PAUL WOODY: Cooperation key to future of baseball and Diamond
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World of Woody: If you build it, will they come?...
Columnist Paul Woody says getting a baseball team is only the first step. The hard part will be outfitting a stadium to please both players and fans.
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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.
But, said chief executive manager Chuck Domino, the time will come when the owners of the Fill in the Blanks -- a name for the team will be selected Oct. 15 -- must decide whether to put more money into The Diamond or spend it on amenities at a new stadium.
That's when things will get interesting.
The process for getting a minor-league team to replace the R-Braves was filled with starts and stops. Nothing about it was simple.
That will look like a trip down a waterpark slide compared with what it will take to get a stadium built with regional cooperation.
This is Richmond. Such things take time, patience and the coolest of cool heads.
Yesterday at The Diamond, it was all sweetness and light.
Team owner Lou DiBella was there, looking at once formidable and casual in his dark sport coat and slacks with no socks.
Elected officials and city and county administrators had praise for everyone involved in finding a team to replace the R-Braves.
Yesterday was the easy part. Eventually, the team and the region will have to address the stadium issue.
And if regional cooperation -- i.e., dollars -- is essential, the new stadium has to be near The Diamond.
It can be on the same ground as The Diamond. It can be north, south, east or west of The Diamond. But it has to be in the vicinity of the current ballpark.
The Diamond has three things crucial to nearby counties: location, location, location.
"Regionally, this is a very good spot," Henrico County Manager Virgil R. Hazelett said. "You have [Interstates] 195, 95 and 64 here. It's a very good location network."
Everyone also should get used to this idea: Millions will be spent either renovating The Diamond or building a replacement stadium. That's unavoidable, if professional baseball is to stay in the region.
The Diamond was built after the 1984 season to replace Parker Field. It can't go on forever. When the economy improves, the stadium issue must be addressed.
"It is part of the quality of life," Hazelett said. "You can't just work and go home. There have to be recreational activities, entertainment activities.
"That's part of the culture anywhere, whether you're talking about an area with 5,000 people or 5 million."
The politicians should heed Hazelett's point.
They should not circumvent the democratic process. But they should not talk the issue to death, either.
The elected representatives of each locality should do what is best for the region and not be cowed by leather-lunged demagogues who remain angry that the toll on the Boulevard Bridge no longer is a nickel.
The politicians should negotiate with the team, reach a reasonable deal, and then vote to spend the money.
For a change, it would be nice to be known as an area that can get something done instead of a region where the answer always is, "No."
Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or
. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/World_of_Woody
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Reader Reactions
Woody is wrong…Manchester is the best location for a ballpark…play at the Diamond through this difficult economic patch, then built at the Reynolds Foil Plant location…. Richmond settles all too often on second rate ideas….it’s easy to be average….do something bold.
as long as it doesnt involve taxpayer money im all for it. let the developers pay for it. and dont tell me about all the minimum wage “jobs” that are going to be created.
Mr. Woody…..where is it written that baseball is something every metro area needs? If it isn’t self sustaining on its own without public money, isn’t it still an open question if that is a good use of taxpayer money?
It is no means a certainty in 2009 like it might have been in 1926.
Lance
What a homer comment to say the new ballpark must be near the current location.Unfortunately Paul lacks the vision that all of our city leaders lack. Thanks for putting a park in an industrial area where there is no ambiance, restaurants, and generally a poor area just to be near an interstate. Last time I checked we had one of the MOST historic rivers in the country and no one sees the value in putting a ballpark near it! How ridiculous. BUILD a ballpark in Shockhoe Bottom and THEY WILL COME!!!!!! (To quote a famous baseball movie!)
Regional cooperation = compromise = settling for something less. We don’t need cooperation, we need leadership, and the region doesn’t have a leader. “Believe” is correct: the experts determined that the Boulevard is not the best place for baseball. We just don’t have a leader with the vision or ability to execute a plan to put it anywhere else.
hoagie, that’s just it, the “experts” who have studied the site and the issue have actually all said that a new park should go downtown, and that the best use of the Boulevard is NOT baseball. Not to mention people in the baseball business who have considered and weighed in on the issue all seem to think that the Boulevard is wrong.
All of the so called experts seem to agree the current Diamond location is the best place to keep the new team.
They all seem not to realize just about every other stadium built in the US attracts business/nightlife around it.
Parker Field/The Diamond, in the last 40 years, has attracted a bus station and a BBQ chain who still uses pieces of paper to take your order.
Does that not tell something about the location to the experts?
Show the new ownership group that you believe Richmond deserves better than a long-term return to the Diamond/Boulevard. Join the Facebook group “I Support Baseball in Downtown Richmond” and stay abreast of efforts to bring a first class minor league ballpark to downtown Richmond.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=30869459098&ref=ts
You’d be amazed at what Chuck Domino did with the Reading statium. What use to be a dull, half empty stadium is packed today almost every game. He can do it, if anyone can.
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