Ballpark 'an extravagant pipe dream' and not worth it?

Here's the scene: a minor league baseball team is eyeing a move to a nearby city, much to chagrin of its curent hometown, but to make it happen a new stadium is required. But the city where it hopes to move is financially troubled and some are opposed to the deal. Hartford in 2014? Nope, New Britain in 1981. Here's part of The Herald's editorial from Dec. 9, 1981:
Where did the New Britain Board of Finance and Taxation and Park and Recreation Commission members leave their sense of perspective? They approved a $2.5 million plan for improvements to Willow Brook Park although school buildings crumble and city workers try to provide vital services with patched-up equipment. ... Now finance officials want to put the city in debt to fix up Willow Brook Park on pure speculation that it may entice a minor league baseball, small college football or Olympic level track competitors to perform there. That is an extravagant pipe dream. New Britain is in danger of losing taxpaying businesses, industries and residents because schools need repairs and old, broken-down equipment is causing city services to deterioriate. The emphasis ought to be on real long-term spending priority needs of the city - not indulging the Park Board's too-frequent fantasies.
The Bristol Red Sox, a AA team, moved to New Britain less than a year later. The team ultimately became the Rock Cats.
Copyright 2014 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Former New Britain mayor boasts of stealing Red Sox from Bristol

I got a delightful letter in the mail today from former New Britain Mayor William McNamara who gently complained that I'd recently written the Bristol Red Sox "picked New Britain" when the team quit Bristol in 1982. "Did that happen in a vacuum or did someone have something to do with it by lobbying, cajoling, promising -- both in Connecticut and out of state - the then-owner, Joe Buzas?" he asked, in one of those questions that answers itself. 'I know I am an old man (80 years) who easily forgets things, but I remember doing whatever I could, legally and morally, to 'steal' (as some said, but I thought it was just skillful negotiating; yes, I know that sounds boastful, but I assure you I am so humble I am proud of) the Bristol Red Sox." "I write these thoughts to you to let you know that the presence of minor league baseball in New Britian was not the result of some divine intervention or some 'Big Bang.' It didn't 'grow'd like Mopsy,' rather it was the result of determination and hard work." He said it's clear now that "in spite of the hate mail, nasty telephone calls and misinformed editorial writers," that his adminstration "was correct to bring Minor League Baseball to New Britain." He didn't say it, of course, but his words certainly lend some support to Hartford's behind-the-scenes effort to swipe the Rock Cats away from New Britain. Mayor Pedro Segarra worked just like McNamara to make it happen. Former Bristol Mike Werner said not long ago that losing the team to New Britain felt like "a kick in the groin." Now, it seems, it's New Britain's turn to deal with the pain of losing a beloved team. What goes around comes around.
Copyright 2014 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Bristol Nine are already history, but club lives on

The Bristol Nine collegiate baseball team barely got off the ground before its name and logo had to be pulled because it apparently violated the copyright and trademark of some other teams or teams.
Now it's just the Bristol Collegiate Baseball Club for now, though a new name is in the works. Anyone have any ideas? The team has a new Facebook page here.
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Bristol Nine hire marketing director

Former Republican City Council hopeful Derek Czenczelewski got a job recently as the marketing director for the Bristol Nine, the new collegiate league baseball team in town. So don't be surprised if he hits you up to be a sponsor or some such thing!

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Logo for Bristol Nine makes an appearance

And here's the team's new website, still under construction.

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Bristol Nine to bring college baseball players to Muzzy Field

For the first time since 1995, Bristol’s historic Muzzy Field will house a college league baseball team this summer.

The city’s Park Board unanimously agreed Thursday to open the gates for the Bristol Nine, the newest of the dozen teams in the 15-year-old New England Collegiate Baseball League.

“We’re all excited,” said Dan Kennedy, the team’s general manager.

Kennedy said the team is anxious to play in a field where “the atmosphere and the history” are second to none. “This is a great venue,” he added.

Between June 1 and August 11, the team will play 21 home games at Muzzy, officials said. Tickets are slated to cost $4 for adults and $1 for children ages 12 and under.

The deal won’t cost taxpayers anything, park officials said, but the city should benefit from some of the gear the team has to purchase, including a portable backstop for batting practice and protective screens for players to use during practice.

