The offices of the Kalamazoo Kings (independent; Frontier League) have been closed in recent weeks, and the local newspaper is questioning whether the team will be back in business next season despite being present in the league’s 2011 schedule.
The fate of the Kings has yet to be answered definitively — despite numerous calls from the Kalamazoo Gazette to management and staff, most of whom have declined to comment or failed to respond to messages.
When contacted Tuesday about Kalamazoo playing in 2011, Kings owner Ed Bernard had no comment.
Fellow Kings owner Bill Wright has not returned calls from the Gazette. Jenny Walker, a receptionist at the Seelye Wright car dealership, said Friday Wright had not been in the office all week.
Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee said Tuesday the Kings will be playing baseball next season.
As things stand right now, that is. There’s no reason to believe the Kings won’t be back, despite the inactivity right now; a lot can change in terms of staffing and player personnel between Christmas and the beginning of the 2011 season.
Of course, other things can change between now and January. Keeping Kalamazoo in the fold is a pretty smart maneuver: should nothing change the league has a set lineup, and should another team — say, one committed at the moment to play in another league — become available, it could fairly easily slide into the existing schedule and divisional setup.
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