Greenville Drive Baseball

[RestedTraveler]

SO, was last night not as full as the opening game?

The place was pretty full. I imagined it was close to capacity, so it's good to see that it was. Of course, a lot of the E-P gang got up and left after their picture was taken during the middle of the second inning.

[NYTransplant]

Great photos guys!

RT, did you get a new lens?

[gs3]

For some odd reason that I don't know enough variables to comment on, the single A SALLY league is about equal with the Southern League in attedance.

2005 Sally average attendance: 3,225

2005 Southern League attendance: 3,517

The AAA International League, with teams in Richmond, Charlotee and Nashville for example, averages 6,634, usually in 10,000+ seat stadiums.

Sadly the Braves organization doesn't really care what the attendance is because they didn't pay for the stadium nor is Steve DeSalvo given much of a promotional budget. I'm an Atlanta Braves fan, and the Braves business model is to own their own farm clubs and run their stadium operations. Unfortunately, the owners, Time-Warner, refuse to invest in their own infrastructure, as Greenville found out, because every medium-sized city in the South wants a Braves minor league organization.

For comparisons sake, while the Drive had about 5,325 in attendance last night, 30 miles up the road in Clemson, the Tigers played the Maryland Terapins and had 5,209 in paid attendance. It was a good night for Upstate baseball fans.

The Clemson athletic administration has recently announced that they intend to upgrade Doug Kingsmore Stadium to AAA standards, with at least 10,000 seats and luxury suites and a musueum.

Renaissance for Upstate baseball fans? I think so.

Interesting info about the average attendance for Sally and Southern league. I'd be interested in learning more about why this is. Maybe now with the new Drive ballpark, our attendance will up the average for the whole Sally league!

My baseball pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42084480@N00/

Great photos g-man!

[gs3]

A couple of photos I took during the day while the ballpark was closed of the south entrance. I love entering the stadium here because it's so deceiving from the street. Only a few steps up and then BAM......this large ballpark spreads out before below.....on the other side of the field, the Fieldhouse rising. It feels extremely urban to me entering through this gate. Love it!

[gs3]

One of the many banners the city has in place around town:

[RestedTraveler]

Great photos guys!

RT, did you get a new lens?

Thanks! Yea, after shopping around for a good inexpensive telephoto zoom lens, I went with the Canon EF 75-300mm USM lens.

A couple of photos I took during the day while the ballpark was closed of the south entrance. I love entering the stadium here because it's so deceiving from the street. Only a few steps up and then BAM......this large ballpark spreads out before below.....on the other side of the field, the Fieldhouse rising. It feels extremely urban to me entering through this gate. Love it!

Nice photos, gsupsate! Not to mention, this entrance is also where the players clubhouse is and the Drive have someone out there before every game for autographs and photos.

[NYTransplant]

Thanks! Yea, after shopping around for a good inexpensive telephoto zoom lens, I went with the Canon EF 75-300mm USM lens.

Very crisp. I like it!

[RestedTraveler]

I like it, too..it does a great job for the money! The Friday Night Drive Game was my test run. I just had to get used to people 100 yards away walking in front of me and stop flinching every time they did.

[NYTransplant]

I like it, too..it does a great job for the money! The Friday Night Drive Game was my test run. I just had to get used to people 100 yards away walking in front of me and stop flinching every time they did.

[goodbye]

Those are indeed fantastic shots, RT, NYT, and gsupstate! Thank you both for posting them here - and thank you g-man for posting a link to yours.

[breed]

Just a comment to add... I don't know if it will be a recurring scene, but Shoeless Joe made another appearance in Saturday's game... coming in from right field to warm up Luis Soto (Drive RFer) before at least one inning.

[RestedTraveler]

Just a comment to add... I don't know if it will be a recurring scene, but Shoeless Joe made another appearance in Saturday's game... coming in from right field to warm up Luis Soto (Drive RFer) before at least one inning.

You know, I half expected to see the scene from Thursday Night re-created one more time for the folks that attended Friday Night, but it didn't happen. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking on my part. I suppose that scene was a once-in-a-lifetime event anyway, so it's best that way. I didn't see Shoeless Joe at all on Friday.

It would be very cool if this (seeing Shoeless Joe on the field warming up or taking batting practice) were something that were a quiet recurring theme throughout the season this season and into the future. I think that would be a very fitting tribute.

