Play Ball! Professional Baseball Comes to Vermont | Vanguard Press | Nov. 6, 1983

8/11/2019 Play Ball! Professional Baseball Comes to Vermont | Vanguard Press | Nov. 6, 1983

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N I C K N 0 L T E 2U N O E H F I H E / P A G E 1

the vermont

VERMONT'S STATEWIDE WEEKLY

,H m S IT Y O F V E R Y l IN T

PROFESSIONAL

BASEBALL

COMESTO

VERMONT

By Bill Davis

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e:-,..-Jro-"" Jsemipro orthern League), and

l::;;;

~ o o . " o e s s people, 1iJingwhal r'~ a r r :J I l l\Cmcn ." could be made." fur a

rule 1 1 l t . " I p ur su e d a plan deve toped;;..lI~d'Gulman for selling shares [(~' 0 0 ' "'wlSIIl' lhe area BUIt'\'CIltualljI 1\1u . . ...... -rurned 10 more customary sourcesI.~, . "That's

of ("Pital and. as Sanders s : ' ! ' S . .~~re lbm Racine came III-he wa sw,'" I"our link 10 lhe business prop ~.

The Friend,' choice of a pla)mg fieldwa, natural and unanimous: the UlUWrsi l)o of\trmonr's Cenlennial Reid. It Js,in lhe words ofbasebal l writer RogerAngell, "an ancienr darkgreen beautythe oullield lerminaling III a grove ofhandso m e old trees," Th e field woul~needw om , b ul more importantly lNM sapprI>\:iI ofilSus e had 10be s ec u re d - SO

in September of '81 Sanders MOle IIIPresidt'l\l Lattie Coot .

"I've had strong diJlerences IIIthepa st with lhe unh ersity aboUl thell',~lein the community," s a y s Sanders, butrighl from the sran this time, Dr. Coorand the other people we worked wilh -Keith Meisera nd D e n n y Uimbert - werevery helpfuJ."lNM wa s w illing to dOnaleIhe f ield renrfree if they could beassured of certain particulars. No inrerference with lNM schedules. No COSlS

relaled 10 upgrading the field. No threat10 lheir laX-c:xemplstatus. A ll were reasonable and worlcable requeslS, and IheFriends ilund they had something goingJ..o am M:repledged b y Burlington banks.

The Holyoke deal fel l through,

Preseason show: Mayor Sanders playing pepper. petili\'e sports, Ihal means losing. Still.fRi k ~ lots of non-baseball enter- h dd

leaguers were produced by one 0 c "":-_ .. _ ,"' d'd' rk iI'S difficull 10 a pp re cia le t e su e n....- I PillS burgIJ ram men!. II J n t W ll . I f' of the collapseey's ')'SIems. He u",n wenl 0 . ' 'n~n;s lried the opposile: a low.key, and inevilab e orce .

and C \ : en

l od ay I he m OS IP th ~~ ~~ ~': ~' u nd ~~ ed a pp ro ac h I h at l el lh e h ig h w it ho UI l oo ki ng b ri ef ly a l t he g rI sl yl em s m t h e g am e a re I' b ball speak for itself ThaI details. .d . ed qua Ity ase . I . When Robert Howsam left the pre".

e~: i '; 'portanl ar e I he m in or s l od ay ? d id n'l W ll rk ei th er . B UI , he ne ve r o s~ d en ey o f I he c lu b to his prolege DickDiJlerent people give diJlerent answers. fui th - he knew he had a PDC WIth. Wagner in 1978, he handed over atilt""Other means of acquiring talenl are n ow l op -n ol ch o rg aI l1 7.al lo n, a nd w h en , .~ i ng o rg an iz at io n a nd a d om ma nt l ea m.

av.I iJable - especially player freeagenlS- early 1983, he. began looking aroun The Big Red Machine had wond"'5,onal .bUI no one met hod of bu ildi ng a te am is for a new loca l.on . h~ WdS p re :~ s ~. l it le s s ix of I he p rt 'V IO US e .gh t y ea rs .essential 'The kqis nol af.tnn sy ste m, " o th er p la ce s W llu ld , nte re s e . T he R ed s w on Ih e b est W orl d S eri es of

il b ""b ill l}' 1BillJ "b l l ! h \C I-- : r : : -----------


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considered legitimate authorities. The

Reds' attitude seemed to be: who needs

these money- grabbers? We can keep

building winners the way Rickey did,

the old-fashioned way.

Doing that, however, demands good

judgment, something Dick Wagner's

term ofoffice wasn't well known for.Asthe Reds held their ground, sincerely

believing in their philosophy, they atthe same time began a series of incredi

bly poor decisions about players. The

direction that emerged in management

was clear: rather than adapt, the BigRed Machine WdSbeing stripped down

and sold off as parts.

