Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 3, 1993 TAG: 9310030202
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It is the early stages of the off-season, time to consider the franchise's history and future.
On the one hand, Bowles is delighted that the Bucs again celebrated record growth. This makes the 11th consecutive year Salem has drawn more fans than the previous season, a distinction unmatched in professional baseball.
Bowles is happy that the team is in Salem, which he considers on the cutting edge of the sporting life of the Roanoke Valley. For its part, Salem is thrilled to have the team.
On the other hand, not all is well at quaint Municipal Field.
Yet again, the Pittsburgh Pirates furnished the Bucs with a few nice players but not a very admirable team. An 11th consecutive Carolina League half-season has passed without Salem compiling a winning record.
Further, the years have come and gone and here the Bucs still are at picturesque but ancient Municipal Field. Elsewhere in the league, there is a brand-new park in Wilmington, Del.; a next-to-new one in Frederick, Md.; and a state-of-the-art job under construction in Durham, N.C.
The Bucs have a sweetheart deal with Salem. The usual rent is $500 a month, except when the Bucs have made an improvement at the ballpark; then the fee is adjusted accordingly. That rent covers sewer, water, lights, maintenance and other odds and ends. The city may be lucky to break even.
"It's a pretty good deal, I'd say," said Randy Smith, Salem's city manager.
Indeed, but don't get the idea the city is complaining. Salem officials know there are economic benefits to having a minor-league franchise here.
But the fact remains, the Bucs are going to need a new ballyard. That may be necessary sooner than many people want to believe.
"We are not going to be able to put a minor-league team in there for many more years," Bowles said. "Major-league baseball won't put up with it. Everybody's getting new ballparks."
Don't presume Bowles is trying to apply a blowtorch to the soles of anybody's Italian loafers. He's presenting the facts.
"I understand Salem has had other obligations [for major capital expenditures]," he said. "To me, the key issue is whether somebody in the valley - Salem, Roanoke, the county - can by themselves or through a combined effort figure out a way to get a new ballpark. I can't believe that this valley would let a minor-league team like this get away. It means too much."
A threat? Not really. Bowles says he has no intention of moving the team. But the circumstances may be beyond his control.
If the big leagues decided that Municipal Field is inadequate, Bowles may have no choice but to sell to somebody who would move the team.
Bowles thinks his best hope is in Salem. Regardless of recent utterances by various Roanoke politicians, Bowles doesn't believe the city's heart is in the concept of being a sports mecca.
"When the time comes, I think that Salem will do the right thing," he said. "At least I hope so."
At this point, sentiment for a new ballpark is hard to gauge.
"There's not a thing I can tell you," said James Taliaferro, Salem's mayor. "I have not talked to Kelvin Bowles [about a new facility]."
One thing the Bucs and Salem have going for them is time. Conditions of the Professional Baseball Agreement - the universal upgrading of minor-league parks to specifications set by major-league baseball - have been postponed from 1994 to 1995. It will cost a bundle to bring Municipal Field up to specs.
Bowles said the good part is that Salem now has more time to consider possibilities for a new facility. There's no sense in Salem throwing good money after bad at Municipal Field, he is saying.
Bowles believes that his business will increase nicely with a new ballpark. It seems to everywhere else one is built. Look no further than the remarkable transformation of the fortunes of the Baltimore Orioles with their move to Camden Yards. Similar stories abound in the minors, too.
But there is another factor with a new ballpark: leverage with Pittsburgh. Bowles isn't exactly tickled with the teams he's had here lately. But he can't be too ornery about it because there is but one year remaining on the Pirates' player development contract with Salem.
Pittsburgh and Salem seem to be working at cross-purposes.
"I'm not worried about the results on the field at all," said Chet Montgomery, the Pirates' farm director. "I'm interested in developing players for the big leagues."
In practice, what this amounts to is players being shuffled in and out of town at the will of the organization, teammates and fans at the outpost in question be damned.
Player development is a worthy goal, but there are various ways to do it.
"Pittsburgh has the worst organization in the Carolina League," said Miles Wolff, the former Durham Bulls owner. "I hate organizations like that that say all they're interested in is player development. That's why I started the Northern League."
The Northern League is a 1-season-old independent league. Its avowed mandate is fan entertainment.
Bowles thinks you can develop players and win, too. But there isn't much he can say about it now.
"He's never griped to me about the kind of club we've had there," Montgomery said.
One must wonder how a better product on the field would influence attendance.
"I don't agree with that at all," Montgomery said. "They've just set a new attendance record there."
Counters Bowles: "Yes, but we've had to spend money to increase our business. If we had a better team, then business would increase automatically."
These differences won't be resolved until there is a new park. With the old park, Pittsburgh could just as easily say after next year, "You don't like us? We don't like you, either. Nice knowing you. Good luck finding somebody to move into that antique you have down there."
A new park changes that.
"Then the cards may be in my hand," Bowles said.
by CNB