Linked List: March 30, 2023

Thursday, 30 March 2023

‘Old Yankee Stadium’s Rise and Fall: The Complete Story of “The House That Ruth Built”’ 

Dayn Perry at CBS Sports, in a magnificently comprehensive look back at the original Yankee Stadium, which opened 100 years ago:

On April 18, 1923, it was a brisk 49 degrees in New York City, a spring in name only. The wind whipped up dust from the dirt roads and vacant lots abutting the ballpark that now rose from the planed-out soil of city plot 2106, lot 100. Those same winds whirled the eight-foot copper baseball bat that served as a weathervane from atop the in-play flagpole in center field. There had been a farm there, granted to John Lion Gardiner just prior to the Revolutionary War, and then a sawmill, and the surrounding sweeps of land seemed more suited to just that — an old farm or sawmill — rather than what now scraped the sky.

And what loomed above, three decks high, was a concrete-and-steel colossus unexampled in sports and certainly baseball. The forging of the stadium at 161st and River displaced 45,000 cubic yards of Bronx soil. Then it devoured 20,000 yards of concrete; four million feet of lumber; 800 tons of re-bar; 2,200 tons of steel beams and channels and angles and plates; 13,000 yards of topsoil and 116,000 square feet of Merion Bluegrass sod; one million screws of brass.

It was not the first stadium to be raised up in the medium of modern construction materials, but it was the most hulking, the most impossible-seeming. Unlike Wrigley, Fenway, Shibe, Crosley or others of the prior generation, Yankee Stadium defied words like “cozy” or “intimate” at every grand angle. In that way, it augured a coming era in which ballparks would no longer tuck into their existing neighborhoods but rather barge in with shoulders wide and arms akimbo. The original design of Yankee Stadium of course reflected some geographic limitations, but its final presence looked and felt like an unyielding one. Yankee Stadium was big and bad like its warrior-poet Babe Ruth — like its titular hometown nine soon would be — and it authored a reimagining: that the “ballpark” could be elevated and sprawled into the realm of “stadium.” And so it was the first ballpark to be called a stadium.

The second-finest ballpark ever built.

‘The Yankees Cap Goes Viral in Brazil: “Is It Basketball?”’ 

Jack Nicas, reporting for The New York Times from Brazil on the nation’s most popular headgear:

More than any other sports paraphernalia, the Yankees cap has become its very own fashion trend, unmoored from the sport or the team it represents. Lifted by starring roles in hip-hop videos, celebrity endorsements and collaborations with Gucci and Supreme, the hat has gone fully global, crossing borders to lands where mentions of Babe Ruth and Aaron Judge will elicit blank stares — never mind trying to explain the “Evil Empire.”

This week, the Yankees start playing meaningful baseball once again, and Yankees fans in New York will pull on the caps to show their allegiance. But to many others in places like Brazil, China and Nigeria, the interlocked NY insignia will remain simply a classic piece of Americana, a status symbol, or a generic — perhaps chic — emblem of the West.

“The logo is super stylish and, I think, sophisticated,” said Natalia Monsores, 40, while checking out a wall of Yankees hats in a luxury-mall shop owned by New Era, the Buffalo, N.Y., company that makes the official Yankees caps. “It’s the symbol of the brand, right? New Era,” she replied when asked what the logo meant. “You’re sending a sign: ‘I’m wearing something quality.’”

Super stylish and something quality, indeed.

“It’s American football? Or is it a brand?” said Carlos Henrique, 20, hawking Yankees caps off a metal rack he was carrying on Rio’s Ipanema Beach. Either way, it was his best seller. “I just know it calls attention,” he said. “And it looks good on everyone.”

Someday soon, one can hope, it will look good on Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout.

Opening Day, Bronx-Style 

Bryan Hoch, reporting for MLB:

There were familiar chants of “M-V-P!” as Aaron Judge strode toward home plate in the first inning on Opening Day, digging his right cleat across the dirt of the batter’s box as he prepared for his first official at-bat since being named the 16th captain in Yankees franchise history.

It took all of two pitches for Judge to pick up where he left off. Having eclipsed Roger Maris’ single-season American League record with 62 home runs last year, Judge belted the Majors’ first of 2023, powering a Logan Webb sinker over the center-field wall at Yankee Stadium as the Yankees cruised to a 5-0 win over the Giants on Thursday.

Opening Day is one of my favorite holidays of the year.

In addition to Judge’s homer and Gerrit Cole’s 11 strikeouts, the game also marked the debut of 21-year-old rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe, the youngest player to start on Opening Day for the Yankees since Derek Jeter. No shame in losing to the Yankees, Giants fans. (Giants starter Logan Webb struck out 12 and gave up only 4 hits in 6 innings — a hell of a good outing that looks crooked on the scoreboard.)

Speaking of King Charles III, I’ve been meaning to link to this:

“The design was inspired by King Charles’s love of the planet, nature, and his deep concern for the natural world,” said the former Apple design guru, who is more usually associated with sleek tech designs of equipment such as iMacs and iPods.

The logo, to be used for events over the coronation long weekend in May, features a rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock - emblems from across the United Kingdom.

It’s in contrast to the very stark design of the new King Charles stamps revealed this week, which has no crown or decoration.

It’s a lovely mark — one that should clearly stand the test of time. It would have looked good 100 years ago and should look good 100 years from now.

Disney: 1, Ron DeSantis: 0 

Remember that story a few weeks ago about Florida governor Ron DeSantis stripping Disney of its de facto control over the 27,000 acres of land encompassing Walt Disney World, as political retribution for Disney’s public opposition to Florida’s anti-gay education legislation? The New York Times reports:

Over the past two months, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has repeatedly declared victory in his yearlong effort to restrict the autonomy of Disney World, the state’s largest employer. “There’s a new sheriff in town,” he said numerous times, including at a news conference last month on Disney property, hours before appointing a new, handpicked oversight board.

Nobody seemed to have paid attention, however, to an important detail: Disney had been simultaneously maneuvering to restrict the governor’s effort. In early February — at a public meeting held by the previous, Disney-controlled oversight board — the company pushed through a development agreement that would limit the new board’s power for decades to come.

And now, the governor’s appointees, having belatedly discovered the action, are none too pleased. “It completely circumvents the authority of the board to govern,” Brian Aungst Jr., a member of the new council, said on Wednesday at the group’s second meeting. “We’re going to have to deal with it and correct it.”

The agreement is effective for perpetuity. It uses contractual language known as a “royal lives” clause: “Shall continue in effect until twenty one (21) years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, King of England living as of the date of this declaration.” (The royal language quickly spawned numerous internet memes, striking people as odd in a matter involving a theme park that is home to Cinderella’s castle.)

The people who run Disney are pretty smart, and Ron DeSantis seems pretty dumb, so I’m not surprised at how this turned out. I don’t know what to make of this “royal lives” clause other than that it’s funny as hell.

Trump Indicted 

The New York Times:

A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald J. Trump on Thursday for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, according to four people with knowledge of the matter, a historic development that will shake up the 2024 presidential race and forever mark him as the nation’s first former president to face criminal charges.

The felony indictment, filed under seal by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, will likely be announced in the coming days. By then, prosecutors working for the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, will have asked Mr. Trump to surrender and to face arraignment on charges that remain unknown for now. [...]

He will be fingerprinted. He will be photographed. He may even be handcuffed.

And the former president of the United States of America will be read the standard Miranda warning: He will be told that he has the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.

That’s one.