DALLAS–There was more humor than drama during Minor League Baseball’s presidential election, as Pat O’Conner was unanimously elected to a second four-year term by the sport’s league presidents.

O’Conner, who was running unopposed as the Board of Trustees lone candidate, received dramatic votes of confidence during the roll call from Eastern League president Joe McEacharn, Pioneer League president Jim McCurdy and Texas League president Tom Kayser. “The greatest league in all of minor league baseball votes for Pat O’Conner,” Kayser bellowed.

In the end, O’Conner received a standing ovation before thanking everyone in attendance for their “confidence in my ability to advance this organization.”
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DALLAS–The Rochester Red Wings have a bit of experience operating more than one team at a time. After all, the organization just completed its fourth season running the New York-Penn League’s Batavia franchise, saving Muckdogs from bankruptcy after the 2007 season.

Rochester will up the ante in 2012 when it serves as the main home away from home for fellow International League franchise Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, which is set to play its entire home schedule on the road while its home ballpark gets a $40 million rebuild.

The SWB Yankees will play 37 of their “home” games at Frontier Field in Rochester, plus another seven in Batavia. Scranton will split its remaining games among four other International League parks.

Red Wings chairman Gary Larder said Rochester is busy preparing for life as a two-team town in 2012. To accommodate the Yankees, the Red Wings are converting their visitors clubhouse into a second home for Scranton, and they’ll use the smaller staff locker room as the visitors clubhouse. The new visitors clubhouse will be a bit small, Larder said, but it was the best alternative as the team helps Scranton out of a tough situation.

Rochester is paying for the renovations, and it will cover the expenses for all of its Scranton games, as well reaping all of the revenue from those games. It’s a risky proposition, Larder said, but one he believes has the potential to be profitable.

“If we draw 800 fans a night, we’re in trouble,” he said. “But if we bring in a couple thousand we should make a profit.”
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DALLAS–Hundreds of minor league baseball operators crowded into an oversized conference room at the Anatole Hotel Monday morning to kick off the Winter Meetings by celebrating what made the sport so successful in 2011 amid challenging circumstances.

Minor League Baseball president Pat O’Conner, whose unopposed re-election bid will go to a vote on Wednesday afternoon, highlighted several of the highs from 2011, including: Minor League Baseball’s extension of the Professional Baseball Agreement with Major League Baseball, a new five-year collective bargaining agreement with the umpires union, overall attendance dipping just 0.5 percent as average attendance increased nearly 1 percent, and gross revenue going up about 5 percent in 2010 (the most recent year tabulated), with early indications that 2011 will see another increase.

“Our last 12 months have been filled with devastating and record-setting weather events, continuing economic hardship in our communities, high unemployment, socio-economic issues with health care and government intervention, a jittery Wall Street and gridlocked Washington,” O’Conner said. “Despite these issues, our clubs continue the good work that is minor league baseball . . .

“As we look back on the past few seasons, we can look back on remarkable progress as an organization. Now is not the time to rest on these accomplishments, but use them as the springboard to bigger and better things as a group . . . Together we have accomplished much. Together we will accomplish much more.”
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As Major League Baseball prepares to announce sport-altering changes to the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Players Association, a much smaller but still significant agreement has been reached between Minor League Baseball and its umpires.

The Professional Baseball Umpires Corporation, the organization that manages umpires for MILB, and the Association of Minor League Umpires (AMLU) agreed to a new working agreement before the contract expired on Nov. 30. The deal avoids a repeat of the labor strife that occurred when the umpires went on strike during the 2006 season after an agreement could not be reached the previous offseason.

The agreement still needs to be ratified by the AMLU body, but union president Shaun Francis expects a deal to be done. Francis declined to go into specifics of the agreement since it had not been presented to the union body, but said “the entire contract got better.”

Compensation went up slightly, Francis said, and many issues focusing on umpires’ quality of life on the road were addressed.

