Baseball in Fort Wayne

Archive for January, 2007

Jim Shovlin, the current Fort Wayne Mens’ Senior Baseball League treasurer and 14 year league member, was recently inducted into the MSBL Hall of Fame during the World Series in Arizona. The MSBL Hall of Fame began in 1997 with 11 inductees, and the hall is currently home to 33 past and present players, presidents and umpires. Shovlin is only the second HOF member from the state of Indiana. [content for this post was obtained at the FWMSBL website where you can read more]

Shovlin is also the Fort Wayne Wizards Public Address Announcer.

Sorry for not posting this sooner Jim. Thanks for all you do to promote and encourage the sport’s role in our community.

[tags]Jim Shovlin, FWMSBL[/tags]

As a conclusion to a previous post, San Diego Padres and Former Wizards pitcher, Jake Peavy will not face charges for disorderly conduct stemming from an altercation at an airport.

Read more here.

I am reading this book right now. It’s a scholorly look at the political process that communities face when investing in ballparks for minor league baseball teams. Very well done and insightful to say the least. Arthur Johnson draws his conclusions from several case studies; one of them involving a late 1980′s effort to bring baseball to Fort Wayne, Indiana prior to the Wizards’ arrival.

As the case study points out, the effort did not result in bringing minor league baseball to the city (at least not on that try). The author concludes that local officials and team ownership (which had local roots) all did the right things, the decision to not bring the team in was the right decision at that time.

However, I feel very compelled to quote two paragraphs that are included in the summary of the study regarding baseball in Fort Wayne. It seems rather pertinent in light of the Harrison Square developments:

Like other cities, Fort Wayne is striving to keep its downtown center vibrant. Developing a facility for a team in the downtown area could have meant that more than a quarter of a million people would have come to that part of the city each year. This would have represented very real growth for that part of Fort Wayne. As a result, Fort Wayne could have had an economic stake in bringing a team to downtown Fort Wayne.

Locating the team downtown could have enhanced the image of that part of the city and convinced other businesses to locate in the area or stay in downtown Fort Wayne. Locating the team in the downtown area could have concentrated benefits sufficiently to galvanize support for the team and its needs.

Keep in mind that this was written over a decade ago in 1995 – two years after the Wizards joined our city sportscape (yes, I think I just made up that word) and a few years following the failed effort to bring a different club to the city (which I beleive ultimately ended up in Kane County).

[tags]minor league baseball, economic development[/tags]

Chris Mehring over at Rattler-Radio (which is dedicated to covering Midwest League news) recently blogged about the Harrison Square coverage in local newspapers.

Read the post here.

[tags]Harrison Square, Minor League Baseball, Wizards, Fort Wayne, Downtown Revitalization[/tags]

WOWO’s Bob Chase and Charly Butcher recently conducted a radio interview with Fort Wayne native and Cleveland Indians Manager Eric Wedge. In the interview, they discuss offseason moves, the Hall of Fame vote, the Eric Wedge Baseball Camp and more.

You can listen to the audio here.

[tags]Eric Wedge, Cleveland Indians, WOWO Interview[/tags]

FortWayneObserved.com cited a report from the New York Times that indicates former Fort Wayne Daisies player, Betty Trezza has passed away at the age of 82.

The league assigned her to Minneapolis, one of the new teams that year. The next year the Minneapolis Millerettes became the Fort Wayne Daisies. The last month of the season, Ms. Trezza was traded to the South Bend Blue Sox. In 1946, she was picked up by Racine, where she played for five years. [source: NY Times]

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ms. Trezza and her family. Thank you for being a part of our local baseball heritage.

[tags]Fort Wayne Daisies, Betty Trezza, AAGPBL[/tags]

There’s a good article over at MLB.com that talks about former Wizards second baseman, Josh Barfields optimistic look at the 2008 season with his new team after the shocking trade that sent him to the tribe (managed by Fort Wayne native, Eric Wedge). It talks about his thoughts ont he team, the division and his future with the team. It also includes some good fatherly advise from his father, former Major Leaguer Jesse Barfield:

With a good glove and a solid bat, Barfield can be another one of those cornerstones that general manager Mark Shapiro and manager Eric Wedge have tried to sprinkle into the Tribe’s 25-man roster. Barfield said his father, former Major Leaguer Jesse Barfield, told him the trade might be the best thing to happen to him . . . [h]e told his son that he was going from a pitchers’ ballpark in PETCO to a hitters’ ballpark in The Jake. How can that be a bad thing?

