Don’t they?

Oh, the irony.

Councillors Maria McRae and Bob Monette had earlier stated their support for a revitalization of Frank Clair Stadium, but Ms. Leadman isn’t sure. While she watched the stands fall with a “touch of sadness,” she’s not in any rush to build them again.

Ms. Leadman said, “the many attempts have been unsuccessful. There has to be interest from the community.”

The original Ottawa Rough Riders franchise folded in 1996. The team returned in 2002 as the Renegades and the ownership changed hands in 2005, and in 2006. Then CFL commissioner Tom Wright announced the club had ceased operations.

“I would step cautiously,” Ms. Leadman said. “That’s a big investment and once you build a stadium, it’s there.”

Aside from the multiple CFL franchises, she noted that the city also had trouble supporting its AAA baseball team, the Ottawa Lynx, which has since relocated to Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Emphasis added (not that I expect you needed it).  So the City (with a capital C) wipes out the southside stands shortly after discovering that they’re no longer structurally sound - readers will note that “shortly” is a relative term, particularly when the City is involved.  Ms. Leadman’s comments though are pretty much gospel from the City’s perspective: the city had trouble supporting it’s AAA baseball team.  In fact it was the City of Ottawa that had the most difficulty supporting it’s AAA team.  As a politician, it’s prudent to look at the facts - and the fact of the matter is the CFL franchise has failed in this city twice, and has had several owners, some of whom were unmitigated disasters.  It may be unwise to invest a significant amount of taxpayers money into a new stadium (although I have no doubt that they will study the matter to death through the investment of a significant amount of taxpayers money into consultants).  But bringing Lynx Stadium into the discussion does nothing to strengthen Ms. Leadman’s argument.  First, the stadium is paid for and has been for several years.  Second, unlike Lansdowne Park, it hasn’t suffered from the City’s neglect: Lynx Stadium isn’t falling down and shouldn’t for the foreseeable future.  And finally, due to the hard work of Miles Wolff, Bruce Murdock, councillors Bob Monnette and Rob Jellett, and the unselfish nature of Lynx owner Ray Pecor, even though the Lynx left there’s still baseball being played at the stadium. 

It’s an interesting study in contrasts, Lansdowne Park and Lynx Stadium.  For one, they used dynamite to begin to destroy it.  For the other…, well, you already know.

Well, well, well. What are you gonna do? It’s strangely gratifying to see a AAA team struggling, when by most accounts the move to the tropical paradise of the eastern continental US was in part designed to make playing the game so much easier in April and May.  Because as we know, the hitters and the pitchers both fare equally poorly in the cold - you remember all of those scoreless tie games that went into endless numbers of extra frames here don’t you?  The games where the batters couldn’t make contact, couldn’t draw a walk and the hurlers couldn’t find the plate?

So what’s the problem now?  Perhaps it’s the difficulty the human body has in adapting from a freezing cold April climate, to a cold April climate.  I put the over/under on the story that finds some way of pinning an 0-8 (whoops, down 1-0 to the Braves after 3) start on Ottawa at two days.   Starting… now.

A pair of tickets to Opening Day to the first person who finds the story, or manufactures the best yarn.

Yesterday over on the UCOB we played “guess the missing logo”.  The fun and games continue here on the UOLB today - an Easter egg hunt of sorts this weekend.  This one comes care of our friends in Reading - wanna play?  Good.  Let’s play “Find the missing city”!