“It indirectly addresses the quality of hotels, and the safety of hotels,” he said. “Internet access, who pays for it on the road? A lot of those type of things in the contract that when you add them up, it makes it a lot better for the umpires.”

The two sides hammered out the deal over three weeks in a much more amicable environment than last time. The AMLU affiliated with the AFL-CIO last year and had a professional negotiator at the table, which Francis said proved invaluable.

The process was a far cry from what happened after the 2005 season, when negotiations throughout the winter failed to produce a new contract and umpires did not show up for work at the start of the season. A federal negotiator was called in and a deal was struck in April only to be voted down by the body of the umpires’ union. A deal was finally reached in May and included a $100 a month salary increase.

The newly negotiated deal also avoids any possibility of using replacement umpires again. Though games went on in 2006, player development could have been jeopardized if inexperienced umpires had remained on the field—as many players and managers complained about their work.

“The relationship over the past five or six years has improved greatly,” Francis said. “The negotiations were very professional and courteous. While our interests lie in different areas, we went about it in a professional manner.”

Minor League Baseball has apparently found a solution to its financial problems at Vero Beach Sports Village, at the same time infusing a bit of history and new investors into the former Dodgertown complex in Florida.

Minor League Baseball announced today that it has formed a partnership with former Dodgers president Peter O’Malley and his sister Terry Seidler, along with former Dodgers pitchers Hideo Nomo and Chan Ho Park. Each of the five entities will have an equal stake in the Vero Beach complex, which Minor League Baseball has been operating at a loss as a training and sports destination facility for the past two and a half years.

The deal requires approval by officials from Indian River County, which owns the complex and leases it to Minor League Baseball.

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The Ottawa City Council has made official its interest in luring affiliated baseball back to town and government officials have said that a Double-A team has expressed interest in relocating to Ottawa Stadium.

City officials voted unanimously to explore finding a full-time tenant to lease out the ballpark that hosted a Triple-A International League team from 1993-2007.

The identity of the mystery team—or if it even exists—interested in heading north of the border remains unclear.

As was the case when the Richmond market opened up two years ago, the Erie Sea Wolves and Binghamton Mets are rumored to be interested in relocating. However, both teams, which ranked at the bottom of Eastern League attendance this season, have denied any involvement in Ottawa.

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The Ghosts are on the move.

The Rockies are set to move their Rookie-level Pioneer League affiliate from Casper, where it has played for the past 10 years, to Grand Junction, Colo. The relocation is pending approval by the Grand Junction city council, which is scheduled to vote on the issue today.

Rumors of a potential move started soon after Rockies majority owners Charles and Richard Monfort purchased the Casper club last offseason. According to the Caspar Star-Tribune, the Monforts believe moving the team to a larger market in Grand Junction will provide an opportunity to develop a bigger fanbase for the club.

Playing conditions have also long been in an issue in Casper, where the Ghosts’ Mike Lansing Field has long been prone to flooding. The team had operated without a groundscrew before this season and did not have a tarp to cover the infield other than the pitcher’s mound.

In late 2008, a four-game homestand against Billings ended with just one inning being played after both team managers refused to allow their players take the field due to poor playing conditions.

“The field issues haven’t been settled, but it’s improved,” Rockies farm director Marc Gustafson said earlier this season. “When you’re talking about a field that has had so many issues with drainage problems over the years, it is probably a frustrating process for a lot of folks. But the important thing for us is having a quality surface for our players.”

The Rockies will apparently get just that in Grand Junction, whose Stocker Stadium is undergoing an $8.3 million. Also home to the Junior College World Series and Mesa State College athletics, the stadium will feature new dugouts in addition to renovated seating, concessions and concourse.

Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes/Barre still has no plans in place for where it will play next season while its ballpark gets a $40 million facelift.

