Baseball in Fort Wayne

Archive for the ‘Downtown’ Category

From Nick West of The News-Sentinel:

Midwest League president George Spelius was in town on Thursday evening to take in the baseball game between the Beloit Snappers and Fort Wayne Wizards. Spelius travels throughout the league during the season and joked about always being in Fort Wayne when the Three Rivers Festival’s Midway carnival is set up in the Memorial Coliseum’s parking lot.

Double hip replacement has kept Spelius away from a full league tour the past two seasons, and he said this is the first time since the surgeries that he’s been able to visit the entire league.

Spelius talked about the Fort Wayne baseball franchise’s new downtown ballpark.

“I think that new stadium is just a great thing for Fort Wayne because it’s really going to help the downtown area,” he said. “The city fathers and many other people that have supported this are going to be very happy with the outcome of having a stadium in the downtown area.”

Spelius also talked about the possibility of the Midwest League expanding from 14 to 16 teams. The Lake County Captains, the Class-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, have been a possible 15th addition since 2002, but the problem has been in finding a 16th team for even scheduling.

“We were told at the All-Star break there was a possibility that maybe … we had some kind of bead on it,” he said. “We may have a 16th team. We’ll wait and see what decision we have to make if it comes at all.”

The last major piece of steel was put into place today at a topping off ceremony. Members of the City Council, the Redevelopment Commission, Barry Real Estate, the Fort Wayne Wizards and the Northeast Indiana community were on hand for the occasion that saw many signatures and messages inscribed on the beam before being raised to is final location on the left side of the stadium’s entrance.

“Today is an achievement in the revitalization of the heart of our city,” said Mayor Henry. “The topping off marks an important point in the construction of the Harrison Square ballpark, just like Harrison Square marks an important point in making downtown Fort Wayne a great place to live, work and play.”

Video: Mayor Tom Henry Speaks (1:00)
Video: Barry Real Estate CEO, Chris Schoen explains the topping off (0:47)
Video: The Ballpark Gets Topped Off (3:31)
[note: sorry for the background vocals on the last video. They were right behind me.]

Gallery: Photos from the event

More Coverage:

• Harrison Square reaches construction milestone (Wane-TV)
• Making Progress (Indiana’s News Center)
• To O’ the Ballpark to Ya (WhatsGoingDownTown)

Here’s a pic I took of my message and name on the Harrison Square beam. It was lifted and secured in place by two workers in Wizards jerseys during a toping off ceremony held today. Definately more pics, video and info to be posted shortly.

 

Since the official announcement, I have heard many people in favor of the Wizards’ possible name change — and I have probably heard just as many who are against it.

• Indiana News Center’s Dean Pantazi reminds us that “General manager Mike Nutter, who dropped the hint of a possible name change with the move to Harrison Square as early as last August.”
• Ben Smith takes and interesting twist on looking to history for a new name.
• Neil Kelty at Political Equinox cites the success of the organization to favor keeping the name – you’ll have to read the whole article to understand how it applies to politics.
• The New-Sentinel’s Reggie Hayes doesn’t seem to favor changing the name – OF ANYTHING!

In my humble opinion, a name change is something that the Wizards must consider. It doesn’t mean they have to change the name. However, opportunities for repositioning a brand or rebranding only come along every so often, and now is the perfect opportunity.

I have my own ideas for team names, and they are not the Kekiongas, the Generals, or even the City Lights. For that matter, we might as well consider the Lady Wayne Chocolates, the Dairymen or even Capeharts. All good names that did well to characterize teams in their respective days.

This is a new era. It needs to be new and forward thinking. It irks me when people instead take it as an apportunity to get their digs in about their distaste for Harrison Square. Okay, we get it. You’re mad and don’t approve. We hear you. It’s all well and good, but let’s support the project and hope it’s successful. Otherwise, the only fitting name might be the Summit City Apathy. Not sure what the mascot would look like, but visions of Oscar the Grouch come to mind.

But even it that were the case,  as long as you can use the ticket toget a discounted Billy Idol ticket, I’ll take it. REBEL YELL!!!

With the Harrison Square development, many folks have asked me what will happen with regards to the evolution of the Wizards team. They ask me if there will be a name change, league change, what the stadium name will be (presumably if there is one), if there will be a change in Major League affiliates etc. My typical answer: “I Don’t Know.” Here’s what I can tell you.

League and/or Level Change:

I doubt it, but anything is possible. Travel is always a consideration for a minor league baseball team. It not only creates a sense of regional rivalry, it cuts expenses because there is less fuel usage and fewer hotel stays. If you were to few the Minor League Baseball teams according to our region, you’ll see that there are not many options other than the Midwest League. There are 23 MiLB teams in the region. Of those teams, 17 are Class-A teams, one is Double-A and five are Triple-A.

Within the Single-A teams, 14 of the 17 are in the Midwest League. Of the three remaining, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers are in the New York-Penn League; which is Class-A Short Season (a level lower than the Midwest League). The other two teams in Class-A are the Lexington Legends and the Lake County Captains; who are in the South Atlantic League. The “Sally League,” operates primarily in the southeastern United States and is pretty much on the same level as the Midwest League. Moving to this league makes little sense because it would be a lateral move and mean more travel and hotel stays. The only benefit that local fans would see is a change in teams that come through the area.

