Category Archives: Baseball

09.24.10
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End of the season stadium tidbits

Not much to report on the home front, at least when it comes to the A’s stadium saga. However, there are a few other news items that might be of interest.

  • Going back to speculation about how the club section at Cisco Field might work, MLBAM is piloting an “order from your seat” system from within its At Bat iPhone app. The brief pilot runs through the end of the season, and claims order delivery of 30 minutes or less.
  • With the Pac-10 expanding to 12 teams next year, the conference will be broken into two divisions, requiring a football championship game in the process. While such games have been a boon for powerhouse conferences such as the Big-12 and SEC, it remains to be seen if the Pac-10, whose basketball championship has been notorious for poor attendance, will see much success. Las Vegas has emerged with some initial buzz, though the game could be held almost anywhere within the conference’s area, including San Francisco or Oakland. The league and its member schools are meeting in SF in two weeks to hash all of this out. FWIW, the Pac-10’s headquarters are in Walnut Creek.
  • The A’s got caught up in the annual shuffle of minor league affiliates. Vancouver switched to the Blue Jays, leaving the A’s in the lurch until they signed a deal with the Vermont Lake Monsters (Burlington, VT) yesterday. Kane County left the A’s for Kansas City, leaving an opening for the Burlington (IA) Bees. The Sacramento River Cats re-upped through 2014 with little drama. Midland and Stockton remain unchanged. Vermont’s Centennial Field is notable for being owned by the University of Vermont, and for its capacious foul territory (~85 feet from home plate to the backstop).
  • A threat by the Red Sox to leave spring training home Fort Myers has worked, as Lee County is ponying up $81 million in bonds for a new stadium, even though $17.5 million in city debt remains on the old one.
  • Escondido is spending nearly $400k on its own study of a Padres’ AAA stadium.

Will we hear something about the A’s soon? Maybe… Consider this an open thread.

09.18.10
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Fishwrap picks up the I-980 story

That’s right, it may be a bit late, but at least someone, in this case BANG’s Chris Metinko, has picked up the I-980 ballpark site story. That’s not to say that he scooped it – the prize for that goes to this blog’s very own Jeffrey for his article earlier this week. While it’s nice to see that someone paid attention (and reads this blog), Metinko misses the juiciest part of the story.

That, of course, is the question of why all of Oakland’s focus is on three JLS sites, one which shouldn’t be there in the first place (Howard Terminal), and another that City is already sending out a RFQ for an EIR (Victory Court). The answer showed itself a signing ceremony at Oakland’s Estuary Park on Tuesday, which attended by Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado, among others. The Oak-to-Ninth project has taken 6 years, legislation pushed by then State Senate leader Don Perata, a near referendum, and litigation to get to this point. And as mentioned in Let’s Go Oakland’s economic impact report, O29 will not see full buildout unless a ballpark is built. Without a ballpark, it’ll be 85%. Given the size of the project, that difference is worth nine figures. Follow the money, folks.

BTW, I’m waiting for an apology, FSU/mb.

09.16.10
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Giants play ballpark politics from coast to coast

In light of the San Francisco Giants’ efforts to tighten control over its San Jose affiliate, it’s interesting to look at how they interact with their other minor league partners. The picture that comes from that survey shows that the Giants don’t play by the same rules based on location, especially when one travels further out from the Giants’ local sphere of control.

The most stable affiliates are in Fresno (AAA) and San Jose (High-A). Fresno was for years a Cal League city. With MLB’s expansion into Phoenix in 1998, the Giants’ long time AAA team, the Phoenix Firebirds, had to be relocated to Tucson, but only briefly before settling in Fresno. Chukchansi Park has done well reasonably well at the gate, though the recession may have claimed a large number of walk-up and advance sales in 2010. In all likelihood, the Grizzlies will once again ask the City of Fresno for rent concessions, citing operating losses. The big club hasn’t yet gotten involved in this saga. Should it drag on for another year or two, expect them to start making suggestions.

In San Jose, the Giants have been in place for 22 years, easily the longest continuous tenure of any one team in San Jose’s history. During that time, the team has won more Cal League titles than the parent club has won NL Division crowns. Yet there’s always a sense that the SJ Giants are this almost forgotten club in a lonely part of a large city, playing in a quaint but decrepit facility. Honestly, how can you define a place that is forced to empty out thirty minutes after the last out to allow for the players and coaches to have some breathing room anything but quaint? Even though the SJ team has always been a lackluster attendance performer (less than 200,000 per season), its owners have been able to make a small amount of money, and the strategic advantage of having a satellite so close for marketing and baseball operations (rehab stints) has surely been worth it. Now, the big club is considering spending more money on capital improvements on venerable San Jose Municipal Stadium, which sounds great, except that it’s not their normal M.O.