Pan disenchantment with the team

began after the 1978 season, whenWagner let Tony Perez and Cincinnati

native Pete Rosewalk away as tree agents.Rose had offered to sign an unguaranteed

lifetime contract for 5450,000 a year.TI,e Reds stood on principle and de-

c1ined. Wagner also fired popular man-ager Sparky Anderson the same winter.

It was, in retrospect, only a pale harbin-

ger of what wa s to come. By the begin.ning of 1983, the team had changeddramatically.

Wagner traded George foster to the

Mets for Alex Trevino, Jim Kern and

Greg Harris. He gave Joe Morgan his

release after the 1980 season. He traded

Ken Griffey to the "mkees for BrianRyder and Freddie Tolliver. He let Dave

Collins go as a free agent. He traded Ra y

Krtight to the Astros for Cesar Cedeno.

He traded prospect Bill Dawley (an '83

All-Star; it turned out) to Houston for

Alan Knicely. Finally, he traded Tom

Seaver back to the Mets for Charlie

Puleo, Uo)'d McClendon and Jason

Felice.

Now there are names in that pam-

gmph abovc that em stymk some seri

ous baseball bull\;. Let's just stick topl,~'Crs who wcrc majorleagucrs in '83:

thc Reds got rid of Rose, Pcrez, Foster,

Knight, Seaver, Morgan, Collins, Griffq

and Dawlc'j'. In return they got a backup

catchcr who hit .216 (Trcvino), a mop

li \'C i h 4 89 ERA(P l ) d

with," too, and together they tried to

na i I down a deal.

"On one of Mike's visits here," s a y sRacine, "I took 'him around to meet

people in all kinds of businesses in the

area he'd end updealing with ifhe Carne

here - soda, beer, restaurants, hotels,

motels, larger corporations. Iwanted to

convince him the support was really

here, and at the same time I think Iwasconvincing m)'SClf.But everywhere we

went, people were excited. Iwas reallyimpressed - and Ithink Mike was too."

He W:IS. "I'dnever seen anything like

it," he s a y s now. At one point the minor

league newspaper Basebali America

pinpointed Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and

Binghamton, New York as the leading

contenders for the Lynn Pirates' new

location. But by the end ofJuly the odds

had shifted: "Baseball may h:I\'C made

frontpage news in Harrisburg," wroteTom Shea, "but the struggling Piratesmay opt next year for Burlington, Ver-

mont - a city hot for baseball."

By mid-August, contract talks gotserious. "City Attorney Joe MacNeil

worked long and hard with Mike and

his people," says Sanders. '1\ three-partycontract takes a long time - but we had

an excellent working understanding to

go from. There WdS a lot of wrangling,

bur ifyou look at what other cities arc

doing, we got a real good contract."Tom Kaj'Ser(nowwith the Pirate front

office) and Branch Ricke')' III(the team's

director of minor league clubs) both

visited Vermont that month. And while

they had questions - especially about

Centennial Field - they liked much of

what they saw happening here. Ka)'SCr,

who'd first met the Friends two years

earlier, wa~especially impressed. "TIleir

offer in 1981 was a little rough around

the edges. but this time C\'CI')1hing was

all wrapped up and ready to go."A primle fund-r-'using clfurt would

finance the ""rk needed to bring Cen-

tennial up to Eastern League standards

and cootribute to annual maintenance

cost~. TI,e University donated the field.

i ld l if h did

Cincinnati insisted that none of its

farm t ea ms u se t he D H, s o t ha t ( intheory) pitchers would gain the neces-sary batting experience. On the surface,a logical policy, But every minor leaguein the game uses the DH, so Reds teams

Im'C competed at a distinct disadvan-

rage. Other NL teams (Hke the PhilHes,who also oppose the DH) figure they

can still use it to give other hitters at-bats,Few pitchers C\'Cr hit well anyway, theargument goes.

Minor league owners and funs have

been C\'Cn less pleased. Nashville of the

Southern League (AA) and Greensboro

of the South Atlantic League (A) both

dropped their Reds franchises after the

1979 season. Both gave the DH restric-tion as their reason. Pitchers who hit for

Nashville were often greeted with home-

town boos, asWdSapre -gam e announce-

ment explaining the Cincinnati policy,The Reds placed their AAteam in Water-

bury of the Eastern League, their A team

in Cedar Rapids of the Midwest League.

But the Reds' system took its most

serious blow just this past summer,

within weeks of Howsam's return. On

July 28, the Indianapolis Indians of theAmerican Assodation (AAA) announced

it would not renew its PDC with the

Reds, thus ending 16years as their top

fum club. Again, the DH policy was

blamed. Howsam tried to be concili-atory - allowing a limited use of the

DH - but Indianapolis shut the door.

