Archives: July 1-7, 2007
Significantly scaled-back plan is weighed for Reds’ spring home
Posted July 6, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Plans for a new Cincinnati Reds spring complex that seemed doomed could be resurrected in the form of a $45 million face-lift for Ed Smith Stadium, the spring home of the Reds and the regular-season home of the Sarasota Reds (High Class A; Florida State League). City Commissioners and Reds officials are talking over a scaled-back version of the Reds’ dream ballpark and training complex. The original plan looked dead because it lacked a $10 million private investment to complete the funding. City officials say the revived deal comes from consultants that both sides hired in March. There are fewer suites, the outfield seating area would be smaller and the ballpark would likely have scaled-back square-footage for administrative offices. Whether this is enough to please city and county officials remains to be seen: fervor for the project considerably died down once the private investment (predictably) failed to materialize, and now there’s talk of diverting bed tax revenues toward other projects.
McClatchy to step down as Pirates CEO
Posted July 6, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
The Pittsburgh Pirates announced today that Kevin McClatchy is stepping down as CEO of the Pittsburgh Pirates Chief Executive Officer at the end of the 2007 season. After more than eleven years as the day-to-day leader of the organization, McClatchy and Pirates Chairman of the Board, Bob Nutting, jointly announced the decision today to allow the organization time to conduct a thorough search for his successor. The search process will begin immediately, but it was too early in that process to discuss possible candidates, according to a Pirates press release.
No bull(frog): Minor leagues are always fun
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A writer for the Gary Post-Tribune compares the game experience for a Green Bay Bullfrogs (summer collegiate; Northwoods League) with the game experience for a Gary-SouthShore RailCats (independent; Northern League) game and says the Bullfrogs put on the better show. He even says the quality of baseball is better (the better players in the Northwoods League will inevitably be high draft choices; the better players for the Northern League have probably had their shot). Owner Jeff Royle certainly has done some great things in Green Bay so far this season. Speaking of the Northwoods League: rosters for next Wednesday’s All-Star Game at Franklin Rogers Park were released today. You can see the stars of tomorrow live on ESPN 360 and on tape delay on ESPNU later that night.
Lot near ballpark eyed for project
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The San Francisco port authority plans to transform a 14-acre parking lot next to AT&T Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants, into a 2 million-square-foot commercial and residential development that would be the port’s highest paying tenant. A developer could be chosen by year’s end for a project that could include offices, apartments, a hotel, shops and a park, said Monique Moyer, executive director of the Port of San Francisco. The agency’s vision for the Seawall site, presented in community meetings, would include up to 600,000 square feet of offices, 600 apartments, a 200-room hotel, 55,000 square feet of retail space, 1,500 parking spaces and a performance venue with 2,000 seats. It certainly would change the area around the ballpark and give it even more of an urban feel.
Taxpayers’ costs for Twins ballpark may be going up
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It’s funny to see how stories bubble up in the mainstream media. Take, for example, this article from the Star Tribune, which basically bites hook, line and sinker on a story being peddled by media reps for the landowners asking $65.375 million for eight acres of land for for a new Minnesota Twins ballpark in an attempt to deflect attention from their astounding land valuation and exactly who would benefit from such a valuation. The muddying issue: legal fees associated with an eminent-domain proceeding. Under Minnesota eminent-domain law, the landowners may be awarded "reasonable attorney fees, litigation expenses, appraisal fees, other expert fees and other related costs" (italics ours) if the condemnation award by the three-person panel is more than 40 percent greater than the offer the county made before it filed for condemnation last November. Now, there are so many variables here it’s not funny. For starters, the two sides can’t agree on what final offer the county made: the landowners say less than $13.35 million, one county commissioner says it was $19 million. (That’s an important distinction: if the land valuation comes in at $25 million and the court finds there was an offer of $19 million, Hines and Land Partners II could not even ask for their legal fees.) Then there’s the issue of what’s "reasonable": the landowners say their legal costs are approaching $8 million, but we doubt a panel would find that reasonable. (Then again, we note the county is paying $320 an hour for its legal advice, which is far beyond local market rates; we know for a fact a 3M or a Best Buy won’t pay that high a legal fee for what’s a fairly basic real-estate valuation dispute — even though downtown Minneapolis valuations are somewhat complicated — and would instantly negotiate it down.) Finally, there’s one other factor: Hines. The Houston-based real-estate development giant is actually buying the land from the original landowners, Land Partners II, for $19 million and then flipping it to the county, sharing some of the resulting profit along the way. If Land Partners II and Hines think the land is worth $19 million, a reasonable argument could be made that the actual valuation is close to that (experts we talk to peg the value at $25 million). There’s already a bad relationship between the Twins and the Star Tribune; this one-sided article (it doesn’t mention the outrageous demand for $65.375 million until the 12th graf, and then only in passing) does little to illuminate the dispute.