Edited April 11, 2006 by RestedTraveler

[Fiddlestix]

Just a comment to add... I don't know if it will be a recurring scene, but Shoeless Joe made another appearance in Saturday's game... coming in from right field to warm up Luis Soto (Drive RFer) before at least one inning.

Joe will be something to watch for all season. I don't think they will announce it -- or acknowledge it -- but I have reason to believe that there will be other "Easter Eggs" during the season, so stay tuned. Maybe there should be a thread here where people can report the Greenville Drive Easter Eggs they spot during the season.... I don't even know if it is viewed by the Drive collectively as a promotion -- referring to all of the "unannounced promotional throw-ins" that I think are best described as "Easter Eggs" (because I'm a geek). I've heard about a couple other goodies that will be coming up -- and gossip about Joe "haunting" the ballpark (<-- see? I'm catching on!) at least a few other times. I'm pretty sure if I've heard of a couple things there are lots more I haven't heard about.

[RestedTraveler]

It's rather like hunting for "Hidden Mickeys" at Disney.

[goodbye]

You know, I half expected to see the scene from Thursday Night re-created one more time for the folks that attended Friday Night, but it didn't happen. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking on my part. I suppose that scene was a once-in-a-lifetime event anyway, so it's best that way. I didn't see Shoeless Joe at all on Friday.

It would be very cool if this (seeing Shoeless Joe on the field warming up or taking batting practice) were something that were a quiet recurring theme throughout the season this season and into the future. I think that would be a very fitting tribute.

That would be another "Greenville-only" special.

[RestedTraveler]

It was neat to see on Saturday Afternoon, on a weekend where the Drive were out of town playing in Augusta and Columbus, GA, that there was still a buzz around West End Field.

People were walking along South Main and Augusta in packs pointing to the ballpark and commenting on it. The Team Store was busy selling merchandise. People were at the ticket windows buying tickets for upcoming games. Others were standing with their arms outstretched and hands grasping onto the wrought iron fence around the ballpark, their faces pressed between the rungs of the fence, just trying to get a peek inside.

In spite of dropping several games on the road and having a 3-7 record, it seems to me early on that this town already has a love affair with its team and their ballpark.

[goodbye]

Look for my new T-shirt design including the text:

Summer.

Baseball.

Greenville.

The perfect match.

[RestedTraveler]

I'll look for it out there on Thursday...I'm planning on going out to try to see Reedy Rip'it's unveiling, if I can.

[breed]

Trouble afoot in Wilmington...

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dl...40352/-1/NEWS01

Pertinent quote... "In published reports, Minker has said last year's struggles troubled him. If this year's Blue Rocks don't improve, Minker said he would consider not extending the affiliation with Boston."

Could a move to High-A be in Greenville's future?

[goodbye]

We can certainly hope so. I'd love to see Greenville embrace the Boston affiliate so well that eventually they bring AA baseball back to the Upstate.

On another interesting note, how many locals have relized that Greenville is home to two minor league teams affiliated with Boston?

[whitehourseview]

Three minor league affiliates if Furman's music program, a la Keith Lockhart of the Boston Pops counts!

I would be surprised if the Drive become a AA team for Boston, since apparently the Red Sox have a great deal with Portland Sea Dogs - Maine, AA - new stadium, and the Pawtucket Red Sox - Rhode Island, AAA. Seems like Sox fans in New England would like to keep the Red Sox teams as close to possible.

That said, the more I've thought about it, the Drive management has to be a model for other cities in how to reach out and provide a great entertainment venue for a city. Those are some sharp folks, and I'm glad they have settled in Greenville.

Being in the SALly league is not all bad. It's sorta nice that the opponents are local in cities like Charleston, Augusta, Asheville, Savannah, Rome, etc.

I see where the Rome Braves are leading the league, which makes sense. The Braves minor league strategy is to draft high school or Latin players and develop them in A ball, send them to AA to season with better pitching and then straight to Atlanta. Richmond's AAA team is essentially Atlanta's 3rd string, and there to just provide players for Atlanta when injuries, etc. occur. It's very rare for the Braves to draft college players.

I haven't figured out Boston's strategy for drafting players - youth or college aged, or the relationship between the A, AA, and AAA clubs to the big club. Any help on that here?

Edited April 19, 2006 by whitehourseview

[RestedTraveler]

Well, it can't be the Grrrowl as they're affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oiliers (and also the Norfolk Admirals, but they don't count ).

