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Blog / Month: April 2021

We know you’ve been waiting for this!

We’ve been asked over and over: When is the new Baseball Travel Map going to be ready?

The wait is over. It’s here!

With all of the changes in the Minor Leagues this year, never has a new version of this indispensable tool been more needed.

Your webmaster provided the cover photo of Hodgetown in Amarillo and helped edit all of the changes, and the brilliant folks at Hedberg Maps did the rest.

On one side, it’s a map of the U.S and southern Canada, showing where all the teams are located. On the other side, it lists all of the contact and ballpark info for the teams, as well as 72 baseball museums and attractions! And everything is updated for 2021!

It’s laminated, foldable and full of the info you need to plan your baseball roadtrips. Just $9.95 plus shipping.

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Read all about the Rangers’ new $1.2B home

Now that fans are permitted to attend home Rangers games again, it’s time to provide our in-depth review of Globe Life Field.

You’ll read how it came to be, what’s around it, its architecture (HKS did an exceptional job) and what the experience of attending a game is like. Check it out, then let us know what you think of the review and the ballpark in the comments section.

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The 75th anniversary of The Handshake

On April 18, 1946, Jackie Robinson played his first game in “white” baseball. Branch Rickey’s plan was for Robinson to play a year in the Minors, then make his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, thereby breaking the color barrier.

The Dodgers’ top farm team was the Montreal Royals, so that’s where Rickey assigned Robinson out of spring training in 1946. Opening Day found Montreal at Jersey City, and Jackie was in the starting lineup.

This winter, I spent a lot of time putting together an article about the events of this game and their aftermath. I think you’ll find it to be a compelling story, especially on its 75th anniversary. I’m grateful to the Dodgers for agreeing to post it on their Dodger Insider blog site. They’re also including it in the print magazine they publish.

Please take a few minutes and read the story of A Handshake For The Century.

 

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Blue Jays are extending spring training at TD Ballpark

With COVID still around and quarantines still a fact of life, the Blue Jays knew that they’d face a lot of hassles if they tried to go back and forth over the US-Canada border if they played their home games at Rogers Centre in Toronto. So they made the hard decision to start the regular season at their spring-training ballpark in Dunedin, Florida.

Opening Night was a success at TD Ballpark, although the team lost to Mike Trout and the Angels. All of the modifications made for regular-season night baseball worked as intended. The photo (shot by our friend Colin Cushing) shows the player introductions prior to the first game.

And an attendance record (of sorts) was set at the opener. Read our article to learn the history behind this facility and what record was set!

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