The team played last year in Pittsfield, Mass. but is moving to Bristol under new owners. There are a dozen teams in the league, with at least one in every New England state.

Mayor Art Ward said he has been impressed with the team owners’ enthusiasm for getting involved in the community.

Kennedy and Paul Fredette, two of the four owners, said the players -- among the top college athletes in the country -- will donate time to work with younger ballplayers in the city.

“For it to be adopted by the community, there’s a lot of giving we have to do,” Fredette said.

The team’s mascot, not yet chosen, will also be a part of as many community events as possible, they said.

A Bristol resident who serves as the pitching coach for Central Connecticut State University’s baseball team, Pat Hall, will be the head coach, team owners said.

Though the team is still working out details, it plans to have Chicago White Sox-style uniforms with a little red mixed in. Its logo will feature an old-time ballplayer in the Mudville 9 fashion.

The Bristol Nine isn’t the first team the league has had in Bristol.

During the league’s first two seasons, in 1994 and 1995, the Bristol Nighthawks played at Muzzy.

But Kennedy and Fredette said the league is quite different now than it was in its earliest days, with better players who are much more disciplined, mainly because there are typically 10 to 15 professional scouts watching every game.

They said that hundreds of the league’s players have gone on to play professionally. The league lists 25 of its alumni currently played Major League Baseball.

Kennedy said the team has invited 28 college players to join its roster, about half of them from Connecticut, including two players who hail from Bristol and another from Plainville. He said he’s hoping to snag at 94-miles-per-hour pitcher from Berlin, too.

But, he said, “we can’t stay totally local,” which explains his attempt to secure a couple of Texas players as well.

The league, modeled on the Cape Cod Baseball League, is among the top college leagues in the country. Its Newport, R.I. team attracts 1,700 fans nightly, Kennedy said.

City and team officials said they have worked hand-in-hand with the American Legion team to make sure there are no scheduling problems. Kennedy said the team plans to give the Legion team many free tickets for its use and resale to raise money for its needs.

The Bristol Nine doesn’t offer salaries to its players, but has to pay for the use of the field and other costs. Kennedy said its revenue will come from ticket sales, merchandise sales and corporate sponsorships.

Team officials said they plan to introduce the Bristol Nine more formally next Thursday at a 9:30 a.m. kickoff press conference at Nuchies Restaurant.

New England Collegiate Baseball League teams

Bristol Nine

Danbury Westerners

Holyoke Blue Sox

Keene Swamp Bats

Laconia Muskrats

Lowell All-Americans

New Bedford Bay Sox

Newport Gulls

North Adams SteepleCats

North Shore Navigators

Sanford Mainers

Vermont Mountaineers

  

Muzzy Field’s past

Muzzy Field was the home ballpark the Bristol Red Sox from 1972 to 1982, the AA-affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

It featured games by barnstorming professionals in the 1940s and 1950s, games that brought such legends as Babe Ruth and Vince Lombardi to town.

Its field has been in use since 1912. The grandstands were erected in 1939.

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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Little League's real worry? Dwindling participation

Forestville Little League is more worried about a decline in the number of ballplayers than it is about the future of its fields behind Greene-Hills School.
Laurie Micale, president of Forestville Little League, said Wednesday the league is reaching out to the other two Little Leagues in Bristol because participation is dwindling.
She said the league has about 300 youngsters, but the pinch is especially keen in its major league, with 11 and 12-year-olds.
Instead of having eight teams as it did in the past, the league had only five this year, she said.
And even that was a stretch, Micale added, saying that it could easily have justified only four teams.
Micale said the Forestville Little Leage’s board reached out to the other leagues, particularly McCabe-Waters, to try to develop inter-league games so that players could face a wider range of competition.
She said officials in all the leagues in town are eyeing their numbers to see what’s feasible, which could include dissolving the Forestville Little League.
Though at least one board member of the league blamed worry about the fate of the fields during construction of a new Greene-Hills School, Micale denied that any concerns about the school project played a role in the decision to look into alternatives.
The reality, she said, is that “our numbers are down.”
She said that McCabe-Waters has about 250 players while Edgewood Little League has about 350.
“I really don’t know where this is going to go,” Micale said.
Making any revisions in the three leagues in town would require the approval of Little League Baseball, Micale said.
Don Soucy, the regional director for Little League at the Giametti complex on Mix Street, could not be reached for comment.
The $130 million school project includes a new kindergarten to eighth grade school to replace the aging Greene-Hills Elementary. It also calls for another K-8 school on Matthews Street.
It is slated to be done by 2015. It’s not clear when construction will begin.
School officials said the change shouldn’t impact the use of fields by Forestville’s Little League.
Micale said her biggest worry about the project is that it might make parking difficult.

