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Archives: Jan. 15-Jan. 21, 2005

Archives: Jan. 15-Jan. 21, 2005

RFK still gives everyone a fair shake
Posted January 21, 2005

When RFK Stadium opened in 1962, it was a dual-use facility designed to house both the Washington Senators and the NFL’s Washington Redskins. As such, it didn’t feature anything special for baseball and was basically a cookie-cutter ballpark. Now, 43 years later, the approach will be the same: it will be a symmetrical playing field, with the dimensions closing matching the original dimensions. Former Senators pitchers say it was a fair ballpark: something solidly hit could make it out of the park, but there were very few cheap homers, especially in the evening, when the thick air would slow down the ball. One distinguishing factor: the team has placed a large emphasis on a good, fast playing surface. By the way: the Nats’ home opener on April 14 has been shifted to a 7:05 p.m. start time so it can be televised by ESPN.

Frederick Keys sale strikes out over stadium lease
Posted January 21, 2005

We broke the news last week regarding the collapse of an agreement by Triple Play to buy the Frederick Keys (Class A: Carolina League), the Bowie Baysox (Class AA; Eastern League) and the Delmarva Shorebirds (Class A; Sally League) from Comcast-Specatacor. What killed the deal, ultimately, were looming changes to the ballpark lease in Frederick, where city officials want the team to assume more maintenance costs.

Bats owner focuses on park dreams
Posted January 21, 2005

St. Cloud River Bats (college wood bat; Northwoods League) owner Joel Sutherland says he’ll sell the team if he doesn’t build a new privately financed $3.5-million ballpark for the team in nearby St. Joseph. St. Cloud officials now say they’re willing to discuss improvements to Dick Putz Field, the team’s current home. That just ain’t gonna happen: given that St. Cloud has basically treated the River Bats as just another tenant — on the same level as the Luxembourg town team — why should the River Bats put money into a facility where they are not the prime tenant?

F-M RedHawks offer $10,000 Presidential Pass
Posted January 21, 2005

In honor of the latest Presidential Inauguration, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (independent; Northern League) announced today the creation of a new one-of-a-kind ticket package, the Presidential Pass. The new ticket package is designed as an exclusive VIP package to make anyone feel like they are the most powerful man or woman on earth, at home, or at Newman Outdoor Field. The Presidential Pass is limited to the first 100 fans that make a $10,000 “contribution” to the RedHawks 2005 campaign.
   The Presidential Pass includes two (2) season tickets for the 2005 season for you and your “first lady," free concessions all season long catered to your seats by your own “secret servers”, two (2) leather RedHawks jackets, two (2) of every promotional item given away throughout the season, two (2) free Presidential-sized beverages every game, two (2) RedHawks autographed team baseballs, two (2) RedHawks autographed bats, two (2) fitted RedHawks game caps, a weekend getaway to any Tharaldson hotel location (sorry, Camp David not available), the opportunity to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day, and free snow removal and lawn mowing at your own “White House” for one year compliments of Head Groundskeeper Blair Tweet and his grounds staff.

Anaheim filing cites name value
Posted January 21, 2005

An Orange County Superior Court judge will hear arguments today regarding a name change by the Anaheim Angels to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In a filing, Anaheim officials say a clause in the team’s lease for Angels Stadium specifying the word "Anaheim" as part of the team name was designed to give Anaheim prominence and the name change directly counters that intention. They have an ally: then-Angel president Tony Tavares said Disney Chairman Michael Eisner had not decided whether to use "Anaheim Angels" or "Angels of Anaheim" — a la Disney’s Mighty Ducks of Anaheim — but had "no intention of including, or reserving the right to include, two geographic names in the team name."

No grass? No worry for Power
Posted January 21, 2005

Nick Scala wonders why the management of the West Virginia Power (Class A; Sally League) isn’t more worried about weather woes delaying construction of a new ballpark for the 2005 season. No sod has been laid, but GM Andy Milovich says four weeks will be long enough for sod to take root — and the home opener is still three months away. Pretty pessimistic piece for a reporter covering the debut of a new team in a new ballpark.

Build ballpark; baseball will come
Posted January 21, 2005

Greenville (S.C.) News editor Bart Wright argues that MiLB is at fault for a regional bidding war for three teams wanting the territory: the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (Class AA; Southern League), the Hagerstown Suns (Class A; Sally League) and the Cap City Bombers (Class A; Sally League) Wright is quite the homer here for not suggesting that the whole baseball fiasco lies in the fact that Greenville County and the city of Greenville can’t agree on anything, and the situation can be traced back to the inability to work out a deal with the Greenville Braves (Class AA; Southern League).

