It’s funny how things work. The other day, in a post here on Time magazine’s 100 Greatest Toys Ever list, I wrote this:
I could still kill several hours playing with Legos, building clever scale replicas of major league ballparks.
That was February 17th. On the 18th, Wired.com had a feature on a guy who did this:
It’s a scale replica of Brooklyn’s legendary Ebbets Field as it looked just before Game 3 of the 1955 World Series. Yes, there’s someone else out there like me, but he has the time, money, and ability to build a ballpark and I don’t.
His name is Dan Carpenter, it took him five months just to gather the materials, and his attention to detail is pretty good, although there are a few minor things that aren’t perfect — for example, the area behind home plate at Ebbets Field, home of the Dodgers until the end of the 1957 season, was curved, not squared off. But that’s quibbling. He did a great job, down to the ads and scoreboard on the right field wall.
And the lights work. Outstanding.
Now, if only I could get to work on a scale replica of Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia in 1970, the night it closed and the fans nearly took the place apart before the game was even over. That would be awesome.
Indeed, Chris is not to blame for this, in the specific sense. I wrote it, which you can tell by the sports element — Chris is, as he’s said here and on the podcast, not a sports fan, bowling heritage notwithstanding. I, on the other hand, although I won’t be stressing the matter here, am a major sports fan in general and of the Philadelphia teams (Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, Flyers, Villanova) in particular. That will be reserved, mostly, for other venues for which I write.
Chris does, however, read as much as he can on the site, so addressing comments to him might reach him anyway. He’s everywhere. Except the ballpark. I would probably have to physically drag him to Dodger Stadium to get him to a game. Matt Mira, on the other hand, is a sports nerd like myself, so there’s at least one other like me in the Nerdist hierarchy….
A bit of an eerie coincidence, that. Brilliant design, though I’m no expert. Not a huge fan of “the sports” (Just not what I geek on), but the devotion is deserving of notice and appreciation.
@Robb: Author=Perry Michael Simon (and BTW, awesome builds! Congrats on the 2nd pl. win.)
Hey Hardwick –
You should check out our ‘chibi’ Star Wars LEGO competition over at:
http://www.fbtb.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5434&start=20
Contest just ended and here’s the winners –
http://www.fbtb.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5477
I GOT 2ND PLACE – ZOMG
That’s all – thanks.
-Robb
Thats sweet. I wrote my senior thesis for my B.A. in History on why the Dodgers left Brooklyn. One of the main reasons why they left was the Stadium itself. Now that I know that the stadium was built out of Popsicle sticks and paper, no wonder why Walter O’Malley wanted to move the team