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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

New Haven hurler hoopla comes to New Britain

Pint-sized pitcher Jericho Scott – the 10-year-old from New Haven whose league gave his whole team the hook to get him off the mound – stood on the pitcher’s rubber before Saturday’s New Britain Rock Cats with a serious glimmer in his eyes.
His mother, Nicole Smith, watched from the behind first base.
“There’s too much pressure,” she said. “He’s going to throw the ball and hit the dirt.”
But Scott reared back and fired one right down the middle in a ceremonial opening pitch.
As the beaming young ballplayer walked toward the dugout, John Willi, the Rock Cats general manager, told him, “We’ve got to talk about a contract later.”
The Rock Cats players bumped fists with Scott as they praised him for his poise in dealing with the New Haven Liga Juvenil de Baseball league’s decision this month to bar the youngster from pitching. The league disbanded the whole team when Scott’s coaches refused to obey.
Before the game, Scott tossed a ball back and forth with Steven Tolleson, the Rock Cats’ second baseman. Tolleson said that Scott had some zing in his fastball but he couldn’t compare it to other youngsters.
“I should get you to sign my glove,” Tolleson told Scott. “Keep up the hard work.”
The Rock Cats invited Scott and his entire team to attend the game against the Binghamton Mets Saturday. They sent a van to New Haven to bring the players to New Britain Stadium.
“It was such an injustice that was done to your son and the whole team,” Bill Dowling, the owner of the Rock Cats, said to Scott’s parents.
Eleven players took the field with Scott, standing next to the Rock Cats players during the National Anthem and collecting autographs from most of the team.
Scott, who turned 10 last week, joined right in, collecting signatures on a ball the Rock Cats gave him, but also emerging with a sweatband and batting glove from impressed professional players.
“Can you strike me out?” asked Rock Cats infielder Felix Molina. Scott just grinned.
Scott signed at least a couple of autographs himself.
Jason Bouchard of Glastonbury handed Scott a poster and asked him to sign it for him.
Asked why, Bouchard said, “I don’t know. He can throw 45 miles an hour.”
Ed Santiago, one of Scott’s coaches, said that the entire hoopla surrounding Scott – who’s been the subject of discussion on ESPN Radio and appeared on television shows – is “just crazy.”
He said Scott is “better than average” on the mound, but not so dominating that he should have been barred from pitching.
“I threw five no-hitters,” Scott said, and once struck out 12 batters. “I never hit nobody” with a wayward pitch, which is more than most big leaguers can say.
But he played on a second baseball team this summer and wasn’t even the top pitcher, his coaches and parents said.
He said he became a good pitcher by “practice” all the time and he feels “bad” about all that’s happened.
“I think he’s overwhelmed,” said his mother.
Leroy Scott, the boy’s father, said his son can be determined.
“He taught himself to ride a bike,” the father said. “He just rode in the backyard until he stopped falling off his bike.”
Though Scott said his favorite team is the New York Yankees, it’s possible the Boston Red Sox have nothing to worry about.
“My favorite sport is basketball,” Scott said.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Listen to American Legion games

http://www.theboss.us is broadcasting all of the American Legion tournament games over the internet. It is WOHS

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Bristol strikes out

City leaders struck out in their bid to bring the 2010 American Legion Baseball World Series to historic Muzzy Field.
Jim Quinlan, spokesman for the American Legion, said today that Bristol lost out to Spokane, Wash. in a close vote of the national committee.
That probably closes the door on Bristol's chances of ever hosting the annual event because rule changes have made it so that in the future, the tournament will be held in the city where the Legion's national convention is taking place.

The five-day event will be held at Spokane's Avista Stadium instead of in Bristol.

