Charlie Blaney, a former head of minor-league operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is the new president of the Cal League, replacing the retiring Joe Gagliardi. His immediate task: finding new homes for facilities-challenged franchises in Adelanto and Bakersfield.
Charlie Blaney, a former head of minor-league operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is the new president of the High Class A California League, replacing the retiring Joe Gagliardi. His immediate task: finding new homes for facilities-challenged franchises in Adelanto and Bakersfield.
It will not be an easy task. Adelanto has made it clear the city wants the High Desert Mavericks out of Mavericks Stadium, meaning the team will need to find a new home in a new market. In Bakersfield, efforts to replace Sam Lynn Ballpark have failed several times over the years, as owner D.G. Elmore has sought to work out a new-ballpark plan with city and local university officials.
And we suspect some sort of deal is still possible in Bakersfield, which is why Elmore will have plenty of time to work out something. The solution for many months was a move of the two franchises to the Carolina League, a shift that's now totally dead. So a new home must be found for High Desert.
We were intrigued to see who else was interviewed for the presidential position: Bob Linscheid, the founder of the independent Western Baseball League and the former owner of a Chico team in that circuit. Today Linscheid is an economic-development specialist in Chico, and we're guessing he would not have expressed interest in the job if Chico weren't in play on some level. Chico has flirted with affiliated baseball for many years; the issue has always been a new facility, as the independent teams have shared Nettleton Stadium with Chico State. If an owner could solve the ballpark issue they'd have a pretty solid baseball market in northern California — and we're guessing there's at least one crunching the numbers.
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