Outdoor Lighting and My Visit to McAfee Coliseum

I recently saw one of the best ball games I’ve ever seen as far as pitching performances go, and it was at the absolute biggest dump of a stadium I’ve been to. Granted, I’ve only been to seven major league ball parks, but if there’s currently one in use that’s worse than McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, California, I want no part of seeing a game there.

Curt Schilling took a no-hitter about as far one can be taken before A’s left fielder Shannon Stewart lined a first-pitch fastball to right for a clean single with two outs in the ninth inning. It sucked. I’m neither a Boston Red Sox nor an Oakland Athletics fan, and really, I’m not too fond of Schilling, but to come that close to witnessing an historic baseball moment and then having it snuffed out by light-hitting, oft-injured Shannon Stewart just added insult to injury. It was a clean single, though. I guess it would have been worse if it was a broken bat blooper or a seeing eye grounder, or the old swinging bunt.

It was a beautiful day as well – sunny and warm with a light breeze. But it seemed wasted in that horrendous bowl stadium. Honestly, they should probably only play night games there so people can enjoy the daylight elsewhere, like work or re-sodding their backyard, or cleaning out their garage. Sunlight is definitely wasted at the McAfee Coliseum. It truly has a facade only a mother could love.

Alright, enough bashing on the home of the Raiders and Athletics (the A’s really do deserve a new ballpark, though). The point to this rambling, if there is one, is that if you have a yard worthy of being seen in the daytime, it is probably deserving of some great outdoor lighting so it can be shone off in the nighttime as well. Check out some great hanging lanterns or post-mounted lighting options, or mount some stylish wall sconces on your perimeter walls. Also, an easy and inexpensive way to add some accent lighting is to add some solar path lights to planters and walkways. Explore these options and more and let your backyard be seen day and night.