Eastern League president: Richmond will get team
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.
"We have made that commitment to the Mayor [Dwight C. Jones] and to the community that we will take the leap of faith and be there for 2010, with the understanding by all parties that The Diamond is not a long-term solution," McEacharn said.
McEacharn said "all parties" include city officials and the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, which owns and operates The Diamond.
The only publicly released ballpark plan apart from Shockoe Center is a transformation of The Diamond, proposed by Opening Day Partners. McEacharn remains a supporter of Shockoe Center. Of the ODP concept, he said, "To the best of our knowledge, neither the RMA nor the city is engaged in attempting to bring that project to fruition."
If a transformed Diamond or other construction on the Boulevard emerges as the ballpark resolution, those plans apparently would have to navigate around the Eastern League schedule.
"We're bringing a team there for 2010. General parameters of a lease are in place. All parties are under the understanding that we'll need to play at The Diamond in 2010," McEacharn said. "We feel we have an absolute commitment at The Diamond. It will be our home for a minimum of two years and potentially three years, and we're certainly guardedly optimistic that we will in that time frame complete our long-term solution."
Minor League Baseball President Pat O'Conner declined an opportunity to address Richmond's situation.
Richmond Baseball Club LC lacked the resources to purchase the Class AA Connecticut Defenders for $15.4 million in part because investors could not see a clear path to a long-term ballpark solution, according to RBC leader Bryan Bostic. Minor League Baseball and the Eastern League are in the process of identifying a franchise that wants to relocate with current ownership or move under new ownership. Majority local ownership seems improbable at this time, McEacharn said.
McEacharn conceded that potential owner/operators could also have concerns regarding Richmond's ballpark uncertainty, but he added that he appreciates the position of city officials.
"I think it's fair to say that the mayor wants a thorough review and wants to fully understand the level of city involvement, and would like to design and end with a result that is considered a win-win for everybody, one that would be an asset for the Richmond community," McEacharn said.
An Aug. 1 cutoff for identification of the Eastern League franchise coming to Richmond and the composition of its ownership group remains in effect, according to McEacharn.
"We have 11 other teams besides the one that may be coming to Richmond that need to be planning, and we need to be planning from the league perspective, where these teams are going to be and how we're going to do business in 2010," he said. "We're not going to put any other team at a disadvantage because of paralysis by analysis."
McEacharn said his league has not determined which franchise is moving to Richmond. Franchises commonly change affiliations with Major League Baseball organizations every couple of years.
Contact John O'Connor at (804) 649-6233
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Reader Reactions
LeftField: I agree with you that Lynchburg is a podunk town. However, there are people in the Richmond area who think that they should have the benefits of a large city but keep the podunk town feel. Trouble is, they don’t know how to balance that. They want their Whole Foods, but keep the city poor.
Hate_Richmond: While those may be very nice reasons to redo a ballpark there, those are sentiments that A) Won’t attract more fans and B) make for unwise business decisions. An example of something that **should** influence business decisions is the potential effect on the economy of the surrounding area (and therefore, increase in tax revenue). There are many indicators that the Bottom would benefit the city of Richmond the most in this regard.
In other words: it works for a podunk area like Lynchburg, but not somewhere where the real estate actually has an exponential effect.
Also, ODP proposed every one of those things you recommended and are the things that those opposed to the Diamond have been harping on. Sure, you can fix it up and make it look nice and shiny on the outside, but is it wise to put a bandaid on a hemorrhaging wound??
digitalballparks.com had a nice writeup about Lynchburg’s stadium. They said they drastically remodeled their stadium instead of “building a Camden Yards clone”. They talked about the history of the yard and how many players have played on that patch of dirt and such. It got me thinking that maybe either redoing the Diamond or building something there at the Boulevard might be the best bet. Baseball has been played there for 65+ years, and so many great players have played on that field. It makes sense… The footprint of that whole area could support fan and family friendly activities that other minor league parks have.
First thing I would do is tear down the upper deck of the diamond and stretch out the seating areas down the foul lines. Make the seats closer to the field. As digitalballparks said, it’s all about being closer to tomorrow’s stars today. Having that upper deck at the Diamond isn’t really necessary.
Old Fireman, please refer to both my comments on AA vs. AAA., and please don’t get caught up in the superficial label of AAA.
It doesn’t surprise me that with your antiquated opinions of minor league baseball that you’re stuck in the past with the Diamond as well, or with the typical Richmond mantra of “well if its too much effort to put it here, stick it out in the ‘burbs.“
“Why tear down the most historic part of the city…“
Have you been to the bottom?? What history is preserved here to be torn down?? Are you referring to the abandoned warehouses and surface lots?? Richmond isn’t like these cities because we fear progress. We can’t tastefully redo historic regions because we have people shouting about things they don’t even understand, and resisting change until their faces turn blue.
