By now, you have likely read this observation that every player featured in the original R.B.I. Baseball (having to punctuate “RBI” like that really irks me, for the record) is retired, whether officially or unofficially.  Now that Yankees Stadium is shuttered and Shea Stadium is about to be, I think it’s worthwhile to take a look at the stadiums still standing from the year the classic Nintendo game was released (1988). A quick list:

- Fenway Park
- Wrigley Field
- Dodger Stadium
- Angel Stadium of Anaheim (then Anaheim Stadium)
- Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
- Kauffman Stadium (then Royals Stadium)
- Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome

And … that’s it. Only seven teams will use the same park in 2009 as they did in 1988. It should be noted that distinct stadiums were not actually featured in the game, but nonetheless, it’s a fascinating indicator of the premium that has been placed on new ballparks since then. These are stadiums we’re talking about.  Enormous structures that take years of work and hundreds of millions of dollars to build.  Massive constructions of metal and concrete that, given our post-millennial architectural advances, could survive for centuries for far less money than it would require to build a new one every forty years.

In contrast, baseball players are small, relatively fragile, and comprised of countless moving parts that are susceptible to breakdown.  And yet, most baseball players outlive the stadiums they play in.

I’ve argued down this road before, so on to other important business: what in the world is with this “infield fly rule?”  In the good old days of R.B.I. Baseball, one could allow a pop fly to bounce in front of his shortstop and record an easy double play.  Baseball has lost its cheap and opportunistic soul.