Archives: July 8-14, 2007
Tiger Stadium plan hits a snag
Posted July 13, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Plans to demolish Tiger Stadium are starting to unravel as the city planning commission Thursday night refused to approve the plan touted by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick for the corner of Michigan and Trumbull. In rejecting the plan to raze the structure and build housing and retail venues in its place, commissioners said they didn’t believe enough has been done to preserve the structure and that they don’t see the rush to get the ballpark razed. The commission voted 5-1 to reject the plan, with one abstention. Commissioners repeatedly cited the Book-Cadillac Building, which had been left for dead for years after being shuttered in 1980 but is now being renovated and touted as a jewel of the city. We think the Tigers are missing out on a great marketing opportunity to work with the city on a renovation, bringing the ballpark down to its original Navin Field configuration and installing a Class A Midwest League team there. It’s just bad business to be turning a back on such a beloved landmark. More on a fan movement to renovate Tiger Stadium.
Cuban applies to buy Cubs
Posted July 13, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
The ever-colorful Mark Cuban has thrown his hat into an increasingly crowded ring of pursuers of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field. The owner of the Dallas Mavericks (NBA) confirmed Thursday night that he has applied to Major League Baseball for a possible purchase of the legendary franchise. But Cuban declined to elaborate on what comes next or how his pursuit of the Cubs might affect his ownership and involvement with the Mavericks. Cuban has successfully balanced the Mavericks and numerous other diverse businesses, including HDNet.
PCL approves Sidewinders sale; Reno gets site
Posted July 13, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
The Pacific Coast League has approved the sale of the Tucson Sidewinders from majority owner Jay Zucker to SK Baseball LLC, a partnership of New York City father and son Jerry and Stuart Katzoff and mall magnate Herb Simon. Minor League Baseball must still approve the sale, while Major League Baseball must review it; neither are expected to raise any concerns. On June 12, Zucker announced the pending sale for $15 million. But SK Baseball would pay only $13.5 million if the team remained in Tucson.
Signing off on the last beam
Posted July 13, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
There are 3,500 pieces of steel at the future home of the Washington Nationals. But only one is covered with artwork, notes and signatures — the final beam to be put in place by construction workers. Scores of workers signed the beam yesterday. Most were content to write their names, and some added the names of their unions. But one had the nerve to write "Go Pirates," in honor of a National League opponent. Another left a message in Spanish that said, "Making a Difference." Several others wrote tributes to a co-worker who died in a motorcycle accident last week. The event, known as a topping ceremony, marked a milestone for the $611 million ballpark near the Navy Yard and South Capitol Street in Southeast Washington. The project is on schedule to meet a tight deadline and be ready for the start of the next baseball season, in April.
Grasshoppers to host 2008 Sally League All-Star Game
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The Greensboro Grasshoppers announced that the 2008 South Atlantic League All-Star Game will be held at First Horizon Park. The All-Star Game will be played Tuesday, June 17, featuring selected players from each of the 16 teams in the league. "We are obviously very excited to showcase First Horizon Park and the city of Greensboro to the rest of the league," said Grasshoppers President Donald Moore. "It is going to be a spectacular event and one that we are honored to host." Festivities surrounding the 49th annual event will begin Monday, June 16 and conclude on June 18. The three-day extravaganza is presented by Natty Greene’s Brewing Company, which will serve as the party headquarters. The event will mark the first time the Grasshoppers franchise and the third time the city of Greensboro have hosted an All-Star Game.
Harvard baseball resolute
Posted July 13, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
More on Bill Larsen’s plan to build a new privately financed $2.5-million, 4,000-seat ballpark in Harvard, Ill., to house a summer-collegiate league. Four teams would play in the facility. Now, Harvard isn’t exactly a metropolis — the population is estimated to be around 10,000, and it’s 20 miles from Crystal Lake (where the independent Frontier League is setting up shop in two years) and over 30 miles from Rockford. (Lots of farmland, though.) The facility would also include a parking lot, picnic area, petting zoo and a "miracle field," a rubber miniature diamond meant to facilitate play for children with physical disabilities. It will be interesting to see whether the ballpark actually happens (Larsen’s made a pitch to Harvard Economic Development Commission and expects to have approval in three months) and how a summer-collegiate league would do under these circumstances. The independent New York State League is attempting something similar at Utica’s Murnane Field, but that business model has already changed: instead of one game in the afternoon and one night, there are nightly doubleheaders beginning at 6 p.m., with the afternoon game scrapped.
Is there room for Marlins in South Florida?
Posted July 13, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
It’s a valid question. Miami isn’t the smallest television market to have four major-league franchises (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) — Denver is, according to Nielsen — but it gets more complicated when you throw in the Miami Hurricanes into an already crowded sports marketplace. MLB seems very committed to Miami, with good reason: it is well-situated on many levels to be baseball’s gateway to Latin America, and many believe the market could easily support MLB under the right conditions. Unfortunately, we’re not sure the combination of the Fish owners and Dolphin Stadium comes close to meeting the right conditions.
