In a stadium-use agreement, the Richmond Metropolitan Authority is leasing The Diamond to Navigators Baseball, Inc. Richmond’s Class AA baseball franchise still has no formal name. The team will have a name by Oct. 15, the result of a name-the-team contest. Navigators Baseball, Inc., refers to 2005, when Lou DiBella formed a partnership and purchased the Norwich Navigators for about $10 million. A year later, the franchise changed its name to Connecticut Defenders, a tribute to the military defense industry in that area.

Richmond’s new baseball franchise has a couple of connections that fans interested in major-league prospects and winning will find attractive. Class AAA, the level at which the Richmond Braves played from 1966 to 2008, includes more recognizable names because many players at that level bring major-league experience. But Class AA, the minor leagues’ second-highest rung and the Richmond club’s classification starting next season, usually features a greater number of up-and-coming talents.

Behind-the-scenes work apparently has already started as The Diamond readies for Richmond’s next professional baseball team. Sources said it will be the Class AA franchise now based in Connecticut. Those involved with the relocation process have been told by Minor League Baseball and the Eastern League not to comment publicly on the move until it is formally announced, Eastern League President Joe McEacharn said.

A man approached Charlie Diradour and shook his hand outside The Diamond yesterday. “Keep up the good work, Charlie,“ he said. Replied Diradour: “Thank you very much for coming out.“ Diradour, who arranged the appearance to announce the launching of his revamped Web site, looked as if a politician were the centerpiece. Diradour is not a politician—at least not yet.

You can’t tell the players without a scorecard? Heck, in Richmond you can’t tell the stadium proposals without one. An RT-D First appearing in yesterday’s editions reported that a property-owner is “pitching” Manchester as a site for a new ballpark. The area has visual appeal. Fans would be able to look across the James and see Richmond’s skyline, which is seen to its best advantage from the south.

Reynolds Packaging Group, the owner of almost 18 prime acres on the south bank of the James River, is pitching Manchester as the place to play ball in Richmond.

The continued lack of a ballpark plan “complicates” the Eastern League’s process of identifying a Class AA franchise and ownership group for Richmond, Eastern League President Joe McEacharn acknowledged yesterday, but he added “it’s a challenge that we are committed to meeting.“ McEacharn said he remains optimistic that one of the Eastern League’s dozen franchises will be based at The Diamond next season whether or not the Shockoe Center proposal and its $60 million ballpark gain city approval.

One deal is kaput. Formulating a fresh one is the next step for Richmond Baseball Club LC. RBC has a Sunday deadline to meet the $15.4 million sale price of the Double-A Connecticut Defenders. That transaction will not take place, RBC spokesman Pete Boisseau confirmed yesterday.

Reid and Reese Ryan, of Ryan-Sanders Baseball, will visit The Diamond and the proposed site of a Shockoe Bottom ballpark today and then attend an evening meeting with community leaders and Eastern League President Joe McEacharn. When the sons of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan return to Texas, presumably they’ll do so with a better sense of whether they should continue exploring potential ownership of the Double-A Eastern League franchise coming to Richmond next season, and the possibility of building a stadium here.

More of Tuesday’s town-hall discussion on whether to build a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom.

Charlie Diradour isn’t afraid to take a stand, especially about issues that concern his hometown. His roots in Richmond date to the 1920s, when his grandfather immigrated from Armenia. As Diradour puts its, he has a passion to be a steward to the city for what it provided him and his family—the chance to make a living. “It’s very important to stand up against what I think is wrong, or stand up for what I think is right,“ said Diradour, who hails from a family of successful real estate investors.

Where should Richmond play ball? After more than five decades on North Boulevard, minor-league baseball could relocate to Shockoe Bottom as part of the proposed $318 million Shockoe Center development. As city officials weigh the proposal, many Richmonders continue to debate whether the Bottom is the city’s and the region’s best place for a stadium.

Critically evaluate Bryan Bostic’s belief that minor-league baseball can greatly enhance a community’s quality of life. Challenge his contention that Shockoe Bottom is the ideal location for a new ballpark. Questioning his commitment to those positions is a tougher task. Dating back to his involvement with the Richmond Ballpark Initiative, the local businessman has spent the past seven years advocating an upgraded baseball experience in a modern facility. Since the Atlanta Braves announced in January 2008 that they were moving their Class AAA franchise to Gwinnett County, Ga., Bostic says he has worked nearly every day toward his goal of returning baseball to Richmond.

Paul Kreckman prefers backpacking to baseball. Yet, he was part of a small group of real estate professionals and civic leaders drafted in late 2006 to revive the once-rejected idea of a ballpark for Shockoe Bottom. The private group dubbed itself C.O.D.—Committee of the Delusional, said organizer Stan Joynes, a partner and chief growth officer for the LeClair Ryan law firm.

Jean Wight joined the fight to save a historic building in Shockoe Bottom soon after moving to Richmond about 10 years ago. “There’s a great immediacy when you live here. You don’t need to live here all your life” to get involved, she said. Wight, who lives in Church Hill, is now helping to wage a preservation fight to keep a minor-league ballpark out of Shockoe Bottom.