Archives: Dec. 17-23, 2005
MLB tries to thwart Nats ballpark deals by potential owners
Posted December 22, 2005
Major League Baseball has ordered bidders for the Washington Nationals not to promise D.C. government leaders money for a new ballpark because their involvement could disrupt negotiations, angering some city officials who believe the bidders could help solve their cost concerns. Despite what some bidders have called a "gag order" issued by baseball, at least two of the eight groups have offered to cover cost overruns for the stadium project, with one brandishing a $100 million check in the halls of the city’s John A. Wilson Building, according to a council member. The email from MLB says in part: "No bidding groups have any standing at this point, and therefore no group should be in direct or indirect communications with the City or Commission in regard to any stadium issues. Similarly, no bidding groups should be in communication with the press about these issues." The logic is simple: the more a group pays for a ballpark the less it will bid for the team, so every dollar going to D.C. is one lost to MLB. And MLB hates losing a dollar.
Springdale: Chamber fielding baseball inquiries
Posted December 22, 2005
Community leaders pursuing a minor-league baseball team for Springdale, Ark., say they’re encouraged by the response from franchises considering a move to Northwest Arkansas. We’ve heard the Wichita Wranglers (Class AA; Texas League) is the leading contender to land a ballpark, but both the independent Frontier League and American Association remain keenly interested in the outcome. The new ballpark probably won’t be done in time for the 2007 season, but a team moving to Springdale could conceivably play at the University of Arkansas’s Baum Stadium in Fayetteville for one season.
Cleveland Indians scout training site in Cape Coral
Posted December 22, 2005
Two Cleveland Indians team officials were in Cape Coral scouting out the city’s potential as a spring training site. The tour was purely preliminary, and both sides will be exchanging figures and information about needs and such. Cape Coral is in the greater Fort Myers area; the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins already train in Fort Myers. More from the Naples News.
Macon moves toward bringing baseball back to the city
Posted December 22, 2005
After negotiations between the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (Class AA; Southern League) and Macon officials have ended thanks to a potential ownership change in the team, city officials have decided to go ahead with a Luther Williams Field lease for the startup South Coast League. City officials clearly preferred bringing in a Class AA team, but instead are going with the sure thing for the moment. The independent South Coast League is looking at a 2007 launch and is looking at placing teams in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.
Soccer stadium throws curve at San Jose baseball plan
Posted December 22, 2005
Could a new soccer stadium in downtown San Jose be the death knell for major-league baseball in that city? Baseball backers go out of their way not to pit one sport against the other. But while they are circumspect, some also see how City Hall’s newly discovered willingness to put $80 million in public support toward a soccer stadium could hurt their cause. The irony that Oakland A’s managing partner Lew Wolff, once assumed to be leaning toward MLB baseball in San Jose, is interested in owning a soccer team is too rich. Still, the barriers to any new stadium downtown remain huge: the public must approve public funding of a new facility.
Skylands back in the game
Posted December 22, 2005
Negotiations between Millennium Sports Management, owners of Skylands Park, and Floyd Hall Enterprises, which owns the New Jersey Jackals (independent; Can-Am Association), to bring a Can-Am League team to Sussex County are back on today after ending Wednesday afternoon. Hall now says things are looking good to bringing a Can-Am team to Skylands Park, the former home of the New Jersey Cardinals (short season; NY-Penn League). Things quickly changed in a day.
A’s will limit ballpark capacity to smallest in majors
Posted December 22, 2005
It’s official: the Oakland Athletics announced Wednesday that they will no longer sell tickets in the third deck of McAfee Coliseum, giving the ballpark the lowest capacity in the major leagues. The capacity of the ballpark will fall from 44,073 last year to 34,179 in 2006. The team, who is hoping to build a 35,000-seat baseball-only facility, said the changes would make for a better environment to watch games. The team said it plans to keep the seats covered even for high-profile games against the Giants, Red Sox and Yankees, and for possible postseason play.
Uptown ballpark plan has some rally-killers
Posted December 22, 2005
A day after a plan was presented to Charlotte city officials for a new uptown ballpark for the Charlotte Knights (Class AAA; International League), details of the complicated plan were still being unraveled. The biggest development of note was the willingness of Knights owner Don Beaver to step forward and offer more than the $17 million he had previously offered for a new ballpark, though the exact sources of the $34 million needed for the new Knights facility still has not been determined. City officials also like the other development announced as part of the plan.