"Spokane will be an outstanding site for the series, based on its strong community support and excellent organizing committee," said American Legion National Americanism Commission Chairman Joseph E. Caouette Jr., according to a Legion press release.

"The city of Spokane will be an outstanding host," he said.

This is the first time Spokane has hosted the American Legion World Series, though it's been held three times in Yakima, Wash., most recently in 2001.

Bristol competed against Spokane and Bartlesville, Ok. for the right to host the 2010 World Series, according to Quinlan.

He said that some of the decision-makers preferred Bristol, but Spokane got the majority.

Organizers for the nation's largest veterans organization said they expect the Spokane World Series will draw 25,000 to 30,000 spectators to Vista Stadium. Fans are expected to spend more than $4 million and book about 1,000 motel-room nights in the area.

Mayor Art Ward and city Park Director Ed Swicklas were among a handful of Bristol representatives who flew to Indianapolis last weekend to make a pitch for Muzzy Field. With ESPN's backing, they said they felt they made a strong case.

Representatives from Spokane's American Legion Baseball, the Washington State American Legion, Avista Stadium and the Spokane Regional Sports Commissioned also went to Indianapolis to seek the Series, according to KOZE-AM, a Spokane radio station.

The American Legion Baseball program, which has fielded teams at Muzzy for more than 80 years, is the nation's oldest high school aged baseball program. It claims more than half of today's Major League Baseball players played on a Legion team before reaching the pros.

The Legion's National Executive Committee – the group's board of directors - made the final decision on the World Series location.

Quinlan said that he would like to have made it possible for Bristol's Fran Mullins, a baseball legend in Legion circles, to see the group's World Series in 2010 at his home field, but the panel opted for Spokane for sound reasons.

After I spoke with Quinlan, the American Legion issued this press release:

INDIANAPOLIS, May 8 PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Avista Stadium in Spokane, Wash., will be the site of the 2010 World Series of American Legion Baseball, the nation's oldest high school aged baseball program for 15- to 19-year-olds.
The National Executive Committee, the formal name of The American Legion's board of directors, announced today at its annual spring meeting here that Spokane American Legion Baseball Inc., will host the series. The American Legion World Series will feature the nation's eight regional champions in a double-elimination tournament. The five-day event will be held Aug. 13-17, 2010.
"Spokane will be an outstanding site for the series, based on its strong community support and excellent organizing committee," American Legion National Americanism Commission Chairman Joseph E. Caouette Jr. said. "The city of Spokane will be an outstanding host." This is the first time Spokane has hosted The American Legion World Series. Yakima, Wash., hosted The American Legion World Series in 1954, 1978, and 2001.
Washington American Legion teams have had excellent success playing American Legion Baseball. There are no host teams at an American Legion World Series. To participate in an American Legion World Series teams must earn the right to participate. Thirteen Washington American Legion Teams have earned that right to participate. Those cities were Bellingham (07); Bellevue (81 & 95), Kennewick (99 & 04); Pasco (05); Vancouver (87 & 96); and Yakima, Washington (53, 75, 76, 79 & 88) have participated by winning the Northwest Regional Tournament.
There are more than 5,000 registered American Legion teams. More than half of today's Major Leaguers got their start in American Legion Baseball.
Fifty-two former American Legion Baseball players have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, including Ryan Sandberg, George Brett, Bob Feller, Brooks Robinson, Yogi Berra, Jim Palmer, Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Reggie Jackson, Pee Wee Reese, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers and Tom Seaver.
Organizers for the nation's largest veterans organization expect the Spokane World Series will draw 25,000 to 30,000 spectators to Vista Stadium. Fans are expected to spend more than $4 million and book about 1,000 motel-room nights. The 2.7-million member American Legion, http://www.legion.org/, is the nation's largest veterans organization.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

