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VOLUME XXX , 2004 No. 2 New Cities, New Names As Another Opens The best day of the year–-every year-–is The are the Double- they joined the State League in 1985, just around the corner. It’s the first day of A of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but opted for their own identity as the the season, which is Thursday, Apr. who relocated the Southern League franchise (a type of shark) as 8, this year for Baseball. from the Walt Disney World complex they move into a new 7,000 seat . near Orlando. Montgomery has had a long Opening Day or Opening Night is a magi- history in , dating The ’s Quad City River cal time. The grass will be a little greener. back to 1903. But it has not had a team since Bandits, likewise, are taking on a new iden- The new paint will be brighter and more the were a Detroit farm tity as Swing of the . The new cheerful. The hot dogs will smell great. The team in the Southern League from 1965-80. logo reflects the musical heritage of the re- breezes will feel a little warmer–or at least The Biscuits will unveil Riverwalk Stadium, a gion, combining a saxophone with a base- not quite as cold. And hopefully there won’t brand-new 7,000-seat facility for the first ball. The move is tied to a $12.5-million reno- be any snow flakes falling. game on Apr. 16. The game has been sold vation that has turned ancient John out for some time. O’Donnell Stadium into a virtually new ball That’s the day that the 10 full-season Mi- park. But that renovation has also meant a nor League Baseball leagues begin playing delay in Opening Day. The Swing will play the game for keeps and the on the road for nearly all of April while work drills under the hot Florida or sun is finished to get ready for the Apr. 29 . will seem far away. About half of the 120 af- filiated teams in the U.S. and will be The new name in the in their home to start another sea- is the , replacing the South son. Most of the others will have only a few Wave. The team was moved to Co- days on the road before they, too, greet the lumbus virtually on the eve of the 2003 sea- hometown fans. son and wanted an identity with the new location. Fishing is a prime recreational ac- There are two cities that are particularly The fans in Manchester won’t have to wait tivity in the Columbus area and the ball park eager for the start of the new season. After quite so long to see the New Hampshire sits alongside the Chattahooche River. long absences from the game, Montgomery Fisher Cats, a farm team in the East- (AL) and Manchester (NH) again get teams ern League that was relocated from New Ha- There are no changes in names or loca- to call their own as a result of shifts in the ven. That opener is Apr. 15, but the fans will tions at the top level of Minor League Base- baseball landscape. They are the only new have to wait longer for their new stadium. ball, but the Triple-A leagues—International cities in the full-season leagues this year in The new one won’t be ready until the 2005 and Pacific Coast—made one move that Minor League Baseball, but both will have season. In the meantime, the Fisher Cats will could affect play. Roster sizes have been to wait a few days past Apr. 8. be playing in renovated , also expanded from 23 players to 24 for the entire the home of the last previous Manchester season. team, the Yankees of the (1969-71). Manchester was one of the origi- nal National Association teams in 1902 as a member of the League.

While those are the only new cities among the 120-full season domestic teams, there are others that sound new as a result of some name changes. The Clearwater Phillies have used the name of parent Philadelphia since Tamburro Elected BOT Chairman Minor League Clubs Mike Tamburro, who helped turn the into one of the most successful teams in Minor League Baseball, has been Featured in elected to a two-year term as the new Chairman of the Board of Triple-A and Double-A Minor League Baseball clubs will make Trustees (BOT) for Minor League Baseball. The BOT consists of their video game debut this season in EA Sports MVP Baseball club owners from the various leagues 2004. For the first time ever in a baseball video game, fans will have and works closely with President the ability to play with every Triple-A and Double-A team. Mike Moore in establishing policy and direction for the industry. From the to the Wichita Wranglers, MVP Baseball gives fans complete control over all 60 Triple-A and Double- Tamburro was elevated from the role A teams and their players. of Vice-Chairman at the BOT’s annual spring meeting in Tampa. Joe Finley Minor League players are a combination of real and fictitious play- was named as the new Vice-Chairman ers. Any player who has played even one game in the Majors is and Ken Carson was re-elected Sec- considered a member of the Players Asso- retary. All will serve two-year terms. ciation and is included in the game. The rest of the roster is filled with fictitious players. Tamburro has spent most of his adult life with Pawtucket, joining the Tamburro MVP Baseball 2004 boasts an Official Minor League license, and team in 1977 as and has been President of the fans can actually play as those teams in Play Now, Exhibition and team since 1985. He has been The Sporting Dynasty Mode play. News’ Minor League Executive of the Year and named three times as IL Executive of the Year. The Minor Leagues feature correct season lengths, standings, and playoff formats for both the full-season Triple-A and Double-A Tamburro was an original member of the BOT, which was formed in leagues (International, Pacific Coast & Eastern) as well as the split- 1992, and represented the International League from 1992-1997. He season ones (Southern and ). Full Minor League stats are kept served as the Triple-A At-Large representative (2001-2003) and cur- at all levels. rently again represents the International.