Plan B looks to rescue Cutters from being Brand X
Posted July 13, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
The New Haven County Cutters (independent; Cam-Am Association) have contracted with Plan B. Branding to come up with a new identity for the team. It’s a worthwhile goal: our Michael Pastore happened to be at the ballpark the same night the Plan B boys were at Yale Field (look for an article in the next few weeks), and his take is that the team’s identity needs some refining.
Miners have struck gold with new ballpark
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The Southern Illinois Miners (independent; Frontier League) have emerged as one of the big success stories of baseball this summer: the team is shattering Frontier League attendance records (5,255 fans per game en route to 260,000 for the season) and a brand-new $17 million ballpark that would be the envy of many bigger cities, let alone a town of 17,200.
OSU has bigger plans for Goss Stadium
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Oregon State baseball coach Pat Casey announced that the next stage of the $5.5-million Goss Stadium expansion/improvement project has been given the green light and will begin in September. The project will extend the grandstand down both foul lines and increase permanent capacity from 1,300 to about 3,000. An expanded clubhouse, academic center, multi-purpose room with a view of the field, umpire’s quarters and additional rest rooms and concession stands will also be added.
Home-run record might not play well in Brew City
Posted July 13, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
There’s a small chance Barry Bonds will be a position to break Henry Aaron’s home-run record in Milwaukee’s Miller Park, as Bonds enters a three-game weekend series at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers with 751 homers, four shy of tying Aaron. After this week, the Giants visit Wrigley Field for four games against the Chicago Cubs, then travel to Milwaukee to play the Brewers three times. It will be extremely awkward for Bonds to break the record in Milwaukee. First, there’s Aaron’s long association with Wisconsin as a member of the Milwaukee Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers (keeping in mind he started his career as a skinny 18-year-old with the original Northern League’s Eau Claire Bears). Then there’s Bud Selig’s close friendship with Aaron and the commissioner’s lack of enthusiasm for being on hand when Bonds does inevitably break the mark.
Broadcast tandem a staple for Sky Sox
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Dan Karcher’s silky smooth voice instantly made Tony Ensor feel good on his first day as president and general manager of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) nearly three years ago. ‘‘It was my first day here and when I got off the plane and in the rental car, there was the Sky Sox on the radio,’’ Ensor said. ‘‘I didn’t even have to change the station. That was cool.’’ What was better, Ensor said of that late summer day in 2004, was the broadcast team: Karcher and longtime partner Dick Chase. This is their 18th season broadcasting Sky Sox home games. Chase rarely does road games with Karcher, who reached a milestone Sunday by broadcasting his 2,500th Sky Sox game.
Clark Griffith ‘energetic and eager for tomorrow’
Posted July 13, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Independent Northern League commissioner Clark Griffith laments his lost youth and his days with the Minnesota Twins and Major League Baseball. We’re not quite sure Clark is totally accurate here (for instance, he questions whether his father actually liked baseball; we chatted with Calvin at a Helena Brewers game shortly before his death, and there’s no way someone who didn’t love baseball would be sitting in the stands of Kindrick Field on a cold Montana night watching a rookie-level Pioneer League game), but it’s a good, candid interview nevertheless.
Point Stadium renovation nears completion
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The renovation of Point Stadium, the former home of professional baseball in Johnstown, Pa., is nearly complete, said city council officials Wednesday evening. City manager Curt Davis, said the new turf is holding up well after a few baseball games and a recent concert, where about 3,000 people stood on its surface. The city is now in the process of submitting proposals to host the championship soccer games at the stadium. They have also received requests from several local schools to play major games there as well.
Changing face of minor leagues
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The Raleigh newspaper takes a look at the foreign-born players with the Durham Bulls (Class AAA; International League) and the Carolina Mudcats (Class AA; Southern League). Seven of the Bulls’ 23 players are foreign born, and by minor-league standards that is a low percentage. According to Major League Baseball, 46.2 percent of minor leaguers at the start of the 2007 season were born outside the U.S. In the majors, the percentage is about 26 percent. In addition to the Bulls’ contingent, the Carolina Mudcats feature five international players, and the Burlington Royals’ roster includes 10 foreign-born players. The vast majority of these players hail from Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, though the Bulls have two players from South Korea.