The deadline previously set by the International League came and went today without a proposal from Scranton leadership on a potential site (or sites) for where the team hopes to play in 2012. International League president Randy Mobley had set today’s board of directors meeting in Albuquerque as the deadline for a final proposal from the team. Mobley said in a statement today that “league directors have established a timeline and process that will assure this matter is resolved in a timely manner.”

Mobley did not immediately return a phone call seeking further comment.

Mobley had previously said that the Yankees were considering roughly six locations to play next season and would prefer the team to stay within the International League footprint.

One source familiar with the situation said that Scranton had narrowed its choices down to a couple teams and expected a decision shortly. Figuring out how to make the schedules work was the main roadblock, the source said.

Among possible sites under consideration are fellow International League affiliates Lehigh Valley and Rochester. Both Lehigh Valley president Kurt Landes and Rochester CEO Naomi Silver have said they are open to hosting the Yankees, though Silver said the Red Wings could accommodate Scranton for just half the season.

In May, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett approved a $20 million state grant to renovate PNC Field. The Lackawanna County Stadium Authority will match the grant with $20 million to complete the project. The majority of that money will come from the proceeds of a previously agreed upon $14.6 million sale of the team to SWB Yankees LLC—an entity made up of the New York Yankees and Mandalay Baseball that currently operates the team.

The sale of the team had yet to be brought before the league, and Mobley had previously said he expected it to be finalized at today’s meetings. He also said he expected it to be approved.

“Everybody realizes how significant the sales proceeds are to make this (ballpark renovation) happen, so you aren’t going to let them continue down this path if you anticipate there to be opposition to the sale,” Mobley said lat month. “If there were something in the early phases that would cause the league to blow it up, that would have already occurred.”

The Puerto Rican League, which missed an entire season four years ago, will be down to four teams in 2011-2012, according to El Nuevo Dia, a Spanish-language newspaper based in San Juan. Two agents who represent players from Puerto Rico confirmed the move, though attempts to contact officials with the league were unsuccessful.

Puerto Rican League president Antonmattei Giotia said the league’s board of directors had decided to play the upcoming winter season with Carolina, Ponce, Caguas and Mayaguez. The league played with just five teams last year as the Santurce Crabbers were on hiatus, and this year the San Juan Senators will also go dark. Giotia told El Nuevo Dia this was no hiatus. “The league will be four franchises,” he said. “It’s not temporary . . . This is over.” [...] Continue Reading »

Even though Metro Bank Park currently looks better suited to host a Bassmasters tournament than a baseball game, Double-A Harrisburg general manager Randy Whitaker is optimistic that the field could be ready if the Senators advance past Richmond in the Eastern League Divisional Series.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee has inundated much of the East Coast this week, and Metro Bank Park—which sits on an island in the middle of the Susquahanna River was hit particularly hard. The stadium, in its second season since undergoing a $32-million renovation, took on roughly seven feet of water. The playing field appeared to be completely submerged and water looked to have spilled into the lower bowl of seating.
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Minor league baseball continued to fare well in a tough economic climate, as more teams saw an increase at the gate this season despite overall attendance dropping slightly in 2011.

Unofficially, the minor leagues drew 41,237,943 spectators this season, down 0.47 percent from last year’s total of 41,432,456. Like last year, staying flat in a recession—when most professional sports are seeing significant decreases at the gate—should be viewed as a success.

In 2011, 83 teams saw an increase at the gate compared to 63 teams last year and 58 in 2009. However, overall attendance dipped for a third straight season after the sport set attendance records for five straight years, culminating in 2008 with 43,263,740.

Unofficial attendance figures for every minor league team are listed below. (Minor League Baseball will announce official attendance figures, which includes the Triple-A Mexican League, in the coming days.)

Though 83 teams saw an increase at the gate, that included just 12 of 30 Triple-A teams. Just two (Gwinnett and Memphis) were up by more than 5 percent. Meanwhile, nine Triple-A teams’ attendance went down at least 5 percent compared to last season.

