Goodbye Bostic...hello Nolan Ryan....

From the Norwich Bulletin by Joe Perez:

"Norwich, Conn. — The long-awaited sale of the Connecticut Defenders to a group of Richmond, Va.-based group isn’t going to happen.

At a press conference in Richmond on Thursday a spokesman for Richmond Baseball LC, Pete Boisseau, confirmed that the deal “did not mature,” but said the economy was the primary factor. Boisseau said that despite the failure of the initial proposal the possibility exists for a group of Richmond-based investors to purchase the team with the help of outside help.

The press conference coincided with the arrival of Reece and Reid Ryan, sons of baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, in Richmond. As chief executive officers of Ryan-Sanders Baseball LC, which owns two teams in Texas, the brothers are exploring the viability of the market.
The Ryans were unavailable for comment.

Eastern League President Joe McEacharn said that the drop-dead date to get a deal done is Aug. 1, which is when the league needs begin preparing for the 2010 season.

Connecticut owner Lou DiBella said he was forbidden from attending the press conference.
“I was never asked to go to Richmond,” he said. “I was never invited to go to Richmond. In fact, I was told I couldn’t go to Richmond. I can’t go down there to meet the mayor (because) I would be fined for tampering by Minor League Baseball.”

The intention to sell and relocate the team became public in February, after McEacharn approached the city of Norwich and informed it that the area could no longer support the Defenders.

With a willing buyer in Bryan Bostic and Richmond Baseball LC already in place, the repercussions were felt immediately as advertisers in an already stretched thin economy pulled their support.

“There were people who said their participation was going to be limited or eliminated because of the possibility of the team leaving,” Defenders General Manager Charlie Dowd said.

Now that the months-long sale process which frequently was called “imminent” has collapsed on Richmond Baseball’s lack of funding, the future of the team is in doubt.

Norwich Mayor Ben Lathrop doesn’t believe the deal is dead because McEacharn, whom he calls “the facilitator,” made his intentions clear. As a result, a city business – and the community – was negatively affected by Bostic’s inability to buy the team.

“I don’t think it’s relevant to what we’re dealing with here,” Lathrop said. “Either way you look at it, the Eastern League President wanted to move the team to Richmond, whether it’s Bostic or Nolan Ryan. I think it’s inevitable. I don’t think Bostic could get his money. It’s all about business, that’s all.”"

The EL really really wants to be in Richmond and has spent a lot of time hitching it's wagon to the wrong horse with Bostic. They don't see the existing stadium as the long solution either and the folks in Richmond clearly don't want to raise capital funds for a new ballpark if it means increased taxes. Stay tuned....