Baseball in Fort Wayne

Archive for October, 2006

“The Larry MacPhail Promotion Trophy is awarded annually to the Midwest League team that has done the best job in promotions and marketing the past season.”

This year, the Fort Wayne Wizards took the honors, marking the third time over the last four years in which they have done so. You can read more on the Wizards website.

Congratulations to the Wizards’ staff and thank you for all your hard work.

The Fort Wayne Wizards have always provided seasons packed full on family entertainment. Their ninth season as a San Diego Padres affiliate and fifteenth overall looks to be even better than all before it.

Their April 9th home opener against the newest Midwest League fanchise, The Great Lakes Loons (Dodgers) leads off a season that will include fifteen fireworks shows (including one on July 3rd), eleven dollar days and the return of their Christian speaker/band appearances plus favorites, like Myron Noodleman, Berdzerk and more.

For the full details, check out the Wizards release.

Over at DailyPrincetonian.com, there is a great article about Will Venable’s early experiences as a professional baseball player. Among other things, it talks about his goals of playing on the Major League level, his new home in Arizona and his opportunity to play with the Fort Wayne Wizards, under the guidance of his father, coach Max Venable:

While playing for the Wizards, Venable had the opportunity to be mentored by a talented and familiar batting coach: his father. Max Venable, who spent 12 seasons in the Major Leagues as a player, is known throughout the Padres organization as an exceptional hitting coach, and the closeness between father and son helped Will’s development.

Fort Wayne Observed has made mention of Linda Lipp’s perspective on a visit to Dayton while reporting on the dowtown ball park plans.

In her article, Lipp dissects the truth from the suggested truth with regards to revitalization efforts in Dayton. In speaking with residents and business owners of Dayton, Lipp reports that very little action has resulted for Dayton other than having a sold out park every time there is a game.

I’d consider that a good thing (unless you are one of the poor folks on a waiting list to watch a Single-A baseball game).

In truth, I think it is unfair to compare Fort Wayne to Dayton. First of all, Dayton is very close to Cincinnati. This is important for several reasons. Northeast Indiana residents must drive 2-3 times as far from their homes to reach a city the size of Cincinnati. Additionally, the Dayton Dragons are a minor league affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. It’s no wonder the park is sold out for every game - (in theory) Dayton residents can drive less than an hour to watch many players on the big league team that they saw break into the sport in Dayton just a couple years prior. Northeast Indiana residents must fly several hours to southern California to watch the San Diego Padres to do the same thing (although, there are a few holdovers in Minnesota from the Wizards’ affiliation with the Twins).

While the size and structure of the two cities are similar, it really is a tale of two (different) cities. We must remember that regardless of the success (or lack thereof) of Dayton, Northeast Indiana residents have been presented with an opportunity to do something exciting. Whether the excitement ends with the park or not is up to us – not the efforts of another city.