While Todd Parnell was the general manager at Class AA Altoona, Pa., his gall bladder was removed. He wanted to give it away as part of a game-night promotion. The plan was vetoed. “My doctor got serious about Hazmat stuff,“ Parnell said. Instead, at an Altoona game Parnell distributed 500 color pictures of his gall bladder, then autographed them in the stadium concourse. Parnell said that during subsequent months, he was occasionally stopped in the area and told, “Hey, I’ve still got your gall bladder on my refrigerator.“ Parnell, now the vice president and chief operating officer of Richmond’s Class AA franchise, pledges that similarly inventive promotions—though probably not as personal—are coming to The Diamond.

The call for a wild card entry in the Richmond baseball franchise’s name-the-team contest drew more than 9,000 submissions in fewer than 12 hours yesterday. CNBC and the Class AA club invited interested parties to e-mail suggestions to CNBC from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. About 60 minutes before last night’s deadline, CNBC sports business reporter Darren Rovell said CNBC had received more than 9,000 entries. On Tuesday, Rovell projected CNBC’s portion of the voting would draw “a couple hundred.“

The possible names for Richmond’s baseball team may not appear to be big hits. But the club’s boss says,  “Richmond will soon learn that we aren’t afraid to stick our necks out there and have some fun.“

April: 8, at Bowie, 7:05 p.m.; 9, at Bowie, 7:05; 10, at Bowie, 6:35; 11, at Bowie, 2:05; 12, at Altoona, 6:30; 13, at Altoona, 6:30; 14, at Altoona, 6:30; 15, Reading, 7:05; 16, Reading, 7:05; 17, Reading, 6:35; 18, Reading, 2:05; 19, New Britain, 7:05; 20, New Britain, 7:05; 21, New Britain, 7:05; 23, at Reading, 7:05; 24, at Reading, 6:05; 25, at Reading, 1:05; 26, at New Britain, 6:35; 27, at New Britain, 6:35; 28, at New Britain, 10:35 a.m.; 30, Bowie, 7:05

After receiving more than 6,000 entries, including duplications, the front office of Richmond’s Double-A baseball franchise has selected five finalists.

Today is baseball fans’ first crack at season tickets for Richmond’s Class AA franchise, which will begin play next season. Club operators could have announced the date and simply unlocked the door to The Diamond’s ticket office. “That’s not fun,“ said Bill Papierniak, the franchise’s general manager. Richmond will experience its first Ticketpalooza. Full season-ticket packages will be sold ($568) in a carnival atmosphere at The Diamond. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at no charge for participants, there will be games, inflatables, a petting zoo, pony rides, karaoke, pumpkin painting and other activities.

Sons of Pitches
Shad plankers
Rabble-Rousers
Poes
Pros
Rapids
Radicals
Rain
Razmatazz

Chuck Domino, the chief executive manager of Richmond’s Class AA franchise, has been in the baseball industry for nearly 30 years. One thing struck him when he laid eyes on The Diamond. “This stadium was built upside down,“ Domino said. About 8,800 of the facility’s 12,134 seats are in the upper deck.

May: 1, Bowie, 6:35; 2, Bowie, 2:05; 3, Altoona, 7:05; 4, Altoona, 7:05; 5, Altoona, 7:05; 6, Altoona, 11:35; 13, Altoona, 7:05; 14, Altoona, 7:05; 15, Altoona, 6:35; 16, Altoona, 2:05; 18, Erie, 7:05; 19, Erie, 7:05; 20, Erie, 11:35; 28, Bowie, 7:05; 29, Bowie, 6:35; 30, Bowie, 6:35; 31, Bowie, 7:05
  June: 1, Harrisburg, 7:05; 2, Harrisburg, 7:05; 3, Harrisburg, 7:05; 8, New Britain, 7:05; 9, New Britain, 7:05; 10, New Britain, 7:05; 15, Binghamton, 7:05; 16, Binghamton, 7:05; 17, Binghamton, 7:05; 18, Altoona, 7:05; 19, Altoona, 6:35; 20, Altoona, 5:05; 28, Akron, 7:05; 29, Akron, 7:05; 30, Akron, 7:05

Last week officials announced that the Connecticut Defenders of the Class AA Eastern League will relocate to Richmond. Next April an ump will yell, “Play ball!“—and local fans will be able once again to root, root, root for the home team. The much anticipated news came as something of a relief. The move resembles a successful stint by a middle reliever. The ultimate outcome relies on a closer. We hope Mariano Rivera is warming up. Pro baseball’s long-term future in Central Virginia depends less on the action on the field than on action regarding the stands. The Defenders (who will take a new name) will open the 2010 season at The Diamond. Although improvements will enhance the venue, a new stadium seems essential. And Richmonders have heard plenty about that for lo these many years.

The sign outside The Diamond still proclaims “Home of the Richmond Braves,“ but Richmond and its 24-year-old stadium will have a new professional baseball team beginning next spring.

The difference between major-league ownership of a minor-league team and semi-local ownership of a minor-league team was readily apparent yesterday. The Atlanta Braves, owners of the former Richmond Braves, weren’t willing to invest much in The Diamond. The semi-local ownership of the new Richmond minor-league team will sink $1.5 million into upgrading The Diamond.

The Richmond Metropolitan Authority and the Eastern League announced today that the Class AA franchise that has been based in Norwich, Conn., since 1995 will relocate to Richmond for next season.

An announcement of which Class AA Eastern League franchise is relocating to Richmond for next season will be made a week from today, sources said. Industry insiders identified Connecticut as the franchise on the move. Richmond’s new club will play at The Diamond for a minimum of two years while team owners and officials from the city and neighboring counties discuss a new ballpark. The franchise now in Connecticut is contractually bound to the San Francisco Giants through 2010.

Sometimes, a jilted lover needs a one-night stand. So a group of us left baseball-dry Richmond one evening in July and headed to Petersburg. From our vantage point in a beer garden—no brew allowed in the bleachers—we watched the home-team Generals come from behind to beat the Edenton, N.C., Steamers at the Petersburg Sports Complex.