Thunder set record for ballpark marriage proposals
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Last night there was yet another marriage proposal at Mercer County Waterfront Park, the home of the Trenton Thunder (Class AA; Eastern League). That brings this season’s total to 11, which is a new franchise record. (It may also be a MiLB record; let us know if any team has recorded more.) Three years ago, the Thunder held a marriage ceremony on the field before a game. Following the service, the newlywed couple threw out the ceremonial first pitch as their first act together as husband and wife.
Today’s video: Kansas City pregame film
Posted July 6, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)This video from Dimension X Design was done for the Kansas City Royals pregame show; it’s a nice mix of the present and the great history of the Royals. Dimension X Design works with over 70 clients in all major sports to provide in-game entertainment for teams on their video boards as well as commercial production. We’ve been really pleased with the response to our call for videos: we’ve already heard from several teams and vendors, so we’ll continue bringing them to you. If you want to share your videos with the baseball community, drop us a line at editors@augustpublications.com.
FL commish: ‘I like where we stand’
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The independent Frontier League is holding its All-Star Game next week in Florence. That Commissioner Bill Lee and the current owners of the Florence Freedom managed to turn around what was one of the most embarrassing stories in minor-league baseball is remarkable: the team now successful and the league is better than ever. "There were several reasons we wanted to get the All-Star Game in Florence as soon as we could," Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee said during a visit to Chillicothe this week. "One, because it did start rough up there, no doubt about it. Very publicly and very sadly. But once everything worked out, now we want to thank the city of Florence and northern Kentucky for staying with us while we worked through that. And we wanted to showcase the beautiful area they have there, the beautiful stadium they have there, and let the rest of the league see what happens when one of our All-Star Games come in."
Brewers’ pitch to city’s black community paying off
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It seems everything is going right for the Milwaukee Brewers this season, as the team’s front office appears to be making strides in its ability to attract African-American fans to Miller Park. During the last home stand, there were increasing numbers of African-Americans, particularly younger fans, in the stands. Rick Schlesinger, the team’s executive vice president for business operations, said the team has no hard numbers but believes there are more African-American fans coming to the ballpark this season.
Diablos put more fans in seats
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Wednesday’s record-setting attendance was another sign that the El Paso Diablos (independent; American Association) are seeing success with their bottom line as well as on the field. The crowd of 11,206 at Cohen Stadium was a club record and broke the American Association’s record. It also helped boost the Diablos per-game attendance to 4,387 through 26 home dates, second in the league and an increase of more than 500 fans per game over the 2006 average. "We’ve done some different marketing type things; we’re focusing on group ticket sales (to) little league groups, church groups and corporations," said Diablos General Manager Matt LaBranche. "The icing on the cake is the team is really good this year. People love a winner and that’s been worth 200, 300 fans a night."
Ballpark Notes
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A raucous 3rd of July crowd helped the Casper Rockies (rookie; Pioneer League) break the single game attendance record again Tuesday night at Mike Lansing Field, as 3,342 fans filled the ballpark to watch the Rockies firework extravaganza. The previous attendance record of 3,141 was set last season on the 4th of July….More than 9-million fans attended Minor League Baseball games in June to push the season total to 22,664,601, ahead of the sizzling pace set in 2006 when the industry broke its all-time attendance record for the third year in a row. The June turnout of 9,050,759 was a large increase over June of 2006 when 8.3-million fans attended games of the affiliated leagues. This year’s increase was across the board with all 14 domestic leagues recording increases in average crowd size. The average crowd this year to date is 4,131 compared to 4,043 in games through June a year ago, an increase of 2.2 percent. The June-only average was 4,613. Fourth of July celebrations across the country, popular with baseball fans, got July off to a fast start as well. Attendance at Wednesday’s holiday games totaled 470,863, despite six rainouts, for an average of 6,924 fans for the 68 games played. The Memphis Redbirds (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) topped the list with a crowd of 17,213 and the Pacific Coast League was dominant with the smallest of seven crowds totaling 11,751…..Triple-A Baseball and ESPN announced that the 20th Annual Triple-A All-Star Game will be televised live on ESPN2 Wednesday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. ESPN baseball analyst and former Triple-A All-Star Eduardo Perez will be joined in the booth by play-by-play commentator Mark Neely. ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language network, will also carry the Triple-A All-Star Game live for the fourth consecutive season. The 2007 Game, to be played at Isotopes Park, home of the Pacific Coast League’s Albuquerque Isotopes, marks the 13th straight season Triple-A Baseball’s mid-summer classic has been televised live on ESPN2 (The first two Triple-A All-Star Games were shown on ESPN in 1988-89). Launched in October of 1993, ESPN2 is available in approximately 94 million homes…. The Staten Island Yankees (short season; NY-Penn League) announced that their games on Friday, July 6th against the Brooklyn Cyclones and Thursday, July 12th against the Auburn Doubledays are both sold out. The two sellouts on July 6th and July 12th will bring the season total to three sellouts thus far. In addition, Old-Timers Day on Sunday, July 8th is sold out as well. The average attendance so far this season is 5,068, which is a significant increase over last year’s average of 3,037….
