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July 8, 2007

Could Terre Haute support a minor league baseball team?

Financial issues are major concern

By Todd Golden

TERRE HAUTE — If Field Of Dreams was made about baseball in Terre Haute, its most famous line wouldn’t have the same lyrical majesty that the beloved movie had.

“Build it … and we will come” constitutes celluloid lore from the mystical baseball film.

Terre Haute’s hopes for a minor league baseball team hinge on, “Fund it, renovate it … and they might come?”

Not quite the same. But that’s the reality that Terre Haute faces if minor league baseball is to return to a city that hasn’t hosted a minor league team since the early 1960s.

The Frontier League — a 12-team independent minor league circuit that stretches from Slippery Rock, Pa., to O’Fallon, Mo. — has been interested in Terre Haute for a long time. When Indiana State Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman arrived two years ago, he immediately began to court potential club owners as well as those interested in funding a Sycamore Field renovation.

Frontier League commissioner Bill Lee met with Prettyman and city officials two weeks ago regarding progress on these matters. It was the second meeting Lee has had with interested minor league parties in Terre Haute in a year.

It is believed that the Frontier League would be interested in moving one of its existing franchises to Terre Haute, though neither Prettyman or Lee would confirm it. Potential owners — none of whom have been publicly identified — are also believed to be considering investment in a franchise, contingent on an available facility.

And the stadium is where the heart of the matter lies as far as local minor league baseball. Lack of money to make renovations to Sycamore Field was cited by Prettyman as the main roadblock to minor league baseball in the Wabash Valley.

“Money ...” said Prettyman in one-word answer about the road block to Terre Haute minor league baseball. “We’re essentially really confident with in a possible partnership with the Frontier League that we could find an ownership group to work with. But our facility doesn’t lend themselves to minimum standards of the league.”

Unlike many other cities that lost minor league baseball in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Terre Haute did not keep its old minor league stadium intact. Memorial Stadium was a suitable home for Terre Haute baseball before cultural changes such as television and greater middle class mobility killed minor league baseball here and in many other similarly-sized cities.

Some Frontier League cities — most notably Evansville with Bosse Field — use the WPA Depression-era stadia that Terre Haute once had in Memorial Stadium, but that was long ago converted to football usage only.

Terre Haute is left with Sycamore Field — a facility that is middle-of-the-road quality-wise for Missouri Valley Conference baseball, but is well behind the curve for minor league baseball.

How far behind the curve? Prettyman estimates that $1 to 5.4 million dollars worth of renovations would need to made to Sycamore Field to make it viable for the Frontier League. Prettyman indicated that a laundry list of things would need to be done to Sycamore Field — including major renovations to the physical plant inside and outside the stadium (see graphic) to make it work.

“We need someone who would love to leave their legacy to the area and attach their name to such a project,” said Prettyman, who said the benefit to the university besides an improved facility would be the opportunity for ISU’s baseball team to have access to a professional team as well as internship opportunities for ISU students.

Lee hinted that Terre Haute might be an important enough market to temporarily lift some of its requirements it desires at Sycamore Field, but not without a long-term commitment in place to make renovations.

“Sometimes I think the league has to go out on a limb and try and groom a city for the league long-term. Maybe we go in a limited type of basis and try to do it, but I don’t know whether we’d do that or not, it’s up to our owners,” Lee said. “The league in some cases has to be flexible in its restrictions and guidelines. It would at least help if there’s a commitment to make improvements in place, but when you are doing something new in a new market, it’s ideal to put your best foot forward with all guns blazing.”

The mayor’s office has given minor league baseball moral support. The economic and cultural benefits of having a team would be a potential economic boost to the city.

“It’s the best possibility we’ve had yet,” said Pete Ciancone, Communications Director for the City of Terre Haute. “The city is interested in seeing what happens and is excited at the prospect.”

Barring an unlikely change of political winds from city government and among city residents, financial support to subsidize stadium renovations is not likely to come from city government.

Which leaves organizers dependent on the private sector. And it seems that the gulf between basic local interest in minor league baseball and real financial commitment needs to be bridged for minor league baseball to happen in Terre Haute.

“I’d agree with that. No matter how you cut it or slice it, a lot of it rotates around the dollar,” Lee said. “Once you get someone to pull the trigger on making a commitment, now you got some potential for some good things to happen. There’s always a silent majority that doesn’t really respond to anything more than basic interest in something like this, but once you get something going, people will be on board.”

But who will get it going? Prettyman said that the quest to get minor league baseball at Sycamore Field has involved a small group of dedicated people to this point. But despite only tacit support among the community at large, Prettyman remains confident it can happen.

“I believe we could have a minor league team here next year if we could find funding and I’m not discouraged by any means as long as we’re in discussions,” said Prettyman, who added the proviso that his athletic director duties will take more of his time as the fall sports season gets closer, and will lessen his time on minor league baseball.

Lee said the Frontier League will maintain interest in the city as long as there’s a chance someone or a group of people could bankroll it.

“It’s a nice market because of the geography, the size of the city, and it’s own media market which is very attractive,” Lee said. “I’ve looked at Terre Haute for many years. It’s been on our radar screen since at least the late 1990s, but its always been about getting the facility where it needs to be for us to be there.”





What needs to be done?

Sycamore Field would need to be renovated to bring minor league baseball to Terre Haute. Here’s a list of renovations that would have to be made to lure minor league baseball:

• Locker rooms with showers

• More bathrooms

• Larger and improved spectator areas with chairback seating

• A dressing room for umpires to dress

• A ticket office that could be accessed during off-hours.

• A covered batting cage area.

• Satellite training room.

• Upgrades to the existing press box or a new one.



The Frontier League

Here are the 12 franchises currently competing in the Frontier League

Evansville Otters

Chillicothe (Ohio) Paints

Rockford (Ill.) RiverHawks

Slippery Rock (Pa.) Sliders

Florence (Ky.) Freedom

Southern Illinois Miners (based in Marion, Ill.)

Gateway Grizzlies (based in Sauget, Ill.)

Traverse City (Mich.) Beach Bums

Kalamazoo (Mich.) Kings

Washington (Pa.) Wild Things

River City Rascals (based in O’Fallon, Mo.)

Windy City Thunderbolts (based in Crestwood, Ill.)

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