I think you have to be dead to have the term memorial tossed on buildings in your namesake. And if so this blog would have made a lot more sense a year ago with him getting gunned down. This just got a little more morbid than how I would have liked to break this news…
David Ortiz posted a computer-generated visual of a baseball stadium in the Dominican Republic. I’m not sure if this is a joke, or maybe he just got super in CAD recently – but I absolutely love this and for multiple reasons.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBshjERDQlG/?igshid=ga3gybtjtxw9
First off, Big Papi Stadium is a GOAT route to take. Right now sports stadiums cost about the equivalent of the Death Star and therefor get named after big brands that can help cover costs. And when I say Death Star I mean it. The Raiders are building a $1.6 billion pitch-black dome in the heart of Las Vegas and if that thing doesn’t redirect the energy it absorbs from the sun year-round and transfer it into a pulse ray then I give up on trying to like the Star Wars franchise and John Gruden. Back to the main point here. Ortiz is just naming massive stuff after him now and it is awesome. I would love to say I’m going down to the “Ole Pap” for a Sunday matinee.
Another really important thing… The MLB should 100000% expand into the Caribbean. They tried to do these London games to reach Europe and grow the market there. Why the hell aren’t they taking advantage of an already established market with no team? Some of the games most storied players come from the region, and if you have ever watched the World Baseball Classic you know that the fans get absolutely turnt. The bleachers at Winter Ball games are a god damn night club. Imagine if one of these islands happened to win an expansion team. Sold out crowds for 81 games a year. I guarantee that. You have new stadiums in low market areas that tarp off entire sections. Wouldn’t even be a though in Big Papi stadium.
And you can’t tell me that fan bases from the US wouldn’t vacation down there to catch a weekend series. Our lovable giant Westy made the extremely tough argument that “A Bahama Mama in the bleachers would be perfect”. To be honest he undersells that experience. Add to the fact the stadium has a roof so all us pale Irish folks can avoid roasting in the low latitude sun. It would be heaven.
My only grievances and I must make them as a big J journo, are the design and layout. Zero originality from the Large Father. It’s just Yankee Stadium under the Miami Marlins roof system. Get creative. Throw some Dominican flare on that field David.
Anything But E 