Expert: $135M beer vendor lawsuit a sign
Posted January 21, 2005

A jury’s $135-million award to the family of a girl paralyzed in a car wreck caused by a drunken football fan leaving Giants Stadium should be a wake-up call to teams and their vendors, said the head of a nonprofit group that advises pro sports leagues. Jill Pepper, executive director of Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management, or TEAM, said Thursday that all stadium concession workers should know that their job is more than handing someone a beer, making change or opening a cash register. Originally the NFL, the New York Giants and Aramark were all sued by the girl’s family, but in the end only Aramark was held responsible. The policy at Giants Stadium is to cut off beer sales after the start of the third quarter and limit patrons to two beers, but the drunken fan tipped a beer vendor an extra $10 to sell him six beers. It doesn’t sound like the vending rules at Giants Stadium need to be changed; it sounds like they need to be followed.

I’ll throw out the first pessimist in KC
Posted January 21, 2005

Mike Hendricks opines on the furor surrounding a new downtown ballpark for the Kansas City Royals. We’ve been covering the issue for months now and spent some time in Kansas City, and we’ve come to the following conclusions: a) there’s no public groundswell for a downtown ballpark, and b) Kauffman Stadium is a pretty special ballpark dogged by a poor location.

Puzzled over future of Braves
Posted January 21, 2005

There’s a growing consensus that The Diamond will not be the long-term home of the Richmond Braves (Class AAA; International League), with the team either moving to a new ballpark or moving out of town. The team’s lease runs through the end of the 2006 season, and there are plenty of other cities looking to lure a Class AAA team.

Pioneer Park: It was nice last year, but just wait …
Posted January 21, 2005

The Greeneville Astros led the Appalachian League in attendance last season and could surpass that after the remodeling of Pioneer Park is completed. It should be done before the Tusculum College season opener. Though technically Pioneer Park is being remodeled, it’s really a whole-new facility: two new buildings feature clubhouses, team offices, conference space, batting cages and a team shop.

Roosters could be homeless this year
Posted January 21, 2005

The Richmond Roosters (independent; Frontier League) may be booted from their home, McBride Stadium, because of $70,000 in unpaid rental fees for the 2002-2004 period. The Roosters have a series of one-year leases to use McBride Stadium that runs through 2006. The Roosters pay 31 percent of the stadium’s annual utility bill plus $10,000 from their concession sales. UPDATE: Alan Brady of the Roosters says the team owes less than $70,000 to the city, and negotiations to clear up the debt continues.

AquaSox sale to Carfagnas approved by baseball offices
Posted January 21, 2005

No surprise here: the sale of the Everett AquaSox (short season; Northwest League) by the Sperandio family to the Carfagna family was approved by MiLB and MLB. The Carfagna family owns the Lake County Captains (Class A; Midwest League) as well; Peter A. Carfagna takes over as president of the franchise. The AquaSox also signed a five-year lease extension to Everett Memorial Stadium, through the 2010 season.

Gold Sox gain league sponsor
Posted January 21, 2005

Apparently the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox, a former Western Baseball League franchise playing the last two seasons in the college wood-bat California Collegiate League, is forming its own league and has a sponsor, Horizon Air. The other teams and the format of the league still need to be worked out; team officials say the league will begin play May 27, a pretty aggressive start date when you consider most college teams will still be playing.

N.C. Central eyes DAP as site for its team
Posted January 21, 2005

The future of Durham Athletic Park, the former home of the Durham Bulls (Class AAA; International League), became a little brighter when N.C. Central University announced it will interested in moving home games to the facility. The announcement came at a public hearing to address the future of the venerable ballpark.

LSU panel approves new ballpark
Posted January 21, 2005

The LSU Board of Supervisors athletic committee approved funding for LSU’s new baseball stadium in the university’s capital outlay plan. The 8,000-seat ballpark will cost $23 million, and will be paid for with bond revenue and private donations. Construction is expected to begin in August 2006 with first pitch set for February 2008. LSU will spend three more seasons in the current 7,760-seat Alex Box Stadium, which was built in 1938.