In an extremely unusual move, they

signed a new PDC for next year in the

middle of the season - with the Mon-

treal Expos. TOthis day, the Reds do not

have a AAA affiliate lined up for 1984.AlthOUgll orily one location is currently

aV'ulable - Wichim- that teanl's general

manager refuses to sal' if they're C\'Cn

negotiating with the Reds, preferring to

wait and see if other clubs becomeavailable.

'l11en the Reds lost their AA affiliate a

few weeks later, in late August. Here the

complajnt was another dimension of

the Reds' recent plight. "Unfortunately,"

d W b f d l hi T

21 a decade later. There wa s nothingpeculiar about Vermont's experience.

And there was a reason the team folded

after a year: the whole league did, too.

Another example of failure was cited,as well: the "old Northern teague." com-

posed ofteams from WrnlOnt, NLw York

and New Hampshire, The Pree Press

pointed out that it failed despite stars

like Robin Roberts and Whitey ford.T hen , i n a very indirect ackoowledg-

ment of the limits of this example's

applicabWty, the paper noted that the

league "offered a brand ofbasebaIJ that

wa s akin to other minor leagues." Thekey word here is "akin." The leaguenever held membership in the NationalAssociation of Baseball Clubs - itw as asemi-pro league, with a few big-name

ringers thrown in to attract crowds.

The one legitimate issue raised - the

use of city funds - was something theFriends had taken into account from the

beginning. "It w as an arrangement theBoard of Aldermen had to h",'Cfaith in,"

says 'Ibm Racine marter-of-facrly "Wehad people who said they'd raise thenecessary money. The Board had to

believe they would." Once the testimony

ofthose involvedWdS heard - something

the Free Press apparently neglected -

approval wa s forthcoming,But where sensitive, multi-party nego-

tiations were concerned, some damagehad been done by the ill-informed

editorial - and Mayor Sanders was furi-ous. "It was a stupid, vicious, vindic-m'C editorial. Their in


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e:-II J . . ft-~JJboth Sanders and Rac ine happened 10be OUIof Iown.

Wh y did the PiraIespass up \trmonr?'Illthis day.manypeople in \trmonrlttlthe Itr!el'rf!ssedilOrial wa saa c to r. MilIrAp,ganissays simply,"If)OO were in their

posilion wouIdn'l ilalI i :ct )001 I already

knew a 1 0 1 of people here, so I wa spretty (:onfident, and il didn'l change

my mind But tbalonwhile Ric1lry w asintown. Ididn'l even see il. He calledm e, told m e aboul il, and read illO meIMt"the phone. I kJlliIrr I'd jus! had aImiIi= pol inmy back."

As k the Pirates why they wenl 10

Nashua, and )00 gel a ~ diplomatic

answer: Nashua was a pnwen quantity,\bmoot still an unknown. Yet Nashuahad only heminthe league a ~ and

the I'inlcs "had 110 doubtsa re a m \WUIddowe D in\trmonl." Ric1lry apparenllyhad doubts about the three-party agree-men! all along and a discour.Iging editoriaI, according 10Ajpnis. "definitelyalfected him...

SoiJrmanypotential & os in\tnnonl,Ot'derw.lSll'l really restored until Agg;Inissigned an ew PDC with Cincinnali lhethird week of Seplembel: The Angelsan d Reds had both senl representalM:s10\trmon!, an d the head of their &rrn

system, Chief8endeI; wa s quoled hereas saying the club "wasn'l happy with

the operalion in Waterbory, so we're

looking around fOra n ew site."The Reds m ay have had legitimale

gripes aboul Waterbury, bol ilw as a lsoIhe case thaI the f ranchise owner lherehad thrown them OUIfOr nol providinga mmpetilM: re a m jus! weeks befOre. I f

ilw as al all possible, they would seek anew PDC elsewhere. As one majorleague executM: pol it, "Securing an

alIIliation can be lilIr agame ofmusicalchai1s. Someone aIwajo; gets left stand-ing."

Now at first glance il m ay seem thaIthe new Vermonl franchise w as left

standing, bul the Reds were OUI inthemid, 100. Apparenlly the shock of los-ingboth lheir top alIiliates led the Reds10ta1lr pains 10demonstrate their com-

milmenllo rebuilding Ihrough the &rrn

system. \trmonl's ne w re a m is the first10benefit from this determination, aslhey will enjoy one oft he best PDCs in

the game. The Reds are picking up a~ substantial proportion of salaries,lravel and equipmenl ('OSlS an d tbe like.

Onthe major league le.el, it' unclear

how ne w the new era in Cincinnati willreally be. The field manager wa s fired,the smuling stalf overhauled, and the

dust hasn't )t'Isettled in the front office.

