Disch-Falk Gets a New Scoreboard (May, 2005)

(Scroll down for most recent updates.)

May 5, 2005 - Thursday
So, 'turns out the rumors (Hi, Jan!) that they were gonna replace the scoreboard before the season is over are true! I stopped by today during my lunch hour and watched for awhile. Sadly, I did not get to see any major deconstruction. The guys took their own lunch break just as things were getting interesting. There was plenty of blow torch, crow bar, and sledge hammer action going on to dismantle the old scoreboard. I can't imagine the new one will be ready by the Dallas Baptist double-header but it is supposed to be ready in time for the Aggie games.

The photo on the left shows what things looked like when we got to the parking lot. Note that the 2002 championship banner and a few ads had already been removed. In the photo on the right, you can see the guy that was doing the work with the blow torch, crow bars, and sledge hammer. And, the last photo shows how things stood when we left.

UPDATE. I went back by Disch-Falk at about 7 pm and they were down to one support post!

The two guys doing the work sure work fast. In the photo on the left, you can see the crane securing the post while they use a blow torch to cut it free. On the right, you can see some of the ad signs from the old scoreboard propped up against the outfield fence...along with the guy using the blow torch. They had the post cut down within 5 minutes or so of my arrival. I spoke with one of the men and he said our scoreboard is just like the new one at the Dell Diamond. And, he said it would be in place by Wednesday (the 11th). If that's the case, we'll be able to see it for the Dallas Baptist series. As Greggus would say: sweet!

May 10, 2005 - Tuesday
I stopped by over the weekend and on Monday and it didn't look like there'd been any progress on the scoreboard front. This evening, though, told a different story. They'd started on the frame for the base of the scoreboard:

May 11, 2005 - Wednesday
Someone made a lot of money on orange paint today! Here's how things looked as of Wednesday evening:

At this point, I confess to being a bit confused. Is the "Diamond Vision" (or whatever it's called) going above the scoreboard? Wow. That's gonna be one big scoreboard!

May 12, 2005 - Thursday
I took these next two photos during my lunch break. Again, someone's making big money on orange paint. Heh.

I asked the guys (not the ones milling about in the pictures but the ones doing the actual work) how things were progressing. They thought it was going pretty well. I asked if the frame on the ground was going, as it appeared, above the scoreboard. Yep. Wow. I asked about the video screen and was told it was due to arrive yesterday but still wasn't in. They said the frame would be in place by this evening, though.

I went back by after work to find:

I chatted with a fella named Dalton (who'd also stopped by to check things out) about the progress. He pointed out a couple of things to me that he'd spotted before I showed up:

We wondered if the crates were the video screen (shipped in two parts). It seemed unlikely. But, you never know. If so, that would probably mean that the video screen will have an aspect ratio similar to HD video. Cool. On the right are a couple of air conditioning units. Are they headed to the press box or locker rooms? Or are they going to be used to cool down the video components? Hmmmm...

And, finally, a shot from inside Disch-Falk...to give you a better idea of just how big this thing is gonna be:

Whew. I don't think Drew's gonna be hitting any more homeruns over the scoreboard. It would be awfully cool if he did, though. Yikes!

May 13, 2005 - Friday
In answer to yesterday's question about the crates: nope. No video yet. Here's what I found during my lunch hour today:

A couple of close-ups of the action:

I don't think they'll be able to use the scoreboard for tomorrow's games. 'Should be interesting to see what they come up with for keeping the crowd informed of the score. Of course, if you go by what the weather people are saying, we may not even have any games tomorrow.

UPDATE (later in the evening):

So, the third cat-walk is now in place. The Longhorn logos are securely anchored in place as well. Looking around more closely, I found signs that we just might actually have a working scoreboard tomorrow:

That cable is connected near the center of the board. It snakes across and down the rightmost support post, to a nearby power box. So, maybe it'll be working. At least a little bit.