A’s owner has real interest in soccer
Posted December 22, 2005
The interest shown by Oakland A’s managing partner Lew Wolff to enter the pro-soccer ownership world is real and not just a development ploy, apparently, but it’s also a precursor to San Jose possibly landing the Oakland A’s: ”If a viable program can be formulated for soccer, it will be a good indication of San Jose’s interest in major-league sports.” Yes, the Giants control San Jose as part of the team’s territory, but everyone has a price, and a shiny new publicly subsidized ballpark in San Jose could be argued as being for the good of baseball.
Richland County has more pressing needs than baseball park
Posted December 22, 2005
A Richland County (S.C.) county commissioner steps forward with a strongly worded diatribe against a proposed ballpark in a new development for the Columbus Catfish (Class A; Sally League), but this is purely an appeal to emotion. For starters, there’s no public funding of the ballpark or the $100 million development; the only public financing comes in the form of tax-increment financing, money that wouldn’t be there if the ballpark weren’t built. There’s nothing exotic or unseemly about tax-increment financing; developers and cities use it as a financing mechanism all the time. Furthermore, the decision isn’t between a new ballpark and better roads; it’s between having a ballpark and not having a ballpark. So chalk this up as a frustrated appeal to the emotions.
Scottsdale Stadium to be ready for Giants
Posted December 22, 2005
A renovated Scottsdale Stadium should be ready for the San Francisco Giants and the World Baseball Classic in March. Spring training fans and players can also look forward to new locker rooms, ticket and concession spaces. The Giants’ clubhouse has been rebuilt to include an additional 8,000 square feet and an underground passageway to the locker rooms for players and coaches. New lockers are to be installed next week. Bulletproof glass has been installed at the ticket windows. The main field is already green, with the base paths cut sharply into the grass. Behind the outfield fence, the Giants are replacing the scoreboard and moving it back 40 feet to double the lawn seating area. A bridge has been constructed to link the lawn seating to an upper deck bar and food court, from which fans can watch batting practice.
Wings post 11th straight profitable season
Posted December 22, 2005
The Rochester Red Wings (Class AAA: International League) have enjoyed two straight winning seasons on the field (after six straight losing seasons) and Rochester Community Baseball in 2005 turned a profit for the 11th consecutive fiscal year. The annual financial report will be mailed to shareholders this week and they’ll see a profit of $296,836 this past season, compared to $350,195 the prior year. Turnstile attendance was up 9 percent (to 288,059) in 2005 despite six rainouts. Paid attendance was 452,302 (437,088 in 2004).
Padres get OK to move in right-center wall
Posted December 22, 2005
Major League Baseball has approved the San Diego Padres’ request to shorten the distance to right-center – a change that will knock 11 feet off the distance to the deepest point of the right-field power alley. Once the change is made, the longest distance at Petco will be 402 feet to both sides of the batter’s eye in center field. The distance to straightaway center will remain 396 feet. The change will be accomplished by bringing in the see-through fence in front of the "beachers" in right-center. The realigned fence will run directly from the corner of the right-field scoreboard to the right-field corner of the green-canvassed fence in front of the batter’s eye.
Brock Ballpark to be dedicated
Posted December 22, 2005
The dedication of Jim Brock Ballpark at Arizona State will be held on Jan. 20 during alumni weekend. The late Brock led the Sun Devils to two national championships during his 23 seasons and the baseball facility will be known as Winkles Field-Packard Stadium at Brock Ballpark. A dedication dinner and program is planned. Tickets are $100 and can be purchased through the ASU athletic department. The weekend will conclude with the alumni game on Jan. 21 that will include a ceremony honoring Brock and a tribute to the 1981 national championship team.
Ballpark impasse in D.C. affects projects
Posted December 22, 2005
The inability of the D.C. Council and MLB to agree on a lease for a new Washington Nationals ballpark has had some side effect for innocent bystanders. A community benefit fund created under the ballpark legislation directs up to $125 million for school construction and modernization, $45 million for improving public libraries, $10 million for plans to build a new hospital and $2 million for supplies at McKinley Technology High School in Northeast. These are all on hold pending the outcome of the negotiations.
