Greenville Drive Baseball

[g-man430]

Check this story out: http://www.wyff4.com/news/5357801/detail.html

[RestedTraveler]

Hehehe. Oh brother! I was actually considering the idea of creating some Greenville Spinners (Spider) Logos, a Spinners Spider Mascot, and circling a petition, myself.

This is a one renegade town, so I'll abandon that idea now.

[Greenville]

I think I actually prefer Drive to Joes, for whatever that's worth.

[rlwhite]

I wouldn't have chosen Drive. I don't like the sound of Joes, but I'd be willing to endure that to honor Shoeless Joe. People don't see "Greenville Drive" and think about the city leadership and all that hogwash. They see a bland name that doesn't fit a sports team. Perhaps people will think of the local automotive industry, but they don't really want to associate the two. They just want to enjoy baseball. This sort of marketing doesn't belong here.

By the way, the Greenville media has misreported that Major League Baseball vetoed the Joes. It's Minor League Baseball that has final say on naming and relocation of minor league teams and ultimately vetoed the Joes.

What really bothers me about the rejection of the Joes name though is that the Joes would have been approved in any other city. Would baseball have really rejected the Seattle Joes because of Jackson's ban, or the Pasadena Roses because of Pete Rose's ban?

What would you think of renaming the street such that the new stadium's address would be 5 Joe Jackson Avenue or something similar? (5 was Jackson's uniform number when he played for Greenville in the 1930s according to http://www.blackbetsy.com/jjfaq.htm#uniform_number .) This way we can honor him with this team in a way that baseball is powerless to prevent.

In my opinion Greenville has struck out with this new team. They fumbled around and lost THE best franchise. No team runs more consistently great talent through the minors year-in and year-out than the Braves. They lost THE best level. AA is the last minor league stop common to almost all future major leaguers. There's a noticeable difference in talent. They put the stadium not only downtown, but also on the West End with no new parking. Let's face it, the majority of the fan base is on the east side of the county and will remain so even after revitalization. Greenville has done a good job of adding parking around the Main Street revitalization, but there's not going to be enough near the West End. The Bombers weren't managed well this past season. The way the scoreboard was allowed to waste away was an embarrassment to Greenville and one of the first things noted in any conversation I heard about the stadium this year. Now there's the failure to run an actual naming contest as promised, and the result is an unpopular name. I'm a native of Greenville and an avid baseball fan who was raised on Greenville Braves baseball and who has come back frequently to see games even though my job has taken me to Charleston, but I can no longer view the Greenville minor league team as my team, and it's doubtful that I'll visit the new stadium more than once. Unlike the Greenville Braves, this team is about what the city leaders want rather than what the fans want.

[Greenville]

Welcome to Urban Planet, rlwhite!

[gs3]

Went to Cafe and Then Some last night to see their latest show "CSI Christmas". In the play, they spent a good 10 minutes lambasting the name the "Drive". All the fun being poked at the name drew major applause from the audience! It's not just us UPer's that don't like the name. As somebody ask in an earlier post....is ANYONE happy about the name??

[RestedTraveler]

What would you think of renaming the street such that the new stadium's address would be 5 Joe Jackson Avenue or something similar? (5 was Jackson's uniform number when he played for Greenville in the 1930s according to http://www.blackbetsy.com/jjfaq.htm#uniform_number .) This way we can honor him with this team in a way that baseball is powerless to prevent.

I'd be all for that, myself.

Welcome to UP, rlwhite!

[Spartan]

addressing the parking issue brought up by rlwhite:

The idea is that people going to the game will park on the street and in garages and other lots, much like they do when going to a large festival downtown. Granted it makes parking more difficult, but its a more attractive option than a sea of asphalt that surrounds municipal stadium. I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that the city was going to build a garge near the stadium to accomodate some of the parking?

[RestedTraveler]

Well, in the spirit of the season, I'd like to give a little thanks.

I am thankful, myself, that city leaders in Greenville didn't give in to the Atlanta Braves demands for the city to finance construction of a new ballpark. I'm thankful to the Greenville Bombers/Drive and Boston Red Sox for shouldering the construction cost of the new ballpark. I'm thankful that our team's not going to be named the "Greenville Grits." I'm thankful that I'll not have to drive 35 miles to see a ballgame next year. And, I'm thankful for the extra exercise that my family and I will get by parking and walking to the ballpark.

