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Police to oversee remaining Generals tenure in Jackson ballpark

The Ballpark at Jackson

Things probably did not need to escalate to this point, but a Jackson police officer will be stationed daily at The Ballpark at Jackson to make sure the final days of the Jackson Generals tenancy goes smoothly.

The background: The city and the General ownership went to arbitration over the status of the lease at The Ballpark at Jackson. The city moved to terminate the lease based on the Generals’ inability to field an affiliated team after not being included in the 120-team MiLB lineup after MLB restructuring. The city prevailed in arbitration; the team was given 30 days to vacate.

The team had accepted the arbitrator’s results, brought up the possibility of a new lease as a Partner League team, and have been winding down operations. There was an apparent disagreement over the status of certain items within the ballpark, however, and when a city custodian removed baseballs from the premises to donate them to area youth teams, team GM Marcus Sabata called in the removal as a robbery. That led to a decision to post a police officer at the ballpark to ensure property was removed by the proper owners. From the Jackson Sun:

According to [City Attorney Lewis] Cobb, Jackson Mayor Scott Conger decided the best solution to make sure all parties remain honest and avoid the appearance of anything not above board was to keep a JPD officer and vehicle stationed in front of the stadium’s front gate during working hours until Dec. 8.

“To make sure everyone behaves, the JPD officer will act as a hall monitor of sorts,” Cobb said. “We hoped that the rest of the time the Generals have to be in the stadium would go as peacefully as possible, and we wish Mr. Sabata had called us so we could try to figure out what was going on before he called the police.

“But this appears to be the best course of action to take for the next three weeks.”

RELATED STORIES: Generals accept arbitration decision, open door to new Partner League lease; City takes control of The Ballpark at Jackson after arbitration winGoldeyes to play in Jackson following agreement with city; Generals announce new league, other ballpark plans–but city has not signed offGoldeyes to begin 2021 season in Jackson

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