Augusta, GA is known most for The Masters golf tournament, one of the PGA’s majors held every April. Since 2005, it’s also the home to the Giants’ other Class A affiliate, the Augusta GreenJackets, who play at 15 year old Lake Olmstead Stadium. Even though the ballpark is only 15 years old, at this point it’s considered a temporary facility. Owner Ripken Baseball (yes, that Ripken) owns the team, but they and the Giants are holding the threat of moving over the city as of now, with a recently signed extension set to run only through 2012. The big idea now is a downtown ballpark, which would – wait for it – boost the local economy. Naturally, some local folks are skeptical. While the Giants have thrown a whopping $50K at a new laundry facility and weight room for the stadium, additional improvements are wanted, including a boost from the scant 500 on-site parking spaces.

Up I-95 in Richmond, the Giants just had their AA franchise move from Norwich, CT to The Diamond, which was vacated by the Braves’ AAA affiliate when the team bolted for suburban Gwinnett County, GA in 2009. The Diamond is considered a temporary facility, and it’s a given that a new ballpark will be necessary for the city to keep the franchise, now known as the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Again, the Giants are playing a factor here, as it’s quite possible that the team could be moved again if something doesn’t happen on the ballpark front (Richmond is the southernmost city in the Eastern League, and unlike Augusta is not guaranteed a minor league team).

Why would the Giants hold the threat of moving over two cities yet act with altruism with San Jose, a city with worse attendance and less interest among its citizens in a minor league team than Richmond and Augusta? It’s becoming more obvious with each passing day that the big club intends to use the little club as a wedge against the A’s, whether it’s politically or economically. The cash to buy the controlling interest (an additional 30%) was probably less than $3 million, based on the going rates for Class A franchises. $3 million for an ongoing PR effort against a city that clearly wants something else, vs. $50,000 for a new laundry room and weight room. Makes a ton of sense.

Note: I had promised something else today, but it’ll have to wait until next week. See y’all on the other side of GABF.

09.15.10
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Preliminary 2011 Schedule Out

I’ve had a chance to study next year’s schedule, and one thing’s pretty clear: it’s awful. The Red Sox and Yankees both make only one visit each, and the home opponents for interleague play (aside from the Giants) are Arizona and Florida. It almost seems like MLB ordered the schedule makers to relegate the A’s to a sort of non-priority status, with few premier games and very limited revenue generating opportunities. If, record-wise, the A’s were on a .500 pace next year as they are this year, they probably wouldn’t surpass this year’s attendance pace – which is just slightly better than last year’s. Needless to say, I’m disappointed.

Aside from the terrible list of opponents, you’ll notice that the schedule is a little more compact and runs earlier than in previous years. This is due to MLB’s desire to keep the World Series from going deep into November. Leaguewise, that’s an excellent move. While it won’t get fans any closer to getting the natural doubleheader date (thanks, MLBPA), it makes the schedule a good deal less sprawling.

If you’re looking to get your fill of California baseball, take a couple of PTO days after July 4th. During that span, both Bay Area and both LA teams will be at home, plus there’s the one possibility all year of a A’s-Giants day-night doubleheader on July 6th. We won’t know for sure until times are released early next year, but it’s a good bet. And if, like me, you like planning these trips well in advance, I’ve got a little side project that might pique your interest. More on that tomorrow.

For now, click on the pic for a larger version or go to this link to view the schedule in Google Docs. Note: the N and D denote likely night or day games.

09.13.10
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The Sensible, if Overlooked, Alternative

Bryan Grunwald is a resident of Oakland with a passion for his city. He is also Principle for an Urban Planning and Architecture firm. He has worked on projects like the Mission Bay campus for UCSF. So why is the City of Oakland seemingly ignoring him and his concept, in favor of inferior ideas?

Before we answer that question, we first have to tell you about his idea. One that was mentioned in passing in a previous post by my partner, ML. I like to think of the concept as, “Lew Wolff says there is no land suitable to build a stadium in Oakland so why don’t we create new land to build on?”

Anybody see any land worth building on here?

The picture above is centered on a concrete moat that separates Downtown Oakland from West Oakland. Most of us refer to it as the Interstate 980 freeway. Grunwald, taking a cue from other cities (like Seattle, Duluth, and Trenton), has proposed “decking” the 980 freeway and constructing a ballpark on top of it.