Bul n ew manager \tm Rapp is hardly amessenger ofa n ew progresslYe altitude.Rapp. according 10 columnist BillCon-lin, "maIcr!s a stem disciplinarian like

S G u t Diego's Dick Williams fook like AndyWarhol." His only previous managing

experience, in St. Louis, ended with the

pJarets innear-muliny, says Conlin.

Bul iI'S the feeling ofAp,ganisand lheFr iends thaI they're gelting in on the

ground Boor of a major rebuilding effi>n

in the minors. Already the DH policy

has been changL'd, and only particular

pitchers will haYe10hil. The reallygoodnews, Ihough, is lhal help is on the way.Cincinnati signed all 23 of its lop ama-

teur draft picks - a completely unprecedenred phenomenon.

And those young ballplayers made

their mark immedialely. Billings, Monlanaofthe Pioneer League (rookie lad)roared 10 a championship Ihis pasl

summer, and Baseball America's Iis'tofthaI league's lop I I picks includes five

Reds players. The one other winningleam in the s)'Slem - Cedar Rapids - is

jus ! below the level of the ne w \trmonlleam. Given the ,""cuum of talent at the

upper levels of the Reds ' system, \tr-mont m ay see some ofthose }OUngpros-

pectssoon.

More imponantly, the \ermont Reds

are off 10 a very strong stan locally and

will almost certainly succeed inthestands n :gardIess ofhow they do in thestandi~gs. The Fr iends (who have splitinto two I ega1 entities to accommodatetax-exempt donations towards renova-tion costs) find that all their work hasled to immediate dividends. "It's really

struck a chord in people," says Sanders.The day-Io-day operation of the re a m

has been put in the hands of a verycapable and impressive young baseball

man, Peter Sinagra. "He's the kind of

gu y people here will like," says Racine -and so far the feeling is mutual. "I just

couldn't visualize the excitement here

untillbm took me down Church Streethere in Burlington. Everyone he intro-

duced to me was excited." Agganis

explains his choice of \trmonr over

Olher locales by simply saying, "Igot a

Ittling here I never got elsewhere."Just weeks have gone by since theReds opened an office here, and alreadymore than 200 season tickets have been

sold. With some help from \ermont

native Len Whitehouse - who pilches

fOr the Minnesota Twins - ads are seil-ing briskly too. Of 32 available outfield

billboard ads, more than 20 are alreadysnapped up. Seve ral . .. dio stations arevying fOrthe rights to broadcasl games.

It m ay ta1lr a while fOr Centennial

Reid to reach the state everyone jnm!vedwould like, bUI work on the essentials

has already begun. And thaI's brought

anolher pleasanl surprise, according to

Tom Racine. "Bids are wa y below whatwe'd expected to pay fOr the work. Peo-

ple seem to be making Ihe bids and a

donation at the same lime."Perhaps nothing indicates Ihe impact

of the new team so much as Ihe relation

ships it has crealed or enhanced. "II'S

done a lot of good already," says Racine.

"It's a nonpoliticalthing, of course, andI'm not even a Burlington residenr, but I

can see some walL~ coming down be-

tween Bernie and business people be-

cause of this. And those walls are being

taken down from both sides." And Sand-

ers had' a pleasant surprise when hespoke recently at the Kennedy School

in Boston. In the crowd w as Mike Ag -garus, who'd come down from Lynn tointroduce his wife to his new friend.

As k Sanders why he spent so muchtime on the project and he cites both

tangible and intangible reasons. "The

tangible reasons," he says, "are eco-nomic. It will mean a boom here: new

jobs and lots of new business. Also, theteam will have the lowest prices in the

league for children and senior citizens,

and that's very consistent with otherthings this administration's tried to doin Burlington. things like free concertsand youth programs."

But the intangibles are closer to his

heart. "Iw as a kRIgrowing up in Brook-lyn, and everyone there talked about the

Dodgers. A baseball team oraws all sonsof people together, and iI's not a bad

thing fOr kids to have heroes who arebaseball playets, especiallyw!len they'll

gel the chance 10know them as humanbeings."

Mike Agganis is looking forward 10

his fresh stan in \trmont too. "This isjustlhe beginning, remember Someday

I'd like to sa y it's Ihe best supponedteam per capita in the game. That's off

.in the future, bot the future looks brighl. ..Team estimates of attendance now run

as high as 150,000, which would imme

diately put \ermant among the league

leaders_

" I don't want to bl ow I hi s out of

proponion," says Sanders, "but this is a

somewhal presligious thing, to get this

leam, and I think iI's going to be some-

thing the whole stale can be proud of.

In the final analysis, though, il doesn't

mean an y more Ihan people sitting out-

side on a nice summer night enjoyingthemselves and watching top-notch

baseball. It's juSI a hell of a nice way to

go out with your fiu'nilyand friends andget logether with your neighbors."

Documents

Play Ball! Professional Baseball Comes to Vermont | Vanguard Press | Nov. 6, 1983