Baseball’s hottest commodityPitching. It is the hottest commodity in baseball. Like precious stones, good pitching is dazzling, hard to find, difficult to replace and if you’re faking it like cubic zirconium, you’re not going to get away with it for very long. Last year we split up our pitching preview into two sections – starters and relievers. Then we told you that Julio De La Cruz and Patrick Overholt were promising starter and reliever prospects, respectively. Then De La Cruz spent all of 2007 pitching out of the bullpen and Overholt became a starter. So this year we’ll lump everyone that pitches together and try to paint a decently accurate picture as we go along. We’re going to go through over two dozen names this year. Six of them were invited to big league spring training and at least six of the remaining arms have been there at some point in there careers. Again, this is not set in stone. The R-Phils are likely to start the season with 11 or 12 pitchers on the roster. In 2007, 28 pitchers made at least one appearance for the R-Phils. Fourteen of them made at least one start. Those figures do not include rehab assignments. Righty Jason Anderson came to the Phillies as a Minor League free agent last year and appeared in 37 games between Reading (14) and Triple-A (23). He’s a hard thrower that has appeared in 32 career Major League games for the Yankees (26) and Mets (6). In almost 400 career games he made 51 starts and boasts a 3.39 ERA in the Minors. He’s a candidate to pitch at Reading, Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia. Righty Gary Knotts is a great story, a big league veteran and in big league camp. He was out of baseball in 2005-2006 due to injuries. His comeback in affiliated ball began in Reading last year. He showed he was healthy in three starts here, including a 9-inning one-hitter vs. Erie. He ended up in Triple-A and probably starts there this year. But we can’t rule him out to make the big league club or get caught up in numbers and pitch here again. Last year was a roller coaster ride for Zack Segovia. He made the big league club after a strong spring following a super 2006 in Reading and Clearwater. Once the big Phils got some arms back healthy, as expected, he was sent to Triple-A to continue his development. Things didn’t go well in Triple-A and he would up back in Reading. An offseason check up showed he needed surgery. He’s back and looking to prove he’s healthy and that last year’s struggles at Triple-A were a fluke due to the injury. We’re listing him here just to play it safe. This story was posted on February 28, 2008

(edited for length)

And it continues in their analysis of the catchers, infielders and outfielders.  The part of me that isn’t completely irritated by this wonders why they went through such trouble to avoid mentioning “Ottawa“.  Reading’s baseball following is pretty knowledgeable - it’s not like people would be confused with the new affiliation in Allentown.  Have we become like the embarassing “ex” that no one wants to mention? 

What is pretty clear though is that this isn’t a conspiracy theory on my part; every other city is mentioned - Clearwater, Lakewood, Philadelphia.  Maybe it’s just a bit of revisionist history on Reading’s part - excise any mention of Ottawa from Phillies minor league history and maybe they can convince people it never happened.

I still don’t get why they went through the trouble.  Or did I just miss it when our fair city was re-named “Triple-A, Ontario”?

Meh.  Move on  Carl.

I rarely get a fever, but with the one I’m running right now, anything posted would likely be gibberish.

Sorry - more gibberish than usual.

Cross-posted to the UORB.

This story comes to us via Friend of the Lynx, Joe Bisenius Sr.  It seems that incoming manager Ed Nottle, was the manager in Joe Sr.’s home town of Sioux City Iowa.  Former Lynx Player (FLP), Joe Bisenius (Jr.) was a bat boy during Ed’s first stint as a manager with the Explorers, when they were in the Northern League.

Nottle finds work in Ottawa

Sometime last summer, Ed Nottle pulled off the rose-colored glasses and started taking inventory. The eternal optimist peeked in the mirror and realized that looking good for your age can’t entirely stop the march of time. He scanned all the empty seats at Lewis and Clark Park, conceding to himself that a second tour of duty as manager of the Sioux City Explorers wasn’t bringing back the crowds he’d helped attract the first time around.

There were plenty of disillusionments for a guy who gives the human race more credit than it probably deserves. And, Nottle, who believes minor league managers should stand at third base and take the heat, waved yet another runner home.

At age 68, the Philadelphia native rolled the dice, surrendering a bird in the hand for that one in the bush by stepping down as manager of the X’s with no new job yet in sight.

A verbal promise from ownership here would have kept Nottle employed for at least another two years. However, he’d made the rounds to service clubs several times over, heard various acquaintances vow they’d see him at the park, and noticed more and more they weren’t showing up.

