The Padres' left-field renovations at Petco Park began this week, when the team will start installing MLB's "third-largest high definition video display system," according to Jeff Sanders of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The Padres’ board "will measure 61.2 feet tall, 123.6 feet wide and cover more than 7,500 square feet," which makes it smaller than only the Mariners' and Royals' videoboards. The new videboard "is nearly five times larger than the current video screen," which has been in place since Petco Park opened in '04. Other upgrades "include new LED ribbon boards along the first and third base lines on the Toyota Terrace level and on the left field grandstand fascia, a makeover for the eight mini scoreboards under the overhangs in the seating bowl on the field level and new 60-inch Sony TVs for fans seated in the back of those areas." New right-field lower and upper LED ribbon boards "were installed before" the '13 season. Padres Senior VP & CMO Wayne Partello said that the new board’s installation "will require the padded outfield wall along the left field wall to be moved in between 34 to 38 inches." That same portion of the wall "will be lowered, with baseball ops’ permission, from 8 to 7 feet high" (UTSANDIEGO.com, 11/6).
BOARD SHORTS: In Chicago, Paul Sullivan writes the first "jumbo-sized video-board" at Wrigley Field "will be an attraction." But Cubs GM Jed Hoyer acknowledged that it "would take fans some getting used to the change." Hoyer: "Eventually people probably will really come to appreciate it. I'm sure there will be some people who never do, but the vast majority will realize it's going to be a pretty cool element of the ballpark, and the ivy and old scoreboard and all those things aren't going away." Hoyer said that he and President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein "will have some sway in the content of the video board, making sure it's 'baseball focused' and not just a marketing tool." He added that Cubs fans "will not be told when to 'get loud.'" Hoyer: "That stuff doesn't play at Fenway, and it certainly doesn't play at a place like Wrigley. The fans are great. They know when to cheer, and how loud to cheer" (
CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/12).