Unlike the Greenville Braves, this team is about what the city leaders want rather than what the fans want.

In the end, both the Atlanta Braves and the City of Greenville got what they wanted. The Braves got a brand new ballpark withouot paying one cent and are also getting all ticket sales and concession revenue for the next XX years (I believe XX = 15, if I recall). The City of Greenville is getting a beautiful new addition to the West End and a good professional starting point for the future Johnny Damon's and Jason Varitek's of the world.

[gs3]

^ VERY well said!

[rlwhite]

In the end, both the Atlanta Braves and the City of Greenville got what they wanted.

This is the heart of the problem. Minor League Baseball allows one team per county. This isn't supposed to serve just the City of Greenville; it's supposed to serve all of Greenville County. The county population is ~400,000, and only ~60,000 live in the city. The city got what it wanted, but the vast majority of the fans have been neglected. The Greenville County population center is on the Eastside, and the commute for the average fan is going up. Most in the county wanted a stadium in the old location or elsewhere east of downtown.

Pro baseball has gotten great at passing the public costs over areas other than direct stadium costs. The Drive are paying for the stadium, but the city's paying for supporting infrastructure (something in the $10M range IIRC), which was about what they would've otherwise kicked into stadium costs with no need for new infrastructure.

[Greenville]

The city is banking on that investment in infrastructure to result in a net gain in money that is brought into the city. With other developments that are sure to occur as a result of the ballpark, I think the city's investment will turn out to be a very wise one. Wouldn't you agree?

[vicupstate]

This is the heart of the problem. Minor League Baseball allows one team per county. This isn't supposed to serve just the City of Greenville; it's supposed to serve all of Greenville County. The county population is ~400,000, and only ~60,000 live in the city. The city got what it wanted, but the vast majority of the fans have been neglected. The Greenville County population center is on the Eastside, and the commute for the average fan is going up. Most in the county wanted a stadium in the old location or elsewhere east of downtown.

Pro baseball has gotten great at passing the public costs over areas other than direct stadium costs. The Drive are paying for the stadium, but the city's paying for supporting infrastructure (something in the $10M range IIRC), which was about what they would've otherwise kicked into stadium costs with no need for new infrastructure.

I don't think you can say the average commute is going up. There were only about 1,500 fans attending at the old stadium. If the new stadium fills up at 5,000, then obviously the majority of those in attendance would be NEW fans, who are more likely to be those who live closer to the stadium. The $10mm figure seems higher than my recolection of $7mm, but maybe someone willl dig up that information.

By investing in the new ballpark, the city will jump start redevelopment in the West End and augment it the overall CBD. The suburbs don't need such things, and much of the suburbs are outside the city. You can't expect the city to be as supporting of something at it's fringe, where the return on investment would be lower.

[RestedTraveler]

This is the heart of the problem. Minor League Baseball allows one team per county. This isn't supposed to serve just the City of Greenville; it's supposed to serve all of Greenville County. The county population is ~400,000, and only ~60,000 live in the city. The city got what it wanted, but the vast majority of the fans have been neglected. The Greenville County population center is on the Eastside, and the commute for the average fan is going up. Most in the county wanted a stadium in the old location or elsewhere east of downtown.

I live in the extreme Northern End of Greenville County. I, for one, am very happy that the ballpark will be located nearer the center of the county rather than out at the old location, at the Point, or off of Butler Road. This will definitely cut down the time it takes me to get to a game and will make me more inclined to go to more games as well.

Pro baseball has gotten great at passing the public costs over areas other than direct stadium costs. The Drive are paying for the stadium, but the city's paying for supporting infrastructure (something in the $10M range IIRC), which was about what they would've otherwise kicked into stadium costs with no need for new infrastructure.