This lifelong baseball salesman needed a new audience and a new challenge. And, Thursday, he got it, being named the skipper for the new Ottawa franchise in independent baseball’s Can-Am League.

In many respects, it’s a best case scenario for Nottle, who should relish the larger market and all its attendant media scrutiny.

“The press conference was unbelievable, there were something like 70 media there,” reported Ed late Thursday afternoon. “This may be the greatest situation I’ve ever been in. The ballpark is gorgeous and the city is mobbed.”

The Canadian capital is the country’s fourth largest city with a population of 812,129 and a metro area of over 1.5 million. Ottawa stadium, the new team’s home, is a 15-year-old gem with seating for 10,332.

Best of all, there are just enough skeptics around, thinking Ottawa and baseball aren’t a good match, that expectation levels should be easy enough for Nottle to surpass.

Ottawa, you see, petitioned the Can-Am League for a franchise after 15 years in the Class AAA International League. First, the Baltimore Orioles pulled out, relocating their top farm club to Norfolk, Va. Then, last year, the city became a pit stop for the Philadelphia Phillies, already committed to a new ballpark in Allentown, just 60 miles from the parent club.

Ottawa responded accordingly, attracting just 1,922 fans a game, which was easily the worst in all of Triple-A baseball. No sense getting caught up in a team that has one foot out the door.

These independent leagues, of course, are not just a phone call away from the bigs, like Triple-A. Nonetheless, Winnipeg, a Canadian metropolis much like Ottawa, has enjoyed a 15-year love affair with their Northern League Goldeyes, ranking 29th for all minor league teams with attendance of 6,542 a game last summer.

Like Winnipeg, Ottawa has two English language newspapers (also a French daily) that compete rather vigorously. Neither of them waited for Thursday’s press conference to report the new team’s managerial choice.

“The pro baseball club in Ottawa will be singing a different tune this season,” wrote Don Campbell of the Ottawa Citizen, “and not just because it will be a new team in a new league with new ownership.

“The still-unnamed Can-Am Baseball League club, which comes to Ottawa after the departure of the Triple-A Lynx, appears poised to hire minor league managing legend Ed Nottle, who is known throughout the minors at ‘Singing Ed,’ for obvious reasons.”

“Can-Am Manager in tune?” asked the headline in the Ottawa Sun, where writer Chris Stevenson was good enough to drop the “g” while introducing “Singin’ Ed.”

Miles Wolff, the Baseball America publisher who started the Northern League, heads up the ownership group for a team that will be called the Ottawa Rapids. Wolff saw Ed start from scratch in Sioux City and build attendance to over 3,500 a game and the two have been good friends ever since.

So, our friend should be off and running by now and we wish him the best, just as we we’re waiting anxiously for his successor, Les Lancaster, to put a fresh set of eyes on baseball in our town.

Judging from the roster Lancaster has worked hard all winter to assemble, the former Chicago Cubs pitcher could be fairly popular around here, too.

And, we’ll be telling you plenty about all of that in the weeks to come.

Sioux City Journal sports editor Terry Hersom can be reached at (712) 293-4214 or by e-mail at terryhersom@siouxcityjournal.com.

(Cross posted from the UORB)

 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”

                                                                                                                              Hebrews 11:1

Apologies for the lack of posts lately, but rather than put pressure on myself to blog, I made the decision to focus on today’s press conference.  My plan is to get the entire conference on video and up on Youtube by 3 p.m. (it may take a little longer depending upon the upload and Youtube’s “approval” process).  Pictures and audio clips will follow this evening.  Neate will also be in attendance this morning, so he may get the first post out confirming the name of the new manager (widely speculated as Ed Nottle), the name of the team and the logo.
You may be wondering why this post is here on the UOLB, and not over on the Can-AM blog.  In what seems like an eternity ago, Mr. Wolff achieved what we thought was a hard fought victory.  In hindsight, it turned out to be a milestone along the way - a watershed moment to be sure, but not the end of the road.  No, the news that broke on November 28 was another important day in a long, seemingly unending roller coaster of moments - many times it appeared that all was on the verge of being lost, only to have things turn on a dime and get back on the rails.  Can-AM Ottawa (likely the last time I will have to use that term), found new friends in unlikely places - some of whom I can’t yet name, but principally a true ally in the person of Councillor Bob Monette.  Mr. Monette has been, as they say, unswerving in his support and resolute in his efforts to see baseball continue on Coventry Road.

