Planes, trains, and automobiles ... and Chone Figgins - MLB

T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com tells the amusing story of Chone Figgins being a last-minute addition to the All-Star game when Evan Longoria was scratched with an infected finger literally hours before the first pitch:

Chone Figgins was asleep at his Southern California home in Newport
Beach. He was peacefully oblivious to the fact that the American League
was frantically trying to reach him on Tuesday morning and get him to
Busch Stadium as soon as possible. … His plane was scheduled to land
at 5:20 CT, but it arrived about the same time as Air Force One.
President Obama was flying in for the game, and Figgins’ plane had to
wait.

Figgins joked that he thought about asking the president for a ride
to the game. “That would have been nice, but I don’t think that would
have worked,” said Figgins, who received a police escort instead. “We
still had to take an alternate route because of the president. But
having a police escort was cool. That was my All-Star parade.” He
walked into the clubhouse at 6:30 p.m., about 10 minutes before it was
time to go out for the player introductions and opening ceremonies.

Wake-up calls, cross-country flights, police escorts, arriving minutes before going on the field. And of course Figgins didn’t actually play in the game.
“It’s never disappointing,” Figgins said. “Obviously somebody thought I
was deserving of being an All-Star and worked hard to get me here.
That’s all that matters. I would have loved to have gotten in the game,
but for one night I was able to stand on that line and say I was an
All-Star.”

CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada Senate adjourned Thursday without voting on a financing bill for a proposed $1.5 billion Las Vegas Strip stadium for the Oakland Athletics, extending the special legislative session into the next week amid negotiations over whether to contribute $380 million in public funding to the project.

The measure can still be amended by lawmakers, and if it passes the Senate it would still need approval from the Assembly before going to the desk of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has expressed support for it. Both the state Senate and Assembly are adjourned until Monday.

In a hearing that began Wednesday and stretched into the early morning hours Thursday, lawmakers peppered tourism officials and a representative from a firm partnering with the ball club with questions about the feasibility and benefits of financing such a deal.

Public funds for the stadium would mainly come from $180 million in transferable tax credits and $120 million in county bonds. Backers have pledged that the creation of a special tax district around the proposed stadium would generate enough money to pay off those bonds and interest. The plan would not directly raise taxes.

The A’s would not owe property taxes for the publicly owned stadium. Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, would also contribute $25 million in credit toward infrastructure costs.

A’s representatives and some tourism officials say a deal would further grow Las Vegas’ developing sports scene and act as an economic engine, but a growing chorus of economists and some lawmakers warn that the project would bring minimal benefits for the hefty public price tag.

Planes, trains, and automobiles … and Chone Figgins

Nevada Senate vote on proposed A’s stadium in Las Vegas extended until next week