I admit, when I first heard this, I thought it was a little too Star Trek. But as I looked into the idea and read more about the other cities successes and the challenges at Victory Court, I realized it was way more Star Wars. That is to say, it was my kind of geeky.

Grunwald's vision with Fenway standing in for to be determined stadium

First, the traffic concerns of JLS don’t exist here. This spot is at the confluence of several concrete rivers, or Highway 24, I-980 and I-880. Additionally, there are no trains that run nearby to cause congestion on the two surface streets that pass nearby. There are two BART stations within walking distance. Add to that, a plethora of parking within the nearby vicinity, much closer than parking options at Victory Court.

Other pluses include reconnecting West Oakland with Downtown. In between the stadium site and Uptown/City Center sits several blighted and underdeveloped properties, the stadium could serve as anchor to drive development in the area that sorely needs it. While this could be said of Victory Court, this site requires none of the upheaval that Victory Court does. In a city like Oakland, with a limited business community, why wouldn’t you consider an alternative where existing businesses get to stay put and continue to operate, create jobs and pay taxes?

One last thing, I consider a major advantage. Go back and look at the “renderings” ML created for my original Victory Court post. The view of the estuary is not really that stunning. The estuary is, after all, a man made channel for shipping purposes, not the alluring open space of the San Francisco Bay that AT&T visitors get across the bay. This site offers a true alternative at about one fifth ($30M v. $150M) the price. You can look at a skyline!

The view of Oakland (notice nearby BART stations) from the proposed portion of I-980

This last point leads me to why I really, really like this concept. If the A’s are to stay in Oakland, and be within shouting distance of one of the best stadiums in all of baseball, they need to have something different to offer. A cheap knock off of AT&T Park on the east side of the bay does not offer that. Let’s Go Oakland seems to think that it will be wildly popular. But just like the Public Market in Oakland isn’t attracting anything like the expected demand for office/retail space, partly because businesses would prefer to be close to the real Embarcadero, casual baseball fans will spend their money at the original waterfront park in the only World Class City in Northern California when given the choice of that or an imitation on an inferior “waterfront.” It is what marketing types call “differentiation,” and it is at the heart of the advantage San Jose has by being so far away from San Francisco. Oakland should embrace being different, not try to be the same.

Back to the original question. Why has this been dismissed by Oakland? The answer, for me, rests in the “Property Value Benefit” associated with Victory Court. Think about who stands to gain from that projected increase in property values. Think about who footed the bill for the Economic Impact Analysis. I find it ironic that Oakland Boosters disparage Lew Wolff as a greedy developer, when it is Signature Properties that is pulling the puppet strings on Victory Court. That’s right a “greedy developer” owns most of the land that will increase in value and will see most of the benefit of increased property values.

One last thing of note for those who are skeptical of what is driving this process. Oakland released an RFQ for an EIR to evaluate the potential for a stadium at Victory Court. Responses were due last week. Here is some feedback from one of the companies who received the RFQ but didn’t respond:

No I didn’t respond. The EIR consultant community thinks the engagement is wired due to the impossible timeline. Just like the whole process is wired by Signature Properties.

C’mon Oakland, us A’s fans deserve better.

**** 9/14/2010 HCF asked for an alternate view, here are 3. jeffrey****

VIew Towards the Hills

View Towards JLS

View of San Francisco

09.12.10
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SF Giants buy controlling stake of SJ Giants

The SF Giants bought a 25% share of the SJ Giants just as the 2009 regular season started. Now they are upping the ante by buying another 30% of the junior club, thus giving them a controlling stake in the High-A team. From Andrew Baggarly:

Baer said the Giants completed the transaction in June, adding a 30 percent stake to the 25 percent they agreed to buy in April 2009. He said little would change in the day-to-day management of the club, but the Giants would seize the opportunity to use the affiliate as a “testing ground for pilot projects” related to marketing as well as player development.

Baer denied that the investment is a reaction to efforts by the A’s to challenge their territorial rights to Santa Clara County. But if Major League Baseball’s ownership overturns those rights and allows the A’s to relocate there, the Giants’ interest in the San Jose club would provide an additional legal barrier. Minor league clubs must be compensated when they are forced to move.

Sure, Larry, it has absolutely nothing to do with the A’s. Looks like the folks at Progress Sports Management have decided to cash out, while the big club is readying itself for an even feistier defense of T-rights, or an even bigger payoff of its own.