Ballpark Notes
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The Greensboro Grasshoppers (Low Class A; Sally League) will host Super Splash Day on Monday, July 16, during their 12:30 p.m. game against the West Virginia Power. Following the game, all fans in attendance are invited to join the Hoppers as they attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the "Largest Water Pistol Fight." Squirt guns will be provided to participants for the two-team match-up, courtesy of HobbyTown USA. The current record of 1,173 participants was set April 28th, 2005 Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles….The fans have spoken: the Cleveland Indians will retain the traditional Sugardale all-beef hot dog as the official hot dog at Jacobs Field. The team held a contest allowing fans to vote between the all-beef dog, a red hot and a Polish sausage….The Texas Rangers have removed all vestiges of Ameriquest from Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The final part of the re-branding was finished yesterday with the installation of a sign with those inscribed words is now in place at the Ballpark above the home-plate entrance….The Milwaukee Brewers announced that the team has already eclipsed 2,400,000 tickets sold for all Miller Park home games during the 2007 season. This marks the second-highest total in team history. The all-time attendance record in Brewers history was established in 2001, the year Miller Park opened, when the Brewers reached 2,811,041 tickets sold. By surpassing the 2.4 million mark, the 2007 season signifies the sixth time in franchise history that the Brewers have exceeded two million tickets sold in a season. The Brewers first reached the 2 million plateau in 1983 with 2,397,131 tickets….The Pittsburgh Pirates will be retiring Paul Waner‘s #11 during a pregame ceremony at PNC Park on Saturday, July 21, the date in 1952 when Waner was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame….Rick Down is out as hitting coach of the New York Mets, but it’s not clear whether he’s being replaced by Rickey Henderson or Howard Johnson. Johnson is currently first-base coach for the team and will assume many of Down’s responsibilities, and Henderson is joining the coaching staff in an unspecified role….Rick Schu is the new hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks, replacing Kevin Seitzer….The San Francisco Giants are expected to announce a contract extension for GM Brian Sabean as early as today….Longtime umpire Shag Crawford passed away Wednesday at an assisted-living facility in suburban Philadelphia. He was 90.
Reno officials want 8-acre site near Evans Avenue for ballpark
Posted July 12, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
An eight-acre site near Evans Avenue and Second Street is where Reno officials want to place a ballpark for the relocated Tucson Sidewinders (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League). Having the ballpark in the downtown core would be key to its success, said Mark Lewis, redevelopment administrator for the Reno Redevelopment Agency. He said it would be a catalyst for redevelopment in downtown, increase property values and draw thousands of visitors to the area. The City Council on Wednesday told staff to work with SK Baseball, the group planning to move the Pacific Coast League franchise to Reno, "to file all necessary applications for potential development of a ball park" at what is called the Freight House site between Second Street and the railroad trench.
Roster of Cubs bidders expands
Posted July 12, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
The family that founded discount broker TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. has joined the list of potential bidders for the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago Tribune is reporting. Sources close to the situation said the Ricketts family of Omaha and Chicago has signed a non-disclosure agreement with Cubs owner Tribune Co. and is readying the application Major League Baseball requires of all parties wishing to bid on one of its franchises. The Ricketts group is being led by Thomas Ricketts, the 41-year-old founder and chief executive of Chicago-based Incapital Holdings LLC, an investment banking firm. Many insiders say the leading contender to land the team and Wrigley Field is a group led by John Canning, who has ties to Commissioner Bud Selig. However, the sale of the team will occur under some slightly different circumstances than most recent team sales: Tribune Co. is a publicly traded company and has a fiduciary responsibility to get the most possible for the assets, the preference of Bud Selig be damned. You can expect the sales price to approach a billion dollars.
Much up in air with uptown baseball plans
Posted July 12, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
The Charlotte Knights’ (Class AAA; International League) move from South Carolina to uptown isn’t a sure thing yet. On Tuesday, Mecklenburg County commissioners approved an $8 million grant to help the AAA team with costs associated with a new ballpark. But questions hang over the Knights’ plan to play ball uptown in 2009, including the status of two lawsuits alleging local governments acted inappropriately in working with the Knights. However, some of the questions — like whether the site is large enough — are clearly answered, as the Knights and their architects think it is.
Greed circles the plate at Twins ballpark site
Posted July 12, 2007 (feedback) (submit story) (discuss)
Heavy disclaimer here: we’ve known Minneapolis City Councilperson Lisa Goodman socially for years and one of our staff members gave her some feedback on this article. So we won’t comment on it, but rather just give you her core statement: "I agree that baseball is a simple game and that building a ballpark has been one of the most hard-fought public issues of my tenure. [Aron] Kahn [media rep for the landowners] has said, "There are no villains, just good people battling for their respective sides … ." However, as I and my colleagues battle for our respective side, I try to remember that ours is the side of the taxpayers and the public, who deserve more than the greed game we have seen to date. There are villains in this deal, and they are Hines in cooperation with the landowners, due to greed rather than an interest in building a great urban ballpark." Background: Hennepin County and owners of a key parcel of land for a new Minnesota Twins ballpa