Only two MLB pay luxury tax in 2005: Yankees and Red Sox
Posted December 22, 2005
Only two major-league teams paid a payroll tax to MLB coffers for the 2005 season: the Yankees owe about $34 million and the Red Sox about $4 million, both paying the tax for the second consecutive year. Considering the Yankees may have already lost $85 million 2005, the tax payment is pretty stiff, but it didn’t keep the team from signing Johnny Damon to a long-term contract — thus ensuring the team will be paying the tax again in 2006.
In memoriam: Elrod Hendricks
Posted December 22, 2005
Elrod Hendricks, who spent more than four decades as a player and coach with the Baltimore Orioles, died Wednesday at a local hospital, a spokeswoman said. He was 64. Hendricks broke into professional baseball in 1959 and made his major-league debut with the Orioles in 1968. He played in 711 games — including 658 with the Orioles — before retiring in 1979.
Baseball Notes
Posted December 22, 2005
The Tulsa Drillers (Class AA; Texas League) and Clear Channel Radio announced that the Drillers’ 2006 radio broadcasts will again be heard live on KTBZ AM 1430, The Buzz. It will mark the second straight year that the Drillers games will air on The Buzz, and the 21st consecutive year that the Drillers and Clear Channel have partnered on the game broadcasts. The Drillers also announced that Mark Neely would be returning as the play-by-play voice of the Drillers for the 2006 season….After one season as the voice of the Brockton Rox (independent; Can-Am League), Dave Raymond has been hired by the Houston Astros to join their 2006 radio team. He will work alongside Hall of Fame broadcaster of Milo Hamilton and newly hired broadcaster Brett Dolan. During the 2006 season, Hamilton will serve as the play-by-play analyst for the Astros radio broadcasts during home games with Dolan and Raymond sharing color analyst duties. For road games, Dolan and Raymond will share play-by-play duties along with pre- and post-game responsibilities. Raymond is a graduate of Stanford University and 11-year broadcasting
veteran. His Major League Baseball broadcasting experience includes selected games for the Baltimore Orioles in 2005 and the San Francisco Giants in 2003.
Washington ballpark vote delayed until next year
Posted December 21, 2005
The situation surrounding a new ballpark for the Washington Nationals has descended into complete chaos, as the fragile coalition once supporting a Southeast Washington location has collapsed. Mayor Anthony Williams withdrew a lease agreement from D.C. Council consideration Monday after it was clear the votes were not there for passage. Further complicating things, former Mayor Marion Barry has been working on his own version of the lease, and chairperson Linda Cropp is once again pushing the RFK Stadium site as a lower-cost alternative. There is backroom maneuvering galore, in the best Washington tradition, but in this instance it sounds like those opposing the lease as written were right to do so: it’s a one-sided document that gives all the revenue to the Nats and all the risk to the District. Barry isn’t working to kill the deal, but rather ensure Jonathan Ledecky lands the deal after he promised to cover cost overruns and sell 40 percent of the team to African-Americans. MLB then warned Ledecky not to make such an offer, but Ledecky isn’t the only potential owner making such an offer, and MLB may need to relent on that point. Since the legislation won’t be heard before the end of the year, D.C. will be technically in violation of the original agreement to bring the Nats to D.C. and could request arbitration to resolve the issue, but that doesn’t seem likely at the moment. The whole issue is leverage: MLB had assumed it had all the leverage and is discovering D.C. political figures can be quite formidable — and many locals like that their representatives are standing up to baseball. More and more it looks like baseball and the D.C. Council deserve one another, though. More from the Wall Street Journal, while the Post opines.
Deal in works for uptown Charlotte ballpark
Posted December 21, 2005
Charlotte Center City Partners is pitching a potential deal to bring a new ballpark to uptown Charlotte. The plan would move the Charlotte Knights (Class AAA; International League) — now playing in Fort Mill, S.C. — to a new home near Bank of America Stadium. The ballpark would be built on land owned by Mecklenburg County that has been set aside for a park. It is a complicated deal, requiring land swaps between several government entities. When it is all said and done, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools would have a new headquarters, Marshall Park would be in the hands of private developers, and the Knights would move from Fort Mill, S.C., to a new $34-million ballpark financed by the team and private developers. One interesting part to the deal: despite the potential availability of the Florida Marlins, this ballpark project is not being set up so it can be expanded for an MLB team, meaning the powers that be in Charlotte have no interest in going after major-league baseball. More from the Charlotte Business Journal.
