It’s akin to a heresy: one of the bidders for the Los Angeles Dodgers asked about the potential of selling naming rights to Dodger Stadium after the team and ballpark are sold by Frank McCourt. Dodger Stadium is one of the great historic venues of baseball, opening in 1962. To say the name isn’t totally […]
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Orioles a solid draw in Sarasota
Luring the Baltimore Orioles to Sarasota for spring training has been a good investment for tourism officials, as fans are coming down to Florida from the mid-Atlantic region in droves. From the Sarasota Herald Tribune: Inquiries from that area grew 2.2 percent in 2009, 6.4 percent in 2010 and 7.3 percent last year during the […]
Don’t look now, but World Baseball Classic is around the corner
It’s still a year out, but planning is well underway for the 2013 World Baseball Classic — and already there’s grumbling about the process in countries like Canada and Japan. The World Baseball Classic, held every four years during spring training, was designed by Major League Baseball as a showcase and an alternative to the […]
Nats: We want unified spring facility in Fort Myers
The Washington Nationals have a vision of a Fort Myers training base with unified facilities — but it’s questionable whether Lee County has the money to pull off the plan. One of the big reasons why the Boston Red Sox left City of Palms Park in central Fort Myers: the team’s training facility was a […]
Activists: Fish backstop at Marlins Ballpark cruel
Animal-rights activists are saying it’s cruel for the Miami Marlins to house fish in an aquarium behind home plate, with high-speed foul balls potentially jarring to the life aquatic. As part of the move to a new ballpark, the Marlins installed a huge fish tank that acts as the playing-field backstop. The aquariums will be […]
Wolff: A’s aren’t for sale
The Oakland Athletics aren’t for sale, according to owner Lew Wolff, adding that no prospective buyer has contacted him. “No one has contacted me,” Wolff told the Oakland Tribune in a phone interview. “It’s not for sale, but no one has contacted me. Someone made that story up, I think.” It was reported yesterday that […]
Suitors emerge for Oakland Athletics
Well, this is going to make Lew Wolff’s San Jose quest more difficult: two groups say they want to buy the Oakland Athletics and keep them in Oakland. The groups, as identified by the San Francisco Chronicle, include a group that dropped out of the bidding for the Los Angeles Dodgers and another that incudes […]
Moorad withdraws application to buy Padres
Faced with reported opposition from other MLB owners, Jeff Moorad has withdrawn his application to buy the San Diego Padres — a move that could prove to be merely temporary. The issue, as reported in a Padres press release, was a desire by the team to expedite the finalizing of the team’s new broadcast deal […]
Red Sox announce Minor League games at Fenway Park
The Boston Red Sox have announced this year’s Futures at Fenway doubleheader at Fenway Park, when Lowell takes on Hudson Valley and Pawtucket hosts Buffalo on August 18. The Lowell Spinners (short season A; NY-Penn League) last appeared in the Futures Game in 2010, falling to the Jamestown Jammers in a rain-abbreviated game. The loss […]
Oakland: One last gasp at keeping A’s
Oakland will take one last run at keeping the Athletics by paying $3.5 million on an attempt to persuade private investors to upgrade facilities at the Coliseum sports complex. The city will pay $1.6 million to JRDV Architects, Forest City Enterprises and HKS Sports and Entertainment to determine the long-term feasibility of the complex, which […]
Pima County: Three spring games add $500K to Tucson bottom line
Three spring-training games at Kino Stadium, a former spring-training base in Tucson, will add a half-million dollars to the local economy, according to Pima County officials. Of course, that’s predicated on the three games doing well at the box office. One of the three games will divert part of the proceeds to charity, but the […]
Marlins open new ballpark for test run
The first game played at Marlins Ballpark is now in the books, as the Miami Marlins opened a new chapter in team history by hosting two high-school teams last night. The Marlins will play tonight and tomorrow night in two games against college foes and have two exhibition games scheduled against the New York Yankees […]
Mets lose $71M in ’11, loses key court case today
Lots of bad news for New York Mets ownership: the team lost $70 million last season, and this morning a judge ruled they must repay $83 million in profits from the fraudulent Ponzi scheme run by Bernie Madoff. The judgement today from Manhattan Federal Judge Jed Rakoff is a response to bids for summary judgement […]