June 08, 2004
Paging all submarine pitchers
"Imagine a battleship gray, 38,000-seat baseball stadium downtown," writes the Virginian-Pilot, "with twin gun turrets on the roof that would shoot fireworks each time the home team hit a home run." Our imagination gets cut off at this point by our screams of horror, but we must just not be as visionary as William Somerindyke Jr. and Jason Osborne, the 26-year-old entrepreneurs behind Norfolk's bid to lure the Montreal Expos. Also in their plan, according to the paper: a Navy fighter jet atop the outfield wall, anchor chains and ship’s bells as decorations, and a retired cruiser or destroyer tied up at a pier beyond the outfield wall.
"We’d like to incorporate as much of the Navy as we can," said Somerindyke, "without getting overly gaudy." I guess that would rule out our suggestion for a possible 7th-inning stretch song by the grounds crew.
