Season without pro baseball is a flashback to 1965

O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

In 1965, that line meant more to Richmonders than a memorable Shakespearean snippet. It reflected discontent regarding Richmond's disappearing Class AAA baseball franchise and its owner, the villainous Romeo J. Champagne.

Richmond will be without professional baseball this season for the first time since 1965, the year between the departure of the Richmond Virginians (New York Yankees farm club) and the birth of the Richmond Braves (Atlanta Braves farm club).

The Braves' move following last season was caused by the lack of a new stadium to replace The Diamond or a firm stadium plan. The Atlanta Braves grew tired of waiting and relocated their Class AAA franchise, which they owned, to Gwinnett County, Ga.

That wasn't a surprise. The Braves for years gave Richmond warning signals regarding their dissatisfaction with The Diamond. The last time Richmond lost its ball club -- following the 1964 season -- was a shocking development that sent Dr. Marion "Mike" Rice to American Legion competition and semipro games to get his baseball fix.

Rice, 88, owned season tickets for the Richmond Virginians' games during 1957-64. He was a Richmond Braves' season-ticket holder during 1966-2008. Thinking back to 1965, the last summer in Richmond with no pro baseball, Rice said, "From what I recall, we missed it, but it didn't appear to be as a big a miss as it is now . . . It was accepted a little bit better than it's being accepted today."

The Richmond Virginians, the Yankees' top farm club, played at Parker Field during 1954-64. The on-field results were generally poor, and the attendance wasn't much better when Champagne bought the franchise from the Yankees for $100,000 in December of 1962.

The 50-year-old man with the catchy name from Manchester, N.H., made millions as the developer of a grocery-store chain. Champagne acknowledged that he made his baseball purchase as an investment, not because he loved the game. On his first visit to Richmond as Virginians' owner, Champagne was asked about rumors that he bought the franchise with the intention of moving it. He responded that the Virginians "are in Richmond as long as the people of Richmond want the team."

Not so.

Champagne vowed to put pressure on the Yankees to improve the talent on their Class AAA roster, but the Virginians continued to struggle on the field and at the gate. He complained about the prohibition on beer sales at Parker Field and a city sales tax that he estimated was annually costing him $7,000. A group of local investors who formed the Richmond Sports Club spoke to Champagne about acquiring the franchise following the 1964 season.

While those negotiations were going on, Champagne attended baseball's winter meetings in Houston and sold the franchise for $80,000 to a group from Toledo, Ohio. That's where the franchise moved. Richmond didn't see it coming.

"There were a lot of upset people around town," said Lou Martin, the former Virginia Commonwealth University baseball coach who was one of the Richmond Virginians' last general managers. "It was just a business for [Champagne]."

City Council passed a resolution in December of 1964 protesting and deploring the transfer.

The franchise became the Toledo Mud Hens, and Richmond went without pro baseball in 1965. A Richmond newspaper's editorial in October of 1965 read: "Some baseball executives like to rank the game with flag, home and motherhood. This overstates the case, but Richmond did discover last summer -- when it didn't have one -- that a professional baseball team is a definite part of a community's life."

Richmond's baseball rescue came in 1966. The Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta, and the Class AAA International League franchise based in Atlanta during 1962-65 needed a new home. Jacksonville, Fla., and Memphis, Tenn., were options in addition to Richmond, which got the Braves-owned franchise in late October of 1965.

And here the Braves' Class AAA team played -- at Parker Field, then at The Diamond -- until last September. This season, Dr. Rice, a University of Richmond graduate (Class of 1941), says he intends to watch a lot of Washington Nationals games on television.

A few independent-league games may be played at The Diamond this summer. Other than that, pro ball is gone. A local ownership group is expected to buy a Class AA franchise in the Eastern League (the Connecticut Defenders) and relocate it to Richmond and The Diamond for 2010, with an eye on construction of a new ballpark, potentially in Shockoe Bottom.

Contact John O'Connor at (804) 649-6233