Ballpark land was low-balled
Posted July 5, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Media consultant Aron Kahn argues Hennepin County has behaved poorly in "low-balling" the noble landowners who controlled land for a new Minnesota Twins ballpark, offering them upwards of $25 million for land that both sides agreed was worth $13 million just a year ago. There’s not an economic argument presented here — basically, Kahn says the landowners should be rewarded because they pushed for a Twins ballpark years before the Twins and Hennepin County came on board — and it’s hard to show a lot of sympathy for a group that argued with a straight face that the land is now worth $63.375 million. Perhaps Kahn should have advised his clients that they shouldn’t make silly arguments and then expect to be taken seriously.
Cats relocate series to El Paso after water damage to home field
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LaGrave Field, the home of the Fort Worth Cats (independent; American Association), suffered so much rain damage during recent storms in Texas that the current homestand has been scrapped after team owner Carl Bell decided to resurface the playing field. Two games scheduled for July 3 and 4 will be made up later this month, while a doubleheader scheduled for today will be moved to Pensacola on Aug. 2. The upcoming weekend series will be moved to El Paso. "Obviously this move was made due to the record-setting rains that have occurred in our area," said Cats owner Carl Bell. "We regret that our fans won’t be able to attend games at LaGrave Field this weekend, but we feel at this time that these steps must be taken to insure the safety of not only the Cats’ players but also the visiting teams as well. We appreciate the assistance the American Association and the El Paso Diablos have given us in regards to moving the games." Bell added the field repairs will include a new drainage system. We haven’t heard of any other teams moving series because of water damage, although several United League Baseball games have been cancelled in recent days.
Next season, it’s baseball on grass in Syracuse
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Grass will replace the worn AstroTurf at Alliance Bank Stadium, the home of the Syracuse Chiefs (Class AAA; International League). That was the unanimous decision Tuesday of the Onondaga County Legislature. The AstroTurf will be removed after Labor Day, following the close of the season for the stadium’s major tenant, the Chiefs baseball team. The grass field should be ready in time for the start of the 2008 baseball season. The project will cost $1.5 million, most of which the county will bond for $1,125,000. The rest of the money will come from a turf replacement fund paid for by the Chiefs and revenue from the use of the parking lot by University Hospital employees. This article was submitted by a reader. To submit something of interest to Ballpark Digest readers, drop us a note at editors@augustpublications.com.
Baffling ballpark name dispute
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This is a story that just won’t die. The disagreement between the Orem Owlz (rookie; Pioneer League) and Utah Valley State College continues to occur, as Owlz owner Jeff Katofsky said UVSC doesn’t have the authority to call it Brent Brown Ballpark during the times the Pioneer League team is using it. He wants it to be called Home of the Owlz and has barred local media from using Brett Brown Ballpark. Katofsky continues to insist MiLB regulations prevent him from acknowledging the new name, and as far as we can tell MilB officials are consistent in their viewpoint that this is a false issue. Given the bad press both MiLB and the Owlz are receiving in the Utah papers, it’s probably time for someone to step in.
Official thinks pro ball can hit homer in Utica
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Jay Acton, commissioner of the New York State League, thinks his four-team independent league will enjoy community support at Utica’s Murnane Field. It is an interesting experiment to have four teams sharing a single facility, one that we’ll be watching this season. If the league is a success, look for a half-dozen or so "leagues" pop up in the next few years; there’s already a plan for one in McHenry County, but it’s based on a new $3 million facility.
Today’s video: Exposition Park, Pittsburgh
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Here’s a lovely, nostalgic look back at the former home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Exposition Park. It was the site of the first World Series in 1903, ensuring its place in history. We’ve been really pleased with the response to our call for videos: we’ve already heard from several teams and vendors, so we’ll continue bringing them to you. If you want to share your videos with the baseball community, drop us a line at editors@augustpublications.com.
Ballpark food also having a first-place season
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The food editor of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel drops by Miller Park to check out the food offerings this season. Regular readers of the site know we updated our Miller Park listing this season to reflect on the many changes carried out by the Brewers front office, but this article goes into a lot more depth; alas, it doesn’t really cover beer — which, in Milwaukee, is considered by many as one of the food groups.
Strike out for the ballparks
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Here’s a look at game experiences at Applebee’s Park, the home of the Lexington Legends (Low Class A; Sally League), and Louisville Slugger Field, home of the Louisville Bats (Class AAA: International League). We’ve hailed Louisville Slugger Field as o