So with a 100 days left to the last......

regularly scheduled game at Dodd in the 2009 season, the failure of the Bostic group to buy and move the Defenders was realized yesterday. Another group headed up by Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan is on deck.

The Eastern League WANTS Richmond and getting the name value of Mr. Ryan with a couple of Richmond minority owners sprinkled in for local flavor is a much better "deal" for the league than a group headed by Robert Preston..I mean Mr. Bostic.

The EL dislikes Norwich and Lou. It dislikes Norwich because it's a small market with no juice once the Yankees left for Trenton. It dislikes Norwich because the Giants have stocked the team with last place teams since 2003. The Giants dislike Norwich for not moving the fences in. The Giants hate the Northeast weather. The league dislikes that San Francisco and Norwich don't get along and that has translated into prospects not being sent to Norwich or just dropping in for a cup of coffee. The only time the SF GM has ever seen his Double A team play in CT. in the seven years the Giants have been here was in New Britain.

The EL dislikes Lou because I'm told he can rub people the wrong way (not a big surprise there with a Type-A personality) and he's not in their minds a "baseball" guy. Disclaimer--that's what I've heard and it's not from anyone from the current front office staff, league office staff or current local media staffs but I've heard it from people who were in positions of knowing. The EL dislikes Lou because they thought as a big time boxing promoter that those skills would translate into fannies in the seats at Dodd--it didn't and some of that was because Lou and the town didn't see eye to eye on various issues.
The name change fron "Norwich" to "Connecticut" totally upset the New Britain franchise and to this day you don't see the words "Connecticut Defenders" anywhere at that ballpark. The EL loves New Britain. Most local people disliked the name change as well. The EL is now treating Lou as an after thought in this whole process. They want his signature on the bill of sale and nothing more. Oddly though, he owns what the league wants, and the league still treats him like crap.

The EL is now willing to hold it's nose for a couple of seasons and play in the aluminum bowl off the highway that's called the Diamond in the hopes of getting a new park. It sounds like the Ryans do a nice job building those so I'm sure the league can extend it's current position of two seasons in the Diamond to maybe three or four while wanting for the economy to turn around in the hopes of getting a new ballpark. Another plus could be an affiliation swap between Harrisburg, whose parent club is the Nationals, and Richmond down the road. Harrisburg just renovated it's ball park in the off season which would appeal to the Giants and it's still close enough to Augusta, the Giant's low level single A team.

The fan experience at Dodd is suffering. The bottom half of the score board still doesn't work. The road sign marquee doesn't work. The speed pitch sign doesn't work. The water fountains behind the press box don't work. Note: the clock on top of the scoreboard never worked. But the restrooms were fixed in the off season--they were in need of repair since day one. The team also built an indoor batting cage several years ago. There are not as many advertisers at the park. Whether it's the economy or not, the perceived lame duck status may have been the tipping point for some companies.

BUT..

The team is in first place today. It's playing great on the road and if it can play .500 at home or better, we will have a playoff team sans call-ups, injuries, etc. I hope the local fans respond to a winning team and come out to Dodd this summer. Minor league ball is a great value in these harsh economic times.

I hope Lou can sell the team before August 1st and get at least what the Bostic group was offering. I hope he is indeed successful at getting a short season team into Dodd for 2010. No matter how you feel about him, the fact that he wants to do right by Norwich and leave them with a pro baseball team is on face value admirable. Given the shabby treatment he's gotten from the EL, Milb owes him that. And like I wrote above he owns want they want. A fresh start is needed up on the hill and getting the sale done is the first step.

Open invitation...to Lou, the league, the town or the Giants to respond....contact me at gfogg@ct.metrocast.net and I'll post provided I can validate the sender(s).