Are there any other Minor League teams in Greenville that I'm missing? The Carolina Rhinos and Greenville Groove are long gone. The Riverhawks never took flight.

[goodbye]

Oops, I thought the Grrrowl were still affiliated with the Bruins! Crap!

[breed]

I haven't figured out Boston's strategy for drafting players - youth or college aged, or the relationship between the A, AA, and AAA clubs to the big club. Any help on that here?

The Sox' minor league strategy has changed drastically for the better. During the Dan Duquette era, the player development mentality was "let the other teams develop players, we'll buy them."

The new ownership group has made player development a high priority. They have player development facilities in Latin America and look to get top-tier players brought in the fold early. In terms of drafting, they look more for developed college talent than unproven high school guys, as they are more predictable... but there are exceptions. One thing that does impact the on-field success of the Red Sox minor league teams... priority #1 is helping the major league club win, and if that means giving playing time to a raw player that doesn't produce, then so be it.

[Fiddlestix]

Could a move to High-A be in Greenville's future?

Not likely.

Think of the Minor Leagues as musical chairs, with exactly the correct number of seats for participants. If the Blue Rocks dump the Boston connection, they have to pick up another team that needs an affiliate. And that affiliate needs to pick up a MLB partner. Sometimes you can get several teams shifting at once, but nobody's left holding the bag (or trying to find an open seat). The autumn before the Bombers moved here, Boston was partnered with the Augusta Greenjackets. The Red Sox left Augusta and hooked up with the Bombers (which was officially in Columbia at the time). The Mets, which had been in Columbia, moved to Hagerstown. And the Giants, which had been in Hagerstown, found a home in...Augusta.

One reason for this is league affiliation. The Drive is a member of the Sally League. To become a High-A team they would have to quit the Sally League and join the 8-team Carolina League (the High-A league which has the most viable geographical footprint for Greenville). But who's leaving the Carolina League? The Blue Rocks' owner said he might not extend the affiliation with Boston. I don't think he said he planned to leave the Carolina League. This sort of move has happened before -- I think Nolan Ryan's Round Rock Express team went from AA Texas League to AAA -- when one of the AAA teams cashed it in. I forget the details, but there have been jumps. It's just highly unusual and there's nothing in that quote to make one suspect there are changes afoot along the lines of the Blue Rocks changing a league -- which is what would be necessary for the Drive to change. And it would require a team to downgrade or shut down for that to happen. It's just not likely.

The GSA MSA is the 53rd highest-ranked in terms of population. There aren't many A teams located in more populated markets -- making this a highly desirable market to be in for an A-level team. On the other hand, there are only about 4 AA teams in MSAs that are smaller than ours. So we're not high on the list of AA teams (which would have to be the Southern League, due to geographical constraints). [Edit: Of course, if your team is in the backwater of Jackson, TN, Greenville, SC is looking mighty attractive...but so is Baton Rouge.]

The MLB-MiLB affiliations are 2-year contracts. All of them are up for renewal this year. The Drive previously announced that they extended their relationship with the BoSox for the next 2 year cycle. To see the current status of the game of musical chairs, check out this link from Ballparkdigest.com -- a source that many baseball executives scope out daily for the type of baseball news that most affects them.: http://www.ballparkdigest.com/affiliates_2006.html

For Drive owner Craig Brown, there's little to no upside to reshifting the affiliation from the Sally League to the Carolina League, unless the BoSox -- for some reason I can't imagine -- forced him to do so. The travel would be reduced...but that's an expense the Boston franchise picks up, not the Drive. He'd give up some of the relationships he's forged within the Sally League and he'd start off new in the Carolina League. And for what? To attract the 14 added fans from the Upstate who can't bear to watch something as low as Low-A ball but find High-A ball to be acceptable to their palate.

There's still 70 games to play. Same promotions. Same fans. For him the equation doesn't move in terms of shifting the league affiliation. The time to shift is when you're looking to build a new stadium and you can sell the government bodies on the elusive mystique of a higher level of baseball and the status that goes with it as part of the stadium-welfare extortion scam. That's what the DiamondJaxx tried to pull with Mauldin -- extracting more perks simply because they were a higher level of baseball. There are some fans who care...but over the course of a season, I doubt that extra status fills more than 200 seats that wouldn't otherwise get filled...at best. And the Low-A versus A distinction would have even less impact.

Edited April 20, 2006 by Fiddlestix