Councilmember-at-large Arnie Fielkow will send a lucky child to Chicago to attend a baseball game July 26 between the Chicago Cubs and the Florida Marlins at Wrigley Field.

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by Alejandro de los Rios

On the one hand, you could say, “Look at that intensity, the focus, the steely glare in his eyes. This guy definitely doesn’t want to stay in the minors for long. No sir, he’s eyeing the call up.” On the other you could say, “Umm…what?”

For those who pick the former, I suggest you refresh yourself on the Saints starting lineup. For the latter, it’s best to just remember that it is still the offseason and no, Drew Brees doesn’t have any baseball aspirations…that I know of at least.

Turns out this picture is of Drew Brees taking batting practice and, as the folks at Deadspin have reminded us, Brees played baseball bak in high school (Deadspin also reminds us that Brees has “history of rotator cuff and elbow injuries,” but we’ll ignore that).

The bigger news, it seems, is that it was Ken Oberkfell’s last act as manager of the Zephyrs as he and two coaches were called up to the New York Mets to fill the void of recently fired manager Willie Randolph. Of course we wish nothing but the best to Oberkfell and his crew. Queens is supposed to be beautiful this time of year. That is, if you ignore the boos.

(Photo courtesy of New Orleans Zephyrs)

By Alejandro de los Rios

All right, so most people would call it Opening Day, but with all the action on the field, not many may have noticed the field itself. I said it before, but I’ll say it again: It’s brand new, all $1.2 million of it. And the man you see in the picture in the green shirt hosing the dirt before the first pitch is Thomas Marks, the head groundskeeper at Zephyrs field going on seven years. So what was wrong with the old field?

“You get what you pay for,” Marks said.

Apparently, the team hadn’t paid for much. As Marks described it, the old field had no drainage system to speak of. A problem when you’re in a place like New Orleans where sudden, intense showers happen regularly during the summer. On the old field, sudden showers meant Marks and his crew would spend a good 40 minutes squeegeeing the water off the playing surface.

“You got a half acre of water that you gotta move and it wasn’t easy,” Marks said.

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by Alejandro de los Rios

Anyone who was conscious between 5 and 7 last night witnessed a patented New Orleans downpour. While most people did the sensible thing and stayed inside, a dozen or so media folk trekked out to Zephyrs Field.

Baseball? You may ask. How is it anyone could play baseball yesterday?

Well the storm came and went and, though voluminous, the rains couldn’t drown the Zephyrs brand-new $1.2 million field — at least the part in between the foul lines. In all fairness, though, the field drained impressively and it took a second glance to confirm that yes, it is indeed real grass.

But the real wonder of the night wasn’t that the Zephyrs players could go out and actually hold a practice, but that there was actually a small smattering of fans in attendance.

OK, maybe “smattering” is a bit generous. It was four people. But four devoted people nonetheless. Read the rest of this entry »