A “testing ground for pilot projects” related to marketing? What would those pilot projects be? Expanded merchant nights? Radio and TV ads? Players going door-to-door? Keep in mind that the planned March election, if it occurs, would happen just prior to the start of the 2011 season – but also in the midst of spring training. That could give the Giants plenty of time to assert their “San Jose-ness,” whatever that means. Regionality strikes again.

As for further capital improvements to Muni, the question has to be asked, What were the SF Giants doing the last decade while Muni was going to hell? Do they honestly think they can broker some kind of deal? Or is it perhaps a consolation if T-rights are upheld? No matter what, San Jose is beyond settling for a consolation prize. I’ll paraphrase what they’re saying:

Baer/Neukom: We’re so sorry that you’re not allowed to have a major league team in your city. Really, it’s not our fault, we just have a “contract” and we need to uphold it. But while we’re talking, let me give you this watch, see it’s a real Rolex set of improvements to your tiny little Single-A ballpark. It’s a token of our appreciation. There now. Happy? Okay, gotta go.

I’m getting a beer.

Update 9:57 PM – In the comments, Sam S. points out that his household was pushpolled tonight. Lovely.

Question 1: Do you support an initiative for a new A’s stadium?

Question 2: Would you still support it if you knew that public money was being used for it at a time where there isn’t enough money for schools and public utilities.

I love this game?

09.11.10
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The Miner and the Bomb

I have had the opportunity to talk to a few folks from Oakland over the past week about ballpark related items. It all started when I got a message to my facebook account that said something like, “There is a site in Oakland that no one is talking about.”

I made a few phone calls, spoke with a few folks (very excellent, forthcoming people who shall remain nameless as I have promised) with varying degrees of information and I came away with one conclusion. Oakland is playing Stratego while Oakland Boosters think they are playing chess.

Oakland’s strategy has three main points:

  1. Wait out MLB. Obstruct and keep from having a decision on TR’s made in San Jose’s favor.
  2. When Lew Wolff grows tired of waiting/TR’s are reaffirmed, recruit Larry Ellison to buy the team.
  3. Pledge public funds for a ballpark at Victory Court.

I know, I know. I teased you all with a “plan,” implying specific tactics, and came back with a high level “strategy.” Let’s delve into each of the points above a bit, shall we?

Territorial Rights Affirmation

To a man, everyone with knowledge I talked to said, “There is no way MLB will let the A’s into San Jose.” Almost that direct quote, almost like it was being read off a card.

“Why?”

The answer? Various versions of, “because the Giants owners told us so.” The main argument is that San Francisco floated bonds to fund 5% of AT&T Park based on the Giants existing territory (As Dennis Herrera said when threatening a law suit). They claimed there was a contract between MLB and San Francisco. I can only assume they are referring to the letter from former National League President, Leonard Coleman, sent in 1997. That is what Herrera referred to in his shot across the bow (PDF).

Recruit Ellison

I’ll be honest, this one baffles me. From what I can tell… the idea hasn’t been broached with Larry Ellison. It is an assumption that has been made by those who want a new owner. Larry Ellison wanted to buy the Warriors and lost out. The Warriors are in Oakland. Therefore, Larry Ellison wants a professional sports team based in Oakland.

It sounds crazy. The thing is, multiple people told me that Ellison is the guy that Oakland will try to persuade to buy the team. They didn’t say, “We will find a new local owner.” They said, “We will try to get Larry Ellison to buy the team.”

I am not sure if they realize Ellison also tried to buy the Seattle Sonics and move them to San Jose, before he tried to buy the Warriors. I am not sure if that is important.

As you can probably tell, this part seems really unrealistic to me. But what do I know?

Victory Court

We have all assumed this already, right? Victory Court is the site that Oakland refuses to confirm as the site. There are some challenges though, and I wonder if avoiding a spotlight on said challenges is the real reason for all the subterfuge.

Newballpark.org has obtained a series of letters from nearby neighborhood associations, most notably the Jack London District Association, urging the City of Oakland to consider an alternative to the alternatives presented to MLB. Here are the reasons as stated in the letter:

It is far too soon to actually endorse this plan vs. any other option, but the preliminary assessment is that it would create far less disruption to existing businesses and residents and create an environmentally preferable commute for many of the workers at the facility, who could walk from their West Oakland and downtown homes. In addition, there would be far fewer environmental mitigation issues, compared to the frequently toxic environmental conditions in much of the Port and Jack London District Areas. This new site proposal also has the advantage of requiring far less land acquisition, reducing cost and potential litigation, when compared to other suggested sites.

Those near Victory Court are concerned with a one thing in particular, in addition to those called out in the paragraph above. Traffic.

Even with BART about a quarter of a mile away, most folks will come to baseball games via automobile. Should only half of all spectators come by car there will be thousands of cars that aren’t normally there. The freeway infrastructure around Victory Court, and the surface streets in the area are not set up to handle a great deal of cars. There are basically two approaches, one coming West on Oak Street, which requires use of an off ramp with a sharp 90 degree turn. Or, coming up from the South on Embarcadero, which requires crossing train tracks. The combination of an inadequate off ramp and trains, that frequently pass through the area, have the potential to create a huge traffic nightmare. How huge? We won’t know until someone way smarter than me does a real traffic study for an EIR.

If my sources are correct, and I believe them, MLB has told Oakland that it will come up with a loan of about $150M for a ballpark in the city, if it is in the right place. That would leave Oakland CEDA on the hook for an estimated $150M for property acquisition, business relocation and environmental remediation. There is another $400M to be found somewhere in this calculus.

I am told, that some portion of this money is expected to come from City issued Bonds. Raiders, anyone?

In Summary

When I used to love to play Stratego, my favorite part was figuring out where to set my bombs and using my miners to defuse my opponents bombs. It was a slow, and painful progression at times. Sometimes, it worked and I captured the opponents flag. Sometimes it didn’t and before I defused enough bombs they had my flag. It seems to me that the City of Oakland is doing something similar. Lying in wait, watching the progress of San Jose from afar and banking on too many bombs blowing up in their path. Leaving Oakland with the only clear path to the flag. Is it a good strategy? I guess time will tell, but I can think of a better one.

This started with someone reaching out to me about a different potential site in Oakland, didn’t it? And didn’t the letter from JLDA above mention an alternative to consider?

Those are one in the same. Stay tuned….

09.08.10
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360 Architecture does package deal for A’s & Quakes

A while back, I had postulated that construction of both the A’s and Quakes’ stadia would be done together, sequenced to take advantage of lower combined materials costs and labor. Little did I know back then that this sort of packaging extended to stadium design as well. That’s exactly what has happened as Wolff/Fisher put out a press release revealing the combined effort.

The timing of the release is obviously to capitalize on 360’s involvement as principal for New Meadowlands Stadium, which is due to have its first regular season NFL game next Monday. Print media reviews should be flooding in over the next several days, allowing for further mentions of 360’s past and future projects, the latter of which should include whatever they’re doing in the Bay Area.

Beyond the possible PR mini-coup, I figure that this was also a smoke signal sent up to say, “Hey, we’re still here and we’re working on it.” In fact, they’ve been working on it for a while. While we figured that ownership had 360 on retainer while all the political mess was sorted out for the ballpark, it was expected that Rossetti would be the firm of choice for the soccer stadium, since they had done several others over the past decade. And since the Quakes’ renderings are basically the same ones from last year’s EIR draft, it’s clear the 360 has been working on the Quakes project for some time.

Try as they might, however, this doesn’t mean that MLB is any closer to getting anything done. Even if that were the case, we wouldn’t hear about it until at least November or the winter meetings.

Stadium4

On the technical side, the Quakes’ stadium and the A’s ballpark are a study in contrasts. The Quakes have their club seats at field level, whereas the A’s have theirs at the top of the stadium. The A’s will have luxury suites, the Quakes may not have any to start. The Quakes will have a planned development right next to their stadium. Something like that at Diridon for the A’s is much further down the road, and the A’s may have little to no control over it. The Quakes will have plenty of parking on the premises. The A’s won’t.

I suspect that this is by design. By offering certain amenities in one facility and not in another, they’re inviting the public to experience both in a mix-and-match fashion. If you’re looking at it from the perspective of a corporate seat buyer, you may have the ability to pick from different combinations of accommodations. It would take Jeffrey’s regionality idea and give it a twist, in that it bridges multiple leagues from a selling standpoint, not just business operations. And if the Quakes are still struggling to get corporate sponsors to commit to the Quakes stadium, it would make sense to leverage the A’s ballpark as a valuable selling point in the form of a package sponsorship deal. Combine that with, say, a future investment in the teams by the Sharks’ ownership group (SVSE), and the potential for further integration is huge. Now, I have no idea how the accounting would work with all of that, but we’re talking about an accountant as the managing partner – he probably has a few ideas. If you’re the Giants, this is most certainly something to watch. The Giants would love to be able to grab additional revenue streams by building a new SF arena for the Warriors, and this kind of flexibility has to be part of the game.