Baseball Notes
Posted January 21, 2005

Former Detroit Tiger Tom Brookens is the new manager of the Oneonta Tigers (short season; NY-Penn League). This is his first coaching gig….The Washington Nationals scheduled an April 3 exhibition game against the New York Mets at RFK Stadium, with the proceeds going to charity….New GM of the New Jersey Jackals (independent; Can-Am League):  Ben Wittkowski, formerly of the North Shore Spirit (independent; Can-Am League)….Bobby Magallanes returns as manager of the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Class A; Midwest League). Kernan Ronan takes over as pitching coach, while Justin Baughman returns as hitting coach….

Lexington Legends sold
Posted January 20, 2005

Lexington Professional Baseball Club today announced the sale of the Lexington Legends (Class A; Sally League) to Fun Entertainment, LLC. The purchase price of the Legends was not announced (we heard $14 million) is believed to be amongst the largest acquisition prices in MiLB history.
   Pennsylvania businessman Bill Shea is the majority owner of Fun Entertainment. Several minority owners of the Legends with Lexington Professional Baseball will join Legends President and CEO, Alan Stein, as minority owners of the Legends with Fun Entertainment.
   "Being affiliated with Bill Shea and Fun Entertainment will afford us the opportunity to do everything at a higher level," Stein said. "We are
committed to excellence in all that we do at Applebee’s Park, in the
community and for our guests."
   Stein also becomes Fun Entertainment’s COO and will operate the Legends and the recently purchased Southwest Michigan Devil Rays (Class A; Midwest League) from Lexington.
    Fun Entertainment has also signed a purchase agreement for the acquisition for Applebee’s Park. It’s contemplated that the transaction for the property will take place in the next few weeks.

Northern League looking at Waterloo, other Midwest areas
Posted January 20, 2005

The University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls wants a new ballpark, and it may have a partner: the independent Northern League. Waterloo business Eddie Diaz has been discussing a new 5,000-seat ballpark with college officials, and we hear there’s a third party connected with the Northern League looking to put together a financing plan. The college shares Riverfront Stadium with the Waterloo Bucks (college wood bat; Northwoods League). Waterloo formerly hosted a Class A Midwest League team for decades before the Bucks moved into town; a Class A Midwest League team also made some inquiries about placing a team at Riverfront Stadium in recent months. The Northern League has made no bones about expanding by four teams in the next two years; we also hear Northern League officials are in discussions with another larger Wisconsin city (not Waukesha, where efforts to bring a Northern League franchise to Frame Park have stalled).

Update on Portland Beavers ownership
Posted January 20, 2005

The future of the Portland Beavers (Class AAA; Pacific State League) remains in limbo, although two (and potentially three) potential ownership groups have emerged. A group led by Art Savage, an owner of the Sacramento River Cats (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League), has already started hiring front-office personnel for the team, interviewed potential GM candidates and named Alan Ledford, the current president and GM of the River Cats (he assumed the position last December when Gary Arthur resigned as Sacramento’s president and GM), as president of the Beavers. (GM candidates are being told Ledford will be running the Beavers.) All this is being done under a deal where the Savage group manages the franchise until an ownership group is in place.
   Up until a month ago, it was assumed that the ownership group would be headed by Savage (though we have heard it has been syndicated to a large pool of owners); last summer the PCL gave the Savage group an exclusive deal to buy the team, but that exclusivity ends at the end of this month. However, after her sale of the Salt Lake Stingers (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League), Hillary Drammis — whose father, Joe Buzas, once owned the Portland Beavers before moving that franchise to Salt Lake City — declared her intention to buy the Beavers and has told people she hopes to close on a deal for the team by the beginning of the season.
   How can she do this? The key to everything is how TIAA-CREF, the pension-investment firm with a large stake in the team, decides to settle its share. TIAA-CREF has reportedly been looking at alternatives to the Savage group as a way to minimize its losses on the whole deal; hence Drammis’s emergence as a possible owner. (It also raises the possibility that Brett Sports may weigh in with a bid.) It’s unlikely the situation will drag on past the beginning of the season, however.

