BBWAA Complaints About St. Louis Press Box

Just for the sake of discussion (and I've covered a fair number of MLB games, in accommodations both behind the plate and otherwise, and really have no preference), what difference does it make where the press box is? What can you see from behind the plate that you can't see from down one of the lines? If the accommodates are substandard, and it sounds as if these are, that's one thing. But the bit about behind home plate vs. down one of the lines seems silly to me.

 

I know some people prefer to see the pitches from behind the plate, it's a perspective that makes it easier to gage a pitcher's nuances.

 

Spot in hell for her, right next to the big-headed piece of shit.

 

I think it's the same principle that leads most teams to charge more for tickets behind the plate than those in the left field bleachers.

 

HOK did The Jake, too.

Here's a link to a story with more parks designed by HOK: http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/06/14/68493

 

Wow... from 100 yards away? Nuances?

 

Depends on the place. Some are too high to tell much of anything (Fenway, PNC). Others are good, but create horrible sightlines for some fans (RFK). Some are downright dangerous on a sharp foul back (Camden Yards).

I'm sure the big deal is mostly that the BBWAA isn't about to give up a bunch of little fights. They lost 15 minutes of clubhouse time in the recent labor deal, after all.

NFL writers have already lost the battle. The pressbox at FedEx is on the corner of one endzone. To me, it makes little difference, I looked at the monitors for half the plays. But the old guy from Chicago behind me who chewed a cigar the whole game and watched it with binoculars instead of on TV was probably pissed.

 

imagine - you've got shitty conditions to cover a shitty world series, and then you walk outside in a shitty city, and get shot!

St. Louis is the new Camden.

 

You mean Dan Snyder opted to suck more blood from the fans and the league let him? Stop. I don't believe it.

 

Don't know if it's a St. Louis thing, but ...

I covered the Rams' first game at the whatever-it-is-this-year Dome back in 1995, and sitting in the first row of the press box, you could not see the near sideline at all. Anytime a play went to that side, I'd have to stand and lean out over the table to see what happened. Also, because the press box was up at the roof level of the stadium, the indoor fireworks they shot off during introductions and when the Rams scored were right next to us. It seemed like they were about 15 feet away. My ears were ringing for a week after that.

We complained about both situations, but I haven't been back since so I don't know if anything ever came of it.

 

I've never had that problem in the press box at the EJ Dome and I've covered several state championship games there.

 

I've covered a few baseball games at the old Busch Stadium, one of which was a 42-degree April game where it poured all day and then drizzled all night. It was an open press box and so keeping warm was secondary to keeping your laptop dry. It sucked, and I can imagine it sucks just as bad now.

Yes, driving a jackhammer into the street or cutting down logs in Washington is a job I wouldn't want. But we work for a living, just the same. And our conditions should be fairly universal at the level of competition, especially with new stadiums. There's no excuse for not enclosing the press box with an option to open windows.

It's good to complain now or you just get it taken away from you later on.