Double A is pretty much out of the question. The only team within Indiana or any of the surrounding states at this level is the Akron Aeros; who are on the far east side of Ohio.

But what about Triple-A? That would put Fort Wayne at a level just below the MLB and unite them in the International League with the other teams in the region; Toledo, Louisville, Iowa, Columbus (Ohio) and Indianapolis. Methinks this would be the most likely option next to remaining in the Midwest League, but I seem to recall the park in Harrison Square being built to Double-A specs.

Stadium Name:

First there must be someone willing to pony up the money. To my knowledge, this has not happened. That said, the city of Fort Wayne will receive 50% of naming rights revenues (up to $300,000 per year) and 100% of revenues in excess of $300,000 per year. With the city involved in that aspect, methinks it will happen. With the sheer number of business entities using “Three Rivers” in their names, I’d suggest that all of them pool their money together and call it “Three Rivers Ballpark”.

Affiliate Change:

Since the Wizards’ tenure in Fort Wayne, there have been two MLB affiliations; the Minnesota Twins and (currently) the San Diego Padres. I don’t have the evidence to back this assertion, but I would imagine that Fort Wayne has the distinction of being the MiLB team that is furthest from their MLB parent club. Without a doubt, the team would benefit significantly to unite with a parent club that is closer in proximity to Northeast Indiana where there is a denser fan base. The Cubs, White Sox, Reds, Indians, Tigers and Brewers come to mind. If there were a change to Triple-A, the Toledo Mudhens might take up issue if Fort Wayne tried to hook up with the Tigers. Methinks there will be many Padres draft picks taking the field at the yet-to-be named ballpark in Harrison Square in 2009.

But What About the Team Name and Mascot?

Aha, Now here is something were there is evidence to support a change. In 1993, the Wizards came to Fort Wayne and Wayne the Wizard was Grand Marshall of the metaphoric parade. Years later, when General Sports purchased the team, they sent Wayne into virtual retirement where he has been a miserly hermit. He’s lost a step or two in his dance moves, but he is still seen from time to time on special occasions. In his place, Dinger the Dragon appeared and has been the mascot mainstay since that time.

As pointed out by WhatsGoingDown(Town), the mascot and the team name have very little linking to local affinity. I suggested they name Dinger “Mad Anthony” when General Sports held a suggestion contest, but apparently, the NBADL liked it better.

All that said, as of now, there are no definite plans for a name and/or mascot change:

“Freier said he has been too busy with other pressing matters, including getting units in the condominium building sold, to have a name change be a top priority. But he said it likely will be considered, especially because the name Wizards has nothing to do with Fort Wayne. Furthermore, it isn’t unique to the Summit City as Washington’s National Basketball Association team and Kansas City’s Major League Soccer team share the mascot.

Methinks; that when we walk through the turnstiles at Harrison Square in 2009, it won’t be to see the Wizards. However, I do hope we get a chance to see Dinger AND Wayne on hand to pass the torch to an exciting new era in baseball for Fort Wayne and all o Northeast Indiana.

On page 84 of Baseball in Fort Wayne, I detail the events of Fort Wayne Billikens baseball team owner, Claude Varnell and Manager Jack Hendrick’s escape from the Aveline Hotel fire in Fort Wayne. As Kim Metzger writes for the Journal Gazette:

Saturday will mark the 100th anniversary of one of the deadliest fires in Fort Wayne’s history. Twelve people died in the blaze May 3, 1908, that destroyed the well-known and popular New Aveline House.

Where my little tale relates only to the baseball storyline, Metzger does a wonderful job of detailing more about the hotel’s history, the fire and the aftermath. A fascinating read that I highly reccommend.

I stumbled onto a new blog today. The blogger, listed only as “FW Citizen” has just two posts as of this writing, so who knows where it will go from here. It can be found at http://accountw331.blogspot.com.

The catalyst for the idea is the re-location of the Fort Wayne Wizards to a new stadium, which will be built in the new downtown Fort Wayne area. This is where the first concerns about the project are visible. The idea is to build around the new stadium and use it as the main attraction for the downtown area. However, the new stadium is costing 30 million and holds the same capacity as the current baseball stadium. This is just the first of several things that will be analyzed in this blog, as we try to look at Harrison Square and the reasoning for the mega million dollar project.

I’ll continue to monitor this one.

From the Fort Wayne Wizards Newsletter:

Hardball Capital, owners of the Fort Wayne Wizards, along with Barry Real Estate Companies, White Lodging Services and the City of Fort Wayne hosted a community open house on February 21st to update the Harrison Square project currently underway in downtown Fort Wayne.

Portions of a new digital fly through were shown at the open house, however, on the heels of that event, even more information is now available. HOK recently completed several more renderings and an updated full-length fly through.

“We’re extremely happy with the latest visions of what Harrison Square is going to look like,” Wizards General Manager Mike Nutter said. “At the same time, we’re still looking for feedback from our fans on these new features and how else we can improve the park to maximize the fan experience.”

Video Fly Through | Latest shot renderings | Oxblue Web Cam

[tags]Fort Wayne Wizards, Baseball in Fort Wayne, Harrison Square[/tags]

Thought I would pass this along. At Home in The Fort is a Fort Wayne Real Estate blog. Occasionally, there are posts about downtown developments relating to the Harrison Square and ballpark projects. There are many other Fort Wayne related resources as well.

[tags]Fort Wayne, Real Estate, Harrison Square[/tags]