Finley, owner of the , has represented the Double- A Eastern League since 1997. Carson has been the only representive for the . He is Director of Florida Opera- tions for the and GM of the . Traveling Hall of Fame Show Lands in Washington, DC The renowned traveling exhibit from the Baseball Hall of Fame continues its three-year tour around America with a stop in Wash- ington, D.C., where it will be on display from Apr. 3 through Oct. 3 at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.

Curators at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, assembled some of the Hall’s most significant and popular arti- facts for the tour, which is billed as “Baseball As America.”

In addition to famous memorabilia, the exhibit, sponsored by Ernst & Young, has exhibits showing how pro baseball has reflected and helped influence social, cultural and economic issues in the U.S.

Baseball News Jim Ferguson, Editor PO Box A Steve Densa, Associate Editor St. Petersburg, FL 33731 (727) 822-6937

©2004, All Rights Reserved, Promotion Corp. BASEBALL NEWS is published 10 times a year. Subscription rates are $12 for one year (plus $4 for S/H) and are payable in U.S. funds only

2 No Blizzard Expected in Yuma Home games in April have often been a said, “but the last two years have been bru- nightmare for the Trappers, es- tal. You have to play the percentages. The pecially the last two seasons, with raging later we get in April the better the odds that snowstorms and freezing temperatures. the weather will be acceptable. We’ve had Things reached a nadir in 2002 when the team to scramble in the past, moving games on was able to play just one scheduled home short notice to . game in April. It wasn’t much better last spring. “When I started thinking about places to play, Yuma came up immediately. I was well But if the team runs aware of the facilities and how well they were into similar conditions for their first two maintained,” explained Henke. Edmonton, “home” series this season it will the result of now affiliated with the , used a freak act of nature. The Trappers have to be was a farm team of the Angels, who transferred their first two series, Apr. 8-11 visited the Padres in Yuma regularly. Road to the Show against Sacramento and Apr. 12-15 against Fresno, to Yuma, AZ. They will then play the “ (PCL president) and I went Card Set Available same two teams in before their first to Yuma last fall to check it out and every- Minor League Baseball has produced The game in Canada on Apr. 24. thing was beautiful. It looked the same as 2004 Road to the Show Top Prospects Trad- when the Padres were there. They’ve really ing Card Set, a limited-edition, 30-card set Yuma is upwards of 2,000 miles south of taken care of the place.” featuring one Top from each Major Edmonton, tucked in the deep southwest League organization. Each cover card is in- corner of Arizona near the borders with Cali- The Trappers had to get approval from the dividually numbered 1 to 1,750. fornia and . Snowstorms are definitely PCL, the Expos and the affiliates of Sacra- not expected. Furthermore, the city has an mento (Oakland A’s) and Fresno (Giants). The set includes three 2003 league MVPs excellent baseball complex with 7,500-seat (Alexis Rios, Eastern League; Josh Barfield, Desert Sun Stadium and assorted practice “This was one of our easiest moves,” said ; , Midwest facilities that were the spring training home Rickey, “because it was so well researched League), the 2003 Minor League Baseball of the Padres for many years. and planned. The weather will be so much batting leader (Jeremy Reed) and better at that time of the year.” leader (), the 2003 Futures Game The move was the brainchild of Dennis MVP (Grady Sizemore) as well as Baseball Henke, Assistant General Manager of the “In my mind, everyone comes out a winner America’s Minor League Player of the Year Trappers, who has had it in the back of his with this,” said Henke. “The main thing that (Joe Mauer). One unique criterion for this mind in past years. When he got a copy of matters is that the boys can play ball and in set is that none of the players had accumu- the team’s proposed 2004 schedule last July, good conditions. But the visiting teams will lated Major League service time by the end it called for eight home games to open the have it much easier (and more economical) of the 2003 season. season. That’s when he began to work on from a travel standpoint as well, making a an alternative. short trip to Yuma instead of the long trek to The card set was produced by GrandStand Edmonton and back.” Cards, Woodland Hills, CA, and is available “We don’t always have rotten weather here only at www.minorleaguebaseball.com. in Edmonton at that time of the year,” he

