Jump to content

Richmond Sports


eandslee

Recommended Posts


  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Potential Triple-A Merger Raises Hopes in Richmond

Interesting article on how the changing dynamics of minor league baseball could affect Richmond's chances of one day regaining a AAA team. But, here's what I thought was interesting:

From Bryan Bostic, part of the potential local ownership group:

Bostic reiterated yesterday that his group feels Richmond is a Triple-A city. He added "but it may take a while to get back to that."

At this time, Bostic believes, it would be in the area's best interest to plan a new downtown stadium, begin building it and bring in a Class AA franchise, if one is made available by Minor League Baseball....

Bostic's group has downtown stadium plans, though yesterday he chose not to reveal a specific location, capacity or financing structure.

"We've made it clear that we don't think the future of baseball in Richmond has real legs without a new facility," Bostic said. "A 21st-century, state-of-the-art facility is a must in any long-term success. It's a must for the character of our city as well as we look to the next quarter-century and beyond.

"We've got to stand up and the private sector participate with the public entities to create facilities that are commensurate with our capital city, our standing in the state and our standing in the country."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have never seen a downtown stadium that has done harm. Can someone name me one location where a downtown stadium has damaged a city's reputation? If so, I would like to know.

I think you're right, Shak. I've always thought that if not on the Boulevard, Downtown is the only other location for a stadium. My gut tells me that we'll see a Shockoe Bottom stadium 2.0 proposal appear (a serious case of deja vu).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coupe I hope we see another proposal for shockoe bottom as well. I hope it happens more and more now. I never knew that Bryan Bostic was one of the guys that was in with the old shockoe bottom stadium proposal. I feel the same way about it too I definitly think we will see a new version of the shockoe bottom stadium proposal. I cant wait to see what it will all be like too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coupe I hope we see another proposal for shockoe bottom as well. I hope it happens more and more now. I never knew that Bryan Bostic was one of the guys that was in with the old shockoe bottom stadium proposal. I feel the same way about it too I definitly think we will see a new version of the shockoe bottom stadium proposal. I cant wait to see what it will all be like too.

Richmond has got to get the stadium built in the bottom. You have lots of new stuff going on in downtown but it is still very fragmented. You really need to get some foot traffic down there and what better way to do it. If you can get at least 5K people down there routinely for a game that would add so much to the downtown area. Short Pump is lively b/c you can always count on people being there. The area feeds off that from the bars to the restaurants. In downtown you can go there during the day or some weeknights and it is dead. The canal has not taken off because of this and I think the entire area needs the traffic to really keep the momentum going or to take it up a few notches. Why some businesses fought the idea of a downtown ballpark I'll never understand? Why Richmond leaders listened to them is even dumber.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Richmond has got to get the stadium built in the bottom. You have lots of new stuff going on in downtown but it is still very fragmented. You really need to get some foot traffic down there and what better way to do it. If you can get at least 5K people down there routinely for a game that would add so much to the downtown area. Short Pump is lively b/c you can always count on people being there. The area feeds off that from the bars to the restaurants. In downtown you can go there during the day or some weeknights and it is dead. The canal has not taken off because of this and I think the entire area needs the traffic to really keep the momentum going or to take it up a few notches. Why some businesses fought the idea of a downtown ballpark I'll never understand? Why Richmond leaders listened to them is even dumber.

No objections here so long as the city taxpayers are not on the hook for any replacement costs when flood waters cause damage. The new flood maps to be released in February of 2009, depict that entire Shockoe Valley from Hospital Street to the floodwall, within the 100-year flood plain.

If you build in the flood plain, city taxpayers should NOT be liable to pay for your replacement costs! With that being said, I believe the opposition to a ballpark in the bottom would be much less now than years ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's likely a ball park in The Bottom would be high enough (except the field itself) to weather even a major flood. It's unimaginable that it would not carry heavy flood insurance.

The futzing around resulting in a loss of triple A status probably has changed a lot of minds about the value of a downtown location.

Another point: The new City Master Plan for downtown includes lots of infill in the Shockoe Bottom flood zone, and that plan is on the verge of being approved . A new stadium could be imaginatively designed to include commercial shops/restaurants, etc. along its Broad Street frontage. If anyone has access to them, see the Master Plan proposals for Broad Street in The Bottom.

Edited by burt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Oh Yeah I forgot all about that and I remember hearing he was gonna be there. Wish I could of gone to that game to support a former Freeman Rebel. I remember when I was younger I used to see Elliot all the time when he worked at Melitos and Westbury Pharmacy. A longtime friend of mine used to work with Elliot and keeps saying how amazing it was to work with someone who has made it big.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To what can we attribute the surge in attendance at The Diamond? Seats sold for Friday's game topped 8,000 and yesterday, the figure was 9,000+, although all sold seats were not occupied.

Doesn't sound like the apathetic fans of recent yore! :lol:

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/sports.apx.-...08-17-0265.html

Elliott Yamin may have had a little something to do with it but I believe that the surge in attendance was to see World Series pitcher Dontrelle Willis. Willis used to pitch for the Marlins in their heyday and was traded to the Detroit Tigers. He has been working his way back up through the minors and started Friday with Toledo against the Braves. (see story)

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...RTS02/808130422

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I think that was it too. I keep forgetting that was the same night as Elliot Yamin. Dontrelle Willis used to pitch for t he Marlins and also won a World Series with the Florida Marlins in 2003. He was part of the Miguel Cabrera Deal between the Detroit Tigers and the Florida Marlins. Tigers sent some of there best prospects to the Marlins for Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera. Tigers sent there 2005 First Round Draft Pick Cameron Maybin and 2006 First Round Draft Pick Andrew Miller. Andrew Miller was already up with the Tigers for a little bit but Maybin was still in the minors at the time and is evey now and then on fire. I sold a few of Maybins prospect cards on ebay for about $100 dollars a piece. Maybins is now in the minors for Florida with the Carolina Mudcats in his home state of North Carolina.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After reading the article in the newspaper today I wonder if Richmond gets the Bowie Baysox which is the Orioles Double A ballclub I wonder if it will still be the Orioles Double A team but my guess on it would be a big yes since Norfolk is the Triple A Team for the Orioles after being the Mets Triple A team for a long time. I will be very excited if we get the Bowie Baysox and are still affiliated with the Orioles since they are starting to have a very nice farm system which will allow me to get some even nicer autographs of players from all over AA. Double A Ballparks are usually pretty nice and I hope we can make ours top class as well. They also mentioned that if we get the Bowie Baysox that the Connecticuit Defenders which is the San Francisco Giants Double A team will move to Bowie to replace the Baysox. It makes perfect sense to bring Double A Orioles here and then send them on a bus to Norfolk for Triple A and then send them on a plane from Norfolk up the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore. Only drawback is the farther distance coming from Single A Frederick to AA Richmond if it happens. But I really hope we get to see Bowie come here I have always loved going to Bowie to see the Baysox play.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.