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06 April 2009

If Hollywood can do it, so can I

Hope springs eternal on Opening Day. A month ago I took the wraps off a site redesign. Now it's time for another new feature I've been working on - 3D modeling. That's right, all those mockups I've been doing are going to be in 3D. Several films are coming out in 3D, so it makes sense for the progression to happen here as well. The model featured here and all future models will be available for you to download and play around with if you so choose.

Above: Google Earth skyline view behind home plate. Below: View from southeast, HP Pavilion in background

Download links:
Both Google Sketchup and Google Earth are free apps, so get cracking!

Now for some notes on the model:
  • Depending on whether or not you have the Terrain feature selected in Google Earth, the stadium and field may appear to be raised above street level. This is intentional, as the field is meant to be sunken and if it were the terrain would obscure it.
  • There are no concourses, suites, scoreboards, or visual effects in the model. This was done mostly to get it out the door. Eventually all of that stuff will be added. Update: Added concourses, batter's eye.
  • I am working on a site-nonspecific model that could be planted in the Coliseum and elsewhere.
  • Press box is above and behind the upper deck.
  • The building to the left of dead center is a restaurant/club. Presumably a scoreboard would be affixed on top.
  • The LF and CF walls are 9 feet high, RF is 21 feet high. Dimensions are 325' down the LF line, 322' down the RF line, 408' to center, 373' and 368' to the left and right power alleys.
  • It may look like the ballpark has four decks, but it does not. It has two decks that are each split.
  • Outlines for the bullpens are in left and left-center. Yes, the bleachers are elevated several feet above the pens. Several hundred seats are situated between the bullpens as well.
  • The red area is the PG&E substation.
  • I'm 99.9% certain of scale and size thanks to Sketchup. Previously, the mockups were drawn on Freehand/Illustrator and I had to use blown up aerial photos and parcel maps to line everything up properly.
Enjoy.

24 comments:

Jesse said...

Good Job, I'm looking forward to the movies.

Chris said...

My house is across the tracks, due left of the press box. While I appreciate the sun not getting in everyone's eyes, and, oh, wanting to sell tickets, it sure would be nice if the orientation was rotated 90 or 180 degrees so I could see the field from upstairs :)

Great job btw, been following this blog for a while. I'm not a big baseball follower but I am a sports fan and a fan of my neighborhood, and I'd love it (and would become much more of a baseball fan) if the stadium landed across the street.

Unknown said...

The A's have a great ballpark planned and a great corporate sponsor. But so far, no place to put the thing. Thanks, Fremont.

Anonymous said...

Chris, the batters cannot face a setting sun. It would be hell.

Jeffrey said...

Damn I love this site.

Jeffrey said...

Interestingly enough, this kind of reminds me of Shibe Park Home of a few World Series winning Athletics teams.

Chris said...

Oh, I know. But I would have a great view :)

Anonymous said...

Great job on the modeling! The ballpark looks awesome.

Anonymous said...

There might be one slight problem with the model. You have RF as 322' down the line, but parks constructed after 1958 have to be at least 325' down the line. See Rule 1.04.

Anonymous said...

when do we get to use 3-D glasses?

gojohn10 said...

There has got to be a way around the rule about fence distance. AT&T is 309 down the line and the new Yankee stadium is 314.

ML-
If the PG&E parcel gets acquired and the ballpark takes on the more northward orientation you first proposed, is downtown in right field rather than right center? Would all of downtown be visible? Also, how high is your fence in right?

hamachi said...

awesome! your dedication to this topic is amazing.

Marine Layer said...

12:07 - Field dimensions are guidelines, not hard and fast rules. The Yankees kept the exact same dimensions from their old stadium to their new digs, which means the short porches in both right (314') and left (318') remain. There's an understanding that factors such as site or in the Yankees' case, tradition, may overrule the guidelines.

12:22 - No 3D glasses required?

Jeffrey - The RF is 21' high to keep people from getting a free look from the sidewalk. It could be considered a "spite fence."

Unknown said...

If this awesome plan comes to San Jose, it's going to have to be people on this board who match body for body the NIMBY protestors who will greet the ballpark with all the enthusiasm of a toxic waste dump coming to town. We can't let this fabulous idea be killed like it was in Fremont. We'll need to be out there protesting, peacefully, in favor of the A's in San Jose.

We've already seen one report of a neighbor to the site who was quoted saying AT&T Park destroyed the neighborhood in SF when nothing - nothing - could be further from the truth.

As we know, the best ideas and the truth can be shouted down and lose big. It made great sense to put the A's ballpark right near a brand new transit hub - the Warm Springs BART - but the idea was shouted down into oblivion.

Jeffrey said...

Field Dimensions rules are regularly waved, Houston, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, New York AL, etc. They all have dimensions that are shorter than 325 feet in one corner or another (or both).

Jerry said...

Purely my speculation, but for $20m I would think that the A's/San Jose purchase and relocate the PG&E substation if for nothing more than aesthetics. On a $400m "civic" project what is $20m.

Haha - awesome that folks are still using Freehand to illustrate - flashback.

Anonymous said...

Great job, ML. You are an absolute treasure.

dmontero said...

Jerry: 20 million out of 400 million is 1/20, or 5 percent, of the budget. Not inconsequential.

ML: This is so cool. I love Google Earth and have spent the last half hour enjoying the view of the San Jose skyline and the mountains to the East from the upper deck. Kind of reminds me of the pre-Mt.Davis Coliseum. I do wonder, if the substation were to be relocated and the stadium pushed back a bit, if the stands could wrap around a bit more (a la Phone Company Park) and make things feel a bit more intimate. Might be worth $20 million.

Tony D. said...

Idea shared with ML via email.

How about some bleachers, or Green Monster-type seating, over the right field wall and over Autumn Parkway. This seating could either be cantilevered over Autumn Parkway, or supported with columns either in the Pkwy. median or on the Los Gatos Creek side of the roadway. If the Twins can do it with Target Field, it could be done here.

Second: excellent article today in the SJ/SV Biz Journal regarding corporate support for the A's to SJ. Seems the Bay Area is big enough for both the Giants and A's; but all the realists on this blog already knew that anyway.

Lastly: If, for some unknown reason, Diridon South can't work for a ballpark, my alternative site: current San Pedro/Brandenburg property for housing (9-10 acres north of San Pedro Square in downtown SJ core). Enough of that for now; let's just hope we get the green light for MLB period.

Anonymous said...

Tony, that area is already slated for North San Pedro housing by Barry Swenson. It's a big part of the new market. It won't allow for a backup site, but it does mean more people living in the area.

Anonymous said...

hey ML, thanks alot for your hard work and dedication to this....much appreciated!!

Jonclaude4baseball said...

Hey ML. What's the downside of us sitting almost right on a PG&E substation for 81 games? Not being an engineer, maybe somebody can help.

Thanks.

JC

Anonymous said...

My guess on the substation is that it will be moved as part of "another" project--whether that be HSR, electrification of Cal Train, continued expansion of downtown or what have you--but it most likely it will be moved--whats important is to make sure it is hidden enough wherever it is around the site--

With the substation removed I still like the idea of keeping the park somewhat funky--as beautiful as AT&T is--and by many standards it is the best-- I still prefer Fenway and Wrigley because of their character--

Anonymous said...

You guys are already moving in the furniture and picking the drapes.. How arrogant! Show a little respect for Oakland. This thing is not over yet.