There are those that keep a warm spot in their hearts for the sound and feel of the old time baseball game. There is a certain feeling of stability and a down home touch that we associate with the crack of the bat against the ball and the smell of the hot dogs in the air. Whether it was a hot day game or one of the cooler evening games, you never noticed the hard wood of the bleachers, and you patiently waited as each new score was flipped on the scoreboard.
The home entertainment systems of today are so incredibly well designed, that size, view and sound make it almost like being at a game. Stadiums around the country have been updating their technologies to get their sports fans off the couch and into the stadium. Over the last couple of years, the upgrades have been pretty impressive for baseball enthusiasts and have included everything from park wide Wi-Fi access to high def LED ribbon electronic scoreboards. Here are just a few of the parks and teams that are drawing the crowds in, with the glamour of technology:
There are professionals that study everything, from the manner in which someone views a computer screen all the way to the priority items at a baseball game. Studies have shown that the two most viewed areas at a baseball game are home plate and the scoreboard. While home plate will always be a mainstay, a lot of science as well as art have gone into the electronic scoreboard of today.
I remember going to baseball games in the 1960’s. In those days there was a manual scoreboard, flipped with each increasing homerun for the team that made the score. If it was a larger game, there was usually a logo for a sponsor, but that was about it. Years later, electronics entered the fray and the old flip board was replaced with large light bulbs that were controlled from a remote hardwired box. Again, if it was a larger field, a sponsor ad might be in lights, but that was about it.
Arlington, Virginia conjures visions of things in today’s world. The most notably might be the Arlington National Cemetery, but there is a rich history in the forming of the city of Arlington. The city skyline is a blend of the past, present and future; greatly influenced by its proximity to the nation’s capital and the government itself. The many colleges and Marymount University contribute to the city’s intense love of education and sports; specifically football and baseball. However, the city’s past may surprise you to find out that it was actually formed to avoid a potential conflict on the topic of slavery.
The area we now know as Greenville Mississippi is actually the third city that is called by that name. During the establishment, history, destruction and rebirth, the people of Greenville never let their city die. This is the same attitude the people of Greenville have today and they approach everything they do with that same sense of dignity. Pride in their city is also seen in the Mississippi Miracles. Their famed basketball team brings packed crowds to every game and the basketball scoreboards lend an air of excitement to the town. They are also firmly entrenched in the American tradition of baseball and this is evident at every game at Greenville Municipal Stadium.
Clarksville Tennessee is one of those cities that have an incredible history in our country. The historic downtown area is a vision of small town Americana, but set within a bustling city. There isn’t a single phase of U.S. history that didn’t involve Clarksville in one form or another and the residents have taken great pride in preserving much of the story for generations to come. The sports scoreboards of history show a literal who’s who of famous sports figures that have all come from Clarksville. In this town, baseball reigns supreme.
The lands that are now part of Clarksville have been archeologically dated to habitation by Native Americans to over 11,000 years ago. While there are many tribes that have lived in the area, the most recent and notable are the Muscogee and later the Cherokee, Chicasaw and Choctaw. When the Spanish explorers arrived they brought with them European diseases that the local tribes could not combat and many of the native people died and relocated to escape the disaster. The influx of European settlers to the area created the need to displace the Cherokee people and a plan was designed to forcibly relocate 17,000 people of the Cherokee nation to another state, with lesser land quality. This was known as the Trail of Tears. Cherokee women. men and children walked from Georgia to Oklahoma, and over 4,000 of the tribe died along the way.
In a baseball scoreboards feature, we look at the historical game of baseball, and some of its greatest moments. If you are a true, die hard baseball fan then you probably grew up watching the heroic and historic moments created by baseball players who not only made history, but became the history. There is one baseball player amongst these greats who will always stand out: Babe Ruth. He did not make history just once, but several times. There were other baseball players, as well, who left their mark on history. Here is the list of the top 5 historical baseball moments:
