffic-wise than a work day opener.

But don’t be surprised if the players are not the only ones wearing gloves…

New Neighbors for the Giants?

"Speaking of the Giants: the team is proposing a mixed-use project next to AT&T Park that could decrease the amount of parking in the area. No word on precisely what's going on; partner Cordish Development is known for mixed-used developments (St. Louis's Ballpark Village, for example) tied to sporting and music venues. The parking lot in question, on the waterfront, has 2,000 spaces." - Kevin Reichard, Ballpark Digest

Looks like Willie McCovey and the Giants are getting new neighbors. Kevin Reichard provides a link to the news that Baltimore-based Cordish Development is bidding to build a mixed-use project near the Seawall Lot 337 site.

Photo of the site:

San Francisco New Developments

Field of Dreams

"People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come." - Field of Dreams

Nats320, whose coverage of the Nationals becomes more and more impressive every day, has a piece on the Nats turning on the lights for the first time.

Clark, Walter, Bucky, Josh, Buck, Sam, Goose, Harmon, Frank, you see them out there, don’t you?

The Mythical Champions

When I was growing up in the 60s and early 70s, New Year's Day was great fun for college football fans. The big three bowl games, Rose, Cotton and Orange, were all played that day. Before you went to bed that night, jubilant players on one, sometimes two, teams, had pointed their index finger to the sky. Some years no one disputed the final polls, while others the sportswriters reminded us that the title was “mythical champions.”

I usually close one eye when I hear things like “it’s the (superlative) ever.” But I’ll be inclined to nod if you say “this is the craziest season in college football history.” It drives you crazy when the team you're pulling for loses, but the topsy-turvy nature of the season has added drama and suspense. Movie critics, who write things like, “too many implausible scenes,” should be reminded about sports and this year in college football. Frankly, I’ve lost track of how many teams, poised to help secure their bowl destiny, were beaten.

This season has served as a crisp reminder that Division I does badly need a playoff to crown a champion. In the meantime we've got the BCS National Championship Game, a step beyond the mythical championship, but a system that sometimes doesn't feel any different than those disputed times before.