Blue Wahoos announce staff promotions
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Class AA; Southern League) announced four staff promotions from all areas of the organization, including grounds, merchandise, community relations, and clubhouse management. Blue Wahoos owner Quint Studer said that the promotions came after each staff member demonstrated leadership, a commitment to excellence, and a desire to grow and improve professionally. “What […]
Appreciating RFK Stadium
The venue is probably is not long for the world, but there’s still a devoted fanbase appreciating RFK Stadium, twice home to MLB in Washington, D.C., and a historically significant facility. Of course, what makes it historically significant — its status as the first cookie-cutter stadium, designed both for the NFL’s Washington Redskins and the […]
Las Vegas: We want to keep 51s
After years of ignoring the issue, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman wants to see the owners of the Las Vegas 51s (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) fix up Cashman Field — but came up short of offering city assistance. The new owners of the 51s — Howard Hughes Corporation and Play Ball Owners Group — […]
Your first good meltdown of the season: Marty Brown
OK, we’re not talking Phillip Wellman or Wally Backman here. But Marty Brown, manager of the Buffalo Bisons (Class AAA; International League), gives fans a show at Harbor Park. The Bisons were in town to play the hometown Norfolk Tides, and the event is pretty simple: the umps clearly blew a call on runner interference, […]
Cubs-city lovefest hits rocky patch
A proposed deal to allow the Chicago Cubs to renovate Wrigley Field and add more night dates to the schedule has hit a rough patch, with changes rankling team officials. When you discuss the politics of Wrigley Field and the surrounding neighborhoods, you’re really discussing one major issue: how many night games will be allowed […]
SI Yankees seek to rebound from rough patch
After seeing two years with steady attendance declines, the Staten Island Yankees (short season A; NY-Penn League) front office is doubling down on a small-business sales strategy. When Nostalgic Partners bought the team from Mandalay Baseball Properties and the New York Yankees, the team’s marketing focus changes from corporate accounts to small-business owners seeking an […]
Ottawa approves outlines of ballpark spending; specifics to be decided
With the Ottawa market apparantly up for grabs, an Ottawa city committee approved a plan to spend at least $10 million on improvements to Ottawa Stadium to attract an affiliated team. With the city now openly talking of seeking targets other than a Double-A team — the potential of a Single-A team was mentioned at […]
City commits additional spending on Hoover Met; concerts now target
Seeking to diversify the offerings at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, the local city council pledged $352,000 in additional facility improvements, including a big electrical-system upgraded needed to attract big-time musical tours. All in all, the city has authorized $1.5 million in ballpark upgrades since the Birmingham Barons (Class AA; Southern League) moved to a new downtown […]
New for 2014: Edelman Financial Field
The new home of the Loudoun Hounds (independent; Atlantic League) will be known as Edelman Financial Field upon its opening for the 2014 season. Construction of the new ballpark began today after the official groundbreaking. Terms of the naming-rights deal struck between the firm and the Hounds ownership were not disclosed. “With the commencement of […]
Ballpark hops end up in new Pelicans brew
Boy, talk about locally grown: Hops grown at TicketReturn.Com Field are being used by the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (High Class A; Carolina League) as part of a new Pelicans-brewed beer. Plenty of teams offer local suds at the ballpark, but this is the first time we know of where the team actually produced ingredients for […]
Diablos lease to be bought out
The El Paso City Council will vote tonight to terminate the El Paso Diablos (independent; American Association) lease for Cohen Stadium, paying $300,000 to the team. The Cohen Stadium lease runs through 2016, and in the past few years the team has made some significant investments in the ballpark, including a new scoreboard (which can […]
Pacific Association pitches team for Santa Maria’s Elks Field
The independent Pacific Association is proposing a lease for Elks Field in Santa Maria (Cal.), with the local parks and rec commission expected to hear more about the proposal next week. From the Santa Barbara Noozhawk: The proposal is to bring a minor league professional team to Santa Maria, and not a collegiate team. It […]
Strong start of 2013 season for MiLB.com
Strong start for MiLB.com in 2013: In the first two months of the season, the new MiLB mobile application and MiLB.com are generating record traffic numbers, highlighted by the mobile application’s sustained volume of more than one million page views per day. The app has generated more traffic every two weeks this year, 15MM page […]