Former Fort Wayne Wizards pitcher turned post-season surprise, Oliver Perez, has agreed to a one-year contract with the New York Mets, which is worth $2,325,000.

With injuries to key starters during the post-season, Perez became only the second pitcher with a regular-season record of 10 games under .500 to start a postseason game. With New York trailing 2 games to 1 in the National League championship series, Perez helped the Mets secure a 12-5 victory in Game 4. He started game seven of the series after allowing just one run and four hits over six innings. The Mets ultimately lost the game 3-1.

With the Mets rotation still filled with question marks, Perez (who made $1.9 million last season) is expected to compete for one of the starting spots.

In 2001, Perez went 8-5 with a 3.46 ERA as a starter for the Wizards. He struck out 98 in 101 1/3 IP. At the time, he was rated the #18 prospect in the Midwest League by Baseball America.

In 2003, San Diego sent Perez and Jason Bay to the Pirates for Brian Giles in a major deal. The Mets acquired Perez last July from the Pirates along with reliever Roberto Hernandez for Xavier Nady. Over seven regular season starts, Perez went 1-3 with a 6.38 for the Mets. Overall, he was 3-13 with a 6.55 ERA in 22 2006 starts.

More info at: YahooSports | MLB.com

[tags]Oliver Perez, Pirates, Mets, Jason Bay, Midwest League, Baseball America, Padres, Brian Giles, Xavier Nady, Trades, MLB[/tags]

Note: This is the third in a series of my thoughts on the Harrison Square project. They are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of any other individual or entity.

I have heard it said that the Wizards are little more than a “glorified little league team” and that most people in the area would rather drive to Chicago or Detroit or Cleveland for baseball. Perhaps we should remember that the higher the level of play, the higher the price of tickets. I have been to 8 big league parks and one Triple-A park. Tickets are substantially more – plus I have to drive two hours minimum. Dollar-for-dollar, minor league baseball is one of the best family entertainment values you will ever be able to find.

Additionally, if you call the likes of Torii Hunter, Jake Peavy, Josh Barfield, LaTroy Hawkins, Michael Cuddyer, Matt Lawton, AJ Pierzynski and Matt Lecroy little leaguers, you obviously don’t watch baseball. The Wizards have produced over 50 players who have prospered into Major League Baseball players. Countless others have come through town as opponents.

And let’s not forget the coaches. This summer, we’ll welcome former big leaguers, Doug Dascenzo and Wally Whitehurst to the Summit City. I’ve gotten to see other former big leaguers, like Jody Davis, Andy Van Slyke and Mike Harkey . . . looking forward to seeing one of my all-time favorites – Ryne Sandberg – this summer.

Finally, this summer, the Midwest League All-Star game will be proudly hosted by the Kane County Cougars and be played in Geneva, IL. Is there any reason why it shouldn’t be played in Fort Wayne? While the current Memorial Stadium could probably be “adequate” to host such an event, I doubt the site would ever be selected because there are other, more attractive parks that are MORE than adequate. The Cougars have a wonderful tour of their stadium on their website. I encourage you to check it out.

I will be in Geneva this summer for the game . . . though would love to not have to travel. What a boon it would be for the city and its proprietors if we were to host such an event!!!

[tags]Harrison Square, baseball, Fort Wayne, minor leagues, ball parks, Kane County Cougars, Torii Hunter, Jake Peavy, Josh Barfield, LaTroy Hawkins, Michael Cuddyer, Matt Lawton, AJ Pierzynski, Matt Lecroy, Ryne Sandberg, Jody Davis, Andy Van Slyke, Mike Harkey[/tags]

Joel Dinda (AKA “Jowo”) over at the MidWest League Guide offers his thoughts on Harrison Square. soem good points. I’ll wrap up my perspectives tomorrow with part 3 of my series.

Harrison Square, a city-sponsored downtown redevelopment project which would necessarily include substantial public and privately funding, is an apparently-serious effort. The project would include a new ($30 million) ballyard for the Wizards, who would participate in the entire project, including a $5 million portion of the stadium (the owners are Atlanta-based real estate developers). While the Wizards would like to have the new ballpark in place by the start of the 2008 season, I’m skeptical about the feasibility of that timeline; the apparent need for a hotel chain’s endorsement is certainly a potential holdup, if not a deal-breaker. And the project’s a bit too ambitious to believe it will be implemented exactly as planned. [Source: MWLguide.com]

I’d be interested to hear any other thoughts you have on the project Joel.