And, one last shot before the weekend series starts:

May 14, 2005 - Saturday
Here's part of a shot I took during the Alumni game earlier this year. I took it from my seats in section 109:

During today's game, I made an effort to take a similar shot so I could compare the two. Here's today's shot:

I overlaid the two and drew an outline of the old scoreboard so we could get a good feel for the difference between the two scoreboards:

So, it looks like the new scoreboard (once it's completed and the video screen is in place) will be considerably bigger than the old one. It also looks like the new one's been shifted a bit more toward cf and a few feet further from the fence. It's interesting how much difference the lush trees make to the "feel" for whether or not the photos line up. They actually line up remarkably well. But, the lack of leaves in the late-January shot make things look very different.

Note: I had a couple of different pictures posted here this morning illustrating the difference between the scoreboards. I'd had to do quite a bit of resizing of the pictures to make them line up since they'd been taken from radically different perspectives. I took the opportunity this afternoon to get a photo that more closely matched my old one in size and perspective. So, the comparison is a lot better now.

And, a look at the scoreboard in action today:

'Turns out I was right about having limited functionality for today's games. There wasn't ever anything written in the black area at the bottom. And, it was a little difficult to read the non-zero numbers when the sun was shining brightly. But, it wasn't bad when we got some cloud cover. I imagine it'll be pretty nice at night. I did miss the time and temperature indicators. Maybe they'll be included in the part of the scoreboard that's yet to come?

May 16, 2005 - Monday
I stopped by after work and they'd shut down for the day. I found:

I have to admit that I was rather disappointed. The ads seem very overwhelming and, for the most part, rather ugly. I did like the way the Coca-Cola ad had been customized, though. But, where's the time/temp indicator? And, will there be a radar-gun reading? It seems unlikely that that sort of info will be part of the video screen portion of the board. I rather expected that such a thing would be in the place of one of the ads. But, no. I did notice some stuff on the catwalk that is still set to go up. Maybe things will be better tomorrow.

May 17, 2005 - Tuesday
I stopped by again after work today at about 7 pm. They were working away. Here's how things stood this evening:

I'm much happier with the overall effect than I was yesterday. I like the "Disch-Falk Field" and Longhorn logos at the top. In the photo on the right, you can see the air-conditioning units on the cat-walks. So, that answers that question.

A couple of close-ups:

Note the clock that's been set up to the left of the UFCU sign. There's also a pitch speed indicator to the right. It's a bit difficult to see in this photo but it's there. And, above that, there's a small flag pole. They were putting up at least one more flag pole over the clock as I was leaving. I spoke with David Hernandez (one of the people putting the sign up...the foreman of the crew, I think). He said they'd been at work since before 5 this morning. Wow. He also pointed out the antenna near the number-of-outs indicator. He said they can control the whole sign (including the video screen) via that wireless connection. That's pretty darned cool!

May 18, 2005 - Wednesday
Here's how things were shaping up on Wednesday evening:

Note that the air-conditioning units still haven't been connected. The crew was working on a few last-minute touch-ups on the paint job. Things are getting very close.

May 20, 2005 - Friday
I stopped by on my way home tonight for one last view of the scoreboard before its official debut tomorrow and found that it seems to be ready:

The air-conditioning units have been connected. And, the time/temp part of the scoreboard was actually working:

I found it interesting that the lights for the time/temp numbers appear to be orange rather than yellow. I wonder if they'll be lit up all the time or if it's just in test mode? I don't think it's particularly visible to anyone not actually at Disch-Falk so it seems kinda silly to have it lit up all the time. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

And, one last shot of the board from Parking Lot 103:

Interestingly, it looks like the part of the board showing the score won't really be visible from many places outside the walls of Disch-Falk.

And, one thing I learned from the crew a few days ago:

You know that big sign west of Disch-Falk, next to the I-35 frontage road? They said it's due to be replaced as well and that they'd be starting on it soon.

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Joanna's Longhorn Baseball page | Joanna L. Castillo
Email: joanna@joanna.org

URL: http://www.joanna.org/hook-em/2005/new_scoreboard.html