Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 6, 1994 TAG: 9401060050
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Bucs owner Kelvin Bowles said Wednesday that he had sold the team, pending approval by the Carolina League, the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs and major-league baseball.
As expected, the buyer is a group headed by Eric A. Margenau of New York.
"I'm sure everything will go pretty good [with approval of the deal]," Bowles said. "I don't see any stumbling blocks."
Added Margenau: "I can't imagine that it would not be approved."
The sale price is believed to be $2 million.
The Carolina League requires extensive financial and biographical disclosure documents from a prospective buyer, as well as an application from the seller. Bowles said he has provided the application, and Margenau said Wednesday his documents should be ready in a day or two.
If Margenau's paperwork is in order, it should take less than a month for the approval process to run its course, said Carolina League President John Hopkins.
Margenau is the managing partner of a group that includes Cincinnati businessmen Fred Mayerson, James Gould and Richard Steiner and Rocco Landesman of New York. The group owns the Capital City (Columbia, S.C.) Bombers of the Class A South Atlantic League and the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Wizards of the Class A Midwest League.
Margenau formerly was part owner of the Carolina League's Peninsula Pilots before they moved to Wilmington, Del.; the South Bend (Ind.) White Sox of the Midwest League; the Memphis Chicks of the Class AA Southern League; and the old Watertown Pirates of the short-season New York-Penn League.
"I've been in baseball since 1986," Margenau said. "You'll be getting first-class, experienced, professional management in Salem."
Margenau said he has no intention of moving the Bucs out of Salem.
"I have not talked to any city officials in Salem, but I understand through Kelvin that plans are going forward to put together money for a new stadium," Margenau said. "That's great. That's what we hope to see happen. If it does, we intend to be in Salem for a long, long time."
Salem Mayor Jim Taliaferro recently told the league of the city's hope to build a new ballpark. Taliaferro also has corresponded with officials in the City of Roanoke and Roanoke County to seek a contribution of $1 million from each toward stadium costs.
Taliaferro could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
A new ballpark is crucial to the future of the team. The player development contract with the parent Pittsburgh Pirates expires at the end of the 1994 season. The Pittsburgh organization has been pushing for a new ballpark and indications are that Pirates officials would look elsewhere for a Class A affiliation if Salem Municipal Field isn't replaced.
"We're very pleased with Salem," Margenau said. "But the facility is inadequate and needs to be replaced. If it isn't, then I guess we'll have to go back to the drawing board."
If those remarks sound threatening, Margenau said they shouldn't be.
"My style is not to come in and deliver ultimatums," he said. "I want to work with the localities where my teams are, as I've done elsewhere."
But neither is Margenau reluctant to act. When he bought the team that would become the Fort Wayne Wizards, it was located in Kenosha, Wis. A new ballpark was needed there, too, and when the money for one was not forthcoming, Margenau moved the team.
Taliaferro and the city have gone on record with the league as being opposed to out-of-town ownership or any attempt to move the team from Salem. Margenau said he hoped to meet with the mayor in the next several weeks.
"I attribute that he's opposed to out-of-town ownership to the fact that he doesn't know me," Margenau said.
Margenau said he expects to retain general manager Sam Lazzaro and his staff.
Margenau, 52, is a sports psychologist by training and still maintains a small practice. He has worked as a consultant to several major-league teams, including the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates, helping players with psychological, emotional and performance problems.
According to a biographical sheet Margenau provided, he stays close to the daily operations of his teams "overseeing all aspects of marketing, sales and promotional strategies."
Margenau, who has a wife and two children, is a graduate of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., and holds a doctorate from New York University.
As for Bowles, who has owned the Bucs since 1986, he will remain in professional baseball as a scout and continue with his Rocky Mount-based cable television business.
by CNB