As I recall, the amount that is being contributed by the city is $7.5 million for infrastructure and landscaping improvements. This amount was already set aside for these very improvements in this very area, so it's not like they're spending anything they wouldn't have already been spending. The Braves were calling for the city to build a ballpark that seated 7500 at a cost of around $25 million. The Bombers/Drive/Red Sox are building the new ballpark themselves at a cost of around $14 million. Even if the city had been required to pick up the tab for the construction of the ballpark, it's still a savings over what they would have been spending for the Braves ballpark.

When you reflect in a few years and consider the redevelopment in the West End for which this ballpark served as a catalyst, I'm confident that you'll agree that the right thing was done.

[GvilleSC]

This isn't supposed to serve just the City of Greenville; it's supposed to serve all of Greenville County. The county population is ~400,000, and only ~60,000 live in the city. The city got what it wanted, but the vast majority of the fans have been neglected. The Greenville County population center is on the Eastside, and the commute for the average fan is going up. Most in the county wanted a stadium in the old location or elsewhere east of downtown.

Actually, there is a population within a 15 minute drive of downtown of 165,665. And these figures are old... It's not just the 60,000 residents of the city, but the greater community even it's downtown.

[gs3]

This is the heart of the problem. Minor League Baseball allows one team per county. This isn't supposed to serve just the City of Greenville; it's supposed to serve all of Greenville County. The county population is ~400,000, and only ~60,000 live in the city. The city got what it wanted, but the vast majority of the fans have been neglected. The Greenville County population center is on the Eastside, and the commute for the average fan is going up. Most in the county wanted a stadium in the old location or elsewhere east of downtown.

Isn't Greenville (city) almost exactly in the center of Greenville County, both north/south and east/west? The new ballpark location downtown seems perfectly positioned to serve the whole county, as well as neighboring counties.

[GvilleSC]

Isn't Greenville (city) almost exactly in the center of Greenville County, both north/south and east/west? The new ballpark location downtown seems perfectly positioned to serve the whole county, as well as neighboring counties.

I'd say kinda . The city is positioned well, but downtown is in the western part of the city limits... "almost" in Pickens County (all i mean is close and in that direction) and it's not really positioned in the center as far as north and south, but as far as population i'd say yes. BUT this location will prove easier to get to. South- 85 to 185 to downtown... North- Poinsett Hwy to downtown... East- either 185 or 385 to downtown... West- 123 to downtown... And there's resturants and whatnot to offer the opportunity to make it an evening and not just an outing.

[g-man430]

Check this out: http://www.greenvilledrive.com/news/news.asp?newsId=355

The Greenville Drive have opened a team store downtown on 15 North Main Street.

[RestedTraveler]

Excellent! Thanks for the 411, g-man!

[gs3]

Will this shop stay open after the ballpark opens?

[RestedTraveler]

No. From what I understand, this is just a temporary location that the Drive will be using until the Stadium Store is ready for occupancy in February.

[g-man430]

I rode the trolley today which is pretty nice and its heated too. I also went to the new Greenville Drive Store on Main Street. It turns out the store is inside the old young fashions building so I take it the building isn't going to come down before February.

Edited December 3, 2005 by g-man430

[RestedTraveler]

I still haven't taken a ride on the trolley, but I did get a couple of photos of it today as it stopped along Main Street while GPD closed the street off for tonight's Christmas Parade.

I went into the temporary G-Drive store too. It was pretty sparse, but at least they had the fitted New Era caps for home (red) and away (navy) as well as the Red Sox hats, lots of T-Shirts, small wooden baseball bats of various colors (even PINK, as my daughter pointed out), wrist bands, etc..

It appeared to me that the store is not only there to sell G-Drive wares, but it's also there to promote the team, the new downtown ballpark, and to sell season tickets.

Also, on one final note, I overheard someone asking the ladies at the store, "Why did they choose the name, Drive? That's so lame." I imagine that's a question they hear all day, every day.

[gs3]

Checked out the Drive store and bought a cap and t-shirt. Somewhat limited on their merchandise. Talked with a couple of people in there and apparently there is a SPECTACULAR event planned for the grand opening / first game. They wouldn't give away the details, but said it would be a "major event". Being coordinated with the city.

[gs3]

Looks like some updates to the Drive website.

http://www.greenvilledrive.com/stadium/