Marlins to seek $60 million from state
Posted January 20, 2005

The Florida Marlins formally submitted a $60-million request to the Florida Legislature for a new ballpark.  In a letter to state House Speaker Allan Bense, Marlins President David Samson said not only does the team need a new ballpark with a retractable roof because of rain delays and fan "discomfort," but the team’s landlord will not renew the team’s stadium lease, which expires in 2010. We’ve heard that ballpark funding is now essentially a done deal, with the state portion the last part of the equation. The new ballpark will sit next to the Orange Bowl, with a retractable roof extending over part of the stadium; it will also look nothing like any other MLB ballpark, with a  curved moderne look and a cool aqua color theme. Not everyone is a fan of the proposal: "I thought that we already appropriated money to help them move to Vegas," said Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon. "I was very disappointed that they publicly announced the negotiations and discussions with Las Vegas, and I don’t negotiate with terrorists."

Downtown ballpark on K.C. agenda
Posted January 20, 2005

The Kansas City Royals and the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority agreed to a one-year postponement of Jackson County’s obligations to upgrade the Truman Sports Complex. The delay gives Kansas City officials time to put together a plan for a new downtown ballpark. However, the window of opportunity is somewhat small:  If a funding plan for a new ballpark can’t be resolved by May 1, then Jackson County and sports authority officials want to press ahead with an August sales tax election to raise money for required repairs at the sports complex. Jonathan Rand of the Kansas City Chiefs argues a new downtown ballpark is a bad idea.

Ryan-Sanders, Baton Rouge continue talks
Posted January 20, 2005

Ryan-Sanders Baseball, the owner of the Round Rock Express (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) and the Corpus Christi Hooks (Class AA; Texas League), continues discussions with Baton Rouge about bringing a minor-league ballpark to that city. Now that LSU has announced a replacement for Alex Box Field on campus, the city is looking at placing a ballpark on the downtown waterfront or Livingston Parish. The two sides are discussing a Class AA team, which would indicate Ryan-Sanders Baseball is looking at acquiring a Southern League team and moving it to Baton Rouge should a new ballpark be built.

Los Angeles supports Anaheim lawsuit over Angels name change
Posted January 20, 2005

The city of Los Angeles filed a brief Wednesday supporting Anaheim’s lawsuit that claims the name Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim violates the team’s stadium lease. Basically, Los Angeles says it is improper for the team to use the name of a city where it does not play or pay taxes. Big deal: there’s a long tradition of sports teams using the names of cities where they have no connection. It’s been decades since the Harlem Globetrotters were actually based in New York; the NFL’s Duluth Eskimos never played a game in Minnesota. Meanwhile, the Angels are in a little hot water for invoking the name of Jackie Robinson in the team’s rationale for the new name.

Bats move pitch to St. Joe
Posted January 20, 2005

The St. Cloud River Bats (college wood bat; Northwoods League) announced plans to build their own ballpark in St. Joseph, a smaller community west of St. Cloud. Owner Joel Sutherland, who also spoke before a St. Joseph city staff meeting, said he hopes to have a purchase agreement completed for a 32-acre parcel by March 1. He estimates the land and a 3,600-seat ballpark, which will feature 1,800 chair seats, 1,200 bleacher seats with backrests and 400 seats in a berm area behind the outfield wall, will cost about $3.5 million. HNTB is designing the ballpark. Sutherland has been at odds with city officials for years over his lease at Dick Putz Field.

Wolff named one of the best sports owners by ESPN
Posted January 20, 2005

Miles Wolff has been named as the one of the best owners in all of sports by ESPN 25, a book covering the history of the network. He was ranked #8 overall. In the baseball world, he came in #3, behind George Steinbrenner and Ted Turner and ahead of Peter Magowan and Ewing Kauffman. Wolff is crediting with sparking a resurgence in minor-league baseball after bringing baseball back to Durham, N.C.

DAP still a viable sports venue?
Posted January 20, 2005

Speaking of Durham: the future of the Durham Athletic Park, the former home of the Durham Bulls (Class AAA; International League), continues to be debated by local citizens. Another meeting is scheduled for tonight, with the topic being the future of baseball at the facility. While there are several colleges and community groups expressing interest in playing games there, the issue is funding: it will cost about a million dollars to make essential repairs to the facility.

Yankees pay $3.6M to retire dispute over rent
Posted January 20, 2005

The New York Yankees paid $3.6 million to settle a dispute over back rent on Yankee Stadium after a New York City comptroller’s audit found the team underreported millions of dollars in revenue to the city and overstated deductions to baseball from 1997 to 2002. It doesn’t sound like the dispute over payments was ever nasty; a standard audit yielded some bad numbers, and the Yankees paid up when presented with the findings.

‘Business as usual’ for Va. stadium group