The Coastal Bend Thunder (independent; United League Baseball) has until Jan. 15 to settle back rent before Nueces County will terminate the team’s lease at Fairgrounds Field; meanwhile, the team remains locked out of the facility.
January 15 is the date when a one-year contract renewal could kick in; if the team is not paid up by then Nueces County officials say they’ll terminate the lease and open the ballpark usage for 2011 up for bids. There’s reportedly interest from a high-profile group to place a summer-collegiate team in the Robstown ballpark at some point, so county officials apparently have some options.
The team is five months behind on its rent, totally $24,000 in arrears.
There are some issues with any team looking to make it in the Corpus Christi suburb: there’s competition from a first-class operation in the Corpus Christi Hooks (Class AA; Texas League), and the ballpark is a basic facility. Two other leagues — the Central Baseball League and the Continental Baseball League — failed to make it there.
RELATED STORIES: CB Thunder locked out of ballpark
Share your news with the baseball community. Send it to us at editors@augustpublications.com.
Subscribers to the weekly Ballpark Digest newsletter see features before they’re posted to the site. You can sign up for a free subscription at the Newsletter Signup Page.
Join Ballpark Digest on Facebook and on Twitter!