Two markets that lost Minor League teams — Kissimmee, FL and Fayetteville, NC — look to be regaining them. One would be in an existing ballpark and the other in a brand-new one. Read More
Minors might be returning to Kissimmee and Fayetteville
Blog / Author: Joe Mock
Hartford still on schedule for May 31
They had a roster of promising players. A cute new name and logo. An experienced front office.
They just didn’t have a ballpark to play in.
The Hartford Yard Goats (who until last year were the New Britain Rock Cats) had hoped to move into brand-new Dunkin’ Donuts Park at the beginning of the 2016 season. Read More
Happy Birthday to Sports Weekly
Twenty-five years ago this month, the first issue of Baseball Weekly hit newsstands across the country. It was run by Gannett, who also published the highly successful USA TODAY. The execs at Gannett were huge baseball fans — and early fanatics of fantasy baseball — and they hated it when The Sporting News stopped including box scores in 1990. So in April 1991, they launched a weekly magazine that is still going strong. Despite a seven-month baseball strike in 1994, a name change to Sports Weekly in 2002, and a consolidation of the staff with USA TODAY Sports in 2006, the publication is still going strong. Read More
Adding protection at MLB parks
It made big news last December when Major League Baseball sent a recommendation to the 30 teams that they extend the netting in front of the field-level seats of their parks. More than one lawsuit had been filed after fans had been injured by foul balls and, increasingly, jagged portions of bats.
The New York Times examined how teams had addressed the issue in an article that focused on Target Field in Minneapolis. Read More
Questions and Answers about San Antonio’s New Ballpark
David Elmore, the owner of San Antonio’s current Minor League (Double-A) team, and the City’s mayor jointly announced that Triple-A baseball would come to town in 2019. Because I live in Round Rock, a San Antonio resident said to me “I heard on the news that your Round Rock Express is moving here.” Well, not exactly. In fact, not at all.
While I have no inside knowledge of the discussions that are taking place about this news development, I thought I’d share what appears to me to be the case, using a Question & Answer format:
Q – WHAT’S ALL THIS ABOUT A NEW BALLPARK FOR SAN ANTONIO?
A – There has been talk for years that the Alamo City needs a new park, and it certainly needs to be closer to the business district (where attractions like the Alamo, the River Walk and the Tower of the Americas are located), and not out on the western edge of town where the current park is located. Triple-A baseball certainly WON’T come to SA without a new park.
SPORTS TUESDAY Radio Show Segment
Steve Manderson is a great interviewer, so I was happy to be on his radio show SPORTS TUESDAY. Click to listen to a recording of our discussion on Minor League ballparks.