Bruce, “Deep Fly” if you prefer, has continued to keep things on the straight and narrow, alerting Mr. Wolff whenever things were drifting off course (oh hell, sometimes they absolutely veered).  What most people don’t realize is the number of personal hours Bruce has invested in this, even with a young family (including a newborn) to take care of.  A heartfelt thanks go out to Mrs. Deep Fly as well for picking up the slack.  Bruce’s services came at a high price for Mr. Wolff - a $1 year consulting fee (graciously waived), and the opportunity for his son to watch a baseball game in Ottawa.

Mr. Wolff continues to impress me with his determination and strength of character - the man has been absolutely unshakable.  News that would have, or should have, provoked confusion and/or anger was met instead with a calm, measured response.  No banging of the fist, not a single profanity uttered.  Just a quiet, “back to the drawing board” resolve.  His recent decisions have been both bold and decisive - but not tactical in the cynical sense of the word.  No, it’s just all been part of keeping professional baseball in Ottawa. 

Ottawa baseball fans owe a great deal to Miles and Bruce.

Of course, there’s another party in all of this.  The Lynx.  A few days back I wrote about Kyle Bostwick, and I commented that many of the decent things he had done personally, and that his organization had done, would likely go unreported.  Keeping baseball in Ottawa will not be one of those acts.  Every so often, news would trickle out from various sources that the Lynx were the problem, the Lynx were holding things up or being the stumbling block - and worse.  Each time, it was invariably met with bewilderment and confusion, because the things being ascribed, and the characterization of them bore absolutely no resemblance to the organization and people we know.  “That doesn’t sound like the Lynx” was a commonly heard refrain.  The Lynx - Ray Pecor and Kyle Bostwick, were people that Miles could count on for support and as supporters of Independent Baseball in Ottawa.  Despite all that’s gone on, there’s been an uncompromising stubborness to do the right thing.  That they have continued to do so, Ironpigs notwithstanding, makes it all the more honorable.

Gentlemen - Bruce, Miles, Kyle, Mr. Pecor, on behalf of the blogs and my family, my heartfelt thanks, appreciation, gratitude and respect are yours.

Well done.

This Thursday….

Ottawa’s Can-AM baseball team announces name and field manager

Saw this post over at Friend of the Lynx (FOTL), Dave Gross’ blog yesterday, and fired off a quick email to the subject of the post. 

Is this an open topic for discussion now? 

It is.

One of the nice features that WordPress offers (WordPress is the blog service I use) is its “Stats” function.  Among other things, it tells me what search terms people are using to find the blog.  Frequently the term “Kyle Bostwick” would appear, linking to one of several pages.  Up until a couple of weeks ago, it was widely speculated that Kyle would return as the GM of the new Can-AM team, but as Mr. Gross notes in the early part of his post, that is not to be.  And while it’s a shame for Ottawa (and that’s no disrespect meant to incoming GM, Don Charrette), it’s for the best for Kyle and his family; he’s been through an absolute wringer here and I’m thinking he’ll enjoy the change that a new career brings. 

While not everyone may have agreed with the way the Lynx ran their operation, what I have found to be universally true is that no one had anything but good things to say to me about Kyle.  Perhaps most telling was the respect with which his name was held in a particularly tough corner: City Hall.  Councillors may have disapproved of, and disagreed with the Lynx, but when each of them would temper their argument with the comment that Kyle and Ray Pecor were decent people, you knew these were honorable men. 