09.01.10
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Good Reading 9/1

Good ballpark articles this week, everyone.

  • Baseballparks.com (Joe Mock) just named their Ballpark of the Year for 2010. And the winner is… BB&T Ballpark in Winston-Salem, NC. What/where/why? you ask? Read the review and the press release (PDF). And note that one of the firms involved was none other than 360 Architecture. BB&T Ballpark won out over Target Field and several other minor league parks. Mock tends to like the retro look, so you may feel different. In any case, both are worth a read. Update: In a previous thread, craiger [hat tip] mentioned that 2009 award winner (and 360 project) Huntington Park in Columbus, OH, has a RF colonnade reminiscent of what has been conceived for Diridon. Take a good look at this pic and ask yourself if you want the brick façade treatment on the exterior, the unadorned columns on the interior, or something in between? It should also be pointed out that the ballpark is a companion piece to another 360 project, Nationwide Arena.
  • The Braves are good, but the crowds aren’t. Where’s John Rocker when you need him?
  • SI writer and Minnesota boy Steve Rushin waxes much more poetically than me on Target Field.
  • Eminem and Jay-Z are doing a sort of home-and-home, hip hop, ballpark concert series at Comerica Park (this coming weekend) and Yankee Stadium (the following weekend). B.o.B. opens.
  • Among the revelations at the McCourt divorce proceedings: Frank McCourt planned to slash the Dodgers’ payroll in 2006 to $85 million to stem losses. Dodger Divorce has more. (Here’s an idea, Selig: let Mark Cuban and some big money people buy the Dodgers. Just a suggestion. Then we’ll have the wonderful symmetry of David Boies, who is representing Jamie McCourt, destroy Frank, forcing him to sell to Cuban and Co., who take over the Dodgers and go on to destroy Bill Neukom’s Giants. Dee-licious.)
  • Escondido continues to figure out whether or not bringing the Padres AAA franchise in would be worth it.
  • Speaking of the Pads – they want no part of a soccer match at Petco during a pennant race. I’m sure that Larry Baer won’t regret the Cal Bears playing at AT&T next year, especially if the Giants continue to bring in defensive liabilities to play the outfield.
  • Rosenblatt Stadium says goodbye tomorrow.

You’re welcome. I feel like Trey Kerby all of a sudden.

08.31.10
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Target Plaza

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about my glowing comments about Target Plaza. At the Diridon walking tour yesterday, Dennis Korabiak asked those in the crowd who, if anyone, had visited Target Field to experience it first-hand. I was the only person who raised his/her hand. Korabiak immediately shot back, “Ours will be better!” Now that’s a bold statement, and pretty hard to back up given how good Target Plaza is. Since it’s so new and hard to visualize (and I felt I hadn’t done it justice), I figured I’d devote a post to what the Plaza looks like.

First up, here’s a very shaky cell phone cam of the walk from downtown to Target Field through the plaza. I don’t blame you if you get sick watching it, that’s why I didn’t put it in the original Target Field post in the first place.

Now for some pics. First up, a view from 6th Street North and Hennepin Avenue, where you get a glimpse of the stadium down the street.

As you get closer, layers of the ballpark begin to reveal themselves. A view from street level:

And then a view from the Skyway:

Near Gate 34 is a cute, friendly monument honoring all of the various Gold Glove winners throughout the Twins’ existence (I just noticed the use of “Golden Glove”):

Now, a view back towards the city from near that spot:

And if you want an interesting before/after look, head on over to Google Maps and fire up the street view. While the Plaza is not in any Street View update yet (get on yer bikes, Google!), you can see the area transformation at two intersections, 7th St N/2nd Ave N and 5th St N/3rd Av N. Click on those, get your bearings, then move north along the map ever so slightly and – presto! – baseball magic. You can also do the same at 6th St N/2nd Ave N to see how 6th St gets split up vertically – upper level for pedestrians to the Plaza, and lower level for vehicles.

The challenge in doing this in either Oakland or San Jose is the presence of a large elevated freeway (880 and 87, respectively). In both cases, the great reveal can’t happen until after fans pass the freeway. Stadium lights will act as a beacon, so that helps a little. In Minneapolis, the freeway spur I-394 runs underneath and terminates next to the ballpark.