World Series decision by Thursday

The city should know by Thursday whether its pitch to secure the 2010 American Legion World Series won over decision-makers in Indiana.
Mayor Art Ward said the presentation to the Legion’s national baseball committee on Sunday afternoon went well, but whether it proved convincing isn’t clear yet.
“Now it’s the sit back and wait,” Ward said.
Ward and five other city and Legion officials flew to Indianapolis over the weekend to put forward the case for holding the annual baseball tournament at Muzzy Field.
At least two other cities – Spokane, Washington and Bartlesville, Oklahoma – are also seeking the tournament. There may be others as well, Ward said.
Ward said that members of the national baseball committee will make a recommendation on the site to the Americanism committee. Ultimately, the Legion’s national committee will decide, probably on Wednesday.
Ward said he thought the most compelling arguments for Bristol were its easy access to Bradley Airport, its history of volunteerism through the Legion post on Hooker Court, the help of ESPN and the fact that there hasn’t been a World Series on the East Coast in more than a decade.
“Hopefully, we can bring it home,” Ward said. “That was our theme: bring it home.”

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Bristol makes pitch Sunday for American Legion World Series

Hoping to snag the 2010 American Legion Baseball World Series for Muzzy Field, a championship that would pump hundreds of thousands of dollars into the area economy, a delegation of officials heads Saturday to Indianapolis to make a pitch for the event.
Mayor Art Ward said he is “very optimistic” about the city’s chances of winning the right to hold the yearly event.
Ward is one of five people from the city and the American Legion post in Bristol who is making the trip to try to convince decision-makers to pick Bristol.
He said they’re slated to make a presentation on Sunday afternoon and may know the success of the bid by early next week.
Snagging the Legion’s World Series would likely be “the largest sporting event ever to take place in the city,” Paul LaFleur, general manager the American Legion Post 2 baseball team, has said.
There are about nine municipalities competing for the right to host the event.
Ward said this might be the last opportunity for Bristol to win the right because of a new national rule that puts the World Series in whatever city holds the national American Legion convention.
Since Bristol isn’t likely to host a major national convention – given its lack of hotels, restaurants and meeting space – the 2010 competition is probably the city’s final opportunity to play host to the event.
Muzzy Field was built in 1912, making it one of the nation’s oldest ballparks. American Legion teams from Bristol have apparently played there for the past 80 years.
Bristol is well known in American Legion circles because of its active veterans community and the success of its baseball program over the years.
But the trump card for Bristol’s pitch for the World Series may be ESPN’s willingness to lend its name to the effort.Ward said ESPN’s support is crucial because of its clout in the sports world.
If the city gets the right to hold the Series, the Legion post will need to pony up $60,000 to help pay for it. The mayor said there are pledges in hand for about half the money already.
Ward, Park Director Ed Swicklas and several Legion officials are flying to Indianapolis on Saturday. They intend to rehearse their presentation there today in order to be ready for the real thing on Sunday.
They fly back home on Sunday night.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Bristol seeks 2010 American Legion Baseball World Series

City park commissioners are hoping to hit one out of the park.
The Park Board unanimously agreed Wednesday to try to snag the 2010 American Legion World Series for historic Muzzy Field.
“It would showcase Muzzy,” said Lori DeFillippi, a park panel member.
“It would also showcase the city,” added Mayor Art Ward.
Communities interested in hosting the five-day tournament are required to submit an extensive bid package by March 1 and to put up $60,000.
Ward said the money would be raised by the American Legion post on Hooker Court, which has a long history of involvement with American Legion Baseball.
He said there is “not a long time” to get everything together, but it’s worth trying.
The 2007 tournament was held in Bartlesville, Ok. while next year’s tournament is slated for Shelby, N.C.
Park Director Ed Swicklas said the city hosted the Northeast regional tournament for the American Legion about 12 years ago. It was successful, officials said.
The American Legion Baseball website says the 2010 tournament is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 13 to Aug. 17, a time that Swicklas said would not pose problems for use of the field.
tourn
In its document for cities interested in hosting the tournament, the American Legion says it is looking for “experienced tournament committees with strong community support, as well as excellent ballparks.”
The American Legion World Series brings eight teams together from around the country to compete for the national title.
American Legion Baseball has been around since 1925 and claims that millions of young men have played on its teams over the years.
The last time the tournament was held in New England was in 1999, when Middletown hosted the World Series.
According to the American Legion Baseball website, Bristol’s American Legion teams have won two regional championships, in 1984 and 1997, and 13 Connecticut championships, most recently in 2006.

Click here to see the bidding requirements from American Legion Baseball

American Legion Baseball's website

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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com