Gwinnett saw its attendance increase after struggling to gain footing in its market after relocating from Richmond in 2009. The Braves ranked 12th in the 14-team International League with a 5,085 per-game average after ranking 13th last season at 4,818.

Memphis, once one of minor league baseball’s flagship franchises, had been hit hard by the recession as it struggled to make its $5.5 million annual payment on AutoZone Park. The Redbirds ranked fifth in the 16-team PCL with a 7,050 average, up 8.33 percent from 6,508 average last season (seventh in the PCL).

Lehigh Valley topped the minors in attendance for a second straight season, averaging 9,249 fans to outpace fellow International League affiliates Louisville (8,716) and Columbus (8,704). Round Rock finished fourth with a 8,587 average, though its 618,261 total was second to Lehigh Valley (628,925).

Sacramento, which led the minors in attendance for nine straight seasons before finishing second to Columbus in 2009, dipped 7.47 percent in 2011 to finish fifth.

Nolan Ryan’s latest find will be on display tonight when the Rangers host the Red Sox, but don’t look to the pitcher’s mound to find this prospect.

BBoy McCoy, the break-dancing bat boy, will make his major league debut tonight in Texas after spending four years spinning and poppin’ on top of dugouts throughout the minors. McCoy’s call to the big leagues comes after a recent appearance at Ryan-owned Triple-A Round Rock, where he apparently caught the eye of the Rangers president.

“Nolan suggested that we bring him up,” Rangers vice president of in-park entertainment Chuck Morgan said. “Nolan said to get him here because he heard good things about him in Round Rock.”

McCoy’s appearance at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington will cap an unlikely rise for the 21-year-old former Atlanta street performer that includes a run on the hit show “America’s Got Talent.” It was there in 2008 that McCoy, whose real name is Kenneth Paryo, met Dominic Latkovski, the veteran minor league performer and founder of BirdZerk and ZOOperstars.
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The Lynchburg Hillcats may have a tough time finding a spot in their ballpark to honor Calvin Falwell. That’s because there are few part of it available that don’t already pay homage to the team’s founder, who passed away on Saturday night at the age of 90 after suffering a heart attack on his way to a Hillcats game.

The stadium is named in his honor—Calvin Falwell Field at Lynchburg City Stadium—and Falwell’s name is displayed in center field and on the front of the building. He is honored in the stadium lobby as part of the city’s hall of fame and on another plaque in the garden area by the front gate.

“The best thing about it,” Lynchburg general manager Paul Sunwall says, “is that he got to see it all done while he was living.”

The recognition is certainly just for Falwell, who spearheaded the ownership group that brought the team to town in 1966 and worked hard to make sure it stuck around one of minor league baseball’s smallest markets.
Falwell attended all but a handful of Lynchburg’s home games this season and was a familiar face for fans in his suite. He remained team president until November 2009, passing on the duties vice president Rex Angel. Falwell ran the team’s monthly owners meetings until the past few years.

Sunwall, in his 32nd season with the Hillcats, says Falwell will be missed for more than his business acumen. “He will be missed for his presence and smile and southern hospitality. He was well liked and loved in the community.”

And it was in the community that Falwell embodied much of what minor league baseball strives to be. He opened Falwell Airport with his brother Lawrence in 1947 and worked on a number of community endeavors, including helping form the Lynchburg Little League in 1957, as well as being a regular contributor to the city’s Boys and Girls Clubs, Salvation Army and the local hospital.

“He was a very community-oriented guy,” Sunwall said. “He was very down to earth, very humble. He was never one to brag about his wealth.”

The Carolina League fell upon hard times in the 1970s as its enrollment dwindled to four teams. Falwell was one of the leaders in reviving the league.

“But for him and a few colleagues, we may not have had a league,” says John Hopkins, who has served as Carolina League president since 1984. “For me, personally, he was a beloved friend and a trusted confidante.”

Falwell was the Carolina League’s first representative on Minor League Baseball’s board of trustees and remained an officer in the league until 2010.

