Minor League Baseball- Boom Or Bust To

Minor League Baseball: Boom or Bust to Communities.

Despite the occasional disappointment, minor league baseball provides many

communities with economic development and an improved quality of life. Communities as

small as Elizabethtown, Tennessee or as large as Phoenix, Arizona have shared the

common bond of being the homes of major league farm teams. This is referred to as the

National Association of Professional Baseball, or more commonly known as the .minor

leagues.. As the popularity of major league baseball seems to be decreasing due to the

recent player strike, free agency, and anti-trust labor laws, minor league baseball has

generated excitement that can only be associated with baseball in the good old days. This

excitement is a purity of spirit which the majors no longer possess. .It is baseball in its

simplest form– just ball, bats, gloves, and lifelong dreams. The parks are generally small,

the players, hardworking young men whom local fans are likely to run into the next day at

the mall or maybe the corner bar. A family of four can see a game, eat dinner–maybe

even pick up a souvenir or two–without having to consider a second mortgage. No

lockouts, no holdouts, no five-dollar beers, and the umpire is the only one who can call a

strike. .Just the national pastime, played the game it is,. says one editor of The Minor

League Baseball Book.

There are currently 156 teams that are part of the National Association of

Professional Baseball. This number will grow in the next few years with the addition of

two expansion teams at the major league level. There have also been a number of

independent leagues formed which are said to be the .future of minor league baseball..

The success of these teams have shown how the value of these franchises have grown over

the past ten years. In the past, class AAA teams would sell for three hundred thousand

dollars while a smaller class A team went for fifty thousand. Today the class AAA teams

are being sold for as high as five million dollars while class A teams are going for around

one million. The best example of the fact that franchises have grown in value over the

years is the Reading Phillies. Joe Buzas, a minor league baseball entrepreneur, has owned

and operated twelve minor league teams in seventeen cities since 1956. In 1976, Buzas

bought the Reading Phillies franchise for $1. Ten years later in 1986 he sold it for

$1,000,000.

The addition of minor league baseball to communities can provide many benefits.

The greatest benefit is the overall economic lift that minor league baseball brings to a

community. Minor league baseball provides additional jobs. Initially, local individuals

build the stadium. This project takes from six months to a year. An average of 15 full-

time and 125 part-time individuals ranging in age from high school students to older,

retirees are employed at the stadium.

The stadium will be beneficial if it.s useful for the baseball fan as well as any

resident. For approximately seventy nights a year, a stadium will provide an opportunity

for the baseball fan to view professional baseball up close, to identify future stars and to

follow their careers, and to get a glimpse of current major league players who

occasionally are assigned to a minor league team for rehabilitation purposes or who are in

the last stages of their career. The stadium, however, should be more than that. It should

be a community facility that provides many types of recreational resources. A new

stadium is capital improvement and should have a life of more than two decades. If the

stadium and team are to be evaluated as a true community resource, they must serve the

entire community. If a stadium is utilized during the winter months, when baseball is not

played, not only will a community.s quality of life be enhanced, but the economic

development function of the stadium will be maximized as well.

The addition of minor league baseball to an area can be an important tool in

revitalizing an area. The best example that comes to mind is the Harrisburg Senators

located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1980, after three decades of decline, Harrisburg

was one of the most distressed cities in the nation. It had lost its credit rating and faced

bankruptcy. By 1988, under the leadership of Mayor Stephen Reed, Harrisburg had

become the leading city in economic growth among those with a population 50,000-

75,000. The turn around of the city gained recognition when Harrisburg was named the

second best investment city in eastern United States. Harrisburg officials have identified

several benefits that the city has derived from the presence of the Harrisburg Senators.

The most important benefit has been the redevelopment of City Island. City Island was

Reed’s announced site for a future stadium. The mayor anticipated using the stadium as

the centerpiece for the redevelopment of City Island. The mayor

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