3 Joins Revamped The far-flung Mexican League became Winter League from 1977 to 1991, but has even more far-flung as a result of the con- not previously been in the Mexican League. siderable changes that have taken place since the end of the 2003 season. There are The Reynosa Broncos, located down the three new entries in the 16-team league this Rio Grande from Laredo, across from year, located in Tijuana, San Luis Potosi and McAllen, TX, moved to San Luis Potosi, . some 250 miles north of , where they will be known as the Cactus Pear Grow- There were more than geographic changes ers. San Luis Potosi previously had a team as well. The league, which began play on in the Mexican League from 1986-1991. The Mar. 17, cut its regular season to 100 games, Cordoba team was moved to Aguascalientes, a reduction from 110, and will end the regu- which previously had a Mexican League team lar season on June 23, about a month earlier from 1975 through 1999, and has reclaimed than in the past. its former nickname, the Railroadmen.

That will accommodate a new playoff sys- Fans of the Tijuana team gave the new team tem in which 12 of the 16 teams advance. a rousing greeting when an overflow crowd The four rounds of , all slated for 7- of 14,500 turned out for its home opener, a 5- game series, are slated to begin in late June 0 victory over . The 12,500-seat sta- and run into the first week of August. dium is being expanded to hold 20,000 by Order your 2004 Minor League Baseball the end of the season. Information Guide now. The Tijuana Bulls were known as the Two Cost is $14 and includes shipping. Laredos before they moved from Laredo and That was the only loss for Puebla in the Call (727) 456-1704 on the border with Texas in first week of play as it posted a 5-1 mark to Northeast Mexico. Tijuana is located in the lead the Northern Division. was also extreme northwest corner of the country, on 5-1, tops in the Southern Division, just ahead Sidewinders’ Dolan the Pacific Ocean across the border from San of the 4-2 posted by the defending cham- Named Top Announcer Diego. Tijuana had a team in the Mexican pion Mexico City Red Devils. Brett Dolan, radio announcer for the Tuc- Eastern League Game Moves to PNC Park son Sidewinders of the Pacific Coast League, Players from the and the Beloit and Wisconsin drew 14,000 to a has been named as the 2003 Arizona Sports- Erie SeaWolves will get a taste of Major stand-alone Midwest League game in Mil- caster of the Year. Dolan, 34, is heading into League life this summer. One of their regular waukee last summer. For the last two sea- his 11th season airing Minor League Base- Eastern League games, Saturday, June 26, sons, the have hosted their ball games, including the last four years in will be played at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park, home California League affiliate, Lake Elsinore, as Tucson. He spent four years with Beloit of the Pirates. Altoona is the Pirates’ Double- part of a Major League-Minor League (Midwest) and two with the A affiliate. The focus will be on the Eastern . PCL teams, Fresno and Sac- (PCL). Dolan will also get some Major League players only since the Pirates will be ramento, have played games in Oakland and League Baseball work, calling nine games on the road. While it is not a “first” for Mi- due to construction of their for the Montreal Expos, a repeat performance nor League Baseball, it has not occurred of- new stadiums. from his 10-game Expos log last summer. ten in recent years.

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