“He worked with four or five league presidents over the years,” Hopkins said. “There isn’t much he didn’t do.”

The man who helped build one of minor league baseball's most successful franchises is stepping down. Alan Ledford, the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats president/general manager/chief operating officer, announced his resignation on Thursday.

Ledford is leaving "to pursue future business interests in the sports and entertainment industry," the team announced in a release. His resignation will be effective June 24. Vice president of business operations Jeff Savage, the son of team owner Susan Savage, will take over Ledford's responsibilities as general manager.

Ledford did not immediately return a request for an interview.

Ledford, Baseball America's Executive of the Year in 2006, joined the River Cats in 2002 as president and COO before adding GM duties in 2004. He helped the River Cats top all of minor league baseball in attendance for 10 straight seasons beginning when the club debut in 2000.

The team was equally innovative at the ballpark and in the community under Ledford. Sacramento's Raley Field was one of the first stadiums in professional sports to go wireless in 2002, and has made fan amenities and entertainment one of its top priorities. In 2005, the River Cats helped form and sponsor a field in the community where children with disabilities can play baseball.

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After several months of deliberating over his future, Minor League Baseball president Pat O’Conner decided to run for a second four-year term in office. He notified the National Association board of trustees of his decision on May 24, one week before the required deadline.

O’Conner joined Minor League Baseball 19 years ago and spent 12 years as former president Mike Moore’s right-hand man before replacing him in December 2007. He had previously expressed concerns about serving a second term due to differing philosophies with the board of trustees on the direction of the sport.

O'Conner has worked to build the sport's national brand, leading the industry on several endeavors that go beyond teams' individual markets. And while many members of the board previously praised O'Conner's work—which includes extending the Professional Baseball Agreement with Major League Baseball, the launch of the Baseball Internet Rights Co., and overseeing the sport's growth during the recession—they also expressed doubts about some of his big ideas.

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I read one of those cute blog posts this morning highlighting all of the pop-culture reasons why you're old, including the fact that the cast of the television show "Boy Meets World" are now all in their early 30s. Does it make me even older if I never heard of "Boy Meets World?"

Apparently, plenty of people in Fresno are familiar with the hit '90s show, as nearly 7,000 fans came out to Chukchansi Park last night for this promotion: Mad Tight 90s Night Meets World, featuring Ben "Cory Matthews" Savage appearance from Boy Meets World.

The biggest draw of the night came in Indianapolis, as the Indians filled Victory Field with 12,565 fans on Education Day and Thursday Value Pack Night—which, for a $15 ticket, included a hot dog, unlimited soda and choice of souvenir item.

Fortunately, my kids don't read this blog and thus won't know that two teams offered Silly Bandz giveaways last night. Otherwise, there would be plenty of clamoring for a road trip to Peoria and Syracuse.

As Always, Thirsty Thursday was the promotion du jour, as 33 of the scheduled 60 games last night offered some variety of the promotion. Two of those games were rained out, leaving 31 Thirsty Thursday games that drew a total of 95,686 fans (or a 3,086 per-game average). 

Again, factors other than promotions do impact attendance, like weather (which has been a challenge for many teams this season) and Josh Hamilton minor league starts (Frisco drew 10,998 as the AL MVP made his second rehab start last night).

Below is a list of the scheduled promotions and attendance figures from last night's games.

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The weather was pretty miserable throughout much of the Eastern League last night, so perhaps "Richard Simmons Short Shorts Night" in Akron and "Fisher Cats Wing-Off" in New Hampshire could have been even bigger hits with better temperatures. The two promotions still drew 2,508 and 3,177 fans, respectively, close to each team's average attendance. 

The Double-A Frisco Roughriders had no promotion for last night listed on their schedule but still drew a minor league-high 8,313 fans. Perhaps they knew all along that Josh Hamilton would be starting a five-game rehab stint.