Sorry if that seemed rough, I just have a hard time understanding this attitude of “We can’t be…“ when we don’t even give PROVEN good ideas a chance (and by proven I mean look up the cities who have built downtown ballparks and turned things around - Durham, Toledo, etc.).
Richmond has always been a good minor league baseball town. Years back when the New York Yankees had their AAA farm club, the Virginians, located here and they played in the old Parker Field, there was many times that it was a sellout. The Yankees had a great team back then and had good to great players assigned to Richmond. When the Yankees pulled them and moved to Columbus back in the mid 1960’s that left open a vacancy for another team. Atlanta stepped up to the plate and put their AAA farm team here. They had some very great players come through the old Parker Field and then the Diamond.
Since the City and the RMA sat on their hands to keep their rear ends from getting bed sores, the Braves tried and tried to get the Diamond fixed up to give the players a good club house and field. Not to say that the folks who paid to see the teams play had it any better they didn’t. The rest rooms were the worst in any of the leagues. The concession stands were just as bad.
Why go after an AA team? Go for an AAA team and get MLB to add more AAA teams so Richmond can get a new franchise.
Re-building the Diamond is the best choice. There is plenty of room and the ease to get to the stadium and leave is second to none. Building a new stadium down town along broad, 17th street and that area is going to be another Sixth Street Market Place. It will be doomed from the start. The City Employees are still suffering from the Sixth Street fiasco since we didn’t get pay raises for several years so the City could finance this boon doggle.
If you don’t want the Boulevard, then build a new stadium in SHORT PUMP! They are plenty of access, business, eating places and motels out there!
Why tear down the most historic part of the city to building something that will be hard to get to and see a ball game. Richmond isn’t Baltimore, Norfolk, Cincinnati or any other larger city that will support a new part in the down town area.
The diamond is a complete dinosaur of a ballpark. Richmond will support baseball but it has to be in a nice stadium. Numerous times over the past couple of years I went to the Diamond and they did not have enough staff to service the people there. The other huge problem was that there is nothing to do around the park. Every other ballpark in the country has things to do right around the park. The diamond on the boulevard is not the answer. I am all for the shockoe project and hope they can find the money to do this.
The diamond has two problems: First, it’s old and outdated. Second, while it’s in a very accessible area, there is nothing to do at the diamond other than watch a baseball game and go home, unless you want to hop a Trailways bus afterward and head to a AAA city—ouch! I’m quite sure Mayor Jones—we’ve got a well-intentioned preacher for a mayor, but I worry about his competency—has no idea how to handle this hot-button issue.
Shockhoe Bottom is the best long-term location for the ball park—but it has to be built at //minimal// risk to city taxpayers and it will require burly, conservative county folk to leave the comfort of their strip malls and recliners once in a while and visit what is actually Richmond, VA.
No problem.
Cabbage, I wasn’t responding to your comments at all, I was responding to the comments comparing the current AA attendance/population in the Eastern League to Richmond. Sorry for the confusion.
OutofLeftField…The point I was making concerned how most think AA cities in the Eastern League are smaller than Richmond, but if you look at AA as a whole you see many cities of comparable size.
I think with a bit of marketing and an improved venue (like the ODP Boulevard proposal), Richmond could crack the top 30 minor league cities in attendance:
2008 minor-league attendance
Team (level) League Avg.
1. Sacramento River Cats (AAA) PCL 9,724
2. Round Rock Express (AAA) PCL 9,286
3. Louisville Bats (AAA) IL 9,151
4. Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA) IL 9,096
5. Buffalo Bisons (AAA) IL 8,811
6. Dayton Dragons (A) MWL 8,623
7. Indianapolis Indians (AAA) IL 8,537
8. Lehigh Valley IronPigs (AAA) IL 8,479
9. Albuquerque Isotopes (AAA) PCL 8,360
10. Memphis Redbirds (AAA) PCL 8,248
11. Toledo Mud Hens (AAA) IL 8,233
12. Frisco RoughRiders (AA) TL 8,147
13. Columbus Clippers (AAA) IL 7,795
14. Fresno Grizzlies (AAA) PCL 7,419
15. Iowa Cubs (AAA) PCL 7,384
16. Brooklyn Cyclones (A) NYPL 7,367
17. Kane County Cougars (A) MWL 7,160
18. Scranton/W-B Yankees (AAA) IL 7,147
19. Salt Lake Bees (AAA) PCL 7,053
20. Durham Bulls (AAA) IL 6,994
21. Rochester Red Wings (AAA) IL 6,912
22. Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) TL 6,852
23. Oklahoma RedHawks (AAA) PCL 6,716
24. Springfield Cardinals (AA) TL 6,681
25. Aberdeen IronBirds (A) NYPL 6,522
26. Reading Phillies (AA) EL 6,423
27. Lakewood BlueClaws (A) SAL 6,345
28. Greensboro Grasshoppers (A) SAL 6,296
29. Norfolk Tides (AAA) IL 6,286
30. Portland Sea Dogs (AA) EL 6,248
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