Kyle offered the blog a level of access to the team which I regrettably never fully explored.  Let’s face it, I’m not a journalist (blogger: There’s a revelation.)  And being the kind of guy he is, he refused to fight any battle in the media - despite my arguments (and I’m sure the protests of others) to the contrary.  Many other stories, some of them truly touching will probably not be told - stories which demonstrated the thoughtful nature and kindness of the man, but in keeping with character, moments he would say were private and not meant, nor ever intended for everyone to know about.  I have felt very priveleged to hear of some of these moments, and to have had the “open door” that I did.

Just the other day, my son Zechariah asked me if “Mr. Bostwick” would be coming back.  My reply was greeted with a true expression of sadness.  Not grief or tears, just the sincere disappointment of a ten year old who was hoping to impress someone in 2008 with his improved baseball and bat-boy skills.

No, the “Boy Wonder” has returned to his home in Vermont.

We miss him already.

I posted an audio clip over on the Can-AM blog - it really should be posted over here, but in order to post an audio clip here, I have to shell out for another space upgrade, and I’m just too cheap.  The clip deals with TGOR’s disgust with the coverage of the whole Emery affair and how it’s relegating discussion of the hockey team to the back of the sports section in the Citizen.  As I noted over on the UCAOB, cry me a river.

Now for the update concerning blog non-favorite Napoleon Calzado, which comes courtesy of the Can-AM League’s official website:

** The Can-Am League had 23 former or current players and one umpire (Matt Pridemore) that participated in the winter leagues this year. The league has two players that are playing in the Caribbean World Series, former Brockton Rox INF Alex Nunez (pictured) and former New Jersey Jackals OF Napoleon Calzado. Nunez, who plays for the Venezuelan champion Aragua Tigres, hit .310 with four runs scored, 18 hits and four RBI. Calzado batted .241 with three runs scored, seven hits and two RBI for the Licey Tigres, one of two champions from the Dominican Republic. **

From today’s Ottawa Citizen:

Cash crunch paves way for controversial P3s

With city finances tight, planned spending on “soft infrastructure” limited in the long-range financial plan, and the political will to raise taxes substantially weak, the city will increasingly be relying on public-private partnerships to build such projects.

Riding on the success of these projects is millions — and one day, likely billions — of your tax dollars.

The city is already the most advanced major municipality in Canada when it comes to using “P3s,” and they are controversial.

and,

The city started using P3s after former mayor Bob Chiarelli embraced the idea.

I’ve blogged on this briefly before, and most of this is best left for the “full disclosure” blog, but there a couple of things that bear noting out in the open.  It’s pretty clear that Lynx Stadium was, from a financial perspective, a “Private-public partnership” (P3) success story, likely the first in Ottawa - and no one from the City will (or should) argue that they’re out any of their initial capital.  As part of amalgamation, the City of Ottawa’s debt to the City of Nepean vanished, poof*.  As you may recall, the City of Ottawa borrowed it’s share of the stadium construction costs from the substantially more liquid City of Nepean.  Various sources say that even without the “amalgamation effect”, Ottawa was already in the black - at least as far as the stadium was concerned.  In the beginning - i.e. 1993, revenues from stadium naming rights, taxes, signage, percentages of concessions all went to the City’s coffers.  Add to that the $500,000 that Mr. Darwin was repaying each year for the seven years he owned the team on top of the annual lease payments and you get the picture. 

I’m hopeful that the new arrangement with the Can-AM League marks a return to the “partnership” portion of the P3 equation.

* (b)    all the assets and liabilities of the old municipalities on December 31, 2000, including all rights, interests, approvals, status, registrations, entitlements and contractual benefits and obligations, become assets and liabilities of the city on January 1, 2001, without compensation.  1999, c. 14, Sched. E, s. 5 (3).