There were discounted drinks and food aplenty around the minors. The Double-A Mobile BayBears offered $1 glasses of wine for "Ladies Night" while high Class A Modesto Nuts offered $2 vino as part of "Wine Down Wednesday." The best bargain may have been in high Class A Lake Elsinore, where fans could feast on free hot dogs as part of "Wacky Weenie Wednesday." The low Class A Lexington Legends upped the ante a bit by offering "34-Cent Hot Dog Night" and drew 7,861 fans. And the Triple-A Columbus Clippers drew 6,651 on "50-Cent Wing Night."

Below is a complete listing of last night's promotions and attendance figures.

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Whether it be a Bark in the Park afternoon, an Awful Night or a Thirsty Thursday, the ultimate goal of minor league promotions is the same: to draw attention to your team and fans to the ballpark.

With that in mind, below is a chart tracking last night's attendance figures and promotions for every minor league baseball team. While promotions certainly impact a team's performance at the gate, they are not the only factor in how a team draws—weather, rehab starts, Stephen Strasburg (last year) and other factors can certainly determine how many fans come through the turnstiles.

The big winner of the day appears to be Triple-A Las Vegas, which sold out Cashman Field (11,001) on an Education Day promotion. Sadly, Double-A Akron's Fish Appreciation Night got washed out.

All but a handful of minor league teams participate in the Kraft Singles Tuesday Night Tickets deal, in which fans can redeem two tickets for the price of one when they bring a wrapper to the ballpark. Minor League Baseball reports that wrapper redemption is up 13 percent compared to last year.

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The future of minor league baseball in Scranton looks significantly brighter after new Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett approved a $20 million state grant last week, as part of a $40 million stadium renovation project.

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre franchise has been on a years-long quest to spruce up its deteriorating ballpark, which now ranks behind only Buffalo's ballpark as the oldest in the International League. While Buffalo's Coca-Cola Field has been frequently updated in its 23 years, however, PNC Field has not been since opening in 1989.

The state grant gives ballpark renovation efforts a huge boost, though plenty of questions still need resolution—ranging from the status of the team's sale to where the Yankees will play during construction—before it is time to roll out the wrecking ball.

"There are more questions than answers right now," International League president Randy Mobley said. "Hopefully over the next several weeks, we will be able to fill in some of those questions with answers."

The renovation project was put in motion last year when outgoing Gov. Ed Rendell signed off on the $20 million grant from the state's redevelopment fund. Corbett had spent the past four months reviewing the project before approving it.

The Lackawanna County stadium authority will match the grant with $20 million to complete the project. The majority of that money will come from the proceeds of a previously agreed upon $14.6 million sale of the team to SWB Yankees LLC—the entity made up of the New York Yankees and Mandalay Baseball that currently operates the team.

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The Double-A Huntsville Stars pushed back today's series-opener against Jacksonville until tomorrow, and will offer free tickets to all local residents. The 11 a.m. game is the team's first home contest since tornadoes rolled through the city last Wednesday.

The team called off today's game for practical and safety issues—the ballpark and most local businesses were without electricity until late Sunday night, Stars general manager Buck Rogers said, and they were concerned about providing adequate housing for visiting players and umpires. Curfews had been in place in Huntsville, and more storms were forecast for today.

While the team was on the road over the weekend, Huntsville opened up Joe W. Davis Municipal Stadium as a sanctuary for relief workers and local residents. Although the ballpark had no electricity, its kitchen—which works off gas heat—remained in working order. The team dished out roughly 8,000 meals, Rogers said, as several local restaurants emptied their freezers and brought food to the ballpark that would have spoiled.

"We had some really good food here," Rogers said. "Nobody was going to starve in this town."

The Stars hope to provide relief to fans once more with the free game tomorrow.

"The best thing we can do is take their minds off of everything going on," Rogers said. "We don't feel right about charging then for (the game). We're going to do one for the community—it's the least we can do for the support they've given us for the last couple of years."