Time to treat the "Best Fans in Baseball" like it

It cost $365 million to complete the new Busch Stadium. A hefty price tag, until you hear what they spent in NYC for Yankee Stadium. In that price was a good design that is open to downtown, allowing great views of the courthouse and the arch. It also included a couple of state-of-the-art scoreboards. That's where my beef with the stadium begins.

I have been lucky enough to visit most all of the current and recent baseball stadiums around the country. On these tours I like to see what they team does to communicate to the fans. You have to assume that many of your "best" fans are in attendance, so you should talk to them - without alienating the casual fan or the corporate entertainer. The one stadium that comes to mind as far as a good example of what to do is the Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix (OK, I'll comply and call it Chase Field). The first time I went there I was amazed at what I could learn at a game. Complete stats of the players were up for each at bat, the lineups were always posted and they had secondary displays that scrolled classic baseball facts. The ones I remember was listing all of the World Series winners in chronological order and scrolling through other historic trivia.

These are the kinds of conversations that come up when you are amongst baseball fans at a game. "Can you name the last 10 World Series winners?", "Did the Phillies win in 4 or 5 games last year?" The answers to these types of questions were there for the fans to see. I was impressed, and I didn't worry about the cap dance or the t-shirt launcher between innings.

So, back to Busch Stadium. The people in charge of the scoreboards in St. Louis are more worried about graphics than quality. They come up with images that look like they are in baseball cards, or make it look like a page is being pulled back to reveal more stats. Instead of just giving the fans what we want - Stats. Baseball is all about stats. You would think that they would understand that in "Baseball Heaven".

During the all star game I found it difficult just to find out what the hitter was doing that year. Wait, there it was...on a terrace facade scoreboard for about 30 seconds, then replaced with a too-close shot of the player's eyes and their name...and their number. Oh, and while I talking about this. How hard is it to find out what number a player wears. Orlando Hudson #30 2B. Only problem is that he was not wearing #30, he is wearing #13 now. So, not only is the information light, it is also wrong.

Also, during the all star game they put up career stats of a few players. Good idea? I thought so, until I read down below the stat categories to read something that looked like this.

AB HR RBI AB H BB
Jeter .316216103983682645853

No, you are not reading that wrong. There were no spaces! My buddy, Gee, then brought up another classic Busch Stadium stat misque from a few seasons back. Showing batting average they would stop the number after 2 spaces beyond the decimal point. So, a .320 average on the Busch scoreboard read ".32". Nowhere in baseball is this done...except Baseball Heaven. They also had a period when the would do it this way "0.320" also odd to read.

So here's what I am asking for from those operating the scoreboard. First, show us all of the player's stats on the main scoreboard. Not just AVG HR RBI. Tell me AB, H, R, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, BB, SB and maybe SAC as well. These are the stats we follow. If you really want to talk to the baseball fan, add the OPS. Now, don't just show that once, show it every time the guy hits. We are talking about this hitter in the fans, give us something to talk about. Now, somewhere show us how many strikeouts the home pitcher has that game. I think that EVERY other park does this, catch up!

On the scoreboards on the terrace facade focus on the key stats AVG, HR, RBI score, balls, strikes, outs. I need to be able to get this info instantly. This is what rules baseball.

Inform us, reach out and embrace the fanatical customer. And, start acting inside the stadium like you are the baseball mecca that you are. Time to catch up.