Detroit spurns Chevy offer to maintain Tiger Stadium field
Chevrolet employees have volunteered to maintain the old Tiger Stadium playing field for use by youth baseball teams, but the offer was spurned by the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., where officials want to keep the property open for a future big-box retailer. Detroit, interestingly, is in somewhat of an economic renaissance of sorts: after property […]
Clark County postpones ballpark hearing
The Clark County Board of Commissions is postponing a final decision on a funding plan for a new short-season Northwest League ballpark, giving the Yakima Bears more time to alter their proposal — but the clock is ticking. The Bears have until Sept. 23 to finalize a ballpark plan within the team’s exclusive negotiating agreement […]
Pro ball unlikely at TD Ameritrade Park next year — and maybe beyond
A lawsuit from a spurned potential tenant and the lack of firm interest from other independent leagues will probably keep professional baseball away from Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park in 2012 and potentially beyond. The lawsuit, detailed in today’s Omaha World-Herald, has the owners of a potential Northern League franchise, the Omaha Flame, suing the Metropolitan […]
NY Yankees making moves with minor-league teams
The New York Yankees are exiting the Minor League Baseball world this offseason, according to several sources, as the team is in the process of selling the Staten Island Yankees (short season A; NY-Penn League) and its share of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Class AAA; International League). The sale of the SWB Yankees was expected; the Yankees […]
Whitecaps extend naming-rights deal, will renovate ballpark
The home of the West Michigan Whitecaps (Low Class A; Midwest League) will continue to be called Fifth Third Ballpark after a 10-year naming-rights extension; meanwhile, the ballpark will receive a much-needed facelift. The agreement extends the original deal, which began in 1994 (as Old Kent Bank) when the ballpark opened and continued when Fifth […]
2012 MLB schedule released; no realignment or playoff expansion
Major League Baseball released a 2012 schedule this morning, with no changes in the division or league lineups, no expansion of wild cards in the playoffs and a regular season beginning with a Miami Marlins game on April 4. Yes, that’s right: the Miami Marlins (nee the Florida Marlins) will open the 2012 MLB season […]
Keys, Frederick on verge of 10-year Harry Grove Stadium lease
If there’s been a worse procedure for a city to negotiate a ballpark lease than what’s been going on with the City of Frederick and the Frederick Keys (High Class A; Carolina League), we’ve not seen it. But there’s finally some light at the end of the tunnel, and a 10-year lease is expected to […]
Crunching the 2011 summer-collegiate attendance figures
With over 3 million attendees in 2011, summer-collegiate leagues are proving to be an important part of the baseball economy. We’ll examine the attendance numbers posted today on Ballpark Digest. First off: by our tally, 3.075 million fans “officially” attended summer-collegiate games in 2011. We report this number with a big disclaimer: there are many […]
2011 Summer-Collegiate Attendance by Average
We conclude our listings of 2011 summer-collegiate attendance with a look at average attendance — perhaps the most accurate way to measure the health of a franchise. Because of the small number of games in many leagues, the attendance can vary greatly year to year, so you’re going to see more fluctuations here than in, […]
2011 Summer-Collegiate Attendance by Total
We continue our coverage of baseball attendance with a look at total numbers for summer-collegiate leagues, as well as a comparison of 2010 numbers to 2011 figures. The teams listed here tallied a little more than 3 million fans attending games in 2011 (as opposed to the 2.7 million we tallied in 2010): that’s an […]
2011 Summer-Collegiate Attendance by League
We continue our coverage of 2011 attendance figures with a listing of numbers from summer-collegiate leagues. In this article, we list attendance by league. We list the numbers for 2010 and 2011 to give you an idea of how teams and leagues fared year to year. Be warned that this isn’t necessarily a strict comparison […]
K-Tribe season lingers on
The last season for the Kinston Indians (High Class A; Carolina League) — this iteration, at least — will linger on through the weekend, as the team is competing in the league’s Mills Cup Championship Series. The team was sold in the last offseason to Steve Bryant and crew, who will move the franchise to […]
Cordaro named PCL Executive of the Year
It’s been a good year for Omaha Storm Chasers Vice President/General Manager Martie Cordaro: besides opening Werner Park and revamping the franchise, he was also named the Pacific Coast League’s Executive of the Year. This is Cordaro’s second honor of 2011, after previously being named with President Alan Stein as Ballpark Digest’s Co-Executives of the […]