USC chooses new home for baseball
Posted December 21, 2005
After several false starts, University of South Carolina officials took the first step to a new ballpark by announcing they have acquired a 29-acre tract of land bordered by Blossom, Williams and Catawba streets on which they plan to build a riverfront ballpark with views of the Congaree and the Capitol. Work on the $28.5-million project is scheduled to begin in October. USC plans for the 6,800-seat stadium to be open for the start of the 2008 season; in the meantime the Gamecocks will play at Sarge Frye Field.
Joliet OKs ticket hike after Aramark overreports concession revenue
Posted December 21, 2005
The city of Joliet approved a hike in ticket prices for the Joliet Jackhammers (independent; Northern League) after it was discovered Aramark overstated concession revenue by more than $4 million. Ticket prices for Jackhammer games are set by the city, and the city was ready to reject a ticket hikes based on the Jackhammers receiving at least $2.1 million in their share of $7 million in concessions revenue. (The team receives at least 30 percent of all concession revenues.) Not so fast, says Aramark: we received only $1.5 million in concession revenues, so the Jackhammers made only a half-million dollars or so. There’s something a little fishy about this story: either Aramark was incredibly sloppy or there’s some revisionist history going on. We suspect every team owner doing business with Aramark will be reviewing the books after this.
Athletics denied 3-year Coliseum lease extension
Posted December 21, 2005
The Oakland City Council denied a request by the Oakland Athletics to extend the team’s lease at McAfee Coliseum through 2013 in exchange for allowing the Oakland Raiders more ad space within the facility. The council also dropped the controversial Personal Seat Licenses used to generate revenue when the Raiders returned to Oakland. The thinking on the A’s part was that an extension would give the team and Oakland more time to find a location in the city for a ballpark. It also would help the team squash constant rumors that it was looking elsewhere for a ballpark, but city officials worry the denial of the lease will drive the A’s from Oakland permanently.
Name of bidder in sale of Jaxx becomes public
Posted December 21, 2005
As we reported yesterday, Timothy Bennett and his Overtime Sports company is the leading candidate to last the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (Class AA; Southern League), according to team ownership and city officials. The Lozinak Baseball Group had asked the city for $12.5 million for the franchise, but the real value is probably closer to $8.5 million — or even less should MiLB officials refuse to let Bennett move the team, as is highly possible with debt service of $5 million still remaining on Pringles Park and the city willing to renegotiate the lease. Bennett worked on the move of the Mississippi Braves (Class AA; Southern League) to Pearl and has been working on a ballpark plan for Biloxi.
Redbirds’ bottom line looking good
Posted December 21, 2005
After suffering through some financial worries in the last few years, the bottom line for the Memphis Redbirds (Class AAA: Pacific Coast League) is looking better. The Memphis Redbirds Baseball Foundation has found financial stability after several years of straining to pay for the most expensive minor league park ever built, co-founder Dean Jernigan said this week. Unspecified stadium revenue shortfalls, particularly in the early years, have been made up by Jernigan, co-founder with wife, Kristi. But Jernigan said that every debt-service payment has been made, the operation now is financially stable, and — putting speculation to rest — the team is not being sold. Gross annual revenue is $17 million to $19 million — highest in the minors, the team says. But operational costs can exceed $10 million, and debt-service payments — which aren’t an issue for teams playing in taxpayer-financed parks — are about $6 million. Bond payments continue through 2028.
Pro sports should bet on Vegas
Posted December 21, 2005
Here’s a call for the Florida Marlins or an NBA team — perhaps the Sacramento Kings — to move to Las Vegas. We are talking about a $72 billion economy here, and some of the arguments against a Vegas pro team are based on old assumptions and stereotypes. The idea that gambling is the predominant activity in town is no longer true: fine dining and shopping are increasingly popular. The notion that casinos will not send patrons to a ballpark is also outdated: yes, the casinos do work to keep you within their walls, but not to the extent they once did.
Second SkyChiefs mediation called off
Posted December 21, 2005
A second mediation session between the Syracuse SkyChiefs (Class AAA; International League) and Onondaga County scheduled for Monday was postponed because the SkyChiefs want to first meet with members of the County Legislature about possible ballpark upgrades. During the first mediation session Dec. 1, the SkyChiefs said they wanted to talk with the Legislature about the possibility of getting county money for Alliance Bank Stadium. The